Far East Streettag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008-02-24://12008-11-18T13:57:43ZMovable Type 4.1A Real Conversationtag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1702008-11-18T13:36:19Z2008-11-18T13:57:43ZI'd just come back from a jog and I almost made it back to my apartment without anyone saying anything when I run into Ai-di and Si-yu in the hall.Ai-di: (noticing my clothes) Did you just exercise?Kristie: Yes. (trying to...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com Ai-di: (noticing my clothes) Did you just exercise?
Kristie: Yes. (trying to get away without a more detailed answer)
Ai-di: (noticing how sweaty I am) Running?
Kristie: (Busted!) Well, jogging really, I don't go very fast.
Si-yu: (was already a few steps down the hall, but turns around to say) But aren't you pregnant? (looks pointedly at my baby bump)
Kristie: I am.
Si-yu: I didn't know pregnant women could jog.
Kristie: Sure they can, being pregnant isn't being sick.
Si-yu: No, not sick, but most of the pregnant ladies I've seen are more like...old people.
Kristie: And old people can jog too! There were lots of old people at the track jogging tonight. Honestly, most were going faster than me.
Si-yu: Yeah.....one time I saw an old man wearing spandex shorts to jog. I was embarrassed for him.
Kristie: Right....(thinking, "Does this mean I shouldn't wear my spandex shorts to jog?")
Si-yu: Yeah, I was really, really embarrassed for him. Really embarrassed.
Kristie: (nods, wonders if this is some kind of commentary on me, even though I am, thankfully, not currently wearing any spandex) Well, goodnight!
Si-yu: I still would have never thought a pregnant lady could jog...Hmm..Goodnight. (walks away, with a furrowed brow) ]]>
A Flower for Sundaytag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1662008-11-16T06:49:27Z2008-11-09T06:52:43Z Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!For praise from the upright is beautiful.Psalm 33:1...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Psalm 33:1 ]]>
A Real Conversationtag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1672008-11-11T06:53:11Z2008-11-09T07:03:20ZI've been weaning Ellie this past month, from three nursing sessions a day to none. It has been a really easy process, mostly we've had this conversation several times.Ellie: Milk?Kristie: You want to drink some milk? Sure, let's go get...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com Ellie: Milk?
Kristie: You want to drink some milk? Sure, let's go get your cup of milk.
Ellie: No. Momma Milk. (While nodding--she answers her own requests in the affirmative--and doing the sign language for "milk", which really means "nurse" to her)
Kristie: Oh. No honey, Momma doesn't have any more milk. (which I think is true)
Ellie: Buy more.
Kristie: I did buy you more milk, it's in your yellow cup in the fridge.
Ellie: (goes to the fridge, opens it herself, gets out her yellow cup and starts guzzling away) ]]>
Meet Xi-pantag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1682008-11-10T07:03:39Z2008-11-09T07:48:08ZOne of the best things for me, and I think for Ellie too, about moving to the seminary are the community and social aspects of living here. I was pretty lonely for other mommy friends in Taichung, and Ellie never...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com First is Xi-pan (her name means "Hope"), who is one of Ellie's favorite friends. Xi-pan is almost two years older than Ellie, but they love to play together. (Yes, this is the same Xi-pan of potty fame from last week's Real Conversation.)
This is Ellie and Xi-pan riding the wagon together and giggling their little hearts out.
Xi-pan lives a few doors down from us, and most afternoons she and Ellie ride tricycles in the hall together. Xi-pan also likes to come to our house and see what kind of food we have, and then eat it.
Xi-pan only speaks Chinese, of course, and Ellie only speaks a little bit of mostly-mispronounced English. No worries though, they communicate in giggles. Often Ellie will do something silly, like lie down on the floor or lift up her shirt, then Xi-pan will copy Ellie and the two will erupt into giggles.
Sometimes Ellie copies Xi-pan, too. Like here in this picture: Xi-pan was over playing when she picked up one of Ellie's books and started "reading" it to herself aloud. Then Ellie also sat down with a book and started to read aloud.
