Quotable

While eating lunch today, I picked a rotten grape off the stem and put it on my plate. After examining it, Josiah asked, "What is that?" "A rotten grape,nit's dying," I replied. "Ohhh. "Yeah, those are pretty, they're healthy! That one isn't healthy, it didn't eat very well."

Vastness

I went to Shenyang, a nearby city, the other day by train. Outside the train station is usually a line of people waiting for a cab. This day, no line. It was rainy and cold and a mess of people trying to get in a dry taxi. I joined the mob. After about 10 minutes, a guy finally pulled over towards me. Another passenger got on the front, and I hopped in the back after telling him I wanted to go to the embassy. After realizing the driver didn't turn on the meter, the following convo followed (obviously in Chinese):
Me (to the passenger since the driver was on the phone): Is he going to use the meter?
Passenger: I don't know. You should ask him. *Hmm, fishy.*
Me (to driver, finally done gabbing): Are you going to use the meter?
Driver: Where are you going again?
Me: The American embassy.
Driver (severely mumbling): 100kuai
Me: What? Can you say it again, slower this time?
Driver (slightly better): 100 kuai (~$15)
Me: What?! Stop the car, I'm getting out! Slammed door, super mad.

Later, I got in a legit taxi that didn't want to rip me off because I'm a foreigner and it cost a mere 15 kuai with the meter.

So, I went there because I had to get pages added to our passports. I so wish they would've let me sew in the pages myself instead of charging me $85 per passport. Instead, the took all my money and made me wait in a cold, bleak room for 2 hours with nothing. I mean nothing. They took my purse, book, phone, everything. Even my chapstick. Don't they know some people are addiction to a certain yellow tube of lip satisfaction?!

But what was interesting was that since everyone was stripped of all their "stay to myself" devices, it forced everyone to talk to each other. I talked to everyone in the room waiting, as they were one-by-one called up to retrieve whatever they were waiting for. I actually enjoyed hearing everyone's story...why they were in this foreign land.

On the hour and a half train ride home, we all got to see this beautiful sunset.

 

As people were leaning over my window seat to snap a picture for themselves, something struck me. This vast, vast land with over a billion people needs the same shining Light the sun provides for us every day. I was hit with how awesome the sky and land looked with the orange sun covering it all. (My pics through the train window truly don't do it justice.) Just like the Father's arms cover all of us. Every day.

My heart swelled for the locals all over again. May they learn of His vast love and grace. Soon.

Even better, to top this off, was that the entire day was rainy, windy, and cold. What a perfect ending.

Brothers

Lately, the boys have been fighting a lot. Verbally, physically, every way possible, it seems. I do better with patiently disciplining them some days more than others. And then, there are these few moments that Josiah agrees to read to his 弟弟 (didi, Chinese for younger brother) and, the more miraculous part, Malachi stops long enough to oblige. It doesn't often last long, but I'm just glad it's beginning to happen!

May there be more and more of these moments...even if it is in the oddest of places.

And so it begins...

First, a few convos to record:

Last night...
Me: Josiah, tomorrow is your first day of school. Do you know who your teacher is?
Josiah: Wahoo! Keeping my eyes on Youuuuu... (a song he recently learned at Sunday school)
Me: Um, no. Me. I'm your teacher.
Josiah: Me. I'm your teacher.
Me: No, ME. MOMMY.
This morning...
Me: Josiah, we're starting school in an hour. Do you remember who your teacher is?
Josiah: Keeping my eyes on Youuuuuu!
Me: *sigh* No...
Josiah: Oh yeah, you! Momma, when I get older, I'm gonna teach YOU.

Sure, kid. Whatever it takes to get through day 1.

So, day 1 of homeschool. Albeit pre-school, but still. I've semi-dreaded this day for years. Had you asked me 10 years ago if this would ever happen in my home, I would've laughed at you. I would've laughed even harder had you told me I'd be living in China.

