The bold and the beautiful

Yesterday morning I was walking with Kiddo to school.  There’s a thing here with babies where the will take them out and not have bottoms on.  Just Winnie the Poo’ing it.  The why or what or reasoning behind this escapes me.  I’ve read that it is a relic of the past, but it also stems from a want to eliminate diaper rash, especially in the humid summers in Shanghai and some other regions.  However, it happens and we’ve just kind of gotten used to seeing it and we all roll with it.  

So, Kiddo and I are walking and she’s holding my hand telling me something Kiddoish and we’re just having a walk to school.  Normal day.  Suddenly, “Well, there’s a naked baby… that’s a bold choice.”  I cracked up.  Her use of language is too much some times; or should I say that her word choices are, sometimes, a bold choice.  HAHA

Besides that, Kiddo had a play date on Sunday with good friend H.  She and H are in different classes this year, so it’s been thing and Kiddo misses her friend, so we’re certainly trying to make time for them to have time together.  Was Kiddo excited?  Well, seeing as she was literally climbing the walls, I’d say that was a yes.  She had a great time and was a chatter monkey once home telling us all about everything that they did before going to bed and crashing out and sleeping the sleep of the dead.  Parent win on that one.

It was nice as J and I got to have a date night.  We went out to a new place that is just around the corner from us.  It’s a casual place and they do skewers and grilled type stuff.  We didn’t get pics, we were chatting and eating and just having a night together, but it was great.  Lamb skewers, Chinese style chicken wings, scallions, garlic eggplant, and some rice.  Super yummy and simple.  It was a perfect little night out and when we got home, we still had an hour until Kiddo arrived.  

We also took some time out this past weekend to go to a cafe and just be.  I was on the computer writing, J was reading and grading and doing her thing, and Kiddo wanted to draw.   We had to get some pics of her.  This is just so her right now.  She’s loving drawing and kind of doing one page graphic stories.  She’ll add word bubbles and the like, exploring the idea of telling a story with words and pictures and she loves to draw them up, write them up, and then explain them to J and myself.  She’ll even provide backstory as well.  It’s super cool and cute.

I mentioned in one of my Vietnam posts about Kiddo taking a moment to see and smell the flowers around her.  However, she’s also loving getting pictures of them.  It was windy the day she got these shots, so she had to hold it still, but you can see her eye and how she frames things in, using the space around the object and really seeing what she’s photographing.  That’s also super cool to see.

The weather is finally starting to turn, albeit, slowly.  Next week we should start seeing some real drops to temps that will allow us to open the house at night and we can’t wait for it.  Well, J and I can’t wait for it.  Kiddo says it’s freezing if it gets below 29 (84F) and sees no problem with it being 30+ (86F+) everyday.  I can agree, winters are not fun, but seasons are cool and the autumn and spring here rock.  Mild, comfortable, not too humid, but also not overly wet and rainy.  It’s kind of a perfect balance.  Yes, it rains, but not like Wisconsin, where it would rain for days on end and just be overcast and nasty.  Also, not like SD, where it hardly rained, but when it did it was a gloomy, nasty, ugly rain that was just there all day coming at you hard and wet.  BKK had rain, of course, but that was RAIN.  You could see it coming and then it would just unleash on you.  Torrential.  Walls of water.  There are certainly days like that here and in the other places mentioned as well, but the rain here is just mild- for the most part.  Right now, it’s the afternoon, you can see it build, it rains and then moves on.  Next month, there will be rainy days, but those days it rains in a different way; When it rains, it will be raining, but otherwise it’s kind of just misty all day.  It’s hard to explain, but it’s not bad.  It helps keep things cool and, for the most part, it’s just kind of damp out, so you can go out and get things done.  Or, I can take out the trash without needing an umbrella, since it’s just damp out.  Misty.  Not raining, but not NOT raining.  Spring is the same.  Then, the day or two after, it’s nice.  Sunny.  Mild.  Breezy and pleasant and completely comfortable in the sun, but bring a jacket or sweatshirt if you’re going to be in shade all day.  Great park weather.  So, as much as Kiddo complains about the cooler temps, she always has a blast as she can get out so much more.

The other plus side of that is I can start grilling more.  The last 2 months, I’ve kind of put the grill to the side.  It’s 35 (95F) with sun and a grill going, it’s not fun.  It’s torturous.  The last time I grilled before packing it away for the hot season, I would come inside after a flip or adjustment and J could see the heat coming off me as vapor in the AC.  That’s just not a good cook situation.  However, with temps next week expected to be near 28 (83F) as a high some of the days, grilling is certainly back in the equation.  So, I’m excited for that and to expanding into what I can do on the grill coupled with what I have available in the house.  Time to have some fun with it again.

Let’s go, Kiddo…. I was gone for a week and that was strange, I know, but I’m back now and I’m glad to be able to kiss your face again…. And walk you to school, pick you up after, and hear all the fun, sweet, interesting, and funny things you have to say.  You’re doing great and before you know it, February will be here and it will be CNY break and we will go to Vietnam as a family.  You can have banh mi and pho and not just see pictures of them.  You’ll have to get some pics of your own, though, because you are better at it than I am.