Halloween Cuties

Here they are: the cutest littles in Hong Kong. And certainly the cutest Skunk/Badger creature you'll ever see.

Helloooooo......?? Anybody still out there?

Forgive me for kind of "forgetting" that I still have a blog - life's been pretty bizzy! The kids are all well at last. We've had some nasty chest infections making the rounds here which has resulted in a family sleep deficit. Much better now - the zombies are all in full recovery.

We went to Thailand for a week recently which of course meant work was flat-out for the weeks leading up to the trip and for the first two weeks back because of course work kept chugging along while we were away. The trip itself was worth all the work though. The resort was beautiful and the kids LOVED it. Here's a link to the resort in Hua Hin. The pools were a huge hit and our plump little babies were wrinkled little raisins by the time we returned.

As some of you know Steve and Fin are making a short visit to Vancouver in November so book your audience with the boy soon!

Sorry to get carried away with the photos but it's been awhile!

PS - This post is dedicated to Jane for her to-the-point email!

A Royal Pain in the .....

Finley has been attending a summer program that changes its theme weekly. Last week was royalty, or knights and princesses or some such thing and on Thursday night I realised he would need some kind of royalty inspired costume for their "Banquet" on Friday. Damn. Damn. Damn!

I had just picked my mom up from the airport express so it was late and by the time we got home all the kids were in bed so I had to veeeery quietly dig through my closet for something that I could bear to part with that could be somehow reworked into royal garb. Back in the dining room I assembled our materials - one old red skirt, one old silver fake leather purse (don't ask!) and some blue felt. We cut, we stitched, we glued - we made one heck of a costume. It really was quite something. A red cape with regal drape to it, trimmed in silver leather, a green shirt with a silver shield and blue felt lion on it and of course, the crown he had made earlier in the week. Pleased with myself I went to bed secure in the knowledge that my son would look like royalty the next day.

The next morning Fin took one look at the costume and cried. Why I thought he'd wear it is beyond me. This is the same boy that won't even wear a hat, never mind a full on costume. Anyway, more tears (mine) and trauma and an hour later Fin was loaded on the bus sans cape, but begrudgingly wearing the shirt with the shield and carrying the crown. I took some video of him sitting on the bus putting his crown on. At least he will wear his crown I thought and then snap, snap, snap! the crown burst apart, stretched beyond its limits by the considerable girth of Fin's big round head. Ah well.

Yesterday Steve took Fin to Mongkok which is a fairly long bus ride but doable if all goes well... all did NOT go well of course. The bus was diverted because of a raging fire in a Mongkok apartment block that killed one fireman and sent 47 others to hospital. Horrific. Steve and Fin happened to be walking nearby when a local reported jumped out for some human interest to spice up the tragedy. Here is the interview that ensued:

Reporter: Are you from Hong Kong or just visiting?

Steve: I live here.

Reporter: Have you been inconvenienced by this fire?

Steve: Um, yes. I have.

What I'm sure the headline was:

Local Man "Inconvenienced" by Horrible Tragedy that Claims Hero's Life - More at 11.

What deep insightful journalism! And is there an answer to the "inconvenienced" question that doesn't make you look like a total ass?

Tormato Warning!

Finley made a very interesting craft at preschool yesterday. I knew that he had used clear plastic bottles for the project because I had been caught frantically digging through our work kitchen's garbage in search of clear plastic bottles to send to school with him. But I had no idea what was going to be done with the bottles. So over dinner last night I quizzed him about the bottles. He kept insisting that they had put tomatoes in the bottles with soap and then shaken them all about. He demonstrated the shaking all about part by doing full body bends with his hands above his head. I was pretty sure I was missing some crucial element of this craft because shaking tomatoes and soap around in a plastic bottle seems just weird, not educational, not pretty - just plain weird.