We made it, but it wasn't pretty. It started with tears when I told Josiah he had to color more than 2 lines on his paper. I mean, coloring is the easy part, right? This boy hates it. Doesn't coloring make up for most of pre-school? I could be in for something....interesting.

Malachi, on the other hand, wanted to color. Color everything in sight. I had a few activities lined up for him to keep him busy. I mean, it couldn't be that hard for him to entertain himself for one hour, right?! I forgot who I was dealing with.

I gave him pipe cleaners and a strainer. 30 seconds. (Later, I found the strainer in the sink. How thoughtful!)

A coloring book and 5 crayons. 1 minute. Then he started throwing the crayons into the living room.

A whiteboard and a marker. 20 seconds. Then he started coloring on the floor.

Cheerios from Josiah's craft. Sheer distraction.

Stickers. 2-3 minutes. But he needed my help getting every one off the page. His pant leg was very decorative by the end of it.

And then I gave up. Josiah about had it with all the coloring and his type-A-ness was coming on strong when he tried to place Cheerios on a paper in the shape of an "A" and they kept sticking to his fingers, making them slightly off-center. Oh boy.

So we ended with some ABC videos and called it a day.

So, who has advice for me? All ears.

At least we started happy!!

Intro or Extro?

Some friends were over tonight. Josiah was still up, playing quietly while we caught up on life. We started talking about classmates and who fit in the extroverted and introverted categories. No judging, just discussing.

Our friend asked Josiah, "Which are you, an introvert or extrovert?"

I looked at him, very curious what he would respond. He quietly said, "Introvert."

We all busted up! He was embarrassed, not knowing why we were laughing. But his Daddy saved him by saying, "Don't let anyone put you in a box, buddy."

Funny quote, funny food

The other day, while Josiah was going to the bathroom, he was having a hard time getting started. He looked at me and said, "It's not working, Momma. It doesn't have any batteries." Ah, modern-day kiddos. :)

And, his favorite new dish is tofu and cucumbers. Never in America would that happen. Never.

Unrelated, Malachi turns 2 in 4 days. Um, what?! Time to get busy making Sesame Street decorations!

Just for fun:

Taken during a "Papa's Tshirt" photo shoot

He potty trains himself

This blog is mainly to write down things I want to remember that I hope to print into some schmancy book someday. This is something I want to remember...

Malachi is potty training himself.

It started a few months ago, him showing interest in sitting on the potty. Of course, like any other parent, I was elated at the thought of an "early" potty-goer (he'll be 2 at the end of the month).

We don't have room for a child potty, so we just bought one of those attachment things that we set on the top of the toilet.

Well, he didn't love it. But, he didn't hate it either. He would say "poo" meaning he needed to do something on the potty (someday we'll tell him the other one is called something else--ha!) So, I'd strip his pants and diaper off, rush him in there, plop him on the toilet, and he'd immediately put his hands in the air, waving, doing the "all done" sign.

This happened several times. Not every day, but several times. He knew when he was about to poo, would tell us, and sometimes we would rush him in there....and then sometimes I was just lazy and told him to poo in his diaper. Uhh...woops?! But really, it got a little annoying to rush him in, strip him down, to only have him immediately wave "all done."

So I kinda left it alone. If he insisted, I'd plop him on there. 

The other day, he pointed to the front of his diaper and mumbled something that I understood to be "potty." I decided to try again, and he did it! We made a big deal and he gave a cute smile, knowing he was a big shot for the moment.

Today, he did it TWICE! The first time, he whined at using the potty attachment, so I just stood his feet on the toilet and squatted him down. I think he just wants to stand like his brother. :)

Ok, I didn't intend the post to be this long about Malachi using the bathroom. Congrats if you made it this far!

Another point, I take no credit for this. We hadn't even begun to encourage him to use the potty, since we didn't start Josiah until later. But, I guess what he sees is a bigger influence than we thought!

Good job, Malachi!