And Jack Jumped Over the Candlestick

After many cold days in Charlotte, today was warm and sunny. I had a media interview, so we did it outside in the driveway. C joined me outside. I explained to him ahead of time that he would have to be quiet. So he gets on the tractor--which makes loud grating sounds as it travels. Cut. "C, buddy, the tractor is too noisy. Here, ride this tricycle instead." C: "It's noisy too. He rings the ding-a-ling bell." E: "Then don't ring the bell." Interview resumes. Reporter and cameraman snicker as red ball is launched up in the air behind me. Reporter wryly observes that that clip will be the best "visual" of the interview. (No doubt!) Minutes later there are sounds just behind as C is setting up lawn chairs. The interview ends (and we were really done). Reporter: "I'm not sure how you could keep talking with all those distractions." E: "I'm a father and a teacher. It takes a lot to distract me anymore."

The cameraman takes the camera off the tripod and sets it on the driveway to take the microphone from me. C dashes from the garage and leaps over the camera as reporter, cameraman, and dad gasp. C and I then sat in the lawn chairs to wave goodbye to the nice reporters. (And C's got to be wondering through all of this: "Ba just stands there and talks. I'm clearly the interesting one. They should be filming me. Mom does!)

This evening, M was in the bathroom during C's bathtime, per usual practice. She was fussier than usual and as C was brushing his teeth, was really in need of attention. I sang "You are my sunshine" which works best in calming her down, then proceeded to "Edelweis" which works second best. For the first time, C joined me in singing Edelweis. Of course, the words were Colinesque (the part about the Snowman would be particularly amusing). but it was touching nevertheless.

4 year olds. You can get it all in a single day!

Old MacDonald (Revised)

Tonight, C suggested we sing "Old MacDonald Had a Garden." Any use of the words herein are subject to the CODE of the Songwriters and Musicians Guild and proceeds are due to C's college fund. Unauthorized use of the words will earn you a trip to Guantanamo Bay. To the traditional tune:

Old MacDonald had a garden
E-I-E-I-O
And in this garden he had a
Corn
E-I-E-I-O
With a
Cluck, Cluck here and a
Cluck, Cluck there. etc.
(Chickens obviously eat the corn in the garden)

Old MacDonald had a garden
E-I-E-I-O
And in this garden he had a
Carrot
E-I-E-I-O
With a
Bite, Bite here and a
Bite, Bite there. etc.
(Rabbits of course eat the carrots in the garden)

Old MacDonald had a garden
E-I-E-I-O
And in this garden he had a
Grape
E-I-E-I-O
With a
Juice, juice here and a
Juice, juice there. etc.
(What else are you going to do with grapes? At least until you learn about fermentation...)

Old MacDonald had a garden
E-I-E-I-O
And in this garden he had a
Grape
E-I-E-I-O
With a
Sqush, Sqush here and a
Sqush, Sqush there. etc.
(How else can you make juice? And who thought we could get two verses out of grapes?)

Old MacDonald had a garden
E-I-E-I-O
And in this garden he had an
Apple
E-I-E-I-O
With a
Crunch, crunch here and a
Crunch, crunch there. etc.
(Do I really need to add commentary on this one?)

I was looking forward to hearing the sound of broccoli, but we'll have to wait for the extended play edition for that one...

Go Bananas...

Just when you thought you heard it all...

...C speaks and you have to laugh. On Monday, C, M, and I traveled for a follow-up appointment with his pulmonologist (lung doctor for all you non-healthcare folks) - well, technically, the pulmonologist's nurse practitioner (M.A., who is great, btw!). M.A. is pregnant and visibly showing. As M.A. entered the room, C's eyes grew wide as he saw her expanded abdomen. C asked, "What that?" (pointing to said abdomen). M.A. explains "there's a baby insider my tummy." C then proceeds to ask, "How it get there? You eat it?" (laughter ensues by Mum-mum and M.A.).

On the bright side, C apparently has Ba's sense of humor. Even better, Mum-mum has another opportunity to speak to C about adoption and different ways families are created (speaking of which, there's a great book we purchased at the SPAFA Adoption Expo called, "The Family Book" by Todd Parr - shows, in a simple and colorful way, how families come in all shapes and sizes - not just adoption).

