Allison Abroad: Beach Days, Park Days, Rainy Days, More Rainy Days...

This week was a pretty good week, overall.

At breakfast one morning we were working through a picture book on emotions. At the end, I asked Lola to tell me when she felt happy, excited, sad, angry or scared. And after we ticked through all kinds of scenarios where she felt happy or excited, I asked her about the others. She thought about it for a while and told me that she really didn't feel angry, sad or scared. I'm not sure if that's actually true, but it made me happy that those moments did not figure in her mind.

We kicked it off on Monday with an amazing day at the beach with me, Lola and her grandpa. The weather was beautiful and sunny, but not hot. To my surprise, Lola really enjoyed the sand, the water and the surf. I fully expected her to denounce it, but after a few moments of fear she ended up loving it! She was so happy and excited to be going on an adventure with me - how precious is this smile?! Suited up as baby shark and totally ready.

We chose to go to Stanley Beach. I was hoping that the beach would be less crowded there because it's so far on the south side. I knew the rest of the week would be cold and rainy so this seemed like our best chance. It turned out to be a really nice excursion and we were able to stay away from the other kids and families on the beach. As expected, Lola was a bit scared of the sand and the water when we got there.

But then she was ALL IN. It was awesome. These pictures have that celebrity paparazzi grainy quality because my dad was shooting them from the beach far away.

It's rare for Lola to be so comfortable with a new environment so quickly - we picked up stones, shells and seaweed and walked around on the sand and in the water. The water was really cold so she didn't take the plunge to go all the way in, but I was impressed. She really, really didn't want to go home.

On Tuesday afternoon, we tried again, this time with me, Lola and her grandma, but it was not the stunning success of our first trip because, even though we brought an awesome orange float and I was making progress cajoling her into floating, a series of unexpectedly large waves came crashing to shore, making loud "CRASH!" noises that she did not like. We were quickly out of the water after that, and then suddenly she hated the sand again, and then we just needed to go home. On the car ride home, she was adamant that we were not going to the beach again. Instead, she would rather go shopping for cakes in Causeway Bay where, she informed me with wide eyes, there was no beach.

On Wednesday morning I went with her to Sun Yat Sen Park where we ended up having a really fun time picking wild flowers and leaves and making "pizzas," "spaghetti," and various other delicious foods. We sprinkled pepper, cheese, salt, mint, etc. on our creations. She really got into it and helped me forage stuff. I also taught her how to blow on little milkweeds. It was so nice to see her engage with twigs and dirt and enjoying it.

I made her a crown of vines at one point.

We also pulled out Frankie the Fish, a big bubble blower that I got. I have gotten really sick of blowing bubbles out of rinky dinky plastic rings, in case you cannot tell.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have all dawned pretty cold and wet and drizzly. But surprisingly, I haven't really minded them. On Thursday Michael and I took Lola to Sun Yat Sen park in the late afternoon, only to discover it was pretty chilly, what with the wind whipping up the waves and the rain steadily drizzling. Despite the wind and the wet, we had a lot of fun huddling together under one umbrella as she snacked on her grapes. At one point she was riding on her scooter and just so content that she let out a huge sigh and promptly scootered off the path onto the grass.

We made it through this week with a minimal amount of temper tantrums which also really helped. Despite her tantrums, Lola is still very cognizant and sweet afterward. She always says, "I will not throw a temper tantrum again" or "I will not do that again." And she can usually articulate why it is that she threw a fit or was upset, or why she had to take two minutes in her room.

The boys are doing so well. My main concern and guilt this week is that, by really indulging Lola and giving her a lot of attention and time, I haven't been able to cuddle the boys and spend as much time with them as I would have liked. They are both growing so well and are more active and responsive than ever before. I love their expressions - there is a wealth of meaning behind each chirp, gurgle and glance - I feel like they are always trying so hard to communicate their wishes and desires! As a result of their growing awareness of the world around them, they have been terrible eaters as of late. Al especially, but Teo also, gets distracted after 80 or 90 mLs, and starts grinning around the bottle and trying to chat.

They both love sucking on their hands. We haven't given in to the use of the pacifier yet, and I'm hoping we can avoid it so that we never have to wean off of it.

They got their heads shaved a second time this week - so now they are back to being shiny bald again! They look more similar than ever before! I mostly rely on their expressions and demeanor to tell them apart. It's much harder when they are not side by side for comparison.

They are both pretty strong - we are working on ever more tummy time, as well as trying to get them to flip over. At this point, we have to make sure they are buckled into their bouncers because they can really buck themselves up and out of it. If they are in their Twin Z pillow and unhappy, they know how to make their bodies taut so that they practically lever themselves off of it.

They love their Fisher Price playgym. They will stare at themselves in the mirror, and now are coordinated enough to reach out and grab toys as well as kick the musical keyboard. They can both lie for long periods of time.

Their laughs and giggles and smiles are so rewarding! They often pop up unexpectedly like a bright ray of sunshine. Look at Teo playing footsie with my dad here!