A little of mommy and a little of daddy

Joy has quite the personality. She is an all or nothing girl.... All smiles and giggles or a fuming temper tantrum. She lives up to her name and gives smiles away for free. It is funny to think of different traits she has and who she is more like.

* she loves being scared, thrown up in the air, the sensation of falling- all like daddy.

* she loves nature, anything to do with water&ocean&nature-just like daddy

*she is very energetic and determined with some tasks (when she wants to get her way or wants something that is put away) -just like mommy

*she gets easily frustrated /mad when something doesn't work the first time-like mommy (her temper tantrums are oddly reminiscent of childhood stories of me!)

* not super snugly -just like mommy

*adventurous eater-just like daddy

* loves to talk/make noise- like mommy and daddy

We wonder what little brother will be like?

A fun weekend

On Saturday I worked at Ics and Brad took Joy on a hike. Even though she usually doesn't take a morning nap, sometimes they are too hard to resist.


Today we went for a quick trip with our friends and neighbors to a farm close by our house. The girls were feeling a bit fussy so we thought a little fresh air and some animals (red deer, boar, flamingos, parrots) would cheer them up. We have had some great cool weather ! Every day that isn't really hot and humid is a gift

24 weeks (6 months)

A thoughts about being pregnant at 24 weeks

*I thought your second trimester was suppose to be when you felt full of energy.....the last two weeks I have felt more tired than during my first trimester (I blame silly pregnancy insomnia, carrying around a 22 lb 14 month old and the cold I had) 

*I'm back on limited/no caffeine (it makes me feel weird)

* My bump has really grown this week and the baby is getting more active

* I get seats on the train when I am alone...but when Joy is with me I think everyone thinks I am still carrying baby weight. HA

* Feeling hungry for Mexican food and milkshakes (I have quite the sweet tooth these days)

* Cannot wear the Ergo front facing anymore!

14 months of curiosity

What Joy is doing 

• Joy is busy as usual exploring the world around her. She is more interested in cruising around furniture, holding onto hands to walk and climbing up on the ottoman. She can get up and down off the couch all on her own. 

• Total tooth count: 6 
• Loved going swimming a couple days ago at the public pool (no pictures since you are "not allowed" to take pictures, I might try and sneak some next time). It was very funny to watch her try and crawl in the water in the kiddie pool. We need to work on blowing bubbles. 
• Can use a straw!
• Blows on hot food

What Joy is saying 

• daddy
• ma ma 
• daaddy (Rudy)..sounds almost like daddy so only really recognizable in context) yes 
• down (not consistently) 
• up (not consistently) 
• baby
• da da (dog) 
• Animal noises: lion, elephant, monkey dog

 Joy and mommy have similar bellies and outie belly buttons now :-)

Eats

• Nursing: Joy is weaned! Hurray. We were going to wait until after our holiday to Sri Lanka but I got really sick and couldn't nurse her before bed one night and so we just stopped. She barely noticed so I guess she was ready.
• Solid food: Joy eats as much as me (well almost!) 
• Loves: drinking her keifer/green smoothies from a straw, oatmeal/almond pancakes, FRUIT
• Verdict is still out on: black beans, chick pea, chicken, cow milk (&sweet potatoes still give her diaper rash)
• Introducing this week: Joy spits up whenever she drinks cow milk (sometimes with yogurt but not as much), so we are trying to figure out if she has an intolerance of some kind.

Sleeps:

•  Night time: Sri Lanka did something amazing to her sleeping. She now sleeps from 7pm-8am (I don't miss her getting up at 6am!)
• Naps: Joy is transitioning from two naps to one in the afternoon (at 12:30). If she wakes up before 8 she needs a 45 min morning nap and then a 2 hour afternoon nap. 
• I was just telling Brad how Joy's sleeping patterns are so great and predictable these days....one thing I am not looking forward to with little brother in August! 

A rare morning snuggle

Weighs:About 20 lbs (according to the scale at the pool :-)

Likes:

*Going to the library to get new books (although we always get "shushed" for being too loud)

 

We found an Arabic counting book at our local library....isn't Hong Kong great?

 *Loves animals in books and the real thing.  Over the past two months she has seen real: pandas (Ocean Park),  elephants (Sri Lanka), cows (Sri Lanka) and 10 types of monkeys (HK Zoological Garden). Brad and I joke around that we are taking her to see all the animals in the zoo one animal at a time. It will be fun to take her to the Oregon Zoo when we are back in a few summers.

* Poking everyone in the eyes and nose.

* Playing with other kids

* Eating home grown cucumbers with dad on the roof 

* To scream when she wants something or is not getting her way (something that we don't like very much, but are having a hard time figuring out how to stop it!)

Dislikes: Joy dislikes when she can't get her way (we have a determined child on our hands!)

Favorite event: Joy loved the elephants and the ocean she saw in Sri Lanka. We have a true naturalist on our hands!

Sri Lanka Part 3: Kandy & Pinnawala

On our way to the hotel near the airport we took two stops. One in Kandy to see the temple where Buddah's tooth is kept (we didn't want to pay to see it so we just walked around a bit).

 The other stop was a highlight of the trip; Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. It was kind of a rip off in price (and was super hot) but Joy's reaction seeing elephants for the first time was priceless!




Second video

 Baby elephants that were rescued from an agricultural well (7 months old)

 Sweaty baby

 Joy was a little nervous when she was up close and personal with the elephant

 Elephant bath time

 Sweaty mommy and  baby! Bye elephants and Sri Lanka, until next time!

Sri Lanka Part 2- Nuwara Eliya

Our amazing trip organizer (Brad) planned for us to go up the hill country. We took a 7 hour drive (thankfully this car had seat belts) to Nuwara Eliya: where tea plantations, beautiful flowers, vegetable gardens and the remnants of colonial Britain abound. Due to its high elevation the temperature is always about 70 degrees during the day with no humidity, a nice break from Galle's heat. However, still being located 5 degrees from the equator the sun was still intense and we actually all got a little sunburned there!

 

 Waterfall on the way there (above). Windy country roads (below)

 Brad was a champ and entertained Joy the whole time in the back seat, because I was really car sick with all the windy bumpy roads.

 First sight of tea plantations

 We stayed at a grand colonial hotel. It had amazing gardens....and yes Joy did end up falling off that bed (but not while Brad was taking this picture) because she liked to play on it. The hotel was full of Israeli and Gulf Arab tourists which made Brad and I chuckle, probably the only time they have been in such close proximity :-)

 Joy's first swing ride...she LOVED it. She likes going fast and the initial drop the swing does. Definitely a daughter after her daddy's heart (he will finally have someone to go on roller coasters with him)

 Hotel gardens

 Pedro Tea Estate (Below). We had a great time touring the facility (Brad took illegal photos inside) and walking around the tea plantation.

 It looks like I am going into surgery but really I am only going on a tour of the tea making facility.

 The tea is dried, sifted, heated, sorted and packaged. The smell of green tea cooking is REALLY STRONG (and I could barely handle it).

 A complimentary cup of their finest tea

A walk around Victoria Garden (below). Joy is a major nature lover so we had to come back to the garden because not only were there flowers and treas but dogs and birds....Joy learned the word "WOW" on this trip :-)

 

 A hike through the tea plantations to a waterfall (below)

 

Lunch at another tea plantation (I thought I was so smart and packed store bought baby food for our little bean....she HATED it all...I learned my lesson)

 

Bye Bye Nuwara Eliya!