1 week to go

Henry and I are leaving in one week. We can't believe this day has come so quickly!  We've been having fun around here to make the most of these "final days" before big changes come our way.  Henry has really taken to singing and belts out ABCs, Baa Baa black sheep, You are My Sunshine, Twinkle Twinkle, etc when ever he gets a quiet moment.  He'll even sing along with me when I sing one or two at bedtime in the dark. In the past two weeks I've randomly started singing "Should have been a Cowboy" and now that Henry learns the words to songs so quickly I'm starting to think I should have picked another song...

In other Henry news, he's going through a phase when he's really excited about school. He doesn't go to a school but during our morning walks we point out all the school buses we see and sometimes we get home right when kids are getting on a bus outside our building.  One day Henry made his 6 year old friend very uncomfortable by asking if he could get on the bus too and his friend has to nervously and reluctantly say that wasn't allowed. The picture here is of Henry so happy wearing one of his backpacks. 

Ever since we rode a few motor boats in Laos Henry has talked about riding boats.  Now that he's showing imagination, one game he likes to play is pulling out the frame of an old swing sort of thing, calling it a motor boat, and trying to pile all of his balls and toys on it.

 

And finally, we've been slowing testing the waters with potty training Henry.  Today I just had to take advantage of a great photo opportunity.  Here's Henry chilling on his potty, watching the new Muppet's movie (he actually watched about 20 minutes of the movie), and eating a grilled cheese sandwich.

My colleagues entertained me last weekend during a Saturday full-day work meeting.  Keep in mind all of these colleagues are men.  One leans over to me and enthusiastically says "Rebecca, I am so happy for you!" and I think that he's about to chat about the general fact that I'm about to have another baby.  He goes on to say "It's just great that you have put on substantial weight!" HAHAHA...hmmm...not exactly what I was expecting to hear.  I guess the changes are all relative. I probably have put on "substantial weight" when you compare me to my colleagues wives who, based on the gossiping that ensued, gained a total of 5kgs and 7kgs total during their pregnancies.  I also got a good laugh when we started making jokes during a tea break that centered around....which type of chicken each person would be!  One was a Pakistani chicken because he is tall and strong and always likes to attack (with his jokes), another was a boiler chicken because he likes to eat all the time, and another was a local, deshi chicken because he is so skinny and smart.  Cracked me up. And, no, I was not described although I'd love to know what type of chicken I'd be.

Scott and I got all dressed up for a wedding last weekend. Scott's employee's wife's brother got married so we went to the husband's family's celebration.  We were there to mingle and then eat lunch. Scott took it for the team by taking and finishing a full chicken, making the host very happy, in addition to the rice and other chicken and mutton we were each given. 

Birthday fun

Last weekend for Scott's birthday we went on another boat ride with some friends.  The weather was great and company fun ensuring that the adventure was successful.  Oddly, Henry fell asleep on the drive to the boat and ended up taking a hearty nap well into the boat ride.  Jaffe, one of Henry's best buddies who's about 1 month younger, was very concerned that Henry would miss the whole experience but luckily after about 45 minutes on the river he woke up. You can imagine his utter surprise and mirth at waking up on a "motor boat" with all of his friends.
Scott snapped a great photo of Kingfishers perched on a tree pretty far away:

 Goats on a boat

 Some serious cooking must have taken place

 Henry and Scott with their "matching" hats

 Henry and Jaffee, the boy in the front right, play together just about every day.  Henry's been cracking us up lately because whenever we ask him about a scratch or little owie he'll say "hit Jaffe" as if it resulted from running into Jaffe even if he hasn't seen Jaffe in a few days.  We find this funny not just because he blames everything on running into Jaffe but also because they play together great and besides an expected collision every so often they tend to focus on balls, bikes, and other games that don't involve contact.

 

I mentioned before that Henry has become more and more excited about meeting his baby brother.  The other morning as I was getting ready for our morning walk he disappeared into his room for a little bit. He returned with his "baby brother" who he was happy to find out could come on the walk with us.  After the walk he put the baby to sleep in the foot rest area of the stroller. He hasn't really played with the doll before or after that morning but it was super cute while it lasted.

