Two firsts

Guinness had two firsts; his first Christmas vacation and his first sunburn :) Probably not too many babies have that combination. Our first day at ChinChing Farm was rainy, but the second day was sunny and gorgeous. A perfect day for checking out the beautiful mountains. All of us got some red in our cheeks from the sun and wind, and Guinness has quite the little apple nose and tips of his ears. He doesn't seem to have much affinity for animals; wasn't a fan of the sheep. He LOVED all the people though, which was good as a deflector for Gemma.

First Christmas

Guinness is having an exciting first Christmas. His first party was down in Wanhua, the inner city of Taipei, to an OMF Christmas party for the ladies who work in the teashops. Some of these teashops are, hmm, shall we say special teashops in that they provide special services to a male clientele. It's not what you would expect when you think of prostitute though. Most of these women are older; in their 50's. Business was of course good when they were younger and it was a good way to make a living. But as a 50 year old it is not as easy to make money. Lots of these women have serious drug and alcohol problems. Men often just want their company and bring beer or alcohol for them and they sit and talk and talk. (these women also have serious lying problems, too, because they are so used to saying what people want to here and talking up the egos of lonely men) They are in debt to local lenders who charge outrageous interest. Anyway, our women's brunch group at church did a bunch of baking and got presents for them for this party. The party organizers wanted us to come and be a part of things so Guin and I went there with another friend this morning. There was singing, food, and a great speaker who shared her testimony interspersed with songs. We didn't stay for the presents but hopefully they were well recieved. Guinness was a star of course, being very friendly and nice. That is something so wonderful about babies; they bring joy wherever they go. A blind lady held him and her face lit up, she was so excited. He got passed around the room and made everyone happy. Except this one lady who was passed out stoned or drunk: he scratched her knee a bit as he walked by and she gave him a dirty look.

We also had a Christmas Eve party at church which was so fun. Guinness was his usual happy self. I'm sure there will be more tomorrow as he opens presents for the first time.

AHH!

Dear Guinness,

STOP EATING GARBAGE OFF THE FLOOR AND OUT OF THE DUSTPAN!! PLEASE!


In the last 2 days I removed from his mouth a coke zero lid, a pompom, the back of a sticker, a piece of kleenex he bit off, a piece of popcorn, and some unidentifiable substance that was sort of salty... GROSS!

Yes, we should have a cleaner house, hide the garbage, etc. But he fast! And I can only clean so fast, literally things get messy around here as soon as I am done cleaning it. There's no keeping up. I do not wish him to grow up faster but this stage is wearing me out :)

Baby Food

Baby food party tonight was a success! In 2 1/2 hours we made mashed potatoes with carrots and peas, chicken and broccoli, beef and spinich, and applesauce. I got 5 trays of the vegetable/meat ones and about 6 cups of applesauce yet to cube and freeze (no more ice cube trays). Plus we made supper. It's always more fun to work with someone else, and my friend Kristie who came over is very nice and sweet and we got a lot done between the two of us. Her son is 9 months old and her daughter will be three in February so our kids are pretty close. Our sons actually look a lot a like; same size, blond, blue eyes. It was cute to watch them interact because for both of them it was a first experience with a same aged 'friend'. The girls were well behaved, not sure how well they played together but there was no fighting at least.

The aftermath is all cleaned up, well ok not the floors but the dishes and the stove that I boiled over potatoes onto. Doh.

First Day at Work

The little man of the house went out for his first day of work today. He did about a dozen outfits; I didn't see it because I was at school but Ping and Gemma went. I was asking Gemma about how it went when I got home; did Guinness smile, was he cute, hat did he wear? And she answered to the last question, "He wore a funny hairband! With flowers right here (motioning to the side of her head, above her temple...)" Um, you guessed it. They couldn't find a girl baby the right size so Guinness did double duty today. Well, cute is cute and babies are babies... Can't wait to see THOSE pictures, though.

The things I am learning about advertising... Every time I look at a catalogue now I will be wondering, boy or girl?

New shoes!

Guinness got his first shoes today, thanks to Annabelle! They are very cute and soft, and he needs them since he is a walking machine now. He can get himself to standing from the floor with no support and he is picking up speed and gaining coordination. Of course the new shoes have thrown off his gait; he can't quite get them off the floor right and he looked like a drunk trying to walk in them tonight! It was really cute. I'm sure he'll get better once he practices a bit.