Hoi An Vietnam

We took a quick family trip to Vietnam before Brad has to go to a conference in Bangkok. 

Hoi An is a beautiful city. The main part of the town has amazing old buildings, a lazy river and a great market. We are loving the fresh clean air, no crowds, super friendly Vietnamese people who adore our children and the delicious food. Our room has a great terrace that looks put onto green grass and you can hear the waves crashing all night. Funny side note: so far the only people who have wanted pictures of our children (mainly Joy) are mainlanders. If we ever move to China we should charge money! 

Our hotel is fantastic and a short stroll to the beach. Joy wakes up and the first thing she want to do it "go to beach ". We can barley even get her to eat breakfast! 

This is our first trip with two kids. The kids have been pretty good although we have had a few meltdowns ( mainly related to hunger and tiredness). Simon has been a piece of cake ! Joy was really hard to contain in the less than 2 hr flight and even though our room is huge we are all kind of waking each other up. Note to self: don't tell your two year old you are going on the plane to go to the beach... Every five minutes she said. "Go to beach!". Rookie mistake). We are a bit nervous for the flight this summer and all being in the same room! However this stage of parenting is a bit exhausting no matter where we are and it has been so fun to get away from Hong Kong. 

Brad has always has a dream to get tailored clothing. Hoi an is known for their high quality and cheap tailored clothing. Brad was able to get a suit, pants and shirts for way cheaper than the store. He looks amazing in his new clothes. 

Our hotel has a spa and I went and got a delux pedicure while the kids napped. Very fun and relaxing. Brad went swimming in the pool at night, Joy has the beach and I have a full working spa...Maybe we should just move into this hotel! If only money grew on trees :) 

Happy st Patrick's Day

My friend Jinean organized a fun st Patrick's day party for the kids! Green clothes, green snacks, green crafts, playing on green grass and a fun playroom. 

Eating seaweed...yumm

Stickers go on your face right??

Joy is our nature lover and spent the whole time outside exploring the bushes, trees and plants. 

Videos of Joy

Namma and Grandpa bought Joy (and Simon) a nursery rhyme book. Joy loves to do Pat-a-cake!

Joy loves to read the shutterfly books that Namma and Auntie Julie made her. It gives us good practice practicing who is in our family! She loves you guys 

Both my babies at 7 months

I was taking a stroll down memory lane (or amnesia lane as I call it... Since I can't seem to remember when Joy did what!) and was reading about Joy at 7 months. 

It is amazing how different our two children are. My blue eyed girl was almost crawling and all over the place. My brown eyed boy is super active (constant leg kicker) but not really even into rolling. Joy was a much better night sleeper and a worse day sleeper... Simon is the opposite! Simon is an even more adventurous eater than Joy. Joy looked super chubby (and had no neck!) and Simon looks lean (and has such long limbs!). However, to my surprise they weigh the same at 7 months. I guess I can stop worrying that Simon is getting enough milk since he nurses quicker than quick! 

7 months!

What Simon is doing

• loves chewing on everything he can get his hands on (still no teeth). 
• loves to kick his legs
• Sitting in his bumbo (although just like Joy can arch his back and almost get out)
• laughs, smiles all the time
• super ticklish and laughs every time he gets his clothes changed 
• happiest little guy and generally adorable

Eats:
Nursing: Nurses every 2-3 hours. Still super fast
Solid food: Simon loves to eat solid food and would much rather do that than nurse.

• Loves: pumpkin, green beans, rice, oatmeal, rice, yogurt, pears, apples, 
• Verdict is still out on: peas, carrots (he likes but just like Joy, gives him diaper rash if he eats it too many days in row)
• Introducing this week: egg yolk (he tried it today and liked it)
• Need to try again: avocado (he spit up a lot when he ate it)

  

Sleeps: Well....we are failing at night sleep training. We tried for two weeks and he cried for 1-2 hours every night. We will try again in a few months but for now Simon is waking up 2-3 times a night and up for good between 6-7am.

Naps: He is taking 2-3 naps a day (around 9 and 12:30...sometimes 4pm). He is staying awake for 2:45 hour chunks during the day. He has 

Weighs: 15.2 lbs

Likes: likes to play on the floor or in his activity center (above), loves watching Brad throw the ball for Rudy, loves to suck his fingers, his green blanket, snuggles, riding around in the Ergo

Dislikes: not really into reading books (would rather devour the pages), when mommy or daddy disappear from view, when Joy snatches the toy he is playing with   (she usually informs him that it is "her turn" or "her toy")

Favorite event this month: Getting to eat three solid food meals a day! 

Joy lately

In the midst of laundry, dishes, cleaning poop out if undies (potty training has its ups and downs), giving time outs, play dates, walks and reading endless books, I don't want to forget the cute things that Joy says and does. I'm not doing a monthly "month update" anymore instead I'll just post some pics and the moments I want to remember under "Joy lately"

When she really likes dinner she exclaims "Delicious meal!"

Whenever we go for a walk she always says" beautiful day mommy". 

Joy will  hug me and say "mommy loves joy."

When we read the book she loves you she'll say "I like it I like it"

Movie stars

This is only half the crowd that joy and her friend Elena attract. One old lady got millmeters  from their blue eyes and I thought she was going to poke them! 

Joy deals with the attention by throwing bear over her head 

New friends

Joanna and I joined a new mom and kids play group this morning.  They had a special carnival dress up party hosted by a very hospitable Austrian lady. She was brave to open up her house to so many. 2 year olds. Joy had such a good time... Mainly because they had a sand box and a back yard with rocks and grass! Simon as usual was happy just to be along for the ride 

Hokey Dinah namma

Playing on the blanket grandma made, wearing the outfit she bought and playing with the toy she gave him   Thanks grandma and grandpa!!