Seven Months...

Hi everyone!

It's naptime and Mum-mum has time to blog. Tomorrow, the Di Man will have been home with us for seven months. It's amazing to see how much he's grown (both physically and developmentally) since he arrived home. He is, for the most part, a very happy, well-adjusted little boy. Ba and Mum-mum have learned that life is never perfect and C does exert his attempts to overthrow and thwart the Heb Republic through his mini-meltdowns (especially when he is extremely tired --- but heck, I'm probably the same when I'm tired...one cranky Mum-mum, just ask Ba).

In the seven months that we've been home, we've seen this little boy more fully develop his personality. He is such an affectionate and loving little boy. Mum-mum is enjoying receiving as many kisses as possible before C grows up & kissing his mom becomes "uncool." Kisses are required each time he is buckled into his carseat, before leaving for the destination.

We have a great deal of respect for single parents. Having E with me as an incredibly attentive parent has been a blessing. We are truly partners in the full sense of the word. At first, Colin needed both of us with him at night to fall asleep (remember at the care center, the kids were never alone - someone was always there with him, both the kids and care caregivers). He couldn't fall asleep in the crib & had to have a blanket on the floor w/ his pillow. We'd have to lay beside him until he fell asleep, then put him in the bed. Consistency was so very important (and tends to still be the case...although if we've been out, C has fallen asleep as long as one of us was in the room with him). As he grew in his feelings of security and trust of us, we were able to transition to him falling asleep in the crib (one very long hour of C crying/sobbing/standing in the crib) w/ both of us sitting on the floor beside the crib, to his new "big boy car bed," to only needing one of us to be with him as he falls asleep. Even in seven months, C cannot fall asleep without one of us being in the room. But, you know what, that's okay w/ me. One day, he won't need us to tuck him in tight, say prayers, or be with him as he falls asleep.

C is also strongly opinionated (like most toddlers I know). He definitely has his preferences in foods/drinks/toys & whether Mum-Mum or Ba is the one who gives him a bath (or puts him to bed - E and I alternate...if I help C w/ bath, E puts him to bed, and vice versa). Last night, C had a meltdown when I suggested that Ba give him a bath & Mum-mum put him to bed (he was insistent on the opposite - and let the screaming begin...so, after about five minutes of sobbing and reaching through the banister railings, it's time to go calm, soothe, and transition into bath). That was okay until Mum-mum informed him that it was time to wash his hair...for which C puckered out his lips and (clearly) and firmly stated (w/ arms folded across his chest), "No hair wash Mum-mum." When Mum-mum insisted C would have his hair washed, she quickly became deluged with water, courtesy of a Dixie-cup water grenade launcher. Talk about Baptism by fire...A two-minute time out (including simple but firm words of reprimand from Mum-mum and Ba), and a hair wash later, Happy Boy returned when Mum-mum and Ba wrapped C with his towel, Ba began rocking him (part of C's bathtime ritual), and he serenaded with "Adelweiss" and "Rock a Bye Baby" (for which he looked at us and said "More!" and smiled).

So in essence, in these months we've learned how important is truly is to learn our child's personality. C thrives in an environment where there is structure (w/ some flexibility being okay...he doesn't meltdown if he isn't in bed at the same time each night...the time change helped us learn that). At the same time, we're getting better at knowing when he's reaching the boiling point and usually can intervene before he bubbles over and melts. C reacts well to distraction (this has come in handy so many times in the past seven months) and knowing the "rules." (I dare say that C has this personality trait because as the oldest in his care center in VL - surrounded by infants - C aspires to be the "enforcer").

He's also very patient (appropriate, seeing that his middle name means 'patient' in VN), especially w/ language. There are times he uses jargon (happens w/ toddlers when they have around 50 words established in their vocabulary) and we don't always fully understand what he's saying. Early on, we worked with him to "show me" what he wanted if we couldn't understand what he was saying. So now, if we don't understand, he says, "show me" and then shows us what he wants.

I am a strong believer in using sign langauge to help in language transition. Early on, I learned a few signs for the most important words (eat, drink, stop, no, more, all done, thank you, cracker, etc.) and when teaching, used the VN word (if I knew it), the sign, and the English word (in that order). He learned the signs (or at least his version of the signs) so quickly. In those early days, the signs were extremely beneficial in keeping both his and our sanity.

We have been fortunate that C has not shown signs of institutional delays. The VL care center was very small, so Colin received so much positive attention and care from his nannies. I personally feel the care he received was one of the reasons he transitioned as well as he did.

You know, we have been so very blessed to be C's parents. Each day is truly a new adventure. The past seven months have passed so very quickly (much faster than I could have ever imagined) and I can only look forward to the lessons and experiences we have yet to gain!

Happy Fathers Day!

I had my first Fathers' Day yesterday. It capped a big week. My parents were down from PA and C kept us all busy.

Wednesday, we went to the Carolina Raptor Center to see lots of big birds. C especially liked the owls. (Today, I had to draw four of them for him). On Thursday, Grandpa ("Pa"), Grandma ("Ma") and I ("Ba") went to the spraygrounds at a nearby park. It's basically a large series of fountains for kids to run through and get wet. It wasn't sunny when we arrived and the water was cool, so it took a long time for C to play in the water. Borrowing a squirt gun from other kids and using it to shoot grandma helped--as did the sun's appearance and the attendant 10 degree jump in the temp. Once he started playing with the jets of water, he had a good ole time. On Friday, we (T was working Thurs & Fri) went to the Whitewater center and walked the trail around the rapids. Several kayakers and rafters were in the water, so there was lots to see to keep us entertained. Saturday, we went to the NC zoo in Ashboro. I've always enjoyed going to zoos. This time, I had the added bonus of going as a dad and enjoying watching C's reactions to the animals. He loved the giraffes, the chimps, and the lizards (oh yeah, and the owl). The otter was mauling a fish close-up when we arrived there--that was a good show! C said, "Eat fish." Yeah, but I prefer my cooked (and without the eyeballs and guts). The sea lions were especially entertaining as we could view them swimming from an underwater viewing area. As they would swim just past us on the other side of the glass, C would do a giddy dance. Very entertaining. We are happy to report to Cousin A that we found the elephant! C was really a good sport. We planned to stay until about 2, but he was having such a great time that we stayed until 4 (and of course, T and grandma needed ice cream before we went home).

(Sea) lions & tigers & bears...oh my!

Sunday was the big day. Though it was Father's Day, that is not what made it the big day. C was baptized. Not only were my parents there, but T's mom and sister and niece H were there too. Pastor W showed C the font, let him test the water, and put some water on his head before the service so he would know what was coming and would be cool with it during the service. He was perfectly composed--during the practice run. During the main event, he refused to go to Pastor W (no surprise), then loudly said "no" when Pastor W tried to put water on his head. The congregation was greatly amused. (And let's face it, the main reason people pay attention during baptisms is to see the antics of the child. Populists that we are, we'll give them some mayhem! Next week, lions and circuses!) At this point, T relieved me of my duties holding C to ensure that the remainder of the ceremony would go more smoothly. Pastor W encouraged C to put his hand in the water to assure him that it was not "hot" and this put him sufficiently at ease so the Pastor could get three scoops on his head. Then Pastor W got out the oil for C's forehead and discovered that toddlers' heads swivel very quickly and make difficult targets. T's friends sung a special anthem in honor of C which added greatly to the meaningfulness of the occasion.

And then, being good Lutherans, we ate! We had the whole family and our good friends J&W (I know they've been jealous of me being "E" for these many months) over for a cookout. For dessert, W brought a strawberry Charl, which for those of you aren't culinary experts is a Charlotte without enough lady fingers to cover the top. (Mobsters probably have a different name for it when someone is missing some digits.) T, however, was concerned that a few missing lady fingers would ruin my fathers' day so had to break out the cake she had baked (well at the insistence of her sister - who does not like strawberry desserts--or most fruit desserts for that matter). Lest you think that we would be too full to eat a second dessert, T&W strategically took 3 or 4 hours to make the icing, so that we would have room (savvy planning!). Two desserts--good deal any day!