Until next time, may the force be with you...

Brothers and Sisters

For the first two weeks of M's arrival, C was good with M though somewhat indifferent to her prescence. His meltdowns and accidents were much more frequent than usual, indicating that he was adjusting to his loss of status as unchallenged center of the universe. T's trip to the hospital surely didn't help him either as it gave him a second trauma to deal with in a short period of time.

The last two weeks, however, C has been back to his happy boy self. He is very affectionate and protective of M and shows the skills we saw him use with the babies in the care center in Vinh Long. When M gets restless or upset, he steps in to get her attention and she immediately calms down. (Of course, he likes the attention she gives him too. Her adoring stare would encourage anyone to hang out with her and provide entertainment.) In church this past Sunday, M was starting to get restless. C had been lying on the floor (presumably mediatating, right Opa?). When M started to fuss, he got up and put his forehead gently against her forehead and looked into her eyes. Problem solved! On Tuesday, the weather was gorgeous, so we were getting ready to go outside to play. I told him I needed to go upstairs to get a blanket for M to keep her warm. He said, "Use my green blanket, with the animals." That one is HIS blanket and no one else has EVER been allowed to use it. It was a WOW moment.



Having her in the bathroom during his bathtime also has done wonders for his bathroom demeanor. Taking a bath, getting on PJs and brushing teeth was usually the most trying part of the day. Now, with M to watch him and giggle at him, he has been on his best behavior and has become remarkably cooperative. Tonight, M was sitting in her baby tub while C was in the bath bub and was getting fusy. I asked C to wash himself while I held M. I was sitting on a stool next to the bathtub, so she could now see C playing in the tub from my lap. C was doing one of the nonsense games that preschoolers do but M's fusiness was over! She laughed and laughed. After bath, I set M back in her baby tub to help C dry off and get dressed. I put a pacifer in her mouth. C objected: "She can't hear me!" E: "She hears with her ears, not her mouth." C: "I can't hear her! Her baby talk." Indeed!



That said, C got his first time outs in preschool this morning. One was for running in the classroom and then laughing at the teacher when she told him to walk. The next was for tackling two other boys. When he got home and T and I had the talk with him, he was quite defensive and wasn't going to say that there was anything wrong with what he did. He was definitely not happy to be told that he would have to apologize to the teacher and the other boys (with Ba supervising) on Monday morning. But the rest of the day, he behaved very well and during prayers tonight he added unsolicited apologies to his teacher and to me for random other misdeeds that didn't occur today. I still had to coax an apology for the tackling incident.

That's life...ya get the good with the bad sometimes within minutes of one another. If only it were just an issue with preschoolers...

Time in...

Well, Mum-mum (aka Mommy) is recovering from an unexpected admission to the hospital and subsequent laparascopic appendectomy on September 29th. This the last few days of light duty and C can't be happier (no more Ba having to rock him at night).

The transition to being a big brother has had it's share of ups and downs. On the bright side, C loves and adores his baby sister M - in fact he is very protective of her, loves to make her laugh, and gives her gentle kisses on the forehead. However, it's been a bit difficult for big brother to adjust to sharing Ba and Mum-mum time, resulting in some interesting meltdowns.

So, thanks to Aunt Kiki (aka Super Auntie - in honor of Super Nanny), Opa, and Oma, we've gained some new strategies in dealing with the meltdowns and physical manifestations of regression:

1. Structure, structure, structure - C was placed on a strict schedule: dinner at 6pm, playtime (or TV) until 7pm, bath at 7pm, and quiet playtime (puzzles and books) until 8pm. At 8pm, it's time for bed. [It's been a week, and let me tell you, the change in our nighttime has vastly improved - C looks forward to his "playtime" before bed. We had one night in which we had a delay in getting to bath, so as a reward, even though it was almost 8pm, C received "10 minutes" of playtime before bed].

2. Time-in - Obviously, time out was NOT working for us. C was getting agitated with time outs and they did not improve his behavior. So, thanks to an article in our latest SPAFA newsletter, we decided to take a "time in".

What is time-in? With stressful situations, C was becoming dysregulated (out of control). He wasn't able to self-regulate his behavior and fell into a viscious cycle of stress/loss of control/then anger.

