The Boys Turn 15 Months, Lola is 3 Going on 33!

The kids, the kids the kids. That's almost all of what my posts are these days, hah.

 The kids are adorable, and spunky, and full of personality.  Strong, strong personalities... The boys turned 15 months last Sunday (wow) and are getting more active and rambunctious by the day. It's so rare and difficult to get a good picture of the kids - I was ecstatic that this happened a couple of weekends ago.

 

 

We went to a playdate mid-March where they had a blow up bouncy castle on the roof.  Clearly the kids were totally into it.

Al and Teo won't remember this period in their lives, but it's undeniable that they were born into an unprecedented time of disruption, challenge and uncertainty, and I can't help but wonder how much of an impact the pandemic will have on their life trajectories.  I'm not sure how much Lola will remember, but if I had to bet given her mental acuity, I would assume that some of this experience will remain with her.  As it is, so much of her vocabulary reflects her love of the macabre, with references to vaccinations, pandemics, viruses, quarantines and the like. I wonder how much of the pandemic has or is shaping her personality.

The boys were both diagnosed with an underbite relatively recently (this year), which caused me a lot of concern and anxiety and upset.  Due to some poorly conveyed words by one of their dentists, I felt very guilty and spent a lot of time thinking that their underbite was caused by our putting them into bouncers and feeding them their bottles that way.  I still don't feel remotely good about it, and while there was absolutely nothing we could have done to prevent it (the catch 22 being that you don't know it's an under bite until the teeth start coming in, and when the teeth have come in it's too late to do anything) it is what it is and there is nothing that can be done until they are at least three or four years old, it was something that just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Michael and I were talking about this the other night, and he was very worried about the effects of the pandemic on the kids.  I, on the other hand, am completely worried about how we will mess them up, despite our best efforts not to.

Al and Teo have both taken upwards of five or seven steps independently now, though still wobbly and uncertain.    They both can stand and squat unaided, and walk pretty comfortably and quickly while holding on to a wall/shelf or walker or if someone is giving them support either through a hand or a grip on the back of the shirt.  Al in particular is super proud of himself every time he wobbles up into a stand, or wobbles down into a squat.  His whole face splits into a wide grin and he wears a look of utter accomplishment.  Al favors the walker a bit more, pushing it about and only getting upset when he gets jammed up against a wall or a shelf (hasn't figured out turning yet).  Teo, on the other hand, much prefers walking with someone holding both his hands, and is a speed demon when he's aided.  He is much more reluctant to go it on his own, though, probably because he can move so quickly when someone is holding him.  Teo also loves, loves loves steps. 

Generally, Teo moves incredibly fast, and is impulsive.  He throws himself down slides, rolls and thrashes around while shrieking enthusiastically, jumps up and down frenetically, crawls at lightning speed, eats by shoving huge bites of food into his mouth.  As a result, Teo has a bunch of bumps and bruises and scratches (including when he slammed the door of the toy kitchen he was playing in onto his own finger), and nowadays scarcely does a day go by without some report of an accident, while Al, the more cautious one, tends to be more scar-free.  Unfortunately, Teo is also way more sensitive to mosquito bites and has more reactive skin, so he, poor guy, often looks the worse for the wear.  Last week it was three big red itchy bites on his forehead, followed by, of all things, hives.  

You really just have to show Teo or Al how to do things one or two times and they get it.  They know how to turn on the light on their sister's legos, how to hit the doorbell, how the light switches turn the lights on and off, how to scooter (seated), you get the idea.

Al loves the balcony garden and will clamor at any chance to be out there.  You can't slide the balcony door open around Al without him going nuts trying to get out there.  And he sometimes will go right up to the crack and pound on the door, shouting to be let out.  The big guy loves just sitting out there, touching the various leaves and flowers and poking around.  Speaking of big, Al is insanely strong.  We can't get over how strong he is - he has a grip that crushes and won't let go.  It's so hard to wrest something out of his hands!  This has caused a lot of issues among the other two kids because neither Lola nor Teo can stand up to him.  And of our three kids, Al is the one who most loves to mosey over and jump into the middle of whatever it is the others are doing, causing untold disruption to others but totally being indifferent about it.  Previously Al was just super sweet and didn't fight or attack, but he's since picked up some bad habits and in recent days has shown signs of steamrolling his siblings to get what he wants. He has started showing signs of biting also!

Al loves shouting "Daddy!" very enthusiastically and clearly whenever Michael shows up.  Al doesn't say much, but he is very clear with the few words he does use.  He just started saying "ayi" last week, the Chinese word for "aunt".  One of the maintenance women in our buildings loves the twins and words may fail to adequately capture how utterly delighted she was when he shouted "ayi" upon seeing her.  

