Next, we decided to try to skype my sis and her family. We talked with Uncle Travis and Cousin Isaiah, they were at his office. Then we called again and did end up talking to Julie and the rest of her brood (she even got them out of bed for us!). This was refreshing just to see their faces and catch up for a few minutes. Love them. So much.
They are in the middle of trying to adopt from China, and Anna said she wanted to come get Sophia, this was hilarious.
Sophia ended by saying she wanted them to come over to our house. We wish it were that simple, sweetie. And the eyes wet just a little because it is not that simple.
Next we gear up to go outside. Tobin has not been out all week, this would be his first outing. The girls and David go down first, while I feed Tobin and get some stuff together. We spend over an hour watching the girls play, showing Tobin to neighbors and teachers, and we meet five new teachers and spend the entire time getting to know them. One of them asked jokingly what time I taught Sophia 'English' Kindergarten, he wanted to come over and learn too.
Then we walked to eat 'over the bridge' noodles, a local dish we love. We decided to take two strollers (maybe we were a spectacle but it did not quite feel like it). Originally we planned on Sophia always walking and Tobin and Bella on our new stroller which has the buggy board. But the girls had played all morning, it is a little bit of a walk, and we already had Tobin sound asleep in the big hefty stroller that does not have the Buggy attachment on it. So they all rode. It was yummy yummy. Tobin slept on...
After naps some friends came over. Normally Sophia loves these girls, but it took her a while to warm up. She was so stand-offish (her words: 'I am too shy') that I sent her to her room for a few minutes. Part of this was because she had just woken up too. But she warmed up and had fun with them....and they loved on Tobin.
One of these girls talks to our helper quite a bit. It was hilarious to hear from her our helper's reports back to her as to how we deal with a newborn. The custom here is for the woman to basically do nothing for a month or quite longer, she cannot wash her hair, she can only eat eggs and chicken, she must always be clothed in long-sleeves, she should not really go out at all, and a lot of other things we think are a little crazy. This really is supposed to last for 100 days in some places (we have heard). The baby of course is swaddled tight during all of this, should never be exposed to wind or fan, is never planned as to when he/she will eat or whatever, never 'kept awake', etc.
So...we don't follow this custom. And they all think we are crazy too, for not doing so. This is all okay, we don't mind, and we love to tell how we do things and hear how they do things, just cultural learning, but we are not budging (gotta wash my hair! And MUST wear short sleeves in this heat!). My arms get slapped every time I am outside and I am told I need to be wearing sleeves, I don't mind it, but I don't buy it.
One of the things our helper went and told our friend was: 'and he has two fans in the room where he sleeps!!!' We actually do not put the fans on him, but it is 85 degrees in our room where he naps during the day, and the overhead fan is on low, the other one not blowing near the bassinet, this is just for some airflow and trying to cool it down a bit in there. But it was funny to hear her take on it.
And one of the craziest things we do is not have him sleep with us, not even in the same room. We are CRAZY parents, but I am sleeping better at night, and he is fat, so all is okay in the world.
After dinner, we had one of our closest friends and his wife (he just got married) come over. you have seen his face here before. Sophia loves him, it did not take her long to warm up to him and give good hugs, of course it helped they brought gifts.
In general, I am not a huge fan of giving stuffed animals as a gift, the girls have so many. But you have to admit, these are precious dogs, one for each. The girls LOVED them. It was so thoughtful.
And Tobin loved his too.
And the kids are all in bed, I should be menu planning and planning what is next for Sophia's homeschooling, and lots of other things, but I blog on....
