Say please?

Guinness' night time routine has gone to pot since he started in his big boy bed, been sharing a room with Gemma, holidays, etc. He now requires re-tucking in 4 or 5 times, etc, before he finally crashes. The other thing stalling his progress is his cuteness, and my Inability to resist his charm! Tonight I went to check on him and he was hiding in his new tent. I said, "Guinness, you get out here right now!". He said, "I'm not coming out until you say Please!"

Ha ha, who can resist?

"Don't call me Guinness...

...Call me Super Spy Guinness!"


No other name will do. Most often I am Batman, and there is a car on the train tracks.

"Quick, Batman! There's a car on the train tracks!"

New Phase

The boy has been whiny and ornery lately...

Also at an awkward stage where he is too big for his high chair but not near enough self control to sit on his own for a whole meal. The phrase that we are learning this week is, "May I be excused from the table?"

Make Believe!

I hope your passport is up to date, and you have plenty of traveller's cheques: The wide world of make believe is READY for you.

"I'm the blue bad guy. You're the yellow bad guy, daddy is the pink bad guy and Gemma is the red bad guy"

"I'm Deigo"

"I'm a Super Spy"

"I'm the King"

"Let's rescue the princess/baby jaguar/snow leopard"

"There are monsters chasing us!"

"I'm a puppy, you're the kitty"

And on and on and on! There is no end to what this guy talks about.

Painting Day

I scooped out the flour and salt into 7 little containers to make this homemade puff paint. Guinness filled up a big cup of water for me to add bit by bit to the dry stuff to make a thick and creamy paint. The first thing he did was pour the entire cup of water into my little cup of flour/salt, sigh, ok great, throw it out and start that cup again. He did a good job stirring the colour in one cup, then two cups....then he got curious and he dipped his brush into the cup he was stirring and scooped some paint into his mouth. EWWWW! Didn't like that one bit.

He did make 3 lovely paintings, then got out of there (much to our relief:) I mean, we love him, but he is so hard to craft with.

Freeze!

Oh, if I could freeze these precious days with our boy. What a cutie, could just hug him and squeeze him all day.

Things he says:
"That's my sword"
"You bethca!"
"I'm the super Hero Boy!"
"I love you, too, Mommy"
(2 days prior to this: "I LOVE Crystal." (this is his babysitter) "I don't love you, mommy. I love Crystal.")
"Get your sword, Mommy!"


I also love how he walks around tapping things, listening to the sound they make.

Paying Attention

Usually in Sunday School Guinness walks around and wreaks havoc, rather than sit sweetly on a carpet circle and listen to the story and then do a a game and craft. But maybe he has been listening lately: he was flipping through our kids Bible and said "That's Joseph'. (It wasn't really Joseph, but it was a robed, bearded Old Testament man...could have been:) Flipped a few more pages. Next bearded man: "That's God!!!" Then he saw a woman. Auntie asked him who that was and he said...


"Cinderella."

He also put on pretend lipstick this week and announced how pretty he was :)

Names

Tonight we were playing Gemma's favorite game, Mother-Daughter, where I was the daughter, she was the mother, and Guinness was the little brother. During this game it is customary for Gemma to call me 'Daughter', and then at one point Guinness said to me, 'Look at me, daughter'. Copycat.

And last week we had a glimpse back in time to a Gemma conversation. Guinness was talking to me and Chris, and assigning roles for play. He was the prince, Daddy was the King, Mommy was the Queen, and Gemma was.... the cleaner! Ha Ha!

Round 2

And just as we finish getting Gemma to sleep BY HERSELF IN HER OWN BED, Guinness gets the ability to climb out of his crib at will. And so last night I woke up at about midnight. And who was curled up beside me? Guinness! (cue scream of horror!!!) Ha ha, just kidding. But as cute and cuddly as my kids are and fun to sleep with on occasion, as the 4 1/2 year battle with Gemma may finally be drawing to an end, you can guess how excited I am to begin all over again with baby #2. It was SO HARD to put him in his own bed, because he is way too cute and cuddly and with his littlle puppy eyes, 'I lay down with you Mommy!!' Awww, heartbreaking. But I stood firm. A few hours later he was up again, in our bed, and I noticed him and he hid his head under the pillow. "Mommy, I'm asleep! Don't move me!" MOMMY, I"M ASLEEP!!!!" Awww, it was really hard, I wanted to cuddle up with him so badly but its not fair to let him do it one night if we're not going to everynight, and we have had to work really hard to get Gemma out of our bed. Anyway... pray that he can be a happy boy in his own bed again :)

Paintbrushes

A random thing, but my son loves to carry around a paintbrush. The small water color kind, not the big house painting ones. Isn't that funny? He needs his material comforts; a thumb in the mouth or the fringe of his blankie, maybe a spatula or a paintbrush in hand. I feel like psychologists would have a hayday with this.

