945 Days

Tomorrow marks the first time in 945 continuous days that Hong Kong will no longer have a face mask mandate in place.  One of the longest mandates (if not the longest?) in the world during this pandemic.  Tomorrow a lot of people will be walking around feeling naked.  It will feel incredibly strange to be on public transport and be able to see everyone's faces.  My gut feeling is that a lot of people will continue to wear the mask..  let's see.

Postscript March 2: I was right. I am one of 11 people in an elevator currently and the only one not wearing a face mask.  Wow.

Lola's Arm, Cast Off

Lola got her cast off this Friday.  She was lying on the table holding her bunny, and really stoic, calm and courageous, especially when I know she didn't like the noise of the saw.  She really handled it like a champ. I'm glad she had her bunny and me there to provide her comfort. 

Watching the saw cut through the cast I couldn't help but worry how the surgeon knew when to go deep enough but not too deep... but like in all of our encounters he has been the embodiment of calm and reassurance and competence.  He and the nurse then snipped through the interior cotton layer, and kind of cracked the cast open to reveal her arm. 

 It looked good, though maybe slightly skinnier than her left arm. What a relief when this thing opened and her arm emerged whole!  It had the imprint of the gauze from being wrapped up for 25 days, and her arm was a bit stiff and she was reluctant to move it, but overall she looked great. I felt such relief.  Thank goodness she hadn't needed surgery for this.  Apparently the broken bones requiring pins are much worse.

We were in and out in 40 minutes.  I gifted her a pink rose, we celebrated with some pictures with the brothers, and a shower without a plastic bag (woo hoo)!

Goodnight Moon

I kind of dragged myself to a networking event last night and am so glad I did.  I was reluctant because it was taking place right around the kids' bedtimes and it was on the other side of the harbour (we Hong Kongers are so spoiled, a 20 to 30 minute door to door trip is enough to question whether a corporate event is worthy of attendance).

It was at the beautiful Carlyle Club on the 56th floor of the Rosewood Hotel, with a stunning view of the Hong Kong skyline. 

Thereafter, I went to an alumni drinks event at Darkside and caught up with a friend and classmate (one of the earliest people I met at Princeton, so we have known each other over 20 years now, my God) and met two other lovely alums.  It was more in-person socializing (with strangers and acquaintances) than I've probably done in the last two years combined. I walked away feeling pretty energized by it all.

It meant I missed the kids' bedtimes by about 30 minutes but I snuck into their rooms when I got home and gave them each a loving pat and kiss. They sweetly slumbered on, though Lola gifted me with a slow curl of her lip as she turned, smiling as though even in her dreams she could feel the depth of my love for her.

I snapped a picture of the moon from my taxi window on my way home, because it was pretty and also because I wanted to show my children.  They, especially the boys, love the moon.  

When taking the picture, it struck me that while I've always been one who tries to pause and notice the world around me, having children has shaped how I do it in that wherever I go, whatever I do, and whatever I notice, I think of them.  In this, I truly feel e.e. cummings' tender and piercing lines, "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)".

A Love Note

How sweet is this?  I just found it this morning walking into Michael's office. 

 What a beautiful thing to wake up to.

I love my daughter.  What a little treasure she is, with a heart of gold.  

Yes, this little one!

The Boys

The kids are all growing so fast and getting so big.  One of the nicest developments in our household has been how well they get along and interact and play together.  Of course there is the constant bickering and teasing and sniping at each other, but generally they ask after each other and derive a lot of comfort from each other's presence.

I have missed a lot of the detailed milestone developments and details of Al's and Teo's early toddler years, but will pause to try to capture them in a few quick renderings as they are on the cusp of graduating toddlerhood.

The boys are genuinely at their cutest and most delightful.  Or maybe it's just that every phase to date has been the most delightful?  Any way, not a day passes without our laughing at some quirk of theirs.  With their big wide eyes, smooth silky cheeks, long lashes, and soft plump hands with the little wrinkles at their knuckles (I die) that still rush to nestle willingly and trustingly in mine, they are cuteness personified.  Neither boy is chubby or excessively large, but they always fit clothes that are for kids one to two years older.  It is one of the quirks of the parental sartorial universe that has  mystified me for three years running now.

Al and Teo have been diaper free during the day since the fall and, barring one particularly stinky, memorable incident*， are well on their way to being fully diaper trained.  Teo has always been a bit better with this, much more cognizant of his bodily functions (whether with drool or other fluids) than Al, and just this week we switched him to being diaper free at night as well.

*The incident was when the boys peed in their swiveling Ikea chairs and the urine puddled under the rubber cushion covers and we didn't discover it for days, until our entire dining room smelled like a barn and then eventually a very foul latrine, as we frantically searched and sniffed every corner of our apartment...

They generally eat well, but still adamantly refuse to eat fruits or vegetables - it takes bribes of chocolate or dessert to perhaps get one string bean or a few pieces of minced greens down each obstinate boy's gullet.  Fries and chocolate ice cream probably top the most favored foods list at the moment. 