So what are we doing? Well, there are several ways in which time-ins can be achieved. For us, if C is starting to escalate, we FIRST and FOREMOST remain calm. We use a soothing tone of voice. When C was getting upset at Ba, I came to him and sat down (we were at the top of the stairs, so I was now at his eye level). I asked him to come sit with me. I faced C, and asked him to sit with me until he felt better. I told him that it was okay for him to feel upset (the word he used to describe how he was feeling). After a few minutes, he began to calm down and I offered to help him with bathtime.

Why is time-in beneficial? Well, children who have been adopted or with children who have experienced traumatic events emotionally can regress to infancy stage of cognitive development with triggers and perceived stress. The behaviors expressed are resultant of primal fears. (For parents of infants, think of when your infant son or daughter cries - it would be ridiculous for you to tell the baby to "calm down." If the baby cries, we attend to the immediate needs. For our toddlers and children, the time-in gives the child a sense of security. Time-in helps children learn to self-regulate and allows them to understand that Mum-mum and Ba will be there for them. It's believed that in time, the children will learn to achieve more effective self-regulation.

(Credit: Adapted/Edited from http://www.rainbowkids.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=648
Originally published at http://www.a4everfamily.org/)

So, we are gaining a new sense of normalcy for our family of 4. C decided to be "Darth Vader" for Halloween, complete with glowing light sabre (alas, no noise). C wanted to wear his costume this evening for Ba, so he was given permission to do so. Unfortunately, he thought this meant he would go trick or treating tonight (resulting in lots of tears and refusal to remove the costume). Problem? Yes. Solution? Thank goodness for creating parenting. I called our neighbor N (N & N's mom) and asked if C could come over to her house for "practice" trick or treating. She happily obliged - Voila...problem solved. C was able to trick or treat this evening and agreed to move from being Darth Vader back to his normal self.

All for now, no pictures to post. Will have some great ones soon from Halloween - Darth Vader and his sidekick, a very cute giraffe!

Until then...may the force be with you!

"I have a plan..."

...and its companion "I have a deal..." have become C's new catchphrases. They don't quite have the ring of "I have a dream...", but who is opposed to planning (?), and as a political scientist observing health care reform debate redux, I look positively on deal making too. He uses these phrases to introduce us to his agenda for the next few minutes, under the presumption, I suppose, that if he's thought things out and given us appropriate notification, we are more likely to go along with it. Interesting, he rarely announces his plans ahead of time for things he really shouldn't do... Rather savvy of him.

C has been getting used to the idea of having a little sister for several months and seems okay with it. But once Mum mum and Ba told him that we would be going away to get M and he would be having a sleepover with G&Z, things have gotten a bit rockier: regression on potty training and more meltdowns. It's scary for any kid when parents go away. And he'll have an adjustment when M arrives as he won't be able to monopolize our time anymore. He proudly announces what he'll do to help M: "Change diapers [E editorial comment: he'll be present at the initiation of the first diaper changing], feed, bath, brush teeth, play." He'll be an excellent big brother. He's good around other kids, is extremely compassionate, and was big brother to seven babies at the care center when we arrive in Vinh Long.

He has been a big helper opening gifts at baby showers. My colleagues were smart and got him a gift of his own to open and play with to keep him occupied during the rest of the shower at the office. When we bring home single gifts, he wants to appropriate them and take them to his room...

Tomorrow will be tough as we have to say good bye for a week. But C will have fun playing with his friends and with Oma and Opa. Mum mum and Ba will get through the ordeal of plane rides and layovers, dealing with passports, visas, embassies and immigrations one last time. And we can't wait to meet M!

Unfortunately, access to the web is not as widespread in Ethiopia as it was in Vietnam (and is very expensive), so we won't be doing a running travelogue as we did in Vietnam to keep ourselves entertained, sane, and in contact with the outside world. But it will only be a week and somehow humanity survived for thousands of years without blogging and checking email constantly, so we can do it too. When we get back, we'll post our travel stories and pictures (you can be sure!) on M's blog: http://heberlig4.blogspot.com.

The prayers did wonders for us last time so keep them coming. See ya on the other side...