Rewards?

When does throwing fits get you rewards? When you are two years old and cute and live in Taiwan.

Fit #1: grocery store.
Cause of fit: refusing to let two year old block the pathway of other shoppers with the large trolly left within arms reach
Reward for fit: Clerk #1 calling out for 'tang guo tang guo' (candy) to the back and a handful of high chews being rushed out.

Fit #2: Picture frame store
Cause of fit: mommy not letting 2 year old pull the spool of hanging yarn.
Reward for fit: Shop owner cutting off a length of yarn to give to 2 year old.

Fit #3: bakery
Cause of fit: hmm, can't remember
Reward for fit: Piece of toblerone chocolate

Fit #4: friends house
Cause of fit: mommy trying to get two year old to leave friend's house because daddy had dinner ready for us in our house
Reward for fit: cookies


All the tour books say the same thing: Taiwanese people love babies, and part of the their love is hating to see babies cry. They will do anything stop it, hence the quick rush to candy and treats. (Another part of their love is unwarranted advice, but thats for another day)

Chris and Nevada

A few days ago Guinness was in the office sitting at the computer, and as I came to swoop him away he attempted a new defence; "I'm Chris!". Its doubly funny because today he was in the kitchen with me as I was making toast for breakfast and he grabbed my peanut butter knife and said, "I'm Nevada!"

Since we've been home he will call me Auntie Vada (like my nephew does) when he feels I'm not paying attention to him. He'll say, mom! Mom!!! MOM!!! Auntie Vada???!! and see what happens.

3 things...

Ugg, trying to remember some of the funny things that happen. Here's three in brief.

1) Guinness has adopted a tiny Woodstock doll as his baby. (Remember Woodstock from Snoopy?) He carries it around, has to have it to sleep, and periodically stops what he's doing to find his 'baby'.

2) We're trying to get his thumb out of his mouth more, and when we pull it out he sticks it right back in, pausing to say to us indignantly, "I'm sick!!!". Like we're so mean, keeping this poor sick baby from sucking away.

3) Guinness does not like/get pretend. When we joke and say things like, Are you a monkey? Are you the daddy?, he refuses to play along, saying urgently, "No, I'm Guinness!!!" Just in case we forget.

I love your...

Guinness loves his sister, but she is so pushy about it sometimes that when she goes for a(nother) hug or kiss he usually just pushes her off of him and yells. So yesterday was a very sweet moment when Gemma climbed into his crib with him after his nap and she was leaning right over him and he was smiling and touching her and saying "I love your hair!" "I love your lips" I love your eyes!" "I love your face" Gemma was of course melting from this tender interlude and both were giggling in a moment.

Busy boy...

I love my son so much, he is so funny and cute and cracks me up so much. He is also super cuddly and loves his mama, holding me tight with his arms around my neck and his legs wrapped around me like a baby monkey. Those things I love about 2 year olds.

I could live without the disobedience (no, Guinness. NO Guinness. NOOOO GUINNESS!!!!!!)

Deep breath

I am bracing myself for the worst flight with children ever. Guinness is fully infected with Terrible Two Syndrome, has fits and cries and defies EVERYTHING. So not cool. We have a long layover in HK, so that will give some good play time and running to get them tired for the Vancouver flight. We'll see how it goes :)

Hmm...

"No Guinness!! (slap across the fingers) Be more gentle!!"

Is whacking your kid's hand a good way to encourage gentleness? Oh dear.

OUCH!

Tonight he was messing around at the table after supper, and he got the salt container. (Our salt comes in a round container with a lid and a small spoon inside it. There is no way to keep moisture out of salt shakers here.) He got the container, and popped the lid open.... spraying himself all over, face included, with salt. It takes about 1 second and he is screaming his head off, his poor eyes just burning. "It's biting me mommy!!!" he yelled. So I rush him to the sink and start splashing his eyes out, poor guy!! Ouch!!!

The Pond

Almost lost Guinness to the ducks tonight!

We were at TaiDa feeding the ducks and turtles, and Guinness walked to this other little pond across the path, and climbs over the little fence... I book it over there just as he is stepping on to this little floating dock, pushing it out into the water and rocking it. I got my leg over the fence and grabbed his arm just in time to haul him to safety.