C made a storybook from the Playhouse Disney website for he and I to color together as my Fathers' Day present. He made and painted a ceramic handprint for grandpa's present. My card featured a giraffe, grandpa's featured cars. Good evidence that he picked them out; and the other evidence was that when we opened the cards, he wanted to keep the cards (he liked them so much)!

Sunday evening we went to the Charlotte Symphony (why someone would name the symphony after the cake in the preceding paragraph is entirely unclear to me. The tuba players, however, seemed to have all of their fingers...). Grandma and Grandpa, as long time musicians, were stunned and impressed that 10,000 people would show up for an orchestral concert. Of course, 10,000 show up to eat, yak, and gawk at others who are eating, drinking and gawking; the music is somewhat incidental. Usually we rely on the conductor to provide the comic relief--and he didn't let us down--but C and his new friend A danced the night away, much to our amusement. Let the record show that he did not dance the Macarena. There is still some sanity in this world!

"Ma, 'raf..." ("Look Grandma, there's a giraffe" in Colinese).

So You Think You Can Dance?

Today was house cleaning day for everyone, C included. The good thing about this age is that if we ask, "Do you want to help Ba and Mum-mum," you receive an emphatic "YES" or C's newest catch-phrase, "Yeah, sure." So very stinkin' cute, indeed. Let's hope this trend continues through the teen years.

So, C wanted to help Ba clean the floors. In true toddler fashion, C loved dunking "his" cloth into the water but made sure Ba knew the water was hot. That boy was a lean-mean-cleanin' machine, no doubt about it.

Normally, when we are doing a bottom to top cleaning of the house, I play music, usually a CD. Today's selection was Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits. Well, let's just say after hearing a few of the groovin' tunes by Stevie, C decided he needed to get his groove on. He ran from the kitchen, into the living room, and shook his tail feathers with an impromptu dance partay. I thought to myself, "this MUST be documented for posterity" (or least Grandpa and Grandma), ran upstairs, grabbed the video camera, ran downstairs, and caught C in the act (well, part of the act...he apparently gets stage fright when Mum-mum has any electronic equipment at the ready).

My plan was to upload the video to You Tube and link but...aghast, we don't have the necessary equipment to transfer the video to the computer. Bleh! Guess I know what that means...Gotta get my geek on!

Elmo's World...

Okay, so apparently I'm going through another metamorphosis thanks to E's last post. I am now (well, for now until C decides to change my name again - it's hard to say what will change more, my name or my hair) drum roll please..."Mum-mum." Phonetically speaking, E is technically more accurate in his spelling of my name. Plus, you have to admit, "Mum-mum" looks too darned cute for words.

Anyway, C's calendar was full today. After a leisurely breakfast w/ Ba, Mum-mum awoke to hear the giggles rising from the room below. "The boys" were sitting on the futon in the "playroom" where C was thoroughly engrossed in Ba's interpretative reading of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (guess he's holding out Homer for bedtime...) and just how hungry that "pill" (Colin-ese for caterpillar) was. In my haze of waking at the early hour of 7 am (note, Mum-mum is the night owl of the family...that's what I get for having a Mom who worked waaay too many years of night shifts; second note, note the time of this blog entry...), I dust the cobwebs out of my ears to hear C clearly stating the colors of most of the things the "pill" is eating. Yes, our favorite Di Man has mastered most of his basic colors and becomes giddy, sometimes celebrating with his "Happy C Dance" (think Snoopy folks), as he triumphantly names colors of objects.

E is attending a workshop on teaching large classes all week, so Mum-mum and the Di Man are tag teaming for toddler fun. Today's festivities started with a not-so-silent protest regarding Mum-mum's choice for C's attire, capitalized by the now infamous, "I do it" chant for toddler autonomy and solidarity. Fortunately, C's attention was diverted toward a very strange (yet, strangely entertaining) show called, "The Upside Down Show" on Noggin...and Mum-mum was able to help the C man dress while the main characters of the show were searching for a rogue, cowbell.

Mondays are typically playgroup days from 10-12 but Mum-mom and C had to make a brief detour to Mum-mum's office to make sure no students had shown up for a class she had been scheduled to teach. Guess no one wanted to take a class from 9-1:30 pm on Mondays for 10 weeks this summer, eh?

Anyway, C and his trusty sidekick (driver, chaperone, concierge...take your pick) arrived to playgroup at a local park around 10:30 to celebrate S's and J's (two brothers) birthdays. S turns 3 this month. J turns 1 this month also. Playgroup also meant C got to play with his other buddies: M, K, and A. There were also some new friends as well. C quite enjoyed his fruit & piece of Elmo cake (sans Dorothy, of course). Agog and aghast...it was very windy and cool in the shade (and Mum-mum had forgotten C's jacket). So, what's a mom to do? Why remove her jacket and place said jacket on her son. At first, it looked like C was wearing a straight jacket (V-8 moment...why didn't I take a picture?) until the sleeves were rolled up.

My tropical prince still does get chilly more easily than me (as manifested by him saying "cold" and doing his shiver dance...not to be confused w/ the Happy C Dance).

So, after yummy food at the birthday party...it was time to return home for a much needed nap - albeit a much shorter powernap than his usual marathons of slumber. This afternoon found us searching for more "pills" and sandbox fun.

The evening's festivities concluded with an introduction to the "Potty Book," complete with magnetic stickers that can be used to celebrate the expulsion of bodily fluids into the porcelain goddess (hey, it has been awhile since our last poop reference, don't cha know...), sharing of a homemade strawberry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream (or "keem" - in Colin-ese), for which C dictated who would receive the next bite..."C" "Ba" "C" "Mum-mum" "C" "Ba" "C" "C" "Mum-mum"...you get the drift.

Now for the pictures....

Note the fabulous haircut C received this past Saturday.

If only Mum-mum could interpret toddler-ese...she's sure there would be an answer to life, the universe, and everything!

And we'll have fun, fun, fun until our Mommies take our sandbox away...

Happy Mum-Mum Day!

Happy Mum-mum Day (in Colin-ese) to all you moms out there. As a Mother's Day present, the mysterious E is making a guest cameo reappearance on the blog. And having just entered his spring semester grades, he has a few minutes to write before having to respond to dozens of emails from mystified students who don't understand how they could rarely attend class, not study for exams, not turn in assignments, and be unfairly given a failing grade in the class. (Actually, the ones with failing grades are usually too lazy to protest; it's the Ds and Cs that respond...).

C's langauge is improving steadily. This seems to be helping him be more open and at ease in public. His lastest gems include: "Whoa Cool" and telling a white lie to Ba (that is, saying "No", when asked if he knows that Ba is just making up words to a song--then giggling after his response).

The picture below is from the Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. We stopped there for an educational break on the way back from PA last week. Robert E. Lee and family are buried in the crypt below the chapel. Lee was president of the university following the Civil War and spent his last five years of life there. The photo is from the chapel itself, where an addition was built to house a marble statue of Lee. The chapel is plastered with signs stating "No photographs", but the docent allowed visitors to take one. Colin decided to cover his face as I started to snap our one photo. I decided to take it anyway, knowing that it would be a good goofy and one that we could use to embarass him as he got older: "We could take one photo, and look what you did!" T (the southern belle) thinks he is hiding his face to avoid association with the confederate paraphanalia in the picture.


It was prophesized that C would enter the "mine" and "I do it phase." That day has come to pass. C has developed a vendetta to create his toddler autonomy. Now, if that autonomy will transform itself into potty training, Ba and Mum-mum will be set.

With the recent warm weather, C has enjoyed going outside frequently to look for "more pill" --that is, more caterpillers. He is now consistently naming the basic colors. He imitates his mother by turning ordinary objects into microphones and singing. He imitates his father by reading Plato's Republic on weekends. Next month: The Iliad and The Odyssey.


C, Mum-mum, and Ba really enjoyed our first Mother's Day! Fortunately, unlike her birthday, no puking was involved. C even made mum-mum a special card at church this morning. With his gratuitous use of the glue stick, there are extra, extra special add-ons that are sure to warm Mum-mum's heart for years to come...

