One last post for the day

The Mandarin tutor called me, having just returned from China. I still couldn't get over her asking price of 500 Baht an hour, that is over 14 USD (I pay 3 USD in China), I made way less when I worked at Sylvan Learning Center as a tutor with a college degree....but...it may be worth it, we are not sure. We discussed some things on the phone, then I asked her to switch to English because I couldn't understand her reasoning for the high cost. No wonder, it had something to do with her work permit for living here, and all Mandarin tutoring here is expensive, they have to make a certain amount, and on and on. I had gotten some of this, but not the whole gist. Makes some sense. She said she would take 400 (11 USD) when I offered a lower price. We are only really considering this because a) we know if she is good it will be SO helpful for Sophia, who was doing so well with Chinese and b) we just received a wonderful gift (to be used for personal use) from a wonderful supporter that would be well spent on this (thanks DH, so awesome and helpful). We will do a trial day this Tuesday and see how things go.... we will let you know.

Zoo pics

The Giraffes, you could walk up on a platform so you could be at eye level.

He is taking a little look at Sophia too...

these baby goats were adorable...


...unlike these giant rodent looking things. don't even know their name. they kind of remind me of the rats that David and Tim Chilton killed in our old kitchen in China.

here is the perspective of how big these things are.


A very LARGE snake, the Anaconda, Sophia not much phased by it, of course the glass helped.

give a little shout out to the black bear...

and those hungry hippos (wow, they are large, and very dangerous did you know they kill more people than any other animal in Africa, I learned this off of the discovery channel I think, my facts could be wrong, they are still amazing)

Sophia thinks she loves all animals but close up to any of them, and, well, not so much. David was showing her how to feed the elephant. She squirmed and tried to wiggle away...

then said "I don't want it" meaning, "I don't want to feed this huge beastly thing or even be this close to it, please back up daddy."

Bangkok Dusit Zoo"

We decided on a family outing for Saturday, the zoo. Now Bangkok has some nice places to go, Safari World, an hour and a half away, a farm even farther, Siam Ocean World right down the street but very expensive. We opted for the zoo in the city. It didn't get great reviews, but we didn't care, we were only going for a few hours and to spot some sort of live animals...
It was perfect. Plenty of animals, not dirty, so affordable (less than 10 USD for all three of us), and Sophia had a blast. We saw Giraffes, bears, tigers, lions, turtles, fish, snakes, monitor lizards (I have an awesome fearful respect for these creatures, they can eat you you know?), elephants, kangaroos, and on and on....Yes it was hot, but overcast so not nearly as hot as it could have been. Right when you are into oversweat mode you meet the indoor snake exhibit with great AC (and some empty cages, watch your step...). We ate an early lunch at KFC, yep right there in the middle of the zoo, then we headed across the lake for elephants and kangaroos to top off our morning. We were back home by 1pm exactly and Sophia and I took a good nap. This zoo is certainly more for locals, not much was in English, that was fine by us, the bathrooms, complained about in reviews, were very clean squatty potties, but then I am used to China, so I was pleasantly surprised. Altogether a wonderful family outing!




what a girl. "Sophia, choose one cup and one bag to take to the zoo, you can't take it all". This was a little struggle, she opted for the backpack and the blue cup.

follow up

How is boot camp? well... the first day started with little Sofa waking at 5:15. She has been getting up around 6:30 for a month now, when it used to be standard 7:30, but 5:15? come on...I brought her in bed with me. It was Friday, Daddy went to work (he has consistently been going to 'work' from 6 a.m. until noon to be most productive, it has worked great). By 7:30, time for Breakfast, little girl refuses to go in her chair for breakfast. The discipline begins. She is screaming at the top of her lungs when I try again and again to put her in, after discipline. After 25 minutes, much discipline, and continued resistance, I call for back up (I am so exhausted because neither Sophia nor I nor David of course went back to sleep after 5:15). David comes home and continues, at least ten more exact replays of what I just went through. I am almost in tears. Then we say fine, no breakfast, no food of any kind until you eat your breakfast....nada, nunca, zero! We are really unsure of whose will is stronger at this point, did we cave? maybe, but we also certainly made some enemies on the hall...
Sophia and I went out for about 30 minutes, it is still only 8:30ish, close to nine. We come back in and she acts like she wants to eat her breakfast, she fusses going in her chair but that lasts a minute, and she eats her breakfast, not tons of it, but enough. Lunch? no problem, dinner, no problem. wowzers. She still is not eating super well, but she is eating, slowly and with some coercion, eating what we give her most of the time. But here is the kicker....we realized after day 3 of not eating well that she is constipated....is all this our fault after all, not a great veg filled diet? possibly. She has refused straight up juice, prunes, etc. but she did drink some of our green smoothie (spinach, OJ, mango, pineapple), and she has eaten grapes and raisens. Tomorrow we see the doctor....pray for poop.

Poppy and CC's room

I took Sophia with me to talk with the hotel staff about which room to book for Poppy and CC. I had them show me the room we were thinking of booking. I told Sophia as we went in what we were doing, she said, 'oh, a new room....' and looked around. 'not our new room, it will be Poppy and CC's room,' 'oh, Poppy and CC's room...' she looked around some more....and exclaimed ' I LIKE it!', The lady showing me the room about fell over laughing, and when we returned to the lobby she told the other staff. Sophia entertains these folks every day, every time she gets off the elevator she says the Thai greeting, and they all eat it up! Who wouldn't with those curls and sweet grin.

Picky, quirky, spoiled NO MORE...

Tomorrow we are putting Sophia through some boot camp lessons on eating, obeying, etc.
Let me just preface this by saying in general she is a very good girl. But of late, (right upon her 2 year bday next month), she is a fit throwing, non eating, whiny, but very beautiful little girl....
Now, She did just get over a throat infection, so we were a little lax, but she had been eating and sleeping fine...then, two nights ago: "I don't want moo moos" "I don't want big girl bed." What in the world? If it is one thing Sophia has always been good at, it is going to bed, without needing much of anything. We had to lay with her. screaming in a hotel/apt is okay sometimes but not often and not at the pitch her little lungs and vocal chords can make. So for 2 nights and one nap she did this, we lay with her (David with his headlamp and books) until she goes to sleep. I thought for sure she must not be feeling good... who knows. And today again she didn't eat anything... well, gold fish and raisens...seriously. We took her back to the doc (she just finished antibiotics), thinking she must still have an infection: nothing. possibly teething. Good news, and then the realization the burden is completely on us to make her eat and help her be obedient. She will eat if she is in a certain chair, or using a certain utensil, or sitting in my lap (sometimes), or if it is my sandwich and not hers (which are the same). This is how she has been for a few days now, and because I want her to eat I give in to these little things....not tomorrow. I will choose my battles wisely, but this nitpicky (hen tiaoti, a chinese word I now love) demeanor will be overcome. I am just praying my will is stronger than hers (smile).

Love this family

These dear folks used to live in our city and now live elsewhere, their third child is hiding behind them. They were passing through and came to see us, it was such a blessing to reconnect with them. The next day David watched Sophia and let me have some good quality time with Miranda over coffee. She is one of those unique people that always is just real, loving, and a great friend to many. Though we hadn't seen each other in over a year, we could pick right back up and dig into each other's lives. Phil happened to be passing through Bangkok the last time we were here when David was in the Coronary Care Unit, his visit was so timely and encouraging. Like I said, we love this family.