We’re home two weeks now and pretty much back on track, mainly talking about Emma’s sleep schedule! I got to live my/our ideal schedule for just one week. I think it had a lot to do with jetlag, but our little Emma was going to bed at 7/7:30pm, waking at 8am and taking one nap a day for 3 – 4 hours. I thought it was too good to be true, just as I was getting used to this, and thinking of all the things I could do while she’s asleep (laundry, cleaning floors, catching up on my blog), she decided to wake again at 5am, resist her naps until 12pm and then only nap for an hour to an hour and a half. What fun!
Emma got so used to sleeping in our arms, in the stroller, in the car, in our bed, I always had to be in the room for her to fall asleep, so has taken some readjusting to falling asleep on her own, in her crib. We still have tears before bed, but she’s at least not crying for as long as she used to. Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only mother that lets her child cry it out so often!?
Thankfully we have had some mornings of sleeping in, which always come as a surprise, and I’ll gladly take those whenever she allows. I just need to be ready to use the time wisely.
The weather has been freezing, so we’re cooped up indoors most of the time, we do trips out to the mall when we can to play at the kidzone there, go to music class when naps allow, otherwise I have to try think of things to do around the house. Being home must seem so boring to Em now, after everything she saw in Hong Kong, the hustle and bustle of people and cars. She got to experience every mode of transport possible, plane, bus, train, plane, boat and taxi. In Emma’s eyes she probably thinks of Hong Kong as dirty and disgusting (that’s due to us continuously telling her not to touch things on the bus, wanting to press elevator buttons etc) a place where there are lots of people like mommy and daddy (quite funny when I asked her to go to daddy, she had to stop in her tracks and look at everyone before spotting her dad). A place where she got to eat so many Cha Sui Bow (steamed roast pork dumplings), yummy mein, chicken drumsticks and egg rolls (the family were amazed at her appetite and how clean she would clean a mini chicken drumstick). And a place where she got so spoilt with gifts and love from the family. Thank you to the Fok Family for spoiling Emma and us so!
Yesterday (actually now a few days ago) I attempted finger painting with Emma. I didn’t have paint, but I read somewhere to use flour, water and food coloring. Em kept saying draw, draw, draw so I’m trying to make my concoctions of Red, Yellow, Blue as quickly as possible before the interest dies. I obviously didn’t play the entire thing out in my mind, as I didn’t think of an apron. So I quickly had to think and decided to use a big plastic bag, cut a hole for the head and arms, and voila we have an apron. Well Emma did not take to this lightly, fussing when I tried to put the bag over her head. After a while I gave up and thought about what I was doing….I’m telling my child it’s okay to put a plastic bag over her head. Hmm…not such a good idea, so I managed to find a plastic bib, turned up the heat, took off Emma’s layers, rolled up her sleeves, covered her pants with a towel….goodness, what a paranoid mother. All this for Emma to say, No, No, No, No, No when I tried to show her how to paint! Ahhh!!!! Come on Em, it’s fun I say….dipping my finger in the “paint” and stroking the paper with my finger, which left shivers going up and down my spine, like scratching your nails down a chalkboard. I hide this and just smile and say, “Look it’s so much fun!” , instead of stroking now, I make dots with my fingers….this seems to grab Em’s interest and she sticks her fingers in the paint and starts “painting”. Special special moments!!!
Emma’s work of art (looks a bit like she used ketchup and mustard to paint!).
After our two week vacation it has good to be home. We realise how spoilt we are with living space, how many things we have in our house that probably aren’t needed, or aren’t that important, and also how you’re able to make do with the few things you might have. We obviously miss the family, that goes without saying. We were spoilt with being cooked for, for two weeks, that I’ve found it hard to find the energy to make a meal for us – opting for left overs, or the easiest meal to cook. I blame jetleg, which sadly I’ve gotten over and now have no excuse.
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