Lately we have been struggling a little with their upper respiratory infections, allergies, and eczema - both Al and Teo have bodies (skin) that are much more reactive than Lola's. Teo is a mosquito magnet and gets about 3 or 4 bites to every one of Al's, though Al has a lot of discomfort and chafing and sensitivity with his skin.

We have also finally (just yesterday) started to gain some insight into their underbites, excessive drooling, speech, and eating habits, none of which taken individually was a dire problem, but taken collectively had kind of concerned us and left us unsettled.  Now that we have finally met a good speech therapist who has come back with a diagnosis that makes sense and addresses all of the issues as a comprehensive whole, I feel like all the pieces of a puzzle I didn't know we had to solve has clicked into place.  I really learned a lot today about the human tongue.  Parents, don't underestimate the role this organ serves!

Lots of people ask us if the boys have different personalities and I understand the genesis of this question even though it strikes me as amusing.  Of course they have different personalities!  But admittedly, even we are sometimes taken aback by how different they are.  It is a little spark of surprise every time you see two human beings who look so similar but act so differently.  It's perhaps one of the greatest gifts (and there are many) of having (we think) indentical twins - a constant and joyful reminder that appearances can be deceiving!  As I tell friends and family, often my first immediate sense of which boy is which is not their physical but their behavioral characteristics.  I’ve found that those of our acquaintances and teachers and friends who are best able to identify them are those who note the differences in their personality first and foremost.

Teo is all about the irascible charm, and he tends to be much more sensitive and emotional about things.  He is very protective of his siblings, and clearly appreciates a joke and good natured teasing.  He will tell his dad to "go to your room" and when he is upset at someone, will threaten along the lines of "if you don't do [x], I will throw you off the mountain."  (Where does that come from??) My favorite thing that Teo does is when he comes to me for comfort and sweetly and gently nestles his head in the crook of my neck on my shoulder while snuffling about whatever injustice has been done to him and, with his other small hand, pats my upper back, open handed, in gentle, featherlight touches. It's always hard for me to determine in these moments if I am comforting him or if he is soothing me.

Al is the embodiment of little boy, a little tank or bulldozer of intention, loud and a little rough but also full of wide eyed endearment and charm.  He hurtles down slides and lets loose loud cackles of joy, finds great fun in silly games and antics.  I like to think that to understand freedom and joy is to watch Al flying on his strider bike. He can be very stubborn and at such moments will, eyebrows determined and jaw set, repeatedly, insistently and exasperatingly loudly, push his agenda.  Yet at the same time he can be incredibly sweet, and very sentimental.  He cried when leaving his first kindergarten, when auntie Julie or Siti are on holiday, when po po went to Taiwan. He is the one that wakes up at night, and cries for companionship.  Lately he has been the one who, like clockwork, stumbles to my door in the middle of the night, rubbing his eyes, either beseeching, "wo yao ni pei pei wo," which translates to "I want you to accompany me" or else, even sweeter somehow, finding me in the inky night and, wordlessly and gently linking his small fingers in mine, determinedly pulling me to his bedside.

The physical differences between the two seem more obvious to me now, though these are still relatively few and far between. Teo's voice is probably a register higher.  Al has a big mole on his upper right back, by his shoulder blade, and two small moles like sesame seeds on his nose.  Teo has a birthmark on his lower right abdomen and his center back, kind of a slightly darker and irregular patch of skin.  They continue to have slightly different hair patterns.

Undoubtedly some of the best moments are when the boys demonstrate, in the perfectly coordinated turn of their heads or the synchronized mirroring bend of their bodies, that they are, and likely always will be, connected by the invisible strands of a deep and abiding bond that has stretched between them since their literal first moments in existence.  What a privilege and delight it is for us to witness.

February Photo Montage

Now that the flurry of CNY trip updates have been posted, I don't think I have much to say at the moment.  Here are some pictures of the kids since we have been back from Taiwan. 

Lola looking like a real footballer in her predators and Minisport kit at the SCAA before her unfortunate accident. I love her big cheesy grins here!

Teo looking good at minisports before he was felled with a bad cold:

Ditto Al:

Al enjoying the lantern and bunny decor at The Avenue:

and getting reacquainted with his beloved bike - he missed it while in Taiwan:

The kids riding the HK public transportation again:

Finding their little playground again:

Taking a special trip with the aunties to the AIA ferris wheel:

and another trip to the wet market and the Avenue with the aunties:

Finally, Lola at school drop off, and making sticky rice glutinous balls dessert!

Lola's Arm

Since we've been back, we have all been pretty sick, taking turns getting progressively worse runny noses, phlegmy deep coughs and sore throats and fevers, though the biggest piece of news is that Lola broke her arm.  It happened last Tuesday afternoon and for a while Michael and I were in disbelief that it rrally happened.  