So after dinner he showed me his tomato in a bottle. The bottle was full of water, soap to make the water thicker and create "clouds" at the top, and a generous handful of gold sequins. He shook the bottle all about and sure enough the sequins made a beautiful miniature TORNADO in the bottle. Ah! Mystery solved!

"Finley, that's a torNAdo, not a tormato"

"TorMAto"

"No - NNNnnn, torNAdo, NNnn, NNnnn. Can you say NNnnn?"

"NNnnnna-torMAto"

"Never mind."

I suppose it's not really that big of a deal really. How often will he need tornado as part of his weather vocabulary in Hong Kong or in Vancouver for that matter? It's not like we live in Kansas or something! Weather words that would be much more useful to him here are words like: impenetrable smog, pollution index, and ungodly humidity. In fact, maybe I'll draw up some flashcards for him...

In other news - Steve just got back from Bangladesh where his new temporary job took him. Steve is on secondment to Citigroup for a few months. I think it has so far been at least somewhat interesting to him and it has meant somewhat more time with him on the weekends which we are all enjoying.

And in further career news - I have a new job with my same firm. I'm now in charge of corporate social responsibility for China which is pretty much my dream job so I'm very happy. I'm also the practice development lawyer for the dispute resolution group here. So I get to kind of keep a finger in the actual law while still doing a lot of other things.

Finno's Turn

Ok - just let me know when you get sick of all the video!

Scenes from the Playroom

So, now that I've finally figured out the magic of adding video to the blog you can expect to be bombarded with live action cute!

This one is a little long - I promise to try and keep them a little shorter from now on....

PS - The still makes her face look ultra creepy!

Laurel walking in June (Sorry for the delay!)

Walkin' and Talkin'

Walkin'
The big news first: Laurel is walking!!! And not just a step here and there but here-comes-Laurel-charging-down-the-hall kind of walking! She thinks it's hysterical to suddenly pop out from around a corner and laugh her crazy little cackle in response to your surprise and delight. As soon as I figure out how to do so I will post a short video clip of her walking expertise.

Talkin'
Some of you may know that I've been involved with a VERY worthy charitable organisation since early last Fall. The organisation is the Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre and what we do is provide free legal advice to refugee seekers who are appearing before the United Nations High Commission on Refugees to have their status determined. We are the only group in Hong Kong that provides this much needed service but we have been really struggling financially. The two wonderful women that dreamt up this organisation and have grown it from nothing have worked their own little miracle in getting 4 of the largest and most respected law firms in the world's Hong Kong offices to partner with them. We now have a large roster of volunteer lawyers, interpretors and caseworkers. Over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd we are providing training to our volunteer lawyers and (here comes the talkin' bit) I'm going to facilitate/teach a session on research. I'm feeling quite fluttery in my tummy about getting up and talkin' research skills to a bunch of skilled researchers (or at least skilled enough to have landed pretty flash legal jobs!). So any words of advice or encouragement will be much appreciated!

In addition to my personal involvement with this project, my firm has partnered with HKRAC to provide funding and pro bono hours. So now I'm getting paid to encourage people to volunteer with us! And if work ever slows down enough, I could even be getting paid to do the volunteer work I was already doing.... Anyway, I'm feeling very pleased about this whole situation. I believe corporate-speak for what we have here is synergy. Yep, I do believe I am leveraging off my prior experience with HKRAC to create a synergistic situation. (Just as an aside - can you believe Microsoft??? "Pro bono" gets the red-line but a dumb-ass word like "synergistic" is totally acceptable.)

So that's all folks, I'm off so that I can ramp-up for the training session and start actioning some of the tasks ahead of me!

Hanoi

Ok, so some of you know that the last month I've been consumed at work with organising a conference in Hanoi for all the Asia Partners at our firm. When I was asked to do it I thought it sounded like a pretty cush job that would culminate in a fun filled weekend in Hanoi. Apparently there's more to organising a conference than just booking a venue and telling people to show up! Especially if you are organising said conference for the Partners (yes, capital P!) of a fancy-schmancy law firm.