The Birthday Boy

More to come later. But for now, enjoy the pictures!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Summer Vacation 2009

Here's a slide show from our yearly family vacation to the Poconos. Hope you enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Beach Trip Montage

Thanks to Opa and Oma for a great vacation (and we have the pictures to prove it!):

Make a Smilebox slideshow

MIA

Wow, how time flies when you're having fun. Since we last blogged (interesting that this word is now ingrained in our vocabulary, eh?), we've had several very interesting adventures. C finished preschool. On the last day, E took pictures of C w/ his "buddies", J, M, and A (the boys). Here they are invoking their inner Spidermen and Supermen:

When looking at the pictures, it was interesting to note that E even was able to include a picture of the "big truck" which was the subject of many conversations (pretty much on a daily basis) after preschool. After naptime, C and J (sitting next to C) would race to the playground - the winner receiving the spoils of playing w/ the big truck (instead of the small truck). C let us know each day who won the race (either being elated from his victory or upset that J did not share the big truck).

It's amazing to realize how much C has grown (both physically and developmentally) since August. Language skills alone are astounding. Many thanks to Ms. Janice and Ms. Melanie (yes, *gasp* names are included) for all they did to help C grow as a preschooler. He'll miss you when he starts class in the "green school" in August!

Here's Ms. Janice and C:

and Ms. Melanie and C:


In addition to finishing his first year of preschool, C enjoyed his first beach vacation. Opa and Oma joined us as we traveled to one of the beaches in SC. We stayed in a very nice location (think timeshare in a hotel) with a private beach and pool. C was fascinated by the tide and most enjoyed the puddles of oceanwater that formed when the tide rolled away (but, alas, we weren't sittin' at the dock of the bay). C pretended to swim and wanted us to call him "turtle." Let's just say we've created a beach bum! He also unleashed his inner Tiger Woods and had several hole-in-ones on the local miniature golf courses. C was most fascinated by the "big sharks" and "turtle" at Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach (alas, Mum-mum was not able to convince C that the turtle was a female named "Gabrielle" - according to C, it was a boy turtle like in Nemo...). Toward the end of the week, we had dinner at an excellent restaurant named "Pacino's Mediterranean Grille." The owners took C under their wing, had him draw a picture, sign his name, and place it in the kitchen - oh, yes, and the food was absolutely FABULOUS!


We've also had our fair share of doctor visits. After his hospitalization, C had two flare ups of respiratory symptoms (wheezing and fever), so we've visited a pulmonologist (lung doctor) and allergist (Dr. Maeve O'Connor - we highly recommend her!). C survivied his PFT (pulmonary function test) and allergy testing (ouchies which earned him a trip to Ben & Jerry's for "brown ice cream on a BIG cone"). So, C is now a seasoned pro in using his inhaler w/ spacer and taking his "yummy medicine" (aka Zyrtec). Oh, yes, let's not forget his visit to the optometrist - C will soon be the proud owner of glasses that will need to be worn when he's watching TV or reading books ("Just like Ba." C stated).

Just like any good big brother, C has started using "baby sister" as a patsy when he's caught committing infractions ("I no do it. Baby sister do it.").

On the bright side, C loves giving kisses and hugs at bedtime (and will let you know if he hasn't been able to do so). Just in the past week, C has independently begun saying "Yes sir" and "Yes ma'am" (with prompting from Mum-mum to help him understand when sir and ma'am should be used - and no, I can't receive any credit for this one...he started this on his own).

Our neighbor S finished painting C's bathroom. I'll post pictures once I discover the location of my camera (MIA or AWOL at the moment - waiting for the ranson note to appear). As for the "theme" - let's just say we brought a little bit of the beach home to Charlotte.

On a final note, we've begun the wonderful joy of nighttime potty training (no more diapers for our big boy). On a positive note, we have had a few (stress the word few) treasured dry-sheet and jammies nights (thanks to a nighttime wake up and emptying of the bladder). On the flip side, this means we've had a many days of waking up to the sounds of "I wet" and even more laundry cycles for Ba.

Doctor, Doctor, Gimme the News...

This afternoon we made another trip to the pediatrician since C was running a high fevor, was coughing constantly, and didn't eat his breakfast or lunch. He's fine but will be out of preschool for the rest of the week. It was only 3 weeks ago that he got out of the hospital from a bout with pneumonia. Yes, I know I should have posted about that incident by now. Oh well. Another trip to the doctor gets me to do it. Besides, I'm sure almost all of you know it already from T's running updates on Facebook. It took forever for me to blog and I'm already behind. Don't worry, I won't move over to Facebook; once I do it, it would clearly no longer be cool.