Changes they are a comin'

Gotta love the Internet and all the cool things you can learn. Case in point, the new layout of the blog. The header was actually created from a picture taken during our trip in Vietnam (our ferry boat ride to Ben Tre). I've also decided to move the video montages below the posts, to allow the blog updates to be at the top of the blog. Hope you like the changes!

I confess..."Mom Mom" seriously needs to do a better job at keeping up with the blog, especially since C is making incredible strides in the language department, having officially entered the "I do it," "MINE" stage (anyone who has parented a toddler can appreciate that ever growing independence and autonomy that comes with an increasing vocabulary).

I'm working to become more technologically savvy (exploring the world of You Tube) and hopefully will one day be able to upload some video of C! But for now, I hope to have some new pictures (or better yet, another montage) uploaded very soon!

Mater, Monkeys, and Mom-Mom

C is a fully-engaged, active 2 1/2-year-old toddler, full of oh so wonderful "toddler moments." He definitely has Ba's sense of humor (and then some). As his verbal skills have developed, it's amazing (and quite entertaining) to hear words that come out of his mouth. Without any assistance from Ba, Mom-Mom (the woman formerly known as Mama), or Playhouse Disney, C has learned to say such interesting things as "stop that," "back" (while giving us a gentle push to move backwards), "no way," and "up-down" (while raising his arms like Annie on 'Little Einsteins' quickly followed with dropping the hands back down - well, I guess that one was courtesy of Playhouse Disney & his favorite TV show "Little Einsteins" - oh, forgot to add that he also says "Tee Bee" when he wants to watch TV).

He's also developed quite a palate for fruit (I sometimes refer to him in jest as my "fruit monkey"). He goes "ape" (forgive the bad pun) over bananas, strawberries, seedless grapes, and cantalope. Ba has quickly reminded me to write about his new obsession (yes, toddlers apparently go through a phenomenon called "food jags"...which C has fully embraced) with vanilla ice cream (I know, I know, our loyal readers and Di Man Fans are quickly reminding Mom-Mom about C's escapades at Fanny's in HaNoi...) but that boy can throw down some ice cream (Grandma, note that Ba makes sure C eats his fruit before having his ice cream).

I'm amazed how much chow C can consume (gotta love throwing in some alliteration - my former high school English teachers would be proud, albeit momentarily). Typically, C has first breakfast w/ Ba, second breakfast w/ Mom-Mom, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner. This leads me to wonder: if he can eat this much food at his age, what's going to happen when he's a teenager (second job to pay for groceries comes to mind...or that commerical where the mom looks at the teenage son and says, "Are you eating butter??).

What goes in must come out (and then some...). Thank goodness C makes a "poopy face" and is (most of the time) willing to sit on the potty. No, C isn't potty trained (in the least) but at least we receive ample warning before the main event.

C continues being fascinated by cars, trucks, and balls. He also has developed an enjoyment in seeing airplanes flying overhead (apparently, we're in the flight path take-offs and landings for our local airport) and hearing trains (courtesy of "Choo Choo Soul" on Playhouse Disney). He's developed quite an amazing repertoire of animal noises (among his favorites include dogs, cats, and monkeys). Mom-Mom is also proud that he can identify (by pointing on himself & us, and sometimes say by name) approximately 20-30 body parts, including his "axilla," "chest," and "abdomen." The newest addition to the collection this week is his "wrist," which he associates with the watches we wear.

This semester has been interesting for Ba and Mom-Mom. We've been alternating days w/ the Di Man. Mom-Mom has Mondays and Wednesdays. Ba has Tuesdays and (most) Fridays. We tag-team on Thursdays (appointment days). Mondays typically find C going to playgroup with his friends from Charlotte Mommies. C's playgroup is called, "No Makeup Required" (LOVE that name, btw). C looks forward to his Monday "dates" with M and K, as well as his other friends (J, A, C, & C). All Mom-Mom has to say is, "Do you want to go play w/ M & K?" and C gets the biggest grin you've ever seen.

C also quite enjoys the company of friends at church, especially Pastor W's daughter EG. Recently, we've been having dinner at church on Wednesday evenings. At one of the recent dinners, EG sat with us at dinner. C made a hand motion indicating the food was too hot. Ba explained to EG that C likes to eat food that is room temperature (rather than hot) & that he was telling us that the food was too hot. Ba also told EG that we normally blow on the food to cool it off. So, she began blowing on the food. C then handed the fork to EG & she began to feed him.

I'll say one thing about him, our son is one smart cookie. He knows that if a pretty girl wants to help you, you don't say no!

So, now for the BIG NEWS! This evening marked a momentus milestone (seriously, is there a 12-step program for alliteration junkies?) in the Heberlig household. C now has a BIG BOY BED! Even better, the bed is in the shape of a CAR (savvy readers can guess where I'm going w/ this...).

A while ago, a friend from church had asked if we wanted a car-shaped bed (for C). Of course, we were thrilled to accept her kind gift. However, we had to wait for 1) our schedules to match and 2) C to be able to sleep well in his crib. So, today was the stars aligned & the bed arrived. Ba & Mom-Mom spent the evening disassembling the crib (with C acting as construction foreman / supervisor) & assembling the bed (with C's attention being diverted downstairs by the movie, "Cars" - digressing for a moment, C's favorite character from the movie is Mater; he gets a big kick out of the scene where Mater & Lightning McQueen go 'tractor tipping').

While Ba helped C with his bath, Mom-Mom finished reorganizing the room. After bath time, the big moment arrived. C entered the room, saw the car-shaped bed & was very enthusiastic (and vocal) about his new bed. When we helped him climb into the bed, he began making "vroom vroom" noises and moving all around the bed (surveying his territory like any good member of the XY-chromosome species). As you can imagine, it took C awhile to fall asleep (at least Mom-Mom remembered to put his blankets & pillows on the bed & Ba suggested putting the pillow toward the foot of the bed, since C normally slept in that direction in his crib).

Our little guy can finally sleep sideways if he wants (until his next growth spurt, that is...and judging by the amount of food he's eating, that probably won't be long). Speaking of sleep, we have discovered the effects of Daylight Savings Time (and the subsequent time change) on the Di Man. Let's just say that it's taking him an hour longer to fall asleep (at least he slept an hour later yesterday).

So, for your viewing pleasure, we give you C & his new big boy bed!

Each night, C gets to choose a few books for his reading leisure. Some of his favorites include, "Moo, Ba, La La La," "Peek-A-Pet," "Angel Fish," "Dinosaurs," and "Trucks."

Finally, here is the Di Man in his normal, general state of goofiness (probably gets that from Mom-Mom).

Odds 'n Ends

Okay, okay...so it's been two and 1/2 weeks since our last post - shame on Ba and Mama!

You know, at what point do we transition from saying, "C is transitioning quite well" to saying, "He adjusted well'? (after surviving his teen years, I guess). Well, anyway, C is transitioning quite well. He is beginning to have mini-bursts of speaking (and mimicking when we ask him to say words). Grandpa and Grandma were on the receiving end of a mouthful last night when C decided he wanted to talk to Grandpa. There's no telling what "Pa Pa" (or the grandparent formerly known as Grandpa) said to C during the conversation, all we know is that C started giggling (a LOT)! That Pa Pa...

C is definitely becoming a creature of habit. Case in point...normally, he wakes up around 6:30 am (way to early for Mama but Ba, being the good sport & most wonderful husband he is, gets up w/ C & lets her sleep in...) & quite enjoys waking Mama up a little bit later. Well, now that Mama is back to work two days a week, these days require her getting up around 5:30 am. For the past few times, when Mama woke earlier than C, C wakes up, sits up in bed, and pats at Mama's pillow (pleading for Mama to come back to bed....). Of course, Mama knows that she can't go back to bed (although she would SERIOUSLY like to - 5:30 am is for the birds) & tells C that she has to go to work. Well, enough said. C wants to be w/ Mama during her morning preparation for work, meaning Ba has to get up when Mama leaves at 6:00 am (I think Ba's putting in his case for "Sainthood" - Saint Ba, I like the sound of that).