Ewww ewww eww, I know I would have jumped in instantly if I had to but that water is SOOOOO GROSSS!!! About 2 feet deep and SLIMY and turtles and huge yucky bottom dwelling fish and ew eww ewww.... And also so glad I have a child whose arm is firmly attached at the shoulder :)

Bragging Post

Sorry, can't help it. But I got this picture in my email yesterday with a note from a friend:

"Saw this bus yesterday morning; is that Guinness?"

And I am pretty sure it is! The one on the right, with the glasses. He was at that shoot, with the other kid and I think the ears are a giveaway.

Un.Real. My kid is advertising Kinloch Anderson on a bus.

Terrible Twos

You know that stage where you think your previously sweet and pleasant child has been kidnapped and replaced with a child who looks the same but is much more rude and whiny? Here we are!

Everything you say to him in the last three days is met with, "I don't like ______" (fill iin the blank with whatever was just asked)

Do you want to have supper? "I don't like supper"
Can you take this to Gemma? "Don't like Gemma!"
Want a cookie? "Don't like cookie." then he cries and says he wants a cookie.
It;s time to go to the park! "Don't like park."
Trying to talk to Grandpa on the phone today, "Don't like Grandpa."

Fortunately his resolve is not strong and he forgets that he didn't like something within 5 seconds of saying it. He is still fairly agreeable and easy to trick into obedience.


He has that barking cough again tonight; dry heaving and coughing till he chokes. Came up really suddenly, he's been fine the last month or so...

Knucklehead

We use the word 'knucklehead' loosely around here; usually to indicate a behavior that is too silly as opposed to proper. For example, if Guinness wants to walk instead of be carried, I ask him if he will walk nicely or like a knucklehead. (He usually responds knucklehead but then walks nicely. If he doesn't I pick him up and tell him he was walking like a knucklehead...Anyway...) We were going to get Gemma from school and there was an old man walking in front of us with an old man shuffle. His legs were obviously very stiff and he took quick, short little shuffly steps forward, and we quickly overtook him. Guinness watched him the whole time, and as we passed him, Guin looked back at him and said to me, "That man walk like a kuncklehead". I tried so hard not to giggle, and once again was SO THANKFUL that most people around us can't understand what my kids say.

Commentator

Our apple TV has a slideshow feature where when you're not watching a show it does a slideshow of your pictures on the computer. Its pretty mesmerizing, and we all are known to stare at it when it comes on. Lately Guinness has been talking through the pictures...

Gemma's birthday party!

That's the beach.

Daddy's coffee shop.

Pirate cake!

See the present?

He doesn't even need an audience, he just sits there and talks to himself. I love language development.

The Easter Pickle

I guess I gave away the punchline, but as we chase around the remaining plastic eggs until mommy puts them away, Chris held up a plastic jelly bean to Guinness and asked him what it was:

"Pickle!"

Favorite Beach Activities

Guinness likes the beach! Both my kids do, actually. Here's what he does:
"Make a castle" (tip over a bucket, even if it has no sand in it)
"Make a volcano" (pushing sand into a pile)
Playing with all the different shovels
Running around
Laying down in the sand on his belly. 'So-Shi' we call it; taking a rest. He lays there and plays with the sand in his fingers and puts his head down just enjoys the warmth.

He is outgrowing his pack-n-play. Well, physically he is getting too big for it but he definitely still needs it!

Mosquitos get me!

Poor dear got attacked by mosquitos in bed last night. Put long pants on him tonight, hope that helps.

He has taken to sleeping with a book. After about 3 stories and I say no more, he says, "this one to bed" and chooses a book to cuddle with. He puts it in his crib, sometimes actually laying on it, or hugging it, or looking at it propped up beside him. Books and balls, he has a two track mind. OK, throw some Little Einstein in there, too.

Easter is coming...

and the bunny was doing some preliminary work tonight!

I super wanted to get Guin a sandbox for his birthday, alas the sand was WAY expensive. 200NT per kg (6$). Well, as it turns out 1 kg of sand is about the size of a big mac (ok, two big macs) and so filling the box I bought was just going to be undoable. Oh well, a water table is fun too. UNTIL today when our school manger emailed me and said he had another vendor who can get me 25kg of beach sand for 300NT! Hurray! So sandbox is back on, to be re-packaged as an Easter present for both kids.

Wish I had some creative ideas for how to loop a hose around into some sort of curly pathway or something.

So much to say...

He has a lot to say and I have a lot to say about him, because 2 is just a really fun age.

He literally woke up one day last week with an increased ability to talk. He is speaking a lot now. The cutest things of the day are "So Exciting!" which he used several times, about bubbles, and jumping off the couch at church into a cushion, and "I love you too, mommy (daddy, annabelle..)" HE also had a conversation with my dad on a banana phone before converting it to a banana hat. He cracks me up with his banter.