The upside to fancy-schmancy Partners is that I did get to stay in Hanoi's most beautiful and historical hotel, the Sofitel Metropole. If you are ever feeling VERY wealthy in Hanoi I couldn't recommend it more. The conference went reasonably well with some predictable (and some unpredictable!) drama from the Partners. Anyway enough said about them.

Steve flew down for the weekend and we got to spend a lovely Sunday wandering around Hanoi's old-quarter. There is a beautiful little lake in the center surrounded by a lush little park. We spent a few hours wandering around there and enjoying an ice-cream while we sat and watched Hanoi's young couples enjoying their Sunday canoodling by the lake. In one of the pictures you can see what the electrical like situation in on Hanoi's streets and it's a little scary! The lines are low enough to touch (should you be that stupid!) and multitudinous!

Words can't really do it justice so I'll just let you enjoy the photos. A funny thing about having a weekend away from the kids is that they truly occupy your thoughts almost as much as if they were with you. Maybe particularly so because it was Children's Day on Sunday and Hanoi made a pretty big deal out of it. We actually felt a little bereft...

PS - the food was AMAZING!!

First Haircut (AKA - Boo Hoo! My baby's Growing up!)

I suppose it had to happen sooner or later..... he was getting awfully shaggy. Josey had his first haircut yesterday and has been transformed from a sweet cherubic little baby with fluffy, semi-curly hair to a short haired little man-boy. Still pretty cute though! SO here you go: Before, During and After.

Breakfast with Fin

Me: Don't use those knives (Relax!! Butter knives!) on the table. It could scratch the table.
Fin: And then it will get mosquito bites?
Me: Not all scratching is related to mosquito bites, Fin.
Fin: I'm Dad. (Continues to try and cut the table with the knives - one in each hand)
Me: Sorry. Dad. Stop using the knives on the table!
Fin: Just use them on your head?? (Starts scratching his head with both knives)

Fin has been insisting that we call him Dad lately. It gets very confusing.

Every conversation with him lately has been like some surreal art movie where I'm too stupid to follow the dialog, so I end up hopelessly confused.

The Year of Living Sleeplessly

Ok – I know I’ve been slack and I deserve a reprimand for that…. but you have to cut the mom of a pair of newly minted one (OMG!! ONE!!!) year olds a little bit of slack. My head is still spinning. I have 2 one year olds!!

So this seems like an appropriate time to reflect on the year that was. Except that I basically have no memories before November. There is photographic evidence that I was around for the months leading up to November but my brain seems to be in denial. Anyway, they look cute in the photos! My brain appears to be missing out on some fun times!

Life has become much easier in the last couple of months especially. They sleep more, they play more, they interact more… They are just plain MORE in so many ways. They both have charming personalities. Laurel is such a sweet, quiet little thinker. Don’t get me wrong, she can lose her little mind like only a one year old can, and she can be goofy but mostly she seems to be giving the world a great deal of thoughtful consideration. We used to think Joe was a real little bull-dozer, always on the go, full steam ahead, but he has revealed that he also has a more considered approach to the world. Joe has the readiest smile anybody we meet has ever seen. Laurel appears to find the world a fascinating and thought provoking place, Joe seems to be constantly AMAZED by it and charmed by the wonderful things in it.

We had a lovely little picnic party for them on the rooftop garden at our building to celebrate their birthday. There were 4 sets of twins in the mix and from how they behaved, I think we gave the impression that life with infant twins is one of sedate and agreeable pleasures. Snort!

We had a little cake drama the morning of the party. Steve went into Central to pick up all the cupcakes I’d ordered and shortly after I got a call from the bakery saying that he’d forgotten one box and that it was so big that it would require two people to carry it. Weird, I thought to myself - those must be massive cupcakes! So I called an already irritated Steve and got him to go back and try and figure out how to get all those massive cupcakes home on his own. The bakery woman was helping him carry the giant box out of the building when he noticed that the order slip on it had someone else's name on it. When they looked in the box it was a GIANT cake in the shape of a rooster. Clearly not our cupcakes. We were a little annoyed by the needless cupcake drama but can you imagine the drama of arriving to pick up your GIANT rooster cake and discovering someone else had taken it home??