Of course, Mama thinks Ba is quite proud of C being a "creature of habit" and acquiring that "German sense of order..."

Each Monday, C goes to playgroup w/ his (and Mama's) friends from Charlotte Mommies (they rock!). He really enjoys going to his "playdates," especially w/ his "two girlfriends" K & M. All Mama has to say is, "C, do you want to go play w/ K & M?" and C nods & smiles enthusiastically.

With our alternating work schedules, we have really enjoyed being able to be with C & have fun watching his blossom. Last month, C was tested to determine if he had any delays. As we suspected, his only major delay was in his ability to speak. But, as the speech therapist told us, it's amazing how much his language has developed in a relatively short period of time. We've been home less than 3 months & C already speaks at the level of a 15-18 month old. In no time, he will catch up (and maybe surpass...he is one smart cookie).

In the past week, the weather became unseasonably mild. So, we've taken advantage of the warmth & introduced C to a local park. Although he enjoys sliding down the slides (some of which occur without Ba or Mama sliding down w/ him), C really, really, really likes playing in the sand (believe it or not, he gets DIRTY). On Saturday, C was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave & especially didn't want to have his diaper changed (well, that's his typical...but the diaper was seriously full - may have to change his nickname to the "Soggy Bottom Boy"). When we finally convinced him to leave, the family had dinner at our local Vietnamese restaurant (YUMMY!!!).

C received his second "official" haircut (Grandma had the honor of the "first"). Any amount of trim is considered a small victory in the "Hair War of 2008" that is developing. C does NOT like having his hair trimmed...especially around his ears. For Mama's minor victory, C was rewarded with a sucker (as seen below):


C also enjoys drawing and doodling on his new artboard. The board is pretty cool. There are magnetic letters & a clipboard for putting his drawing papers upon. He was so happy to play w/ his new board that he willingly permitted Mama to take his picture:

Grandma and Grandpa brought some of E's childhood toys with them during their last visit. Of all the toys they brought, E's "Batmobile" is by far one of C's favorites.

Finally, here's C at playgroup w/ one of his "girlfriends" M. Mama calls this picture, "WWF, playgroup style" (no children were harmed in the making of this photo...). Both C and M were little "giggleboxes"...

Well, that's it for now. Wednesday finds us making another trip to see Dr. D (and another vaccine...Mama is not going to score any brownie points). Thanks for dropping by!

The Perils of Poop

Mama's Log:

Lunch time saw the praises of poop. For the second time, the Di Man successfully navigated the intestinal highway and jettisoned his products into the potty (thanks "shoufun" - it's just the right size). So, naturally, Mama propels poop praises galore!

After lunch, the Di Man lays down for his afternoon recharge. Two hours later, Mama's "spidey sense" alarms (i.e., mewing cries from the crib caught before the onset of the full-volume, full-throttle, toddler sobs). Mama enters the room to see her little dude laying in the crib - half awake, half asleep. Yes, the Di Man cometh awake (partially).

Mama sensing the tiredness of the Di Man, asks if he wants up or to go back asleep. No answer...peculiar, very peculiar indeed (not the typical response one would expect from a toddler who is normally very opinionated and vocal in this department). Moments later...strange sounds awaken from South of the waistband border. Not once, twice, or three times...yes, count 'em, four flatus -- hmm, or is that flati -- (farts for you non-medical people).

All I can say is thank goodness I've dealt with worse in nursing (anyone who's taken care of patients w/ C. diff or GI bleeds will agree) and that the Di Man is still a toddler (smaller amounts). So, down to the mat we go. Full diaper but fortunately, no leakage.

Time warp - 2 1/2 hours and two diaper changes later... Another "gurgle in the gut" - by this time, Mama realizes Midwesterners have more time to react to horns sounding tornado warnings than she has in dealing with the Di Man's current lack of intestinal fortitude. But, third time was defintely not a chart...yep, the Di Man had "leakage" and after a massive cleanup on aisle two involving a complete change of clothing & sheet covering the changing mat, Mama discovered the Di Man had a low grade fever to boot.

So, let's just say Mama is NOT a pediatric nurse (I work in the "land of the giants"). Call placed to the pediatrician's office - time to speak w/ the triage nurse. Brain cells cleaning the cobwebs in the section of my subconscious that hosted the peds nursing class taken 10 1/2 years ago...BRAT diet?). Fortunately, appointment available 1st thing in the am w/ Dr. D. Even better, clear instructions on what to do (NO JUICE, NO FRUIT - keep him hydrated). Ba finally arrives home & the baton is passed on to the next shift (nice night for a meeting, eh?) after starting a load of dirty laundry.

So, after a few bites of crackers and some sips of milk for dinner with Ba, we later finds the Di Man asleep and Mama working to identify ways to ensure our favorite little dude avoids the villainous clutches of "Dehydration Man" (fortunately w/ only one additional episode tonight for Ba...isn't he lucky?) and Mama having an insomnia jag...

May the force be with our Little Dude! At least he gets to see Ba and Mama get "shots" from those mean ole' nurses tomorrow when we receive our final "travel vaccinations" (yes, ironic that we get our last series of injections after our overseas travel is complete, eh ).

Stay tuned for the continuing chronicles of Mama, Ba, and the Di Man (and blog entries that don't involve poop).

The Praises of Poop

Today was a momentous day in the Heberlig household: Colin went poopie in the potty (seriously, never in my life did I ever have this much discussion about gastrointestional patterns before becoming the parent of a toddler).

While getting a few extra, very precious moments of sleep this morning, "the boys" were sharing "first breakfast" time together. E noticed that Colin wasn't chowing down on his banana like he normally does. Colin apparently also started making his "poopy face." So, after realizing what was going on, E asked Colin if he'd like to go to the potty.

Fortunately, E and C arrive to the potty chair in the nick of time, after getting the jammies & diaper off (C was wearing his one-piece footie jammies). Thank goodness, since the Di Man had a huge BM (that would have probably leaked out of the diaper).

So, after "clean up on Aisle One," E brought Colin upstairs to tell me about the big event of the morning. Being quite a proud Mama, I made a big deal out of his achievement. Colin was too cute because he was so proud of himself (end result being a big hug to Mama from her favorite little dude).

Considering we haven't begun officially potty-training Colin, I consider this a major victory on the parenthood front! Guess all those times of never having time alone in the bathroom because Colin insisted on escorting us to the bathroom in VN and here at home are paying off.

In other news, today was a beautiful day in Charlotte (a very unseasonably warm day). So in the spirit of "Carpe Diem," we took Colin for a walk (umm...guess ride would a more accurate description since Colin wanted nothing to do with walking and everything to do with riding in his stroller) on the Greenway. Of note is Colin's continued fascination with animals (dogs) and airplanes, both of which he saw a lot of this afternoon. Every time Colin would see a dog (no matter how far away it was), he would try to reach out to pet the dog. A few times along the way, the owners of the dogs would mistake this for Colin waving to them. As they would pass and say "Hi," Colin would wait until they passed by (out of sight), then say "Bye."

Speaking of speaking (in the immortal words of Dirty Harry), Colin "made my day" earlier this week. I had to stop by the office to pick up some books. As I called E to let him know that I was coming home, Colin indicated that he wanted to have the phone (usually resulting in him listening and no talking...a 180 from his Mama's normal pattern). So, expecting the norm, I began talking to him. Lo and behold, he spoke (granted it was to say "Pat, Pat, Pat" when I asked if he and Ba watched "Little Einsteins" but words they were - for those of you unaware of the show, the characters say "pat" and pat their laps to help their rocketship blast off). He also said "Hooray" when I asked if he was happy.

Of course, we can't end this blog entry without the picture of the day! Hope you enjoy...

Holiday Hijinks in the Heberlig Household

Well, the holidays are over & we have some fun stories to tell. You'll find a special present of many pictures embedded within our first blog entry of 2008!

