Ringing in the New Year

Happy new year!   While we have done nothing more than cross an artificial border as trivial as the tearing of a calendar page, 2021 feels like it contains lots of hope and promise, right?  Everyone yearns for, nay, needs, this physical bright line separation of "before" and "after."  Except as recent events in the U.S. show, we are still living in a surreal world where things happen that we would never have imagined possible only a short while ago.

First, here are some pictures from the last days of 2020.  Chatting with popo and yeye...

The boys checking out their new books (there were many), from their birthday...

Playing with water during Mandarin playgroup...

We went to the Sculpture Park at K11 Musea the day before New Years Eve.  It was much colder/windier by the water than expected, so we ran indoors quickly.  I lent Lola my hat, which I had borrowed without asking from Michael.

Teo was just very happy (and intrigued?) to have the presence of his esteemed older sister next to him.  To what did he owe the honor?!

The Sculpture Park is tiny, but I appreciate its sentiment and the environment for creativity and expression that it is trying to foster.  Hong Kong is sorely lacking in these places.  Here, Lola in front of a fun sculpture which we interpreted was a huge octopus.  She quite enjoyed it.

After their snack, the boys wanted to check things out.  We braved the wind tunnel of the sculpture park and headed out in the tandem stroller.  Teo and Al chirped nonstop. They love being outdoors.  The space is surprisingly accessible, including these loooooong ramps that allow for strollers and wheelchairs, which the kids also greatly enjoyed.

   

New Years Eve was pretty quiet in our household, marked by nothing more than a quick late night walk on Bowen Road by Michael and me, marveling at how long we have been in the city and reflecting on the past year and all the changes and challenges that it brought.  New Years Day dawned sunny and bright, and we had a little playdate in our apartment for the kids.

And now for the new year.  Seven days into the new year, and not much has changed in our household.  

The boys had vaccinations on the 4th and measured at 10.96 kg (Al) and 10.45 kg (Teo), respectively.  They are in the 90th percentile for height, weight and head circumference - so top of the marks across the board.  The doctor confirmed they are all on track, meeting milestones, making good eye contact, which was reassuring because we were a little bit worried.  I think this is inevitable; we only have our one previous experience of Lola, and while we suspected she was a bit extraordinary, it is only as time goes on and we have more points of data that we are discovering what a gifted and precocious child she is.  

Teo and Al are much more mobile now and getting fast.  They love to pull themselves up and experiment with slowly lowering themselves down (one of the most adorable things because they sink their tushies down so, so, so cautiously).  They like to climb.  They love standing in their cribs and bouncing up and down, Teo especially.  They both love trucks and cars and anything with wheels or anything that spins (so many fights over the beaded mazes, the rainbow abacus, the ride on cars, and the ice cream/fire trucks...).  They often spend a good half hour before their naps "chatting" to each other, whether in a high pitched or measured conversational call and response.  They were sleep trained for a while but now are regressing/often need a little bit of reassurance before they'll go down.  

While Al clearly enjoys food, Teo is the one that seems to enjoy a wider variety of tastes and flavors, including sour things.  And Al does not like sour things and his palate tends more toward sweetness and carbs.  Teo enjoys fruit and soup while Al just frowns ferociously.  It used to be that Teo crawled and climbed and Al sat, but now it's not always the case.  Al has some bad habits where he will try to knock his brother's hands out of the way/off the toy, or bite Teo to protect his territory, and unfortunately Teo has now picked up these bad habits in defense.  Teo will start whining and protesting as soon as he sees Al come near him, probably anticipating that his brother is coming after his toy/book/object (really doesn't seem to matter what it is).  Tonight I evidenced what could only be described as Teo pushing his head into Al's ribs to try to get him out of the way...alas.  There is a lot of brotherly love around these parts.

The kids (surprise surprise) went to Maggie and Rose, went on an invigorating hike on Bowen Road, played in our parking garage (yes, you read that right), visited Hong Kong park to see the turtles and fish, and went on a nice walk on Lugard Road (followed by watching a beautiful sunset from the Peak while the boys ate their supper and Lola and I browsed the candy shop).

The kids also played/crawled around our parking garage (converted into a general play space??) for a while.  I mentioned it in my previous post - it's become a second playroom of ours, of sorts.  Hong Kong... sometimes, the lack of space just causes you to shake your head.

The weather has gotten colder and being on the Peak or by the waterfront definitely requires a jacket or hat.  The trip to the Peak was super thrilling for Lola because she got to buy a purple and white striped star lollipop.

The boys are like real kids now, gosh!  I've embarked on a 2-3 month campaign to get them off of formula (onto cows' milk) and to quit their bottle (and onto straw bottles and cups), and to eat their food rather than pureeing or mashing it.  This series of changes has already met with a lot of vocal complaints, especially from Al, who can be a really grumpy old man at times, and incidentally swallows his food whole.  

How cute are they here though?  They look so serious as they suck down their water and play with/eat their sweet potato cubes.

This is my view working from home - not a bad one, admittedly.  I now have two big green plants right next to me and I bought another desk on Taobao (larger and for a quarter of the price I paid in Hong Kong, doh), so I finally feel comfortable in my work area and vastly prefer it to hunching over the dining room table.

Sometimes I am joined by this adorable little munchkin, who has all kinds of ideas and suggestions and is not at all conducive to my work productivity.