Fun in the sun

The weather is sunny finally (but very hot) so we drove up to the highest peak in Hong Kong (conveniently only a 20 min drive from our house) to enjoy the cool breezes. Our little date devil Joy, decided that running down hill is ver fun! 

Old fashioned donuts

We can't buy good donuts here in Hong Kong. This is our second attempt to make them ourselves. This batch turned out much better since we used the candy thermometer I got for my birthday. 

36 weeks with little brother

Total weight gain: 27 lbs (Supposedly the same weight gain that I had with Joy at 33 weeks .....maybe I wrote down the numbers wrong with her!)

Funny memory: Teaching summer school has given me lots of funny stories of kids interacting with my pregnant belly. Here are a few quotes:

"Wow you are still pregnant"

"If we play a love song will the baby come out?"

"Are you pregnant??"

"I think I heard the baby screaming!" 

Good: I am pregnant one week longer than with Joy so far so from here on out it is all uncharted territory. We saw a very good picture of little boy's face today and it made us very excited to meet him in person. Also I made it (mostly) through school without giving birth (2 more days!)

Bad: It's hard to believe my stomach can still stretch as I am feeling like the baby has no more room!

Ugly: The strange pains and weird twinges are quickly increasing. Although I would rather experience these pains again than the three months of vomiting with Joy!!

Summer

Sadly summer is coming to an end. It is amazing how quickly it has gone by. Thankfully I only have two more days of summer school and then we still have a week before Brad goes back to work. I have been bad about blogging, mainly because when Joy goes to bed I am just a bit too tired to blog. Here are a few pictures of some of our activities (although I am bad at taking pictures too so all of these are from Brad's phone...what a good dad!)

Joy visiting me at summer school...and yes trying to eat the glue!

Daddy perfected the sheet tent

Hong Kong science museum. A fun afternoon but a bit too crowded and "big" for Joy. 

Walk along avenue of the stars in TST where joy had her picture taken by about a million mainlanders. 

 

"Walloo" Joy is obsessed with water and would take a bath several times a day if allowed too. She also demands the tap running ... A small price to pay for half an hour of entertainment :) 

Weekly trip to the swings 

Dinner at cocos ... Joy yelled "rice! rice!" the whole time we waited for our food. When we finished dinner she cried more more... I guess she likes it! 

17 months of imagination

What Joy is doing 

• Joy is walking with great confidence, which has made our lives so much easier. The only thing...her little legs are short and it takes us forever to get anywhere. 
• Persistent: Joy's persistence is increasing as are her little tantrums....we have our hands full!
• Pretending/ joking around: Has started pretending that her baby dolls are sleeping, or eating. Daddy and Joy had their first tea party and played in a living room tent this week! 
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• Putting things away: without even having to tell her, Joy puts things away! It is crazy 
• "OFF" : Wants to always be naked...and if she is in only a disposable diaper she takes it off. Good thing she is usually in a cloth diaper that snaps shut! She also continually wants to pretend to take her ears and hair "off". 

• Total teeth: 12 (all four molars came in this month!)
  
  
  

What Joy is saying: Joy likes to talk at the same time that we are talking....it is so funny (and sometimes annoying!) 

1. daddy
2. mama
3. Ru Ru (Rudy)
4. up 
5. da da (dog) 
6. Yes
7. No no no
8. doo (down) 
9. fish
10. more
11. amen
12. uk (yuck)
13. muk (milk) 
14. waloo (water)
15. bye bye
16. wow
17. cook (cookie)
18. Rice
19. baabaa (baby) 
20. aloo (hello)
21. yalla (Arabic for lets go) 
22. shhh
23. amoo (oatmeal) 
24. diapy (diaper)
25. Erica (a friend of ours)
26. Yaya (Isaiah, Kalina's son, from all our facetime chats) 
27. waa (sound of crying baby)
28. tants (Thanks, also means take this from my hands because I don't want to hold it anymore)  
29. dentle (gentle) 
30. poop
31. oops
32. oh no
33. sign language "please"
34. animal noises: cat, dog, chicken, elephant, lion, tiger, dinosaur, bear,  

 Eats: Joy is enjoying chef daddy for lunch since I am at work.

• Loves: Our girl loves to eat and is very adventurous (although sometimes I have to hide a few of her least favorite vegetables like beans)
• Dairy Free:  Sometimes I feel sad that Joy can't have dairy as it is one of my favorite food groups. Oh well!
• Still gives us trouble: Sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado, bananas

Sleeps: It took Joy a few days but she likes her new crib.

•  Night time: 7pm-7am
• Naps: One afternoon nap (2 hours)

Weighs:About 23 lbs

Likes:

*Swings
* "Walla" (water) is her favorite these days. She loves the pool but has pooped every time we put her
in it! One day I took her in the shower with me and she LOVED IT. The following day she went in the shower with me, then with Brad, then got in herself and covered herself with soap (so she got another shower...) the bathroom door must stay shut now!

*Going to the library twice a week with daddy and getting new books. She doesn't really like "her" books anymore. So it is good that she gets to go the library so much.
* Monkey mountain...were she gets to watch the monkeys swing from tree to tree.

Is learning.....
* to be gentle, instead of showing affection through hitting or biting.

Dislikes: Daddy putting her to bed, something we need to change with new baby coming soon. She also dislikes being strapped in the stroller because she would rather walk.

Favorite event:  Spending the month of July  (mornings) with daddy while mommy is working summer school.

Summertime fun with daddy

Joy and daddy are having a great time together this July. They go to the library, run errands, play at ikea (where daddy bought her a stuffed animal), go to monkey mountain (where joy loved the monkeys!), make forts, play with babies..... :)

34 weeks with the "baba"

Joy calls babies "baba" and is obsessed with putting her little brothers onesies in her baby doll! 

Weight gain. Total 24.5 lbs 

Funny memory. Kids say and do the funniest things regarding pregnancy. One student asked if he could listen to the baby. I said sure. ... And he says -" I think the baby is screaming". Another boy said (as I walked by) " I wonder if her baby hatched yet..." Ha

Good. Cankers only lasted a few days.  I'm feeling pretty good still and have enough energy to get me to joys bedtime (especially if I get a nap every few days) :). Brad being home is amazing 

Bad. I have not been sleeping really well but thankfully I have been able to nap! 

Ugly. Getting off the floor is getting ridiculously hard!  I'm also on a steady diet of tums as this baby is giving me crazy heart burn!  I'm kind of hoping baby boy decides to come 5 weeks early too (as long as he is ready ) :)

Happyb 4th of July

Happy 4th of July from Hong Kong! (Now that I am working this month I am getting behind on blogging) We hosted a fun 4th of July party at our house. 700 square feet+ 10 adults+ 7 kids between 6-4 months = a little bit of chaos. Despite the cramped house we still had lots of fun! The weather did cool off a little bit towards early evening so the kids could use the kiddie pool (and not parents not fry in the sun while they swam) and a friend even brought some glow sticks for the kids (since you can't find sparklers here).