Colin, Ba, and Mama have survived our first Heberlig Holiday season! And let me tell you, the Di Man is mean, lean, package unwrapping machine. Our holiday hijinks began at the home of T's mother (code name "Mawmaw" to differentiate her from E's mom, code name "Grandma"). As you can tell from the picture below (taken at Mawmaw's house), Colin was quite enthralled with finding surprises inside the presents he received (better than a Cracker Jack box, believe you me).

One of the main surprises at Mawmaw's came about when we discovered that Colin may become a good ol' Southern boy after all. At dinner that evening, Colin chowed down on a heapin' pile of breaded fried okra (egad, don't even think Mama is going to fix these at home).


Instead of leaving on a jet plane, Ba, Mama, and Colin packed up T's car to the brim and ventured north. Our first stop was Laurel, MD, where we were able to meet Miri (Colin's best buddy from the VL orphanage who was adopted by the V's in July). OMG is she just too cute for words, or what? After taking a bit of time to bypass the "toddler syndrome" (and those of you who have or have had toddlers in your life know what I'm talking about), Colin and Miri had a fun time playing together (at least until Miri's two older brothers & friend decided to come upstairs and play...Colin and Miri wanted to play w/ the big boys).


Another car ride found us arriving to stay overnight w/ Uncle Joe and Aunt Helen. Although this picture was taken at home before our travels, Colin has quite diversified his dining experience. Anyone who has had the pleasure of eating Helen's cooking can certainly understand why Colin was not a fussy eater.

The next day, Colin had the opportunity to meet his Great-Grandmother. After a bit of toddler shyness, Colin turned on the charm & like the gentleman he is, took Great-Grandma for a ride.

We arrived to Grandpa and Grandma's house. As with our first meeting back at Thanksgiving, Grandpa was an instant hit w/ Colin. And, of course, Grandma's cooking was a hit, especially sweet potatoes (I have never seen a little guy put down that much food...whoa). One day during playtime, Grandma came across E's old hats, including his Mickey ears. Mama decided it would be fun to have Colin wear the hats...let's just say I was fortunate to snap this picture quickly enough before he decided to make a game of tipping his head forward to watch the hat fall off his head.

Christmas morning arrived and, oh the lessons one learns from experience (you know, that 20/20 hindsight thing). Colin had quite a few presents to open. Yes, he had fun ripping the paper but our little guy wanted to open each present and proceed to play with the toy or look at the book (note the look of excitement below upon seeing the doggie). Seeing we had to travel at lunch to visit the "Fay Clan," we hurried Colin to the next present, rather than allowing him time to enjoy each present. So, lesson learned...next Christmas he opens a few presents & we save the rest for other days...a good way to really celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas (without all the bird poop from those silly calling birds, French hens, turtle doves, etc.).

When we arrived at lunch, Mama decided to give Colin an opportunity to wear one of the Ao Dai's she purchased for him in VN. Ba would have rather had him wear the other outfit in this size but w/ cold weather abounding north of the Mason-Dixon line, long sleeves were in order. He had so much fun (after getting over another case of toddler shyness, of course). And, as usual, chowed down on Aunt Helen's delicious meal.

We ended the evening's festivities by gathering the clan together for a family photo (well, tried to anyway...apparently Uncle John had decided to go AWOL and be MIA during the action).

Colin finally was able to meet his Aunt Julie (and Baby Fox in-utero), Uncle Kevin, Cousin Ashley, & Tyson the dog. Ashley was too funny. When they were opening presents, Ashley looked at her mommy and said, "I need more presents." Ah, the wonderful nature of toddlers and American capitalism, all wrapped in one cute little package. Ashley also taught Colin how to say "cheese" and sport the mack daddy cheese grin.

As you can tell by the picture below, Uncle Kevin was also a big hit w/ Colin.

So, the holiday hijinks halted and the Heberligs found themselves safely at home (after what became a 12-hour drive in really yucky weather and a pit stop at a Cracker Barrel - laugh of the night came when Eric took Colin to see the fireplace in the restaurant. As he approached the flames and felt the heat, he put his hand to his forehead and said, "Phew."). Mind you, the story doesn't end there....but tonight's blog does!

We've Got a Floater

Mama's Log - 10 minutes ago.

Ba and C had settled into the nightly routine of bath time (complete w/ all of the following: 2 toy ducks, 1 blue boat, 1 green boat, 1 green rabbit, 1 orange plastic stick, 1 Dora/Diego Dixie cup, and the shark...all of which must be catapulted into the tub before commencement of the faucet and tepid water). A few minutes into bathtime, I hear Ba call my name & "uh-oh" being emitted from the mouth of the Di Man.

Not knowing what to expect, I enter into C's bathroom to find Ba and Colin looking at me while C was squatting in the tub (rather than his usual stance of sitting). In a scene reminiscent of the great cinematic classic, "The Sandlot," C had (shall we say) an "accident" in the tub...and yes, you guessed it...two (correction from E...three) small "floaters" (think Baby Ruth if you don't get the movie reference).

SuperMama to the rescue... Mama scoops the Di Man out of the tub, trying to avoid laughing hysterically b/c the little guy was quite clingy (and giving the cutest, saddest boo-boo face I've ever seen) and the last thing Mama wants to do is re-traumatize him about bathing (refer to bathing blog entries) and tells him that he didn't do anything wrong (C apparently started saying "uh-oh" in the tub before the big event & Ba thought he was talking about the "shark attack" game that Ba had been playing w/ him).

So, Mama and Ba use cups to "scoop the poop" into Ba & Mama's (to differentiate between the regular toilet & the small potty chair we have for him in the room when he begins potty training sometime next year) potty, ask Ba to drain the water from the tub (note...need to clean said toys) and convinces the Di Man that it is truly safe to go back into the water (cue "Jaws" music), after telling him the "poop is in the potty."

C reluctantly allows Mama to sit him into the tub after fresh water is drawn and a new Dixie cup ceremoniously dives in. Mama again saves the day with a new game of "Dive Bomb Ducks," in which the Dixie cup is half-filled with water, C throws one duck (then two) into the cup & Mama proceeds to turn the cup over, resulting in the ducks dive bombing into the tub.

Ah, the joys of parenthood!

Oh, yes...for our loyal readers we present updated pics of the Di Man. The first is from Saturday night at an adoption shower so wonderfully thrown for us by E's colleagues (Aunt S and M (G & Z's mom)). Here, without further adieu is our favorite Little Dude kissing M's cat Thomas (enter sound cue of "awwww" - or according to "Auntie" D..."OMG can that kid get ANY cuter? I tell ya"…:D ).



So, one of my closest friends from Charlotte Mommies (CM) and her family came to our house last night to "stork" us. "Storking" (or "The Stork Club) is a tradition on CM when a mom delivers a new baby (or brings a new bundle of joy into the home through the miracle of adoption), her friends in the the CM community gather together to feed her and her family! Usually this involves delivery of food every other day for 7 days (and believe you me...we've had some very YUMMY meals over the past two weeks).

But I digress...(focus, focus, focus). So M "kicks it up a notch" and brings the family over for dinner at our house (alterior motive...it was time for W and C to finally have a playdate). M, B, and W arrive...C looks up at B (who is VERY tall btw) and immediately raises his arms and wants B to hold him (the view must be better up there :D). Very cool indeed.

Side note...I found it hilarious that by the end of the evening (and after a delicious meal) that each little guy ended up sitting beside or on the lap of the other little guy's father. So, here we have C & B playing toss (C throwing the "boms" to W & E).

Yes, that is two balls in my son's hands...

Return of the Vamp

Okay, so jet lag is SO officially over and I'm back to my normal pattern of not being able to fall asleep before midnight (a stark contrast to the nights when we first returned when I crashed before 9 pm). Those years of working evenings & nights (the "vamp" shift as I like to call it) have created this Vamp you all (hmmp...I mean y'all) know and love so well.

Having a toddler who wakes up during the night to sobs and/or wails, only to immediately quieten when Ba or Mama pick him up is fascinating. It's amazing to see this little guy blossom. He's quite the resilient little fellow (and a natural born charmer, as many of my Charlotte Mommies friends will attest).