 We went to a St Patrick's Day party today complete with green drinks, green food in the BBQ buffet and green desserts.  Just our luck that the first rain of the year fell while we were at the party - without an umbrella and looking forward to our walk home.  After about 2 hours, when the rain eased up a bit, we headed home and were "thrilled" to see how much water was lingering on the street.  The thrill was made all the better since the power was out during our walk and we had only the light from our mobile phone to help us avoid the huge puddles.  Can't wait for monsoon season!. Unfortunately I didn't take too many photos at the party but I did get one of Henry gnawing on a chicken leg.

Bonding with his furry brother

First some highlights from the last few days:
Henry forgot to actually smile when he poked his fingers in his cheeks.

Enjoying a splash at a roof top party the other day

 

Henry is in a phase of putting on our shoes and walking all over the house

Henry and Guinness have a great relationship.  Henry is stoked to have a furry brother who will play ball with him at any time, will not mind if Henry sticks his hand or foot in his mouth to try to elicit some licks, and perhaps best of all, will let Henry climb all over him without a complaint.  I don't know if Guinness gets much out of the hands and feet smooshed in his face or the climbing, but he certainly loves to have Henry around to throw ball since Scott and I won't even make one toss for fear that we're hooked into a never ending game of catch.  

For comparison, I thought I'd post photos from back when Henry was just 3 weeks old

Tonight I was able to snag a Climb-on-Guinness session on camera that took place when Henry went to say goodnight to Guinness.  Guinness remained his patient self through all the "attention".

 Henry was sure to give a final sweet hug to make sure they were still as close as ever.

Speaking of brothers, this morning Henry, for the first time, gently patted then kissed my belly and said "Hi baby brother."  He's wanted to snuggle with the growing belly for a little while now and if I prompt him he'll say something nice to the fetus but can I venture to say that they've already started forming a bond?  Less than 3 months to go until they finally meet!

Mo-kito

We have swatted at, stomped at, swung the electric racket at, and directed frustration at so many mosquitoes flying around our apartment over the past few weeks that trying to kill them has become a natural twitch.  The activity seems so perpetual, although there is respite in the middle of the day, that hunting mosquitoes - especially INSIDE the mosquito net that is supposed to protect our bed - and trying to kill them is a game Henry loves to play as it gives him a big sense of accomplishment to point them out.  In the photo here Scott and Henry are inside the little tent to try to avoid them.  Luckily mosquito, or mo-kito as Henry says, season is fairly short lived and we're just about through the thick of it.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!  Some of you may know that Scott and I love to make ice cream.  We ensured that our ice cream maker made it to Bangladesh and have put it to good use over the months by making many flavors from basic vanilla to fruit sorbets in the summer.  I've always wanted to make green tea ice cream but never got my hands on the necessary ingredient - matcha.  On this last trip to Thailand we bought some and I made the first batch of the special flavor.  Yum!  It's not an everyday kind of flavor for us but it's great to know that we can now make it.  Come on over if you want some - we'll find a way to get rid of all the mosquitoes if we know you're coming.

We have enjoyed going to birthday parties held outside at the Club over the past two weekends. We just had to snag a photo of Henry after last weekend's party to try to capture just how dirty he had managed to get during the 2 hours playing at the playground and sandpit.  Unfortunately by the time we got home he was pretty tired and was not in the mood for a photo shoot so I wasn't able to have him pose to capture the best angle but you get the theme.  We were amazed at just how much sand came out of his clothes as off of him at bath time.  Definitely a successful day at the playground!

Big boy

Henry has truly become a Merrill boy.  Something I remember from living at the Merrill house for a few months with Scott and his brother and cousin is the sound of Guinness, our dog, licking away at one of the lucky boys’ feet.  Well, I’ve noticed that Henry now sits in front (or on top) of Guinness and shoves his foot in Guinness’s mouth for a few licks and then shoves in the other foot and says “other foot”.  Hmmm, and why does Guinness put up with this?  No. Why does Guinness love to do this?

Things have been fun around here. We’re still hearing replays about dreams with elephants swimming and boisterous laughs while Henry is chased around and around and around the dining room table.  One other thing we hear if Henry gets a little down time is signing.  Since a little before our trip he started singing his ABCs, albeit skipping a few of the letters but who’s to judge, but he especially belts out “Now I know my ABCs; next time won’t you sign with me.” How can we not sign along?  Also, along with the Itsy Bitsy Spider, we also hear Happy Birthday To You.  Learning this song was inspired by celebrating my brother’s birthday combined with me trying to keep Henry entertained during a flight.  His personal touch is signing by emphasizing the phrase with “Happy birthday… TOYOU”.