Super fun birthday party last week; I think you've seen pics on facebook. I'll admit it; even though it was a 'simple' party, I was up till 4am getting it all ready. Cake took forever. Color icing. Fill bag. Pipe outline, add stars. Squeeze out icing, wash tip and bag and ring and cuppler. Mix new icing. Repeat. If you are with me this summer when I am shopping at Michaels please remind me to buy 3 star tips, 3 piping tips, and 3 more bag sets so I don't have to stop so often. Even though I thought the cake was simple, it still took over 3 hours. (Gemma's took 5 though...all those princesses...) So once THAT was done, I had to assemble the treasure hunt. CLues were photos of different things around the house; the fridge, the bathtub, the dresser, etc, and then sea creatures holding them. While they were searching in other rooms Annabelle brought out the huge rubbermaid tub of TREASURE: balloons and balloon swords and treasure bags and plenty of balls since Guinness loves balls. We watched Curious GEorge sails with the pirates, and then had our snacks (apple wedge with peanut butter/tortilla sails, goldfish crackers, and pancakes with piped on pirate faces with Nutella). Guinness loved his gifts, they were so thoughtful. He got all the things he loves; books, balls, and puzzles. Anyway; why 4am you may ask, well I didn't finish the cake till after midnight and then had treasure bags to make, pancakes to make, clues to prepare, and of course then clean the house.

It was a fun day, his excitement and smiles made the 4am so worth it. And thats why I do it :)

Pirate Birthday

Ahoy! A pirate party is coming your way. Waiting for a special package from Baba.

Ideas for the boy's presents:
-sandbox for the deck
-Remo drum
-puzzles (Melissa and Doug ones from ToysRUs)
-battery operated pet, like Gemma's Rufus the Rabbit. Guinness loves Rufus!

A pain in the butt shopping list because none of these presents can be bought at the same store, but we have some time because as I mentioned the party date is not set as we are waiting for Baba's package. The real birthday is next Sunday (27th). Mine is May 26, Guin's is March 27, Gemma is November 28. Cool, right?

Ogre!

Guinness likes to pretend, too.

Mommy!!! Snake!!!
I ask, "Where?" And he says, "there!"

So then we kepow the snake or say go away, or ask if he is hungry, or run away.

Sometimes its snakes. Sometimes its a bad guy! Sometimes its an ogre! Sometimes Guinness is an ogre.

He said this morning, "Grrr. Ogre!"

I said, "Are you a nice ogre?" He said, "Guinness baby ogre!" Then he patted me; "You mommy ogre!"

:) The ogre family!

The Latest Drama

In Taiwan they are always doing construction of some sort. To protect people they put up these really tall green corrugated metal fences around whatever they are working on; digging pits, pouring foundations, ripping down old buildings, whatever. Well, Guinness was with his babysitter at the park last week, and being the fast little sneaker he is, he darted away and was almost UNDER one of these fences. The babysitter grabbed him by the ankle at the last second and pulled him back. Who knows what 'fun' he would have found on the other side (and how long it would have taken the babysitter to run around the the whole thing looking for a door or way in... Yikes!)

Daddy!

When we went to church today, Guinness really expected to see Chris. He hasn't asked about Daddy much, but when the elevator opened and he heard the music playing he was just so sure that Daddy would be there. Poor guy! He cried and fussed and grumped around the rest of the night.

1 more day!

Diaper Rash

Poor guy's a bit red.

Too many strawberries this week :)

He says, "Ouchie poop!" and walks like an old cowboy, poor thing.

Diaper rash cream is one of those things I never travel without. A diaper rash can appear so quickly, and hurt so much! One time we were away for a weekend with baby Gemma and she all of a sudden got a rash and I had nothing, and the poor girl cried and cried. Actually, we use bag balm now and it works great. The jumbo jar I got for when Gemma was born is half full still.

Chasing

I love watching my kids chase animals.

Squirrels are funny because they are super fast, my kids don't stand a chance. We can't even keep them in eyesight that long.

Pigeons are hilarious because they are just the right speed and size for Guin. They waddle along and he can get pretty close to them, and pigeons are dumb enough that they don't fly away immediately. You can walk right behind them for a long time before they finally get fed up and fly away. Guinness was chasing a pigeon at the park on Sunday and it was awesome. The pigeon would go under a bench, and G would hunker down and look under the bench, taking a minute to realize he had to stand up and walk around the bench. And at one point he made the connection that if he walked slower the pigeon walked slower. So he dropped to his knees and was crawling around the ground after the bird.... Hee hee. And when the bird flew away, Guinness just walked right through the flowerbed that was in front of him, eyes up and intent on the prize in the sky!