Last Friday, C had his sutures (stitches) removed & his first flu shot (for which he was rewarded w/ a sticker...C absolutely LOVES stickers of any shape or form). That afternoon, the Heb clan headed off to see the fabulous "Auntie" Donamari for our first family photo session at a nearby park. Guess because Mama was the baddie who helped the mean ole' people give him a 'boo-boo' on his leg, the afternoon photo session began as a "Ba day." Fortunately for Mama, C quickly forgot about the boo-boos when allowed to run about the park. He was a man on a mission to have fun and, oh boy, was the mission accomplished! C even found a friend to play w/ at the park...another little boy who shared his Matchbox-sized toy car & bus w/ the "Di Man." C returned the favor by sharing his blue "bom" that he received from family friends in PA.
We had a chance to see proofs of the photo shoot & can I say again how "fabulous" Donamari is? She is one of my favorite people. "C's Crazy Italian Aunt," as she calls herself. She began her family through adoption and has a special place in her heart for adoptive families. Many of you will soon be able to see the beauty of her work in the holiday/adoption announcement card that will be heading out via Snail Mail. http://www.capturefotography.com/ (little shout out to ya' d.)
This week has been quite fun for the Heb clan but overwhelming at times for C, especially when 60+ of my nursing students (okay, okay...technically former students since they finished NURS 228, practicum, and graduate tomorrow - CONGRATS btw, December Class of 2007 & good luck w/ boards) were sitting in the student commons area & greeted him w/ lots of oohs and aahs when we stopped by my campus to visit my coworkers. But, like the trooper he is, he didn't cry...simply uttered one of his favorite toddler words, "NO."

E had finals this week, so has been busily grading papers (one of those profs who give essays exams...guffaw - me, personally I've been the multiple choice queen). But not so busy that he doesn't find time for C. Just the opposite, in fact. E always has time for C if C is in a "Ba mood." You know, nothing beats having a toddler come to you, give you a hug, then pucker up those "pouty lips that would make Angelina Jolie jealous" and plop a big wet one on you. Ah, the joys of Motherhood (the rewards far outweight the mini-meltdowns that sometime occur). Although my niece H may want her "two front teeth" for Christmas, Santa came early to our home this year & gave us a wonderful gift that keeps on giving!

So, we had some more playdates this week. I find it interesting that b/c of C, I now know more of my neighbors than I ever did BC (Before Colin) and definitely more of the neighborhood kids. C is well-loved by the J's (3 adorable siblings who's first names all start w/ the letter J). The older two J's stopped by after being dropped off by the school bus (which C finds really fascinating btw) and brought two additional friends (S & P....very cute girls, not of the stock market variety) to meet C. Of course, C played the "shy boy" role...which resulted in the girls agreeing that he was definitely cute (hmm...has C already learned the fine art of wooing the ladies - I am so in trouble come preschool).

Well, C is waking up (one of several tonight), so we'll bring this entry to an end. Enjoy the most recent photos of your favorite Little Dude and ours...the Di Man!

C & "Winston Doggie" (thanks Aunt Suzy!)


Discovering the fascination of seeing yourself in the mirror

Adjusting Made Easy

One of the first steps of the adoption process was to take an on-line course on parenting a child from another culture. Several friends remarked at the time that they would have rather taken such a course than just being handed a newborn at the hospital and essentially told, "OK, it's yours. Go home and raise it." My thinking (after chapter 16 or so) was that our method of conception was completely the opposite of the usual process: many people conceive as a result of a lack of planning, we were having a child after an excess of planning.

Part of our educational process was to read books on toddler adoption. After reading the horror stories on the difficulty of attachment for toddlers, any sane person would have rethought their plan and requested an infant. (Perhaps this is a reason why most people request infants.) The challenges of helping a toddler adjust to a new family in a new culture seemed immense. So when T & I (hmm... a new abbreviation...who could the mysterious "I" be?) received a referral for a toddler, there was some trepidation once the excitement wore off. Adoption professionals apparently understand this completely and therefore give you more paperwork to do to keep you from worrying. Our attitude was that we were prepared for the worst and could still hope for the best.

C's ease of adjusting so far exceeds even the most hopeful expectations I had. The first week, the most significant issue was adjusting to the time change. He wanted to sleep most the day and stay awake most of the night (he gets that from T). He also wasn't eating as much as he was in VN. We thought this was a time issue too--he thought we we trying to feed him at midnight and 6 a.m. In about a week, he had adjusted his sleeping patterns and his eating increased simultaneously. We took a chance taking him to church the first Sunday. Given his desire to be on the go constantly, we feared he wouldn't tolerate an hour long service very well. (OK, Pastor D was preaching, so it probably was somewhat longer...) Yet he stayed quiet throughout the service, clapped along to some of the songs, had a snack during the sermon, and drifted off to sleep by the end. And he did the same the second Sunday as well. He is still a bit overwhelmed by all the people coming up and talking to him.

He is almost always in good moods. T has taken him to play with several other children and he has done really well. He has stayed in his own room through the night once. (Neither T nor E slept well that night as we kept wondering why he wasn't crying and demanding that we bring him to our room. T got up at least once to make sure he was still breathing.)

Our only glitches were a second puking incident (the first was in Hanoi). It occurred when T was chasing him around for a diaper change. This incident was still E's fault as he gave C "too much" mango juice to drink. E is demanding the FDA require warnings be placed on the labels of mango juice containers: "Chasing your child after 1.3 cups of mango juice or greater may result in expulsion of contents." The second glitch--the run in with the fireplace hearth--has already been reported. C survived this incident with his considerable level of resiliance. In fact, he is now quite proud of his "boo-boos" and points them out to any female who might be willing to kiss it to make it better. He also continues to point to his hand to display a boo-boo that has since healed. Hey, if you can get additional sympathy (or extra kisses), why not?

C had his first doctor's appointment on Tuesday. He had blood drawn, so came home with 2 more boo-boos. When Ba got home, C showed off his band-aides immediately. C is in the 75th percentile for height (he gets that from E!!!) and 50th percentile for weight. In addition to blood tests, C also has to have a poop scan (or something like that). T has been putting on her surgical gloves and scooping poop into "specimen containers" (not "viles" for you dunces out there--she's still behind me to correct my appaling ignorance of simple medical terminology...). I'm told the poop scan will reveal the presence of critters (back to E's terminology since he didn't understand the last 5 things that were said to him. Perhaps this is why all the males in my family have lost their ability to hear high range voices...or at least familiar ones.) We go back to the doctor's office on Friday to have stitches removed (E eagerly looks forward to being enlightened by a 2 way medical conversation between T and Dr. D. E knows half the conversation will occur primarily to show off their extensive vocabularies of words that are too obscure even for the SAT.)

E is happy to make a reappearance on this blog after finally finishing the grading of exams and papers that were waiting for him when he returned from VN. Finals are next week, so it may be a cameo. My students wondered how I could be in a tropical region, with temps in the mid-80s most days, and return without a tan. The pale man also avoided malaria, so my German and Irish blood tells me that ditching the tan was worth it.

Bowling, Boo-Boos, and Bandaids

With apologies to Dr. Seuss, with a toddler in tow, you never know the places you'll go...

Saturday was my niece's (H) 6th birthday and H had a birthday bowling party. We packed up the Di Man after he awoke from a VERY short 45 minute nap to take him to his first birthday party. Very exciting times were had by C. He tried his first bites of birthday cake (and, like his Ba, very much likes cake but not the icing) and (more importantly) discovered the joys of intentionally knocking things over with a very heavy ball.

I wasn't sure if he'd like to bowl (silly Mama - boys, balls, and the ability to crash said ball into things) but he had a blast. The kids had bumper bowling & a ramp to roll the ball down the lane. So, the first time I took C up to the ramp he looked a bit perplexed but after being told it was okay to push the ball, he squealed with delight & clapped for himself when the pins were knocked over. Using sign language, C immediately looked at me and said, "more." It was quite amusing trying to explain to him that he would have to "wait his turn" before he could do it again.