C's temp on Sunday went up to 103. We got it down and he was fine yesterday. But it went up again to 103 today, plus the unremitting coughing. Last month, he had temps of 106 and 105 and went through several days of medical tests. All of which came back negative. Then his breathing got fast and shallow. We took him to the emergency room and the chest xray showed pneunomia (where it hadn't three days earlier). Fortunately, it was spring break week for both T and I. T stayed with him at the hospital the whole time while I traveled back and forth. T supervised the nurses and doctors and used lots of medical terminology so that they would ask her whether she was a nurse or a doctor. Come on, average parents drop medical jargon all the time, don't they? She was in her element and I would get the evil eye for stating the obvious (that happens in class too). Once we were able to get C out of bed to ride in the "racing car" (to which we could attach his monitor and oxygen tank), he was fine. Then he could also go to the playroom. By the time he was released, he seemed perfectly normal. Three cheers for being young and resiliant!

My C story of the week, which I record here for posterity and his future embarassment occured last Saturday when I was trying to prepare him for nap. He didn't want to go potty before his nap, but mean old Ba carried him into the bathroom and held him on the tiolet. He struggled and squirmed and then started peeing. On the shower curtain. Then he started to shift his weight, making a semicircle across the bathroom floor. Then he hit me. Oh well, I never got the "first spraying" story when he was an infant, so I get it now. I got a washcloth and made him help me clean it up. About 2 hours later that afternoon, out of the blue, he says to me, "Ba, Sorry I go pee pee on floor." Wow! I told told him that resisting going to the potty when he really had to go was the problem, not the fact that he went on the floor (or on me!). Nevertheless, I was quite surprised that he would bring it up on his own several hours later and apologize without prompting. It's nice to have those kinds of happy endings. And infants who pee on their parents can't apologize so I have a unique twist to my "Dad got peed on" story.

For better or worse, T did not get a picture of that episode to post for you. In fact, remarkably, I don't think we've taken any photos since the snowman post of last month. So you're stuck reading Ba's incisive observations (alternative interpretation: long-winded, pendantic and Seinfeldian commentaries on trivia) rather than achieving your real purpose of visiting the site to see a new picture of C. Rest assured, T will find a reason to take photos before long. She'll probably be at the door with the camera the next time I take the poor boy to the bathroom...

The Snowman Cometh

The Blizzard of '09 has struck! On March 1, no less. It was C's third snow day of the winter. The first two were pitiful dustings. This one was 4-5 inches.

We went outside early in the morning before the snow turned to slop. C wanted to make a snowman, but the snow was a bit on the icy side to roll so I didn't think it was going to work. But we kept piling it up and smooshing it together. Then T did her artistry and what an excellent snowman we made! When asked what the snowman's name was, C answered, "Snowman."

One of the top all-time C anecdotes occurred about two weeks ago. We were going to a birthday party of a friend of C after church. As C was getting dressed for church, we reminded him of the party. C says, "Cake now." (I wish!). E looked at his watch and said "Not now. In three hours." C looked at his wrist, as if he was wearing a watch, and said, "Clock says, Cake Now." I need that clock!

Sweethearts

With Valentine's Day approaching, I spoke w/ C to help him understand the concept of Valentines and "sweethearts." I told him that Ba and he were my sweethearts and that he and I were Ba's sweethearts. So then, I asked C who his sweetheart was. He smiled and said, "My sister."

Tonight, as we were helping C prepare for bed (as per our usual routine) and asked C which books he would like to read. He looked at us, pointed to the small books in his bookcase and said, "small books for baby sister."

We are still "waitlisted" to receive a referral's for C's baby sister. Most likely, we are looking at a 6 1/2 month wait (we're now in month 4). But, in the meantime, it's nice to know that C is looking forward to being a big brother (at least until he has to share his toys...).

I found this picture from our VBS last summer and thought it was perfect for this Valentine's Day blog entry. It allowed me to appreciate all the wonderful gifts we have received, both as a couple and (more importantly) as a family.

As we continue to wait to grow as a family, so too grows our love for each other...