Today is was butterflies. Nothing more precious than a child completely engrossed in a butterfly, chasing it and watching it, intent on the goal.

Ball!

Guinness loves to throw a ball or any size and then watch it bounce/roll away. Then he laughs and laughs and runs to get it and throws it again. Marbles are good, but easily lost so mommy likes tennis balls better.

He is also adjusting to the new routine. When I got home from school today he said "Gemma?" and I said, "Yep. Where's Gemma?" and he said, "School!"

"Should we go pick her up?"
"Yeah!" (enthusiastic nod)


The arrangement is I come home after school at 4ish, get Guinness, and we go get her together. We have a snack (Gem has one at school before she leaves, Guin eats on the bike ride over) and go play, stopping at a park along the way home. He is so wild it makes getting her hard because if I put him down to help her with her backpack, water bottle, lunch dishes, etc, he's all over the place; pushing elevator buttons, eating other kids' snacks, playing with toys he shouldn't be, playing drums, etc. But even today was better for him; he's starting to get the message about where his boundaries at school are.

We had so much fun at Daan park today after school we stayed for an hour and a half.

More jokes by Guinness

So funny, this kid.

So he loves playing with marbles and large beads. He likes to drop or throw them across the floor and the chase them, or just watch them bounce and roll away. So one got away under the couch and he asked me to get it for him. 'Marble! There!!!' So I hunker down to see where it was and it I would be able to grab it and as soon as I get down on my hands and knees he jumps on my back. "Horsie ride??"

He is so into the banana pants joke. 'Nana pants!' and then he grins and waits for us all to laugh. We always oblige!

He will put anything on his head and call it his hat. Noodles, cups, a piece of string. He holds it up there and says, "Hat?"

He cooks pancakes when he plays kitchen.

He tries to feed me his snacks. "Big bite, Mommy!" he says.

So funny, this kid.

Guinness' Chronic Cold

So my son has had this cold on again off again for more than 1 year. So I finally made the effort to book him into a pulminidjfhsdf specialist at NTU (you know; respitory disorder doctor). NTU is the best hospital in Taiwan. It is the university hospital and all the big whigs works there. Apparently. So I booked an appointment and we went on Wednesday.

Worst. Appointment. Ever.

First thing; it was MENTAL renjiren (crowded). Tonnes of people everywhere. No one to help. I was directed to one room. Told it was the wrong room. Went to the next room. Waited. Then told it was the wrong room. Sent back to the first room. Waited. Waited. Called in. Doctor takes a look. "Yep, he has a cold. Yah, 13 months is a long time to have a cold. But it happens." I guess you can't really check for things like asthma, etc till they're at least over 2 and so its hard to say if he has a disorder or not.

The cold in itself is not the worst thing. My growing concern is his immunization chart. He hasn't had a shot since he was 6 months old because he is always coughing, hacking, on meds. He doesn't stay healthy long enough for me to take him in. So we are 18 months behind on his shots. Which is super ironic because I am definitely on the side of getting immunizations. Like when all the bird flu commotion was going on, I was fer sure going to take my kids. And then I never did. And now my son is not had any in ages, even though I want him to. What the doctor said is to just take him even if he is coughing and runny nose, just no fever. So we will try and get that rectified before we come to Canada. In 13 weeks!!

We had a ridiculous time getting a taxi, which actually lead to me having a tantrum at the crossing guard and literally SEETHING in the backseat on the way home. Bad response on my part, but like I said it was an exhausting, emotional, draining week and it just pushed me over the edge.

He is doing a bit better today. Hopefully recovered by tomorrow.

Hansel and Gretel

guinness' favorite show of late is Little Einstein's. EXCEPT for the episode of Hansel and Gretel; he is terrified of the witch! He will not stay in the room if it is playing. 'Scared!!' he cries out. So different than Gemma, who loves witches and watched all of The Wizard of Oz (flying monkeys and all) by the age of three.

Fever pains...

That's what the dr. says. And, "Of course, come back if he still can't use his leg after the fever is gone."

Uh, thanks Dr.

Guin is doing fine; happy when given tylenol and crabbier as it wears off. Will this kid every be healthy?

Einstiens!

Guinness' fave show of late is Little Einstiens. He says things like, Kecak! Ogre!! (from firebird rescue), staccato (from birthday balloons)

He has a fever tonight and is tired and achy. He keeps rubbing his leg and is walking a bit unsteady; weird, right? We'll see how he is tomorrow.