Teo, on the other hand, doesn't really say any words particularly clearly, although he can say daddy and mommy and dog, but he has a stream of conscious gurgle that is very impressive for its sheer creativity.  He can chatter non-stop for 20-30 seconds at a time.  Teo is, for being as active and impulsive as he is, often a much quieter baby.  He is very happy to roll around in his crib with all of his stuffed animals, and he clearly enjoys quiet time after his nap or in the morning when he has just woken up.   He used to be even more calm and quiet (there are so many pictures of him just staring at the camera with his eyes huge and wide) but now he does know to complain and scream to get attention or get his way.  He has grown quite attached to George, his soft toy monkey, and will go pick up the monkey and hold him tight when you ask him "where's George?"

Teo knows to reach his hands out and cup them upwards when you say "catch," and he does the most adorable (and perfect) Wheels on the Bus wheel roll (his little arms roll together perfectly!) and windshield wipers.  After only a couple of times he does a really good Itsy Bitsy Spider, and he can open and close his fingers really adroitly to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  He knows how to wash his hands, immediately rubbing them when his hands are getting washed, and he is finally picking up where his eyes and nose are. 

This is when we went to Maggie and Rose Repulse Bay.  The boys love the train tracks there.  Lola loves the rocking horses.

Lola is just beyond in every way, and rarely does a day pass that we don't marvel at how brilliant and clever she is.  She seriously can outnegotiate us.  I've never been good arguing on my feet anyway, but she can really out-think all of us adults.  It's remarkable.  All of her expressions are also always spot on - she always knows to say exactly the right thing, or use the right phrase at the right time.   And how about the fact that she has a spot-on imitation of every single person's accent?  American English,  English with a Filipinese accent, English with an Indonesian accent, Mandarin and, lately, Mandarin with an Indonesian accent as well!  She continues to love French and is showing interest in Cantonese.  And she can switch between each of them depending on her audience!  This girl.

 

We got a family museum pass because it's basically worth it after two trips.  Lola probably likes the history museum best, followed by the science museum.

 

Here she is doing her Zoom class very diligently.  The Education Bureau just announced that the kids are going back to school full time after Easter.

      

I got my vaccine on the 23rd, at the Ap Lei Chau center. It was pretty empty there, as you can see.  The process was pretty orderly overall.  I am and was and continue to be so grateful to modern science.  If you had told me a year ago that we would be getting vaccinated for Covid before the end of first quarter 2021, I would have laughed in your face, so impossible and far-fetched did that sound.

I try to go out for some walks from time to time, but otherwise my exercise regime remains woefully inadequate.  I can't really do yoga, running, or anything that strains my core, which is pretty much everything because the core is... well, your core.  As you can see, while I am heavier than I should be (I blame the multiple full milk lattes, glasses of wine and lack of exercise) everything has pretty much shrunk down except for my belly, which I now hide behind high waisted leggings and loose tunics and tank tops.  I went to see a surgeon about my diastasis but it's a pretty major surgery that requires a lot of recuperation, time, energy... as well as a good two months of not picking up my kids.  So it probably isn't the right time for me to do anything about it, even if I were so inclined.  It definitely wouldn't be for aesthetic reasons, as my body scars so poorly that I am not sure it's worth the trade off for an even larger, angrier, redder, and bumpier scar across my lower half.  We shall see.  For now I am trying to be careful of using my abs poorly in case I cause a serious issue, and otherwise just biding my time.  While that is frustrating, it does tie in to the whole theme of the pandemic, which is essentially one of watching and waiting.

Mani Pedis, Retail Therapy, Pilates, and My Post-Partum Bod

I have started getting manicures and pedicures again.  I stopped for a long, long year, but now that I've gone back I remember why I loved them so.  There is just something so lovely about sitting there getting your nails cleaned and clipped and shaped, with all the colors to choose from, and admiring your glossy colorful nails afterward... and that time to aimlessly scroll through your phone, or flip idly through gossip rags, or (more my life these days) respond to work emails while doing grocery shopping while paying off bills, that makes me feel very productive even while I'm getting pampered.  For my first manicure in probably nearly two years, I upgraded to the salt scrub and moisturizing paraffin wax to try to slough off my dry skin and treat my hands.  All the hand washing and alcohol sanitizing of this past year has been rough on my already-prone-to-dryness skin.

I went to run an errand a couple of weeks back and ended up buying a super comfortable floral dress at Zara.  Viscose, I am a huge fan.  I am also pleasantly surprised to discover that I am back at my pre-pregnancy weight.  I'm not sure how that happened because I was really despairing over losing the remaining 5 or 6 pounds this summer, and I certainly have not stepped up my exercise regime, but I am fitting back into all of my old clothes (well, with some exceptions especially around the armpit and belly area).  It has been a nice surprise, which has inspired me to boldly venture back into my dusty wardrobe for sheath dresses and slacks that I hadn't touched in well over a year (I ballooned so quickly during my last pregnancy that the entirety of my wardrobe very quickly became inaccessible), and also started to shop for jeans and shorts and other waistband-specific clothing that I had previously culled from my closet.  I may have been a little too enthusiastic about my current physique though, because I splurged on a pair of Frame jeans that very well may have been a size too ambitious. Let's face it - the weight may be back to what it was, but my hips, rib cage, and belly are not what or where they used to be.