Lola was playing at the bus stop waiting to go to drama class when she slipped off the rail at the bus station and landed badly (entirely) on her right arm and elbow.  I wasn't with her, but Siti said she could move her fingers and lift her arm.  They iced it though Lola kept saying it hurt.  They neglected to check whether Lola could straighten her arm, the inability to do so being of course a big warning sign. 

Lola went to her drama class and it wasn't until they came back from that that Michael and I got a glimpse and realized that her arm was indeed likely broken.  There was no disfigurement or blood or bruising so it may not have been immediately obvious, but the fact that she couldn't really lift her arm, and her fear and pain at even thought of trying to straighten it, cemented it.

We rushed to Adventist Hospital which is thankfully 5 minutes away, and from there the process was, unsurprising in Hong Kong, hyper efficient.  Lola was checked in around 6:30pm, met with the urgent care doctor on duty, had her X-rays taken and reviewed. The urgent care doctor informed me it was broken but there was no displacement (turns out that is a very good thing, negating the need for surgery or a pin) and that he could get an orthopedic surgeon on site to review and set the cast within 15 minutes. As promised, the doctor showed up promptly, conducted a review, agreed with the urgent care doctor's assessment, reviewed the file with me, and set Lola in a lightweight fiberglass cast.  We were home before 8:30pm, armed with some paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Lola has since been recovering pretty well - she was so incredibly brave during the first x-ray, when she was clearly in a lot of pain but had to sit by herself patiently while the technician asked her to move into the required position. 

After the initial shock of the break and getting used to the clunky cast, she has gained a lot more confidence and pretty much abandoned her sling.  Lola continues to go to school though dressing her in her school uniform while trying to take into account the weather hasn't been without its challenges.

We have since had one follow-up checkup with the ortho (he pronounced her healing very well and all things looking good) and have one more follow up x ray and follow-up next week.  This puts her out of commission from a lot of her activities, namely soccer, and taekwondo, as while the cast is off in 3 weeks, the doctor wants her to refrain from contact sports until May.  It's unfortunate, however, the most important thing is that it remains a clean break that heals properly. 

You can see now some further pictures of her in her cast, getting increasingly more comfortable with it. 

Taichung Troisième Partie

Ok, this is the last post on Taichung!  On our last full day, Friday, we headed in to Taichung proper for some urban exploration.  First we went to a nearby 7 Eleven, which in Taiwan truly is a magical  shop that has a little bit of everything, then revisited the nearby park and playground.

Then we headed to the Taichung Science Museum, where the kids played under the sun before we had lunch nearby, before heading in to the exhibits.

This is the only science museum in Taiwan and their dinosaur exhibit is particularly fun because some of them move!

One of my fondest memories from our last trip to Taichung with Lola was when she got scared of this exhibit but then was unwilling to admit it, so claimed she had to go to the bathroom.  We should have known immediately that something was up!  Ha!

After the museum, we headed to a nearby park to soak up the sun and let the kids run around.  It was kind of fun to see how local kids play and interact.  I was pleasantly surprised to see kids stripping down to bare feet and shorts to play with sand, which in the frigid weather I wasn't even prepared to allow my kids to do, but it went against all of my expectations that Taiwanese/Chinese people are deathly afraid of kids catching cold.

After that, we headed to the Fengjia nightmarket to have a wander and see if we could get the kids to play any carnival games.  Unfortunately one of the small pop up nightmarkets that was chock full of amazing kids' games which we visited years ago has disappeared, and Fengjia is not so much for games as it is for food, so we didn't stay long. I have to say we were nearly frozen solid though, it was so windy and cold!  We did get to eat some delicious fried scallion pancakes, some fresh egg waffles and lots of fruit.

Michael won a Pokémon keychain for Lola (huge crowning moment) but otherwise we just wasted a lot of money in pinball machines, claw machines and video games.

After that it was time to head home for a quick clothing change, and then to a large (and final) dinner gathering, as we knew we would be leaving on Saturday morning and this would be the last event with everyone.  Because of the timing, this time I didn't get to see my dajiu and dajiuma (my mom's older brother and his wife) except this one dinner.  But at least they got to meet the boys for the first time, and see Lola again!

The restaurant was very pretty, set in a house with different levels and we were in a private dining room (which was good because our kids were so loud and hyper - but all in the best way)!

The next morning, we woke up bright and early, went to the little neighborhood park one last time, and then got on the road to Taipei International Airport to make our way home!

In conclusion we are so grateful we got the chance to take this trip to Taiwan.  It was in many ways colder and more tiring than we expected, but in so many other ways it was so rewarding and sweet.  Memories that are made at the start of life nonetheless have deep meaning and may ultimately play a much larger role in our lives, shaping who we are, than we realize.  After our trip my mom sent me two pictures from my own time traveling to Taiwan when I was five and a half, and playing and hanging out with my cousins (the very one with kids that my kids are playing with now!)  So fun, right?