Colin and the Bears

Storytime, preschooler style. We'll let the video speak for itself!

A New Year

Well, 2009 has officially arrived and it only took Mum-mum until January 19th to upload the Christmas pictures. This month has found Ba and Mum-mum returning to full-time employment, C extending his day at preschool, and a return to temperatures that are just way too cold.

Like all good preschoolers, C has learned many new and interesting ways to push Ba's buttons (bathtime being the primary culprit) - a feat Mum-mum thought could never happen (goes to further solidify my theory that children hold a Ph.D. in psychology). It's truly interesting to see the thought processes of a 3-year-old (and actions, of course...C is currently "streaking" down the hall in the buff, pretending to be Spiderman).

With C, it's never truly a boring moment in our home. You never know what he's going to say (or do) next. Whether it's pretending a golf club is an umbrella (for which Ba is required to sing a new version of "Singin' in the Rain") or pretending to be a dragon (surprisingly enough, the Halloween costume still fits), C is quite inventive indeed, as evidenced by his using the "Gator Golf" club as a pool stick:

E joked yesterday that C is turning into our Biblical literalist. In Sunday School (and Children's Church), the kids learned about Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist and the spirit of God descending upon Jesus in the form of a dove. So, after the lessons, the kids were given time to color pictures (based on the lesson). In addition to coloring, at Children's Church C was given a dove sticker to place on his picture. So where did he put his sticker? On Jesus' head and face, of course...Unfortunately, Ba accidentally recycled the wrong picture so no photos.

Here are a few highlights from Christmas. Hope you enjoy!

Cousin A, Uncle K, and C having fun in the Christmas snow


Cousin A and C goofin' around


C's breaking out his inner rock star


And you thought C got it from Mum-mum...


Mirror, mirror on the wall. Guess who's stocking is biggest of all?

White Christmas

We had a White Christmas! What a rare treat! PA had snow before we arrived; then ice on top of the snow. So even though it was warmer than freezing most days we were there, the snow didn't melt until after Christmas Day. We were able to take advantage by getting the sled out and taking C and Cousin A sledding. With the ice crust on top, sledding was fast. C and A also could sled on their bums because they weren't heavy enough to break through the crust--just sit them on the hill, push, and let them go! C doesn't have winter boots, so Oma wrapped his feet in plastic bread bags (two layers of course) to protect his feet. Uncle K insisted on being buried in the snow... You'll note that the evidence clearly shows that E is placing blocks of ice on the ground rather than on K.

We all had lots of fun. On Christmas Day, we traveled to E's aunt P and uncle J's place for a family dinner. C got to use his new backseat DVD monitor to watch movies during the travel. He thus slept less than usual! C played with second cousins R and L. Aunt J, Uncle K and Cousins A and H arrived on Friday and we got to open even more presents. C got toys, DVDs, books, puzzles, clothes, a subscription to an animal magazine, a pig pillow (if this sounds bad, H got a "skunk" pillow according to Opa--it's a penguin, but Opa is from PA and figures if its back and white, it's a skunk). He should be set for a while...or at least until Sunday when Oma found another puzzle for him...

C had lots of fun running around basement--that is, making Ba and Opa be "monsters" and chase him in circles around the basement. He has to run in the basement, because, as he puts it: "Oma no run upstairs." He also loved to play hide and seek with Ba and Opa, though, good kid that he is, he always tells us where he is going before he goes there to hide! When Cousin A arrived, we also got to march around the basement and sample their "cooking."

Aunt J reported that A cried for almost an hour during their ride home to NJ because she wanted to play more with C. On one hand, it's terrible that they don't get to see each other more often; on the other, it's remarkable how--when we are able to get together-- they immediately pick back up as if it hadn't been months since they last saw one another.

A Month in Pictures

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I accept the challenge! Right--if you took me seriously, you'd have quit reading by now. Actually you would have quit reading several dozen posts ago...

We had a good Thanksgiving with E's family in PA. There was snow on the ground when we arrived and a bit of snow one evening. Ba and Opa took Ba's old sled out of the attic, and of course, that was a jinx and the snow didn't amount to anything. From Thanksgiving Day, here's C with Cousin A, and second-cousins R and L. Cousin C-A-R-L--hold on, that's T's side of the family...

