It's All A Blur

 This year has all been a blur!  I can't believe we're nearly in mid-November now.  I think I finally caught up on our October pictures and happenings.  

Not too much has been happening in November, other than lots of beautiful weather, a lot of time spent hanging out in parks and at the race course, flu vaccinations for every member in our household, a lot of video submissions for both Lola and her brothers for school in lieu of in-person assessments, and oh yeah a cold that has been making the rounds in our household, sparing no one, this past week.  

The Education Bureau in Hong Kong just announced yesterday kindergarten school closures for 2 weeks given the recent uptick in Covid cases and the respiratory infection that has been spreading in kindergartens and we met the news with a mixture of resignation and disbelief.  It's all starting anew again... what a tedious cycle. Mainly I think the start and stop and go of this year has really messed with Lola's equilibrium.  She likes routine and certainty and the fluctuations in her school schedule plus the unpredictability of my work routine exacerbate her anxiety.  

Despite this setback and how disappointing and how frustrating it feels each and every time it happens, I do think the fact that the EB and the HK government generally tries to react earlier rather than later each time there is any outbreak, makes it possible for the situation to be what it is in Hong Kong.  When things are open and Covid restrictions are relaxed, other than wearing masks and filling in health declaration forms, I think people  generally behave and live life as if things are normal, without a looming specter or threat of infection. 

Lola and I made chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies to transition from October to November and she was very proud.  She also loved the cookies and ate 2 in one go.  The generous, fat Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips were a big hit.

The boys are doing great, growing teeth every day, drooling a ton, and generally chattering away and showing great curiosity of the world around them.  They are still pretty mild mannered and easy, although they show a hot streak of temper once in a while (especially given they have not been feeling well, and just had a bunch of vaccinations).  The trouble with twins is that when they are not feeling well, it feels like you have an entire house of chaos because they kind of build off of each other, and their fussiness gets amplified by at least two- if not four-fold. 

But then when you can tease them into a good humor (which is also not hard to do with these boys) it is the sweetest thing.  Their gurgles and giggles emanate and echo through our apartment (as I'm sure Michael can most readily attest to, having to try to sleep through the zoo that is our household) and they are so easily entertained and pleased.

Al tends to reach out for me less, while Teo is the one who will often crawl to me or clamor to be held by me while saying "mama".  We refer to Teo as the sentimental or sensitive one.  Teo is much stronger at crawling and shifting from sitting to belly position back to sitting and can pretty much get himself to wherever he wants to go.  He also likes to pull himself up now, exhibiting signs of trying to stand in his crib. Teo tends to be the one that gets really loud and rambunctious when he is happy, screaming at the top of his lungs and swinging himself like a crazy person in his rocker.  He also has an open mouthed, unabashed, freewheeling loud chortle that is infectious.  When he gets mad or frustrated he cries while rocking himself back and forth and sometimes grabbing his head.

Al is still scared to do the shift between sitting and crawling and, while he clearly wants to, will just get stuck with his legs under him while he shouts/cries until someone rescues him.  Al loves reading and books.  More often than not he is the one sitting there calmly, flipping pages, staring at the pictures and gently patting the images.  He can keep himself entertained for a long time like that.  He is very strong and also likes to pull himself up, trying to stand in his crib, but he is generally less mobile and sturdier (and heavier) than Teo.  Al will sometimes let loose with a loud scream or a bunch of laughter, but he tends to be more moderately giggly and smiley compared to his brother.  We have discovered he is ticklish and it is the funniest thing to do his massages and exercises while he just giggles uncontrollably.  When Al gets mad or frustrated he tends to scream really loudly, throw himself backwards and flail up his arms, or else bite himself.

While the boys still need to work on improving their crawl and getting up on all fours (they are both stuck in the army-crawl) they have noticeably improved in their sitting.  They are also talking a lot, mostly gurgling and noise as they try to mimic speech, but they can clearly say "jie jie," "da da" and "ba ba" and "ma ma," though with the last one it really is only Teo that says it.

Both boys eat really well and love to drink water, though they also like to play with the water a lot - often slurping it up and spitting it back out.  Of the two, Al tends to like to spit and play with this saliva by blowing raspberries, and also to play with water bottles.  Teo meanwhile loves playing with tags and zippers.

The boys also have this funny but exasperating tendency to drift toward each other when playing, but then want to fight with each other over every toy, or get jealous if the other one is being treated differently. Al tends to be the bully when it comes to toys, and is not afraid to chomp down on the toy with his teeth to claim it.  Sometimes Teo fights back though.  They handle each other quite roughly, climbing over each other, kicking each other, grabbing the other's head... I am a bit scared of what this portends once the boys are mobile, stronger and more vocal...

Lola had a playdate with a friend from school the other Friday and they seemed to really enjoy themselves at Maggie and Rose.  It was supposed to be at Sun Yat Sen park but the weather did not cooperate.

Lola also made a neighborhood friend, a 5 year old boy, and they play together on weekend mornings in the little playground near our apartment.

Lola went to try a ballroom dancing class the other week, and the brothers were there watching.  They love watching their sister.  I still can't get over the fact that their first words were "jie jie," or older sister. 

The playgroup at our house is going very well.  Interest continues to grow and I find myself playing a playgroup administrator as I manage schedules, sickness cancellations, and adding more kids and classes.  The teacher is great with her songs, toys, crafts projects, messy play ideas, and of course, her Mandarin instruction!  Here the boys are playing with some water - perhaps their favorite thing.  What's not pictured here is Teo constantly pushing the other boy's hands out of the water bucket...

Lola is still taking music classes at Baumhaus and now we have taken to bringing Al and Teo there to play in the space while she does her classes.  Starting next year Lola will stop doing the classes and instead Al and Teo will commence.  So far they seem to love the playroom and all the wooden toys and puzzles they have there.  I like Baumhaus because it is a well lit, sunny place of organized chaos with good toys and books where the kids get to interact with a wide variety of kids ranging from babies to toddlers - not easy to find and not to be taken for granted in this Covid world.