HKG019: Quinn is People, Too!!!!

the bug requested that i take a pic of her...this is her striking a pose

quinn is so rarely without his thomas toy(s)...here, he actually put it down to concentrate on the dirt.

kids waiting for me to make them lunch. they are watching garfield 2, which is surprisingly cute. okay, the animals in it are adorable, and the people are deplorable.

this afternoon at the park, quinn wanted all of sissy's attention and requested repeatedly that "sissy, fa-ow me!!". livie obliged, and eventually so did i (as demanded by quinn). i was the biggest person on the playscape, but quinn didn't care. he screamed with delight every time i came lumbering down the slide or climbed up the mushrooms with him. livie has reached the stage where she'd rather not be seen with me b/c i dampen her cool factor, but even she was happy to have me on the playscape with them. it was fun to join in their games!

peyton f., we are waaay behind in getting transportation pics for you, but i had to get this construction picture for you. this is in the same general area as the "boomer" was last week. this time, they were using a jackhammer. later this week, i will have a picture of the police station motorcycle motor pool for you. even i think that one's pretty cool :-)

my two cuties saying cheese for me

livie's pouting b/c quinn is interrupting her routine

lately, quinn wants to do EVERYTHING sissy does...he's giving it his best shot here, but he's not as much of a monkey as livie is.

this is in the adult exercise area. the intended use is to put one's feet on this thing while holding onto a bar in front of you and then twist back and forth. unless you're two...then the intended use is to sit on it and spin and growl at any other 2-year-old who wants to do the same thing (there was a line, a forced "taking turns", a tantrum, and a slightly early walk home due to this thing. sometimes it sucks to be the adult ;-p)

livie striking a pose on another piece of the adult exercise equipment...i love how she looks so put out to pose, but she's the one that requested i take a picture of her on this thing :-)

today, while in the elevator, i happened to catch sight of item 1.13 on a list of rules for our apartment building, and it states that no more than 3 people can be in a 2-bedroom apartment in this complex. hmmmm. i am wondering how we got "approved" for this particular serviced apartment...wondering if they didn't count quinn b/c he's a "baby." guess they weren't counting on a GIGANTIC baby ;-p

today was pretty low key. per livie's request, we played at a smaller, closer park this morning, and that turned out nicely. i met 3 women and their toddlers there, and i enjoyed speaking with them and even learned a few things. one of the women is a Caucasian hong kong native (hongkonger)....the first that i have met so far...she gave me some invaluable insight about living here. surprisingly, she had two children with her (i can count on one hand the number of times i have witnessed an aiyah or other adult with more than one child in their care while out and about), and she had one child in a stroller. we had some good conversation about that. you see, hong kong is not at ALL stroller friendly. at all. it's extremely difficult to get around with q in the stroller. i have purchased a hip carrier to use when i am alone with the kiddos, and i will probably soon buy one of those backpack harnesses. quinn can actually walk a long way with us, and he's gotten better about staying with us, but he will still dart off in his own direction. in a crowded place with a lot of motor traffic, this is a no-go. livie does awesome...stays with us, manages to walk long distances, and doesn't really complain much about the long distances. she got a lot of compliments from the ladies at the park today about how helpful and mature she was; that made her day.

the last few days have been tough. the honeymoon period that i predicted to be about four weeks? yeah, i was a couple weeks off in my estimate. we have been here 19 days, and the last few days have just been HARD. i miss my friends...badly. i miss my parents and my brother and sister. i miss my dogs and my cat. i never really thought about how much my fur babies are part of my zen...they are integral to my efforts to relax and unwind - from walking the dogs to rubbing baby kitty's soft cheeks, chin, and tummy while she makes herself comfy on my lap. i am SUUUPPPEERR tired of iving in the closet...we are on top of each other all the time, and it's impossible not to have this place a wreck.

it has become very apparent that our social life with the kids is going to be dictated by school. there are no children over 2 out and about during the day...they are in school*. we had planned to hold off on sending either child to any kind of school until it was time for livie to start year 1 (during the year that she turns 6, which is 2012). i had planned to homeschool livie for what would be kindergarten in the states (kindergarten is not compulsory here, and we were going to take advantage of that and save some $$ (school is VERY expensive here...oh, and homeschooling is illegal!)). well, that's not looking like the best plan. josh and i have started researching kindergartens for livie (like preschool in TX), which is a daunting task in and of itself. the application process for ESF and other international schools for when she starts year 1 also is daunting...we have to have one firmly chosen no later than september 1...and on top of that, there's a rigorous interview process in which a child can be rejected...what then?!? what in the world do you do if the school in your neighborhood rejects your kid?!?!!?!?

i know that once we settle into our new apartment and into the new town/area that things will be easier again. no matter how tough this week has been, there have still been many fun and rewarding experiences...and there are SO many more to be had. i'm just feeling blue missing all my friends and the ability to see them on more than my computer screen :-) not only is livie's social life dictated by school, but so is mine. anyone who knows me even a little knows i know no stranger. if a person is standing still within a 5-foot radius of me, i am going to start talking to them. that is not possible here...much because of my lack of cantonese, but also because it's just not part of this culture to be so open/friendly.

so, texas friends, set up your skype accounts and be prepared to be inundated with skype requests :-)

tomorrow is a new day...one in which i intend to master the bus 19 and 8 schedules so that i can get me and the kids to something called jumpin' gym, U.S.A. it sounds a lot like extreme fun...we need some extreme fun...and a hot dog. i saw a dude walking down the street with a hot dog dripping with ketchup and mustard this evening, and i almost started following him to ask him where he got it. i am reasonably sure he got it from a 7-11 on our street. have i mentioned that 7-11 and circle K are viral here?! they are EVERYWHERE. i find this SO strange.

oh, and josh took pity on my stressed out self and sent me off by myself this evening for an adventure after dinner. i went in search of books..found one about labor issues in china and one by one of my favorite authors, harlan coben. i won't be buying books often here because it's an expensive venture and we won't have the storage space, but i don't have an ID yet and can't take anything out of the library. i just finished The Slap, and i NEEDED something to read tonight. those of you who are book worms know EXACTLY what i mean.

*okay, i can't paint it as all gloom and doom. livie has made several friends : laura, lionel, manuel (and a brother), jack, sebastian, and isabella. the kicker is that we don't see these kids unless we are at the park before 9 a.m. or after 4:30 p.m. the afternoon "time slot" is super easy...we usually are at the park between 4:30 and 6 in the evenings. the morning time slot has become much tougher. the first week or so when jet lag had us all waking up very early, it was no problem to be at the park early. now that we've settled in, the kids are back to sleeping a more "normal" schedule and waking between 7 and 8. we eat breakfast pretty slowly. if we are not at the park before 9:30, we will not see kids over 2. livie has really been very patient about this and has had a great attitude about it. but i know my social butterfly would be THRILLED to have more big kids to play with on a regular basis...thus our leaning toward putting her in school.