The day became even more fun when H opened her presents. C wasn't quite interested UNTIL he saw that H received a pack of cars (for her race car track to "race to the mall"...teach them young the joys of shopping - gotta love America, eh?). H was a doll (and not to mention too cute now that she's lost her two front teeth). She offered to share her cars w/ C at Mawmaw's house (my mom). So, after the party, we drive to my Mom's house & C has even more fun fun fun as he watches the cars go around the track & sometimes crash into one another).

Sunday, started out fine. Went to church & C has his first spaghetti lunch after the service (and more giggles as he made a game out of kicking a balloon back and forth between the three of us & whoever else decided it would be fun). After arriving home, E was talking to Grandma and Grandpa H, while I was on Di Man patrol.

We were having fun playing when C lost his balance and tumbled, head first, onto the brick hearth around the fireplace. OMG, it was like watching a horror movie in slow motion & there was nothing I could do about it. So, poor little guy ended up with a laceration above his right eye just below his hairline. The Mama and Nurse in me instantly collided with the power of a Category 5 hurricane. Nurse T jumping into action to assess the severity of the injury, note that C immediately started crying (i.e., no loss of consciousness) and didn't vomit (no serious head injury), and take measures to stop bleeding (head wounds bleed worse than a stuck pig). But Mama felt this big lump come into her throat, tears well, and a horse kick her in the gut. The only words out of my mouth to E were, "ER NOW." So, E immediately hangs up on the grandparents and away to the ER we go. E did a great job at remaining calm (which helped me calm down...because Mama crying & sobbing made C cry more - once I stopped crying, C went from screams to sobs).

I will say the ER staff at the local hospital were great and C was a real trooper. He was such a brave boy. So, 2 1/2 hours later, C has 6 sutures (stitches) and a bandaid over his big boo-boo. Fortunately (strange word to use), C had a small scratch on his hand last week & Mama taught him about using a Bandaid for his boo-boo. So, now C understands he has a boo-boo on his head & a Bandaid to make it better. And, E called his parents back to let him know that everything was okay.

Even more fortunate, total blood loss was kept at a bare minimum. There were two tiny spots on the kitchen floor (none on the carpet) and two small spots on my shirt.

Today, C and I went to pick up bumper covers for the hearth and now that big, bad fireplace can't hurt C anymore! Tomorrow is our 1st pediatrician visit & I get the pleasure of telling Dr. D how C already has sutures...

C's having a blast bowling w/ Mama's help!

C's looking forward to sharing the cars with the birthday girl!

Fun with cars!!!

What a brave little guy with his Boo-boo and Bandaid...still our Happy Boy!

Misadventures in Parenting

Well, as I've told my friends (and support network) at Charlotte Mommies, I'm chronicling our (mis)adventures in parenting through "Mama's Log" for "The Ongoing Saga of the Di Man." It's been an interesting 11 days since we arrived home in NC. The weather has been typical for NC this time of year...goofy. When we first arrived, temps were in the 70s then quickly took a nosedive to the 40s. Of course, this meant that I had to take C to purchase a "real" winter coat (no comment from the Yankees in the audience, please).

Here are the past "Mama's Log(s)" from my posts at Charlotte Mommies:

Thursday, 11/29/2007
Mama's log...Day 11

Two days of recap coming your way and oh, the places we go.

So, Wednesday morning, C and I are having loads of fun playing with his toys when he decides it's time for Mama to chase him around the house (that boy can create a game with anything...or nothing at all). So, we run around & I decide to go the opposite direction to "catch him." Plan successful...sort of. When grabbing him, I pick him up and spin around in a circle...Based on my blog entry from Hanoi, you can guess what comes next (yes, the return of the regurgitator). Fortunately, quick thinking on my part lands said contents on me, his clothes, and the kitchen floor (instead of the living room carpet) to which he looks up at me and says, "Uh-oh." So, off to bath he goes (with squeals of delight knowing he was getting ready to have fun times in the bathtub).

He's a funny kid. Just thinking back to a mere 29 days ago, he was petrified of bathing in the tub. Now, I apparently cannot take his clothing off fast enough for him to get in the tub.
The afternoon (after Mama had a Chic-Fil-A fix & C discovered the joys of waffle fries) found us visiting Miss Monkey, Ash, and H & having a play date at the Monkey Mansion. Miss Monkey was in her prime, so proud to tell me all about her things. C, being the boy that he is, squeeled with delight when he met Brutus, the dog & had the opportunity to pet Brutus. The first "kiss" Brutus gave C has truly a histerical experience. He sort of jumped back, looked confused, then smiled and proceeded to pet Brutus.

C immediately warmed up to Ash right away & was not a shy boy for very long. We had a really fun afternoon then decided it was time to go out to eat. Can you guess where we ended up? Pho Real... C quite enjoyed his dinner (and especially his coconut juice...second favorite next to mango). My son's alter ego, the Vietnamese Valentino, decided to make a guest appearance when Colin saw a very pretty woman sitting in the booth behind him. He certainly turned on the charm & coyly played shy boy, peeking out to give her a very mischevious grin. During our meal, E unexpectedly shows up at the restaurant w/ some of his colleagues (taking a job candidate for his department out for a meal).

At the end of the night, C said "bye-bye" to Miss Monkey and her court & sent them off by blowing them a kiss (aww factor...+10).

I am proud to say that my son "got dirty" today. One of my friends (who works w/ E at the University) brought her two kids over for a playdate. Since it was so nice outside, we went to the backyard to play on the swing set & slide. Well, since Z & G (the kids) decided to go play in the pile of leaves, C decided to trot along behing them. The next thing I know, he's throwing leaves up in the air and sitting in a big pile of leaves, looking for acorns.

After his playdate, one of our neighbors was walking her three kids on the street. I introduced them to C & my little guy began voluntarily walking down the road. He held the hand of the oldest girl (who was 9). Well, she took to him like a little mother hen. She started naming things & asking C to say what she said (which he did w/ a great big smile). We then walked back to their house at the end of the cul-de-sac & my little guy stayed w/ her, playing w/ the leaves in their yard (hmm, do I hear babysitter in a few years? ).

I've also discovered that my son is a cleaning machine. He loves to sweep the floor & was so happy to help Mama put clothes in the laundry & dryer. Man, if I can keep these habits up when he's a teenager, I'll be set!

For those of you who remember the trauma of the great bath fiasco of November 1st, please note that now Mama cannot take his clothing off fast enough for him to get in the tub! Tonight, he discovered the joys of laying on his stomach and splashing his feet. Man, toddler discoveries are wonderful! Each day is an adventure. I never know the places we'll go!

Tuesday, 11/27/2007
Mama's Log...Day 9

Okay, so thank goodness for turning on the TV long enough to flip to the TV Channel...the only way I had any idea about the day or date of the week.

So, we've been home for 9 days (one minutes it seems like we just stepped off the plane, the next it seems like C has been with us forever). Maybe it's prolonged jet lag, or just the fog that has enveloped my head since I was silly enough to stay up until 11pm last night but (as I told Heather at Target yesterday evening) the MOMMY BRAIN has developed (to which I received a hilarious reply from my CM friend S that it's nice to know that no matter how motherhood comes to you, your brain turns to guacamole). Suddenly, I think I've forgotten everything I ever learned for the past 35 years (except maybe long division). But, as I seemed to have lost all cognitive and adult functions, the fun factor has definitely set in (and I think I've finally developed those eyes in the back of my head...Mama has developed this 6th sense to let her know when the Di Man is starting to become mischevious or test his limits - well, that and a certain grin he gets when he's getting ready to do something interesting).

Today's adventure...Trader Joes. I wasn't sure about how the crowds were going to be yesterday, so I decided to take little man out to TJ's today. Of course, he became exuberent and so excited when he saw all the "boms" (helium-filled balloons...well, to be honest, boms are basically anything round at this point, balls, balloons, etc.). The big event took place in the back of the store where they were giving out the free samples of coffee, cider, and foods (today was BBQ meatballs).

