Walking here and there

Kait wasted no time in toddling away once we moved here. That was a month ago, at 10 months 1 week old then, that makes her a really early walker. The Hokkien phrase "gia lai gia ke" describes well all the walking here and walking there she's been doing since...


She loves to play ball, too -- she can throw, pass, kick, and does a pretty good job at stealing the ball from her two Gor Gors... if they'll let her!


In these pictures below...
Walking on air, Kait looks like she's holding her own -- oblivious to the brothers tackling each other, for the baby football, that's more her size!


I'd thought oh-so-innocently, what harm could come out of this little rubber ball? But there's no such thing as playing ball "gently" inside the house, as it turns out. One boy was playing rough, and the other got a bruised cheek worse than the usual scraped knee, and of course, the friendly game became a brawl and ended with lots of bawling instead. It's banned now, I'm constantly asked to lift it, and I only half-wish that every disagreement can be as easily solved by removing the object of the quarrel. That won't teach sharing though, and every day, I tear my hair out and rack my brains over how to referee fights and what consequences to give... more than what I'm going to cook for our lunch and dinner, *sigh*!

Meanwhile, as soon as Kait became steadier on her feet, she would saunter into a room and comfortably proceed to the next. The boys were excited and would count out loud how quickly she went from taking 10 to 20-something steps, and Ben (exaggerating) thinks it's 99 at last count. The latest is -- after these pictures from weeks ago -- she is walking on concrete floor, where the boys, not yet her, started swim lessons this week.(pictures, maybe later). At 11 months old now, she knows to use her palms to block her fall, if not, lands on her rear to escape getting her knees scraped.

But because she's still so little, I insisted on baby gates for the home, and it took us a few trips to the stores before we found the right ones for Vern to install. I'd slipped on the floor -- after cleaning it, and fallen down a short flight of stairs onto unevenly tiled floor; boy, it hurt, and thankfully, I didn't break my back. But if I could trip, how much more we have to watch out for Kait, who jumps at climbing the stairs every time the swing door of the gate is not latched properly. She's fine if she doesn't stop to play midway, but the coming down backwards on her tummy is something she needs to be reminded to do, to scoot downwards one step at a time.

And if you ask me, I think the most challenging of all the growing going on, is the testing of boundaries, more and more -- from Kait, and from Jon and Ben. Talking of "more", let me end with how Kait came to understand this simple concept:

Inspired by our friend Kathy to teach the "more" sign to Kait from very early on, here's how Kait would ask for more of things she likes, over these last few months. First, it was a clap, that was her modified version. Then, she'd use one set of fingertips to kiss the palm of the other hand. Eventually, she could sign "more" the way it is (both sets of fingertips kissing). Pointing works, too, as does going "mum-mum'' (our colloquial for "eat") and that's usually when she's desperate! And recently, she can say a cross between "mare" and "more".

So, it's really one step at a time! Amazing as how fast some things go, guess with almost anything there's just no shortcut about grasping it. Now will someone help me explain to the dear daddy why his little girl still likes to be carried a lot.

As far as the eye can see

The road stretches on and on...

Are we there yet? The children want to know, for the umpteenth time.

Because it's a very long drive from Missiouri to Washington -- we spread over four, almost five days to do -- a good part of it does feel like miles and miles on end of "nothingness".

For me, the respite comes, once in a while, when we catch a lovely sight.

These are my favourite ones...

The sky, it wraps around us, 360 degrees...

There's the acres of farmland...


and the mountains in different shapes and sizes...


and everything else in-between...

... as far as the eye can see!

And just look at all that natural beauty...
.... it's hard not to go AAAAAAHHHHHH at the wonderful works in My Father's World!

I needed also to go AAAAAAHHHHHH in between all the AAARRRGGGHHHS -- the spills and messes, and meltdowns and fights -- of course we weren't spared of them on the road. And you can guess, which of these chaos in our daily lives I can use more of the breathing in and out still... why, the parenting journey can be quite the bumpy ride!

And now, it's about a month since our big move, and I'm just getting round to talk about it. We aren't quite over the sheer exhaustion of it all. The long drive, and before that, the crazy packing and cleaning, and once here, the unpacking and yet more cleaning. Don't be surprised, but we've still got more to unpack, only there's enough as it is to try and put in order, what with house things to repair or replace, as well as safety and maintenance issues, to tackle the pressing ones first.

Every day, too, we are grappling with such basic parenting issues as attitude and behavior, that pile on the stress for us during this transition period. Other things cropped up, like my toothache. And of the things we left behind, there are loose ends to tie up, including the sale of our place that we proceeded with, not to be taken for granted. The offer came during the move, and I feel it's my fault we agreed to much less than what we paid. Me, the non-risk taker, less open to the renting out alternative, not because I was led to think that the wrong tenants would make meth in the house, but more over its maintanence and which way the market will go a year from now. But did I give up too soon, instead of hang in there for a more reasonable offer? The losses don't yet include the newer home improvements. Bigger picture: the new family will get to enjoy them, while we focus on our blessings and setting up home again.

I struggled to make this update sound more positive, but you know I'm open about what I say here on my blog because I'm among friends, and it's only right if I say this as it is. And really, if I have to wait till I have things down pat, not that I did before, to blog again, I never will. But blogging helps me stop and gaze, and I am trying to focus on the big picture, and if it's also possible not to lose sight of the little things that do count as well. I know that eventually when Vern is done with his schoolwork (go, Vern, go... I must encourage him to keep going), he and I will breathe better, too, and it will feel more like we have moved on to a new chapter, a new season.

Meanwhile, we are thankful, no doubt, for Spokane to call our new home, for new faces we meet, and for old friends like you, to start our journey here... It's only just begun.

Stopping to Gaze

Above: Stopping to gaze at the sun setting -- a quick look out of the car window, one of the evenings on our long drive from the midwest to the northwest.

The sun has set on another day. There's home we're setting up again, and the changes to adjust to, one day at a time, while life goes on day after day, everyday life that's not without its crazy moments -- we're hanging in there. And before with two children, already our hands were full, after #3, it's very late still, if not later now when I call it a day, whether or not I'm done with the daily chores, and even harder for me to find time to blog.

But the stopping to gaze, we all need that, and keeping in touch with you who care and share -- THANK YOU!!! and thank you for coming here to see how we're doing -- is something I'll love to do still. So while I'm not a blogger of few words, I'm learning to kiss... keep it short and sweet, lah! It's really late now, will talk more later!