Ellie asks to play with Xi-pan all the time, and Xi-pan's name was even the first Chinese word Ellie said consistently. Actually, I'm hoping Ellie will pick up lots more Chinese from Xi-pan as they play together over the next two years. Mostly I think it's so sweet to watch Ellie interacting with her very first friend. ]]>
A Flower for Sundaytag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1642008-11-09T06:41:48Z2008-11-09T06:45:54Z It is vain for you to rise up early,To sit up late,To eat the bread of sorrows;For so He gives His beloved sleep.Psalm 127:2...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2 ]]>
The Most Beautiful Wordstag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1632008-11-05T10:04:53Z2008-11-04T13:17:49ZFor the past two mornings I have awoken to the most beautiful sound coming from Ellie's room:"Daaa-dddyyyy"And I just smile and roll on over....Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com
"Daaa-dddyyyy"
And I just smile and roll on over.
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A Real Conversationtag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1612008-11-04T06:01:25Z2008-11-03T14:23:37ZOne of Ellie's friends, who is three, was over playing when she said she needed to use the potty. I went in with her, because I wasn't sure how much help she needed. I'll start the conversation halfway through the...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com Kristie: Okay, here's the toilet paper, do you need help wiping?
Xi-pan: No, my mom says not to use toilet paper when it's just pee.
CONGRATULATIONS TOM & AMANDA!!! ]]>
A Flower for Sundaytag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1592008-11-02T02:40:40Z2008-11-02T03:01:01ZKristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com
Do not put your trust in princes,
In mortal men, who cannot save.
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
Who keeps truth forever.
Psalm 146:3,5,6
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It's Been Four Long Daystag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1582008-10-30T14:42:21Z2008-10-30T15:27:09ZIt's been four days of no naps around here. No naps for Ellie. No naps for me. Four. Long. Days.And I really need my naps. I keep wondering why I feel so tired and behind, and then I remember. Oh...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com And I really need my naps. I keep wondering why I feel so tired and behind, and then I remember. Oh yeah. No naps.
One day I tried to lie down and rest a little. Ellie crawled onto the bed and started crying and saying, "Momma! Wake up! Wake up!" It was a little like that scene from Steel Magnolias, but without the tragedy.
It did make me cry though.
We've had a lot of crying these past four days, too.
Because of the no naps. That, and because Ellie got a real, honest-to-goodness, band-aid requiring boo-boo last week. Her finger go pinched in the elevator door. Sometimes she remembers her now completely healed boo-boo and will come to me holding her finger out. And crying. I give her a hug, and she tucks her little knees in and asks me to sing "Hush Little Baby". It was sweet, the first 50 times.
Ellie isn't napping because I took the final step in her weaning process and stopped letting her nurse before nap time. Actually, it wasn't just a "nurse before nap time". We would nurse lying down, and then once Ellie was asleep I would slip away from her and let her keep napping.
I think this is going to be a tough one.
On the plus side, Ellie has been sleeping a little longer at night. More like 11-12 hours instead of her usual 10. Before, she slept at night from 8pm to 6am, and then took a 1-2 hour nap just after lunch.
This past week she's been getting up later, around 7 or 8 in the morning. But no naps. I think maybe it wouldn't be such a bad trade-off, the 8am versus 6am wake-up call without any nap.
Except for the crying. So much crying. And the holding. She always wants to be held, or carried. And Ellie is no lightweight.
So this has left me feeling a little, um, crazy.
I've been trying to do a mini version of our bedtime routing, some books and singing and then lie down in her crib. It works at night. It doesn't seem to work during the day. Sobbing. Hysterical sobbing. Until we finally decide nap time is, yet again, a wash.
Today she seemed so exhausted that I finally decided to hold her and sing and rock her a little. She fell asleep in less than 5 minutes. I let her sleep on me for a little while, it reminded me of when she was a tiny baby, but when I tried to lay her down on my bed she woke right up. Crying. (By the way, too much of the holding while sleeping when she was tiny is one of the reasons I think we're having our current troubles.)
I might try taking walks in the stroller after lunch. Ellie could probably sleep for a little in the stroller.
Of course it's not a real solution. She still wouldn't be sleeping in her bed. And, more importantly (?), I wouldn't be sleeping.