Is it okay to say more Henry news?  …  He has gone through many changes in the past week.  We switched him from the crib to the next stage towards a big boy bed. Let me tell you he was proud of the surprise!  He was grabbing everyone from across the hall to run with him back to his room to watch him climb into bed.  When Shilpi came a few days later he couldn’t wait to show her as well.  It’s fun to watch him climb into bed after book time and then plop down for his night of sleep.  Perhaps catalyzed by this switch to a big boy bed, for the past two days Henry has been using the potty and wearing underwear – without any accidents!  This evening while Henry and I were on a walk Scott got home from work and answered the door. As soon as Henry saw Scott he shouted “Henry pee in the potty!” and then enticed us to run with him to his potty for a display.  We’ll see how long this lasts; we’ll certainly encourage it while it does.   

Sabai dee!

Sabai dee means "Hello" in Lao and we now have  that engrained in our vocabulary.  We had a great time in Luang Prabang.  How could we not in such a calm town full of small streets to explore, great food to eat (Thai like food along with, because of the French influence, sweet and savory crepes and baguette sandwiches), a river to look out on, rolling hills in the distance, and wonderfully nice people to be among.  Our first few days in the city were filled with lingering in the morning, strolling until we found a place for morning coffee, being entertained with Henry trying to find the nearest chicken, picking and going on an adventure, reading and relaxing during Henry’s afternoon nap, hunting for butterflies when he woke up, then heading back out for a delicious dinner and perhaps exploring the evening market.  We spent the second half of the trip out of town at a relatively secluded resort of sorts nested within the jungle along a river where we hiked to an elephant camp a few mornings, went on a short boat ride, and just relaxed.  Spending a long week in Laos was just what we needed after the last few months.  We hope you like the photos and extra details. 

 The hotels we found through internet searches were fantastic.  The first one had a garden in the back (pictured here) teeming with butterflies and periodically chickens much to Henry’s happiness. At one point Henry and I were exploring the grounds when a women working for the hotel came out to pluck rose apples from the tree.  Henry loved the task of snatch up the fallen fruit and putting it in the bag I held.  He also appreciated being paid with 2 oranges.

Here's one of Henry's favorite discoveries off in the distance - can you see the chickens?

The second fairly secluded resort we stayed at was amazing.  We had a private, pretty big villa with a huge balcony looking out over the river, rolling hills, and jungle.  At night we left the doors open and slept to the jungle sounds.  There were a total of 8 villas at this place and only 2 others were booked the first few days we were there and then we had the place to ourselves.  Better yet, it was a 15 minute jungle hike away from an elephant camp, had an amazing pool  (pictured here, albeit a cold pool that we just sort of waded around), and a little space at the river front.

Back to the city...

One morning we 'climbed' Mount Phu Si.  This is basically a hill with steps to get to the top.  At the top there is a wat and a great view of the surrounding city.  Our muscles were shocked to deal with the elevation change which we never have in Dhaka.  This feeling continued throughout the trip; it was great to put my legs to work like that.  Across the street from the entrance to Mt Phu Si was the Royal Palace Museum.  While we were there we wanted, or needed since it was quite hot, to take a break in the shade and decided to sit by a pond with tons of hungry goldfish which we fed.  Within a minute we had tons of kids around who enjoyed Henry sharing the fish food with them.  By the end Henry had a gang of friends.

That evening and one or two more times we strolled through the street market that was set up and broken down every single evening. Most of the time Henry was running around making friends with the stall owners and luckily he didn't break anything.

One of the adventures we stumbled upon was a boat ride across the river to take a walk through a village, climb some more stairs to a wat, and, unbeknownst to use at the outset, descend into a little cave. We discovered this opportunity when we lingered a little longer than normal at a breakfast spot as Henry bonded with a rooster.  This huge rooster would belt out cock-a-doodle-do encouraging Henry to come find him.  Invariably, we'd find the rooster again (as you can imagine, it wasn't too hard) and Henry would stare at him awhile or even walk right up to him.  More often then not, the rooster would then turn to Henry to say his cock-a-doodle-do hello at which point Henry would forget all the manners we've taught him and just run the other way.  What happened to saying Hello back?  This happened, oh, about 11 times before we headed off to the boat ride.