Well, seeing that I didn't have much time to eat (and the fact that Colin ate 1/4 of the top of my english muffin at breakfast & after that decided 2nd breakfast time was so over), I decided to try one of the meatballs. After my sampling, Colin used sign language to say "eat" (anh in VN) & proceeded to pop the entire meatball in his mouth. Five meatballs later, he gives me the "all done" sign (and puckering of the lips). I, shall we say, was impressed. This was the first time Colin voluntarily ate meat (which resulted in me buying the said package of meatballs and BBQ sauce, of course).

And, when all was said and done, the Di Man waved "bye-bye" to the TJ employees at the sample area & blew them a kiss. Gotta love a lip-puckering toddler blowing kisses. Who can resist?

Tuesday, 11/20/2007
When we last left our Mommy heroine, she had overcome the projectile forces of the gastric byway and the liquification of her newly cleansed shirt. As a new day dawns for Mama and her sidekick, "The Di Man" we find our heroes entering...the snot zone.

Yes, Mama has encountered fluids from another realm. Ones that find themselves shooting from the nares with lightning speed, reaching a target destination of the buccosal highway or long sleeve lane. With quick reflexes (faster than a speeding bullet), Mama is able to leap over a tower of 16 blocks to reach the Kleenex just in time to save the day.

But, like every superhero, Mama has her weakness. Superman has Kryptonite & Mama has...Kohl's gift boxes. "Di Man' increased his sidekick knowledge base by learning how to open gifts. Well, the box apparently drew this moth to his flame, resulting in wild laughter and giddy galloping around home base. In his moment of jubilance, "Di Man" suddenly went where no man has gone before, resulting in the box giving Mama a swell papercut between her left eyebrow & nose.

And that was just day one...

Gotta love Motherhood! I wouldn't trade it for the world. Today's festivites included self-medicating with Benadryl 50 mg, taking a trip to the doctor, and beginning a 5 day treatment with Prednisone for a wonderful case of hives...And when I realized that Ba (aka DH) didn't wake our little man this afternoon (his body is still on VN time and we need to get him transitioned to sleeping during the opposite times than he's used to). So, tonight should be really FUN, FUN, FUN (for Ba)

The Di Man was fascinated by birds and planes in the sky!

Tales from the Journey Home

Hmm...grading midterms and research papers that have piled up over the past 3 weeks or telling amusing stories on our blog...wonder which one I'll do? If you're reading this, we both know the answer.

C handled the long flights and long layovers well, overall. He handled the long layovers (4 hours in Tapei, 8 hours in San Fran) remarkably well. In Tapei, he walked the entire length of Terminal C (no, it really is Terminal C--it is not code for anything that I'm aware of) with me, by far the longest he has walked since he's been with us. And most of "people movers" weren't working, so we didn't cheat by riding them; though of course C was excited by moving along w/o having to walk on those that were working. He was especially enthralled by coming to an abrupt stop at the end of the automatic walk way. He couldn't get down the timing of taking that first step, but always kept his balance. We found areas with displays on native Taiwanese animals, over which he ooed and awed. We had to look at each photo twice (some three times). In a display area on Taiwanese culture, there was a display with many Chinese balloons. He had to touch each balloon on the bottom three rows (about two dozen balloons per row); then I had to lift him so that he could touch all the balloons on the fourth row. Even C noticed I was too short to be of much help in reaching the balloons in the fifth and sixth rows and didn't request that we try. We also found a play area with a sliding board. Of course, that was very exciting and it was interesting to see him gain confidence climbing and maneuvering around on the play equipment. T found another passage at our gate who was a nurse and, consumed with joy of discussing nursing for hours for the first time in 3 weeks, didn't seem to notice that C and my "short walks" took over an hour--twice.

C insisted on coming with me to the bathroom. But then he decided he didn't like being enclosed in the small stall, so opened the latch. I preferred to have the latch closed, for obvious reasons, and flipped it back. So C and I continued to go back and forth with the lock for several minutes. Then came a voice with an Indian accent: "Are you alright in there? Is the lock broken? Are you trapped? Should I call someone?" The questions kept coming as I'm trying to explain, through the stall door, and the incessant clicking of the latch, that everything is fine, it's just a toddler playing with a latch. Some conversations are wierd in any language, and some things are hard to communicate when the communicators primarily speak two different languages. This conversation would qualify as Exhibit A.

We were in business class for the flight from Tapei to San Fran. Ordinarily, this would be great. C, however, isn't used to sleeping in an upright position, nor does he like sitting with a seat belt. The business class seats have large, permanent dividers between them, so he couldn't lay across the seats to sleep. So he wasn't sleeping well and was pretty fussy. Still, we had bulkhead seats at the front of the plane, which gave us extra floor space. T and I put blankets and pillows on the floor and layed him out there to sleep. But then the pilots threw the fasten seat belts switch and the flight attendants make us wake him up to get him off the floor. C was unimpressed with the safety requirements of the airlines and voiced his objections intemperately, leaving T to pace the aisle trying to calm C. To me, this was much more unsafe than leaving a child sleeping on the floor, but I just observe and caustically catalogue inane and inconsistent enforce of the rules, I don't make them. T did not get any sleep on that flight and thus did not have any sleep for the previous 24 hours. I am sure that point is very important for you to know because it was made to me numerous times during the ensuing 8 hour layover in San Fran. I was able to get some sleep on this flight and promise to feel guilty about it for the rest of my life.

At the San Fran airport, C discovered the wonders of water fountains and automatic bathrooms. Water fountains apparently are most enjoyable when water is running over your chin and down your shirt. Having had such a good time with Ba in the Tapei bathroom, C joined me again in the stall in San Fran. C has been pressing the lever/button to flush toilets for me for several days now, so he was quite startled when the loud flushing noise occurred before he had pressed anything. A stunned look crossed his face and he took several steps backwards, almost staggering away from this bizarre event. He then leaned sideways to look around me to try to see what was happening back there to set the toilet off on its own. I'm still trying to figure that out myself.

San Fran didn't have any play areas or display areas (at least not in our wing), so entertaining C was a bit more of a challenge, particularly since he wasn't as interested in walking as he had been in Tapei. We watched planes taxi, take off and land--a lot. We kicked around a ball a bit. We bought a small toy plane that has lights and makes takeoff noises. He didn't sleep until just before we boarded the flight to Charlotte, but didn't get too fussy either.

He slept for about half the flight to Charlotte. Being back in the cheap seats, we could raise the arm rests and allow him to sleep between us, one being the head pillow, the other the feet pillow. When he woke up, the mean plane authorities quickly required seat belts, again causing vociferous protestations. So E provided entertainment by turning off and on the overhead reading lights for a while. Then we stacked and unstacked dixie cups for a while. Then C mushed up dixie cups and E unmushed them for a while. And intermittantly, we dug deperately through C's bag looking for the non-existant items which would not require any space or a tray table to use. T slept for almost the entire flight, just, though entirely insufficient, compensation for the fact that she had not slept at all on the previous flight and had not slept for the previous 24 hours (a fact I'm sure I have not sufficiently or adequately stressed to this point). I admit that I also slept for almost the entire 2 hours that C slept on this flight, meaning that I maintained my egregious surplus in sleeping hours. For this, I promise to deprive myself of sleep the next time I fly in order to open myself to opportunities for insights that one gains from not sleeping. (Funny, my students subject me to the insights they gain from not sleeping all the time. This leads me to be somewhat skeptical that the benefits of sleep deprivation are greater than the costs.)

Despite sleeping most of yesterday afternoon (still thinking it was VN time), C got through the night pretty well last night. He also let grandma stay up with him and rock him for an extended period.

This morning, C got to play outside on our swings and sliding board. And he supervised grandpa fixing some loose nails on our back porch. C made sure the nails that were not loose also received equal attention. Good stuff.

C's first ride in the car seat!

Playing with his "bom" at home

Grandpa showing C how to use the hammer

C tackling those pesky nails...

Home at Last

We arrived at Charlotte Douglas Airport this morning (Monday) at 6:15 a.m. as scheduled. Everything went fine on all our flights. C is having a blast running around his new house and playing with grandma and grandpa. We will have stories of the trip home to share, but unpacking and laundry and chores will come first. Stay tuned...