Is 15 minutes too much to ask? ]]>
A Flower for Sundaytag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1552008-10-26T05:37:15Z2008-10-14T23:48:00Z As for man, his days are like grass;As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,And its place remembers it no more.But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting. Psalm 103:15-17 ]]>
Halfway theretag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1572008-10-24T06:43:37Z2008-10-24T12:44:33ZHooray! I've reached the 20 week mark, halfway there. It was high time I let everyone know how I look, and so, by popular request...a picture of me and my bump! Honestly, I almost cut my head out of this...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com
Honestly, I almost cut my head out of this one, because, Wow! do I ever need a haircut. I'm just not quite ready to face the Russian Roulette of choosing a new hair dresser in Taiwan. They all assume I can just blow dry my hair and make it straight. As in, straight like a Chinese person's. Oh, poor misinformed dears.
I'm not wearing maternity clothes in this picture, but I do wear them. I'm pretty much at that stage where my regular clothes are mostly too small but maternity clothes are still enormous. I try to stick to my loose t-shirts and stretchy waistbands. Luckily, after three years of hot, Taiwan summers without much AC to speak of, my wardrobe has shifted towards lots of loose fitting clothing. And, yes, we are still having summer weather. And, yes again, I am very jealous of all of you who are enjoying beautiful fall weather, because it is my favorite season and we don't get fall here. *Sniff* Poor me.
My other thought when I looked at this picture was, "Oh! I'm not as big as I thought I was." I think I've gained about 12 lbs., about the same as when I was this far along with Ellie. I do, however, weigh 17 lbs. MORE than my neighbor who is nine months pregnant!!! And people wonder why I can't buy clothes in Taiwan.
I've been feeling really good lately. I finally got past the first trimester exhaustion that nearly did me in and I'm finally done with the late night cleaning sessions. Last week I was feeling so rested and energetic I decided it was time to start jogging again. I overdid it a little the first day, but since then I put some easy listening music on my iPOD to help me not go too fast and have felt great from jogging.
Hopefully things will continue to go smoothly for the next 20 weeks. ]]>
A Real Conversationtag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1482008-10-21T02:37:51Z2008-09-28T02:43:43ZKristie: Come on Ellie, let's make the bed.Ellie: (points to the blanket) Bank!Kristie: Not the blanket yet. We have to do the sheet first. Here, help momma smooth the sheet.Ellie: Baaa-aa-a! (and starts smoothing the sheet.)(This conversation occurs every time...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com
Kristie: Come on Ellie, let's make the bed.
Ellie: (points to the blanket) Bank!
Kristie: Not the blanket yet. We have to do the sheet first. Here, help momma smooth the sheet.
Ellie: Baaa-aa-a! (and starts smoothing the sheet.)
(This conversation occurs every time we make the bed. She can't hear the difference between sheet and sheep.) ]]>
A Flower for Sundaytag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1542008-10-19T05:24:16Z2008-10-14T22:34:44Z O LORD, how manifold are your works!In wisdom You have made them all.Psalm 104:24...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom You have made them all. Psalm 104:24 ]]>
Stin-kheeetag:www.fareaststreet.com,2008://1.1562008-10-15T13:10:27Z2008-10-15T13:28:52Z Ellie likes her stuffies to be diapered these days. From time to time she will decide that one of them, usually Baby, is ready for a change. She will bring me Baby, hand her to me and with her...Kristiehttp://www.fareaststreet.com
Ellie likes her stuffies to be diapered these days. From time to time she will decide that one of them, usually Baby, is ready for a change. She will bring me Baby, hand her to me and with her nose wrinkled up say, "Stin-kheee". Sometimes everyone needs a change at once. Ellie helps me hold the pins.
Sometimes I can use this game to my advantage, like when Ellie is resisting having her own diaper changed. She is usually more willing if we change Teddy first.
Ellie doesn't much take care of her babies herself. She will sometimes share her milk with them, but prefers to bring Baby to me and have me change her or rock her or give her milk to drink. Good practice for her upcoming role as Big Sister, I suppose. ]]>