Walking through the village...picking up rocks

Heading into and enjoying the depths of the cave (it was surprisingly warm in there):

And walking back to our boat:

The other adventure we took from the city was a trip to Pak Ou Cave  which turned out to not be an actual cave but just a nook in a cliff. Alas, we had fun.  During this trip Henry became attached to his hat which was a great feat.  Other highlights were Henry finding a monkey leashed to a tree and a completely random owl perched on a stick at a tea stall during our walk from the car down to the water. Most people take a 1.5 hour boat ride to the cave, versus the 45 minute drive we took, and as a result we were happy  to not have a crowd during the part walking part.

Henry's head is blocking the view of the nook in the cliff where our boat is heading.

 

More stairs...

One of the first things we did after settling in to the second place we stayed was take a hike to the nearby elephant camp.  When asking how to get there, the hotel owner suggested we take the road which was direct and would take about 30 minutes. Under his breath he said that we could also take the shorter 'path' through the woods but it might be a little bit of a challenge with Henry.  Granted the roads in this area were empty dirt roads but how could we pass up some time amongst the trees especially since we were coming from Bangladesh with no person-less space.  The first time around it was a thrill to find our way through the forest because, as you can see, there wasn't too much of a path.  Not to worry, Scott's trusty Eagle Scout skills got us through to the other side.  After that it was a short jaunt to the camp where we sat and watched the elephants for awhile.  We thought we'd try to go on a ride that day but after Henry freaked out when we fed the elephants banana's - I guess I can understand that it might be a little unsettling for the little guy to have a huge elephant truck come sniffing near his face with nostrils the size of his ears - we decided not to push it. The brilliant thing was that we could just walk back the next day. 

 

You can see in this picture below Henry's new trick of jabbing his finger(s) in his cheek(s) and smiling super dramatically when we pull out the camera or say smile.

 We decided to try out the road route on the way back and as you can see exploring the forest for bugs on the way there and watching elephants roam around can be quite tiring.  He definitely took a long, hard nap that day.

 

Henry woke up the next morning saying "Ride elephant!" which we took as a sign to get to the camp as early as possible and not let the opportunity slip by.  The ride included walking down to and through the river.  From that day Henry has talked about "ride elephant swimming" just about every day. In fact, when I ask him in the morning what he dreamed about he actually has an answer now.  Up until last week he would just stare at me like I was asking some lame, mom question but for the past few mornings he actually responded with "ride elephant swimming!".  Whether he dreamed about that or not it's great to know we didn't traumatize him!

The other side trip we took from the hotel was a ~10 minute "motor boat" (as Henry loves to talk about) ride up to Tad Sae waterfall.  Since it's the dry season the waterfall was pretty paltry in terms of water flow but beautiful none the less. At times I thought it looked like a man-made miniature put-put course since the rock formations seemed so smooth and strategically designed for easy climbing, but Scott assured me they were natural.  One advantage of the going at the tail end of the dry season - practically no other visitors.  However, there is a network of ziplines going through the park and at one point a group for 6 people came gliding through.  Henry was totally mesmerized by the "flying people".

The rest of our time at the resort was spent, as I mentioned, relaxing either by the pool area or by the river to throw rocks, walking back and forth on the bamboo bridge, playing with the owners dog (Henry and the dog became best friends), and listening to jungle sounds.  Was it mean to let Henry believe that one of the sounds coming from the trees was a troop of monkeys when really we think it was probably some funky bird - how could we burst his astonished bubble?

And finally, what a treat to say good night on the last night in Laos to a special friend who made his/her first appearance that night just for the event.  Maybe at that point we should have questioned leaving the doors open, but that would have just been rude to our potential visitors.

Additional photos:

Henry doesn't need to follow the crowd. This was taken while we were out with Henry on a morning walk in the city and saw the Tak Bat or the monks on their morning alms walk.

Momma and Henry at the top of Mt Phu Si

The End. Phew.