We returned for Cousin H's Birthday party. We went bowling. The kids strategically used the gutter bumpers (when I first typed it, I said butter gumpers. Not sure why that seems funny.) to score almost as well as (if not better than, in some cases) T and E. Our next series of photos captures C's learning the essence of American bowling...the give 'em h!@# reaction!

Last weekend was the first Christmas Spectacular at Advent. It wasn't technically called the Spectacular, but T was directing... C and other little ones were lambs. Check out the cute hats. Ba got to be a shepherd. Last time he was in a Christmas pagent was probably in middle school at Christ Lutheran in Lewisburg. That pagent was outside (yes, in December in PA) with live animals. It was always a highlight of the Xmas season--mainly because people came to see Mary get thrown off the donkey and see the sheep poop on the church lawn. I can't remember what my part was back then...probably a shepherd. Which would mean I've been type-cast and should give up on getting a weightier role. I think I should aspire to be Herod, not only because he is the curmudgeon of the Christmas story, but also because he has the best song in Jesus Christ Superstar. The kids were extremely well behaved at Advent's Christmas Spectacular, even through the long dress rehearsal. So I didn't have to use my crook on them.


C is starting to get the gist of Christmas (that is, the cultural not the religious Christmas--a true American). When he sees pictures of Santa Claus, he says "Christmas!" When asked what Santa is bringing him for Christmas, he says "Christmas presents!" T keeps correcting him and telling him to make specific demands for presents. Next, she will inform him, as has me, that practical gifts do not count as Christmas presents. I suppose that would be the literalist Biblical stance as I don't think many people would consider giving a newborn baby frankincense, gold, and myrrh as particularly practical or useful gifts. Hello--he needs DESIGNER swaddling clothes! So now I'm on the lookout for more impractical and useless items (true Americans!) to distribute as gifts. So when you get one of these from me and think, "This is really out of character", at least you will know why. Not that it will help you figure out what to do with my impractical and useless gift.

We put up a Christmas tree for the first time last weekend. It was our usual scenario of pratfalls and near disasters. First, we couldn't find the base for the tree and were convinced that we'd lost our minds. Once we gave up looking for it and decided to put up the rest of the decorations, E found it--in the bottom of the bag which contained the rest of the decorations. Even better...as we were removing the tree sections from the attic, one of the wires for the tree lights was cut by the attic hinge (of course it had to be the largest section). So, countless minutes (or is that hours, I lost track) later, a long section of lights was surgically extracted from the pre-lit tree to avoid electrocution. E noted the multiple twisties used by the manufacturer to secure the lights in place (I can see Great Ma smiling down from Heaven and giving her seal of approval for their excellent use of twist ties). Fortunately we had other white lights to use in their place. C helped to decorate by placing ornaments on the tree.

C has been greatly amused by the TV newcasts showing the clip of the Iraqi reporter throwing his shoes at President Bush...over and over. He doesn't seem to understand that it is the same incident being replayed incessantly because it is good visual. He thinks there is an epidemic of "bad people" throwing shoes. Come to think of it, there's been such a world-wide reaction to it that it may become an epidemic. I better be prepared to duck quickly when I return to class...

Just in case you were wondering, yes Virginia there is a Mum-Mum and she does exist:
Happy Holidays!

OBA-MAMA

Ok, so we're really slow getting this one posted... The evening of Monday November 3 (the night before the election for those of you whose lives do not revolve around Election Day), Barack Obama came to UNC Charlotte. Despite my professional and personal interest in politics, I rarely go to rallies because they are a huge waste of time. You have to wait in huge lines, the candidates are always really late, you can barely see them and they say the same things you've heard many times on TV. But when the next president of the United States is showing up on YOUR campus, 4 measely miles from your house, on the night before the election, you really do have to go--to avoid kicking yourself in butt for the rest of your life out of regret that you had the opportunity and didn't go, if nothing else. And, when you have a child, you want to be able to tell them, "You were there when..."

So T left work after her early afternoon meeting and we all went to campus. On the way, we told C he was going to see Obama and tried to get him to say it. The closest we got was Obamama, which to C was probably like saying Oh Ba (dad) Mama (mom), which wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, but his parents often ask him to do things or say things that don't make any sense.