The next day, their actual birthday, Laurel took her first wobbly steps. She has been absolutely determined the last couple of weeks to get this whole walking business underway. If you make the mistake of sitting down anywhere near her she crawls right over turns herself around, reaches back for your hands and stands up and she’s off. I have become accustomed to walking bent over from the waist with her and then hobbling around clutching my back after like the old woman I am quickly becoming.

Anyway, Joe and Laurel's birthday: a beautiful day.

Bet you thought I had quit again....

Bwa-ha-ha!! I'll keep you guessing for all time with my sporadicness (this is my blog I can make up whatever words I want!).

Anyway, I think I've deprived the world of cute photos long enough....

As you know (I'm assuming you track these posts despite the sporadicity! See? It all starts with nouns and then the next thing you know, I'm making my own adverbs!), Auntie Sonya was here for a couple weeks and with a boldness/courage that only naivity can breed, we took all the kids to the Philippines for a "relaxing" vacation. What a great 5 days of sleeplessness that was! Ok, it actually was pretty beautiful and sunny, and sandy and oceany and all of the other ingredients that make a great vacation - but I'm not fooling about the sleepless part. I think Joe was up around 3:30 every morning, whereas Laurel just said to heck with all sleep in general. Fin was a real lazybones and never got out of bed before 5am though. Sleepyhead!! Needless to say we are all the first at the breakfast buffet every morning.

Mmmmmm... the breakfast buffet... I should have taken photos of that! It was AMAZING. That's all I can say - words wouldn't do it justice...

Anyway, the days were great and the nights were long. I guess that's holidaying with little ones.

I keep meaning to post this little genderization vignette from bedtime with Fin about a month ago:
The Scene - Fin and I laying in his bed talking before he goes to sleep.

Fin: I like rockets.
Me: I like rockets too!
Fin: No!! YOU like hearts. And flowers. And Butterflies!
Me: Ok, but I like rockets too.
Fin: NOO!! I told you already!! YOU like FLOWERS! and HEARTS!! and BUTTERFLIES!!
Me: Um, ok, I sure do like flowers and hearts and butterflies.

One night later, same scene.

Me: Hey, Fin? I really like cars and trucks and rockets.
Fin: NNNOOOOO!!! I TOLD YOU LAST NIGHT!! YOU LIKE FLOWERS AND HEARTS AND BUTTERFLIES!!!

Much in the same vein, he has been on a big kick about what is for girls (well, in Fin's words "grils") and what is for boys. Pink - girls, blue - boys, etc, etc. Fin was telling me that he has a peanut, Joe has a peanut and daddy has a peanut (I'm sure you can guess...) but Laurel doesn't have one. "You should go buy one for Laurel mom".

Work is going well. My contract was extended for another 6 months with a view to going permanent. Now that I'm on the "other side" of the whole law office dynamic, can I just say how incredibly IRRITATING lawyers are??? One of the partners actually told us (the business development team) that he wants us to be like a nagging wife to him. Otherwise he won't get any of the biz-dev (see? I'm such an old hand that I even speak the hip lingo now!) stuff done. WTF??

In other lawyerly news - Steve belongs in the Guinness Book of Lawyer records for his 120 hour day last week.

Need I mention how much we are looking forward to our week in New York? No, not because of the awesome museums and the cool shopping and the delicious food and our wonderful friends. Because of the hours of uninterrupted SLEEP!!!

Ok - I'm outta here. I made a rash promise to make Thomas the Train cupcakes with Fin since we are stuck inside on this Typhoony ( hey, I told you, my blog, MY words!) day. For those with an insatiable appetite for typhoon trivia - this is the earliest start to the typhoon season seen here since 1949!