While the weight loss has been a positive and pleasant surprise, the diastasis recti I continue to struggle with has been a huge spot of denial that I am currently working up the courage and energy to address.  I just feel like I need a lot of mental energy in addition to physical energy to focus on this, and I don't have it in me to be shuttling in additional physical therapy appointments or doing the actual exercises on top of everything else.  Of course this item should be the priority over everything else, but of course it's also the one I most want to avoid.  

I am kind of addressing it by going to a post-natal pilates class on Fridays at a lovely, intimate studio on the south side, which, while time consuming and inconvenient, makes me really happy.  I'm not sure how much the pilates is helping or hurting (the tricky part about diastastis is that a lot of exercises are actually bad for it, because when done wrong is quite harmful, and there is a lot of conflicting advice, even among pilates instructors and supposed experts), but I do know to always be careful on my exhales and to focus on my pelvic floor.  Last Friday, I knew it was Friday, and I knew I had my usual class, but I just completely forgot to go.  I don't even know/cannot even explain what happened, but I looked up at 11 AM and realized I had just completely missed it.

I also freaked myself out, likely through over-thinking, in recent weeks about diabetes.  There had been a few instances where I had had dessert, maybe with a glass of wine, and then either crashed spectacularly, or else felt so nauseous, that I started to fear something else was at play.  Granted, each of the three or four times that I crashed was when I was working very late at night and pretty tired from an early morning start of about 6 am, so it was hard to tell what factor was driving what.  

I went to see the endocrinologist last week to better understand my risk of type 2 diabetes and whether I could be prediabetic.  I got this cool/crazy sensor stuck to my arm which helps me track my blood sugar simply by scanning my phone next to it.  The sensor works for 14 days and helps you easily track your sugar levels.  I wish I could have used this during pregnancy and avoided all of the pinpricks!!  Unfortunately there are some chemicals in the sensor that make it inadvisable for pregnant women.  It has been largely reassuring to have the sensor - it seems my blood sugar is always within normal range and actually the times I felt nauseous were when my blood sugar was too low.  I go back in two weeks to better understand this data and to test if I have a "fatty liver," which is apparently one of the main warning signs.

Outdoors Fun

Lola loves being outside and socializing with others.

She typically goes out twice per day, once in the morning after she has had breakfast, and once again in the afternoon (for her playgroups).  She currently goes to three different playgroups, one purely in Mandarin, one bilingual, and one purely in English.

In celebration of her love of the outdoors, this year Michael and I have made more of an effort to just hang out outdoors with her on weekends.  We had a wildly successful inaugural weekend hiking trip on the Lung Fu Shan morning trail, managing to do the whole trek including a brief foray into Pinewood Battery in just under 2 hours.

 Pinewood Battery is a historic military site, the highest of all the defense batteries in Hong Kong at a little over 300 meters, and built in 1903.  Much of the hulking structures remain in place, but in various states of disrepair.

 It makes for a cool Sunday stroll.

 

The views on the hike were, unsurprisingly, fabulous.

 

Here,  Lola and Michael taking a water break.

 It's easy to forget how green Hong Kong can be!

 I thought this particular section, lined with bamboo, was really beautiful.

 Happy hiking!

 Near the end of the hike, there are lots of places to sit, walk and play.

 

 We started our descent pretty much as soon as we reached the Peak.

 

The path down is steep steep steep, at points frighteningly so.

 

When the weather is nice but we don't feel like hiking, we go to the park to look at flowers, play with bubbles, and kick the ball around. 

 

 

 Lola loves balls.  She will try to throw two or three of them at the same time, or else kick them when they roll toward her.  There is a soccer court and a basketball court in the park right outside our apartment, and she gets so excited watching the older kids and adults play on the courts she will sometimes let out a few screams and squeals.  Other times, we can barely keep her from running directly on to the court to partake in the action.  I think basketball may be her favorite. 

When it has been too wet to hike and the grass is wet, we go to the playground at the park.  I bought Lola a really cute yellow raincoat with flowers and clouds on it, and little green galoshes with little dog faces on them, both of which she really likes.
 

One rainy Saturday, we bought her a starfruit from a local fruit stand as we were walking around, then went to the playground to fool around on the slides.  For nearly half an hour, she kept saying "apple, apple" which was very confusing.  Turns out, she meant starfruit.  As soon as Michael pulled it out of the bag, she leapt at it, as if to say, "FINALLY!!" and shouting "apple" triumphantly one more time, she barely let us wash it before she grabbed it.  She lost interest in the playground and instead spent the rest of the outing walking around clutching the starfruit tightly in her hands, gnawing at it earnestly.

 

So I guess that means Lola loves the outdoors, but not as much as she loves her fruit!