I expected long lines when we got to campus but I didn't expect the tremendously long lines we found. Fortunately, we found colleagues from the poli sci dept and were able to jump in line with them. (I had tried to get VIP tickets earlier in the day from the university PR dept, but despite all the media work I do for them, they put me in my place and told me I wasn't really a VIP. Humph!) Anyway, the line was probably about a mile long--so by skipping in line, we only had to go about half a mile. And then it started to rain. And once we got to the field in which the rally would be held, it started to pour. And, of course, Obama was an hour late, so we had to stand there in the cold rain just waiting for something to happen and wondering at what point we should cut our losses and save our child from pneumonia. T and I put C on the ground--much to his displeasure--and made a human umbrella over top of him. It's all part of the story right? Getting drenched just adds to the adventure. And by the time we're 60 and telling the story, there will have been flooding, trees splintered with lightening, and Republicans wailing for forgiveness for having voted for W. See, it gets more interesting every time I tell it!

Let's review. I hate rallies because there are too many people (Yes, there were!), you have to spend way too much time at them (Yes, we did!), the candidates are always late (Yes, they are!), you can't see them (Yes, we could see a little hand motion waving when he first appeared on stage, then he disappeared into the background of people and signs behind him. We were about 300 yards away with people crammed into one another the whole way to the stage.), and they give the same speech you've already heard many times (Yes, he did! With one key exception. His grandmother passed away that morning and he gave a moving tribute to her in the beginning of the speech. The newspaper reported that he cried throughout that section of the speech, but we were too far away to see that. His voice was normal--how he could give such a tribute and not let his voice crack is pretty amazing.) Was it worth going? You're darn right it was! How many times in your life do you get to be present for HISTORY?

And election night was pretty sweet too! I've got to give Obama credit. When reporters asked me during the summer whether he would really pour all those resources into NC and whether it would really be competitive, I said he would be wasting his money. As it turns out, he had plenty of money to waste, but in this case, it paid off. And Elizabeth Dole lost to a Godless American. So North Carolinians voted for an atheist and a Muslim anti-christ in the same election!? Wow, the Bible Belt sure ain't what it's cracked up to be. Times they are a changin'!

Here's a great picture of C and me at the rally. Gotta love C's natural smile in this photo. Did I mention we were really wet?

Gotcha Day! Our first anniversary

Gotcha-Day! It's been one year already...how time flies... (I'm stalling to think of another cliche to work in here...)

We went to Lang Van tonight to celebrate with Vietnamese food. When we got home, we gave Colin his first Gotcha Day presents that we collected in Vietnam: some sandals and a stuffed toy rooster (he was born in year of the rooster) from the Sapa region of Vietnam, made by the Hmong. A photo of Colin and said rooster should appear at the end of this post. We then watched videos of our trip last year. Colin was interested in the parts in which he starred, not so much interest in the sections without him. But I got some exercise being chased around the house by him during those sections.

Last night was our first Halloween. Colin wanted to go as a dinosaur--that would be the other picture--and we found a bright green dragon costume for him (Go Green Dragons! Wow, I haven't said that in a really, really long time. That was a "shout-out" to all the Lewisburg High School graduates in the audience. "Shout-out!?" Now I'm sounding like Sarah Palin, you-betcha. Yikes!) The costume cost more than all of my Halloween costumes combined. He had a good time walking throught the neighborhood with his friends N&N (cue picture of N and C trick or treating together). Both T and I went along since there weren't many kids out when we left, so we could both enjoy his visits with the neighbors. Then I returned to the house to pass out candy. C joined soon after and took over candy duties. He kept his costume on and seemed to enjoy giving candy away as much as he did recieving it. I don't think we had as many trick or treaters as in past years (and T got a lot more candy) so now, when combined with C's haul from Halloween and "trunk or treat" at church the previous week, we have lots and lots of candy.

Oma and Opa were down last week and we all had lots of fun. It was a different kind of visit with them since we didn't actually go anywhere or see anything. Yet somehow the 5 days went by very quickly. Time flies when everybody gets a turn wearing the blue monster outfit and chasing everyone else around the house 14 times a day.

We had our first parent-teacher conference with his pre-school teacher this week. C is doing very well in everything, including math. He gets that from T, not me.

Now go vote!