Think it's a coincidence that Sebastian's birthday is on Chinese New Year this year, the same year that we received our referral? Nah! I take it as a reminder of the blending of our families that will occur this year.
We are on vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii, but Sebastian has had an ear infection since we arrived, poor kiddo! We went to a pediatrician on Monday and got eardrops and anti-biotics, but his ears still hurt. He actually brings us his eardrops when he needs more! Today was better, thank goodness! We went to the beach, where he played happily in the sand, and the pool, where he wasn't so happy. He wanted to be in the hot tub or the unheated kiddie pool which both have waterfalls, but the hot tub was too hot, and the kiddie pool was frigid. The pool that was "just right"- of course he didn't want to go in that one because it doesn't have waterfalls!
He woke up from a 3-hour nap at 4pm, and it took awhile to de-crankify so we could have cake without him crying in all the photos. As it was, he was more interested in the candles than the cake. We had to re-light the candles over and over so he could blow them out, over and over. It was really OK, because we had to buy a huge package of matches and 10 candles, so we might as well use them! Except now our condo smells like sulfur. We didn't get a good icing-covered face photo because Sebastian fastidiously wiped all the frosting that ended up on his fingers, on his shirt.
It just so happened that there was a Chinese New Year parade just down the street this evening, so we walked over to watch the lions, which was really fun! I was sure Sebastian would be scared of them, but he wasn't; he even put money in one lion's mouth! (Apparently this offering wards off evil spirits.) He got a little rubber duck with a Chinese hat and a Chinese character on it that says who knows what. (Maybe "duck"?) And a Chinese yo-yo. The parade was at an outdoor shopping mall, and each store had hung some lettuce tied to the CNY brochure from the doorway. The lions would stop in front of each store, do a little dance, and "eat" the offering after entering the stores. I assume this also wards off evil spirits for the store owners. I wish we had gotten a photo of all three of us with a lion, but grandma and grandpa declined to attend, and everything happened to fast that it was hard to find a moment to ask a stranger to take a photo. Good fun for our first of many Chinese New Year celebrations!
We are on vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii, but Sebastian has had an ear infection since we arrived, poor kiddo! We went to a pediatrician on Monday and got eardrops and anti-biotics, but his ears still hurt. He actually brings us his eardrops when he needs more! Today was better, thank goodness! We went to the beach, where he played happily in the sand, and the pool, where he wasn't so happy. He wanted to be in the hot tub or the unheated kiddie pool which both have waterfalls, but the hot tub was too hot, and the kiddie pool was frigid. The pool that was "just right"- of course he didn't want to go in that one because it doesn't have waterfalls!
He woke up from a 3-hour nap at 4pm, and it took awhile to de-crankify so we could have cake without him crying in all the photos. As it was, he was more interested in the candles than the cake. We had to re-light the candles over and over so he could blow them out, over and over. It was really OK, because we had to buy a huge package of matches and 10 candles, so we might as well use them! Except now our condo smells like sulfur. We didn't get a good icing-covered face photo because Sebastian fastidiously wiped all the frosting that ended up on his fingers, on his shirt.
It just so happened that there was a Chinese New Year parade just down the street this evening, so we walked over to watch the lions, which was really fun! I was sure Sebastian would be scared of them, but he wasn't; he even put money in one lion's mouth! (Apparently this offering wards off evil spirits.) He got a little rubber duck with a Chinese hat and a Chinese character on it that says who knows what. (Maybe "duck"?) And a Chinese yo-yo. The parade was at an outdoor shopping mall, and each store had hung some lettuce tied to the CNY brochure from the doorway. The lions would stop in front of each store, do a little dance, and "eat" the offering after entering the stores. I assume this also wards off evil spirits for the store owners. I wish we had gotten a photo of all three of us with a lion, but grandma and grandpa declined to attend, and everything happened to fast that it was hard to find a moment to ask a stranger to take a photo. Good fun for our first of many Chinese New Year celebrations!
