heartland holidays

We've been hanging out with Yeye and Nainai in Rockford. And, here are a few snapshots of our activities.

Binbin has taken to helping Nainai with baking. He has so far "helped" her with pancakes, rolls, crumpets, and shortbread cookies. Tonight we're going to have pizza for dinner, and Binbin and Nainai are making pizza dough.



All day today (Friday), it's been snowing. In the mid-morning, we put on our boots, snowsuit, gloves, hat, and sunglasses, of course, to go outside to play. We finished one snowman and started another. No paparazzi, please. (Binbin shuts the screen door on Yeye)



Yeye has all kinds of fun stuff in the basement. Some of it is his regular stuff, like this ergometer, which can be transformed into a toy...



Other stuff is meant to be played with, like Yeye's own Lionel train from his boyhood. Binbin has learned how to disconnect and reconnect all the cars.



After opening presents, Binbin lends a hand in a Kline family tradition: burning the wrapping paper in the fireplace. Yeye crumples pieces into balls, and Binbin lobs them into the fireplace. (yes, he'd rather do this than put his pants on)



Binbin made it his job to dole out presents on Christmas morning (and he of course helped everyone open every present). Here, he tosses a present to Baba, who makes a mid-air catch on film.



A "before" picture of the Christmas tree replete with presents, carefully arranged by Yeye after Binbin had gone to bed.



Before Christmas, we played with toys stored in the Klines' basement, and some that we brought from Maine. We used legos to make several robots, whose friendly presence at meals was a welcome encouragement to eat with the family.

winter fun

Some winter activities to share with you:

Weekend breakfast at the Kopper Kettle. Binbin always has the same thing: yogurt with fruit, OJ, a side of bacon cooked in the microwave. Yummy.



All aboard the special Candy Cane train, which runs from Bath to Wiscasset, raising funds for literacy. Interior view:



Picturesqe Wiscasset:



Binbin keeping busy (and fashionable) during the journey.





More recent domestic activities include helping Nainai vacuum in the eating area.



And just this morning, a momentous event: Binbin posed for a picture! He's perched atop a kiddie climbing thing in the Cherryvale indoor children's play area.

before christmas

We're spending our Christmas with the Klines in Rockford, Illinois. We landed at O'Hare airport right about the stroke of midnight Saturday night...after a long and delirious journey that included about 7 hours' of waiting at the Portland jetport, delays on the tarmac, delay over Lake Michigan, an ad hoc deboarding through normally secure areas reserved for airport workers in pelting snow and fierce winds, nearly two hours at the baggage area waiting for 2 of 3 bags to show up, a nearly two-hour drive through snow (top speed probably not quite 50 mph) from O'Hare to Rockford. I think we were all in bed by 4 am, about 22 hours after we had woken up Saturday morning. The silver lining is that Binbin was extraordinarily well behaved, playing goofy games in the airport that included pretended he had transformed into a "waffle" monster and scaring mama who pretended to sleep at the end of a row of airport seating. The plate-gold lining is that none of us has a caught a cold.

And, of course, what really matters is that we all made it safely to Rockford. Such are the travails of travel in wintry times.

Binbin has been acclimating to his new environment...and it certainly helped that Yeye decided to set up the electric train set in the basement. That heroic feat required the opening, organizing, and jettisoning of much basement stuff. Binbin has also been gleefully rummaging through boxes of old toys: a Peanuts drum; tinker toys that can be fashioned in to drumsticks; Tonka trucks of different types, sizes, and colors; a knock hockey table that Jack made long ago; plastic gizmos that fire ping pong balls; baby toys made of soft plastic; wooden puzzles; and the list goes on.

You'd think that we could never leave such playstuff behind, but we have also gotten outdoors to knock icicles off the roof, shovel snow on the deck, and build a snowman. The highlight of outdoor play has definitely been getting pulled around the yard while seated in a bright, red plastic saucer. Binbin shouts his commands to his human servants: "faster, Baba, faster!" "now it's Mama's turn. Fast, Mama!" This is one way to help keep trim before holiday feasting.

Binbin has also delighted in helping Nainai in the kitchen, whether it's making pancakes on the grill or shortbread in the form of snowmen, holly, Santa, and Christmas trees. He especially likes to sprinkle all of the above with liberal amounts of bright green, staining, sugar. Yummy!

We promise that photos will be added when we gather the energy to shoot some.

Birthday, part II

Now, for the "real" birthday, the one with presents. One present came in a bag...what's in there?




While Mama worked on setting up the first present, a Thomas the Tank Engine tent from Uncle Randall, Binbin moved onto opening the next presents, including a ladybug umbrella from Debbie, Kevin, and Ronan.



Once the tent was up and functioning, Binbin immediately threw remaining presents inside, and cimbed in to open more presents...





Wrapped inside these packages were soft flannel sheets printed with elephants, a handknit wool hat, a wooden puzzle in the form of a train engine (from Yeye and Nainai); and a barrel of monkeys (from Ah-po-and Ah-gong). Thank you one and all for the many gifts. (I should note that we decided to save up some gifts for opening in Rockford before Christmas.)

And, after all the excitement of presents, Binbin happily slurped up "long life" noodles, as part of his birthday dinner.

Good to be three

Three years old! We can hardly believe it! Little wee babe is gone, small self-possessed person now stands before our eyes, demanding that, if it's his birthday, then there should be...presents. Read on...

We had a birthday party at Miss Donna's this afternoon. Sitting as Binbin's table is Izaak.



Anjali and Ryan here at the other table.



Baba lit three candles on Binbin's rice krispie treat. He had already gobbled up the strawberry garnish.



He was a little nervous about blowing out his candles...but after seeing his go out, he ran over to the other table to help blow out the single candle on everyone's else's treat. Sitting at the far side of the table is Alexis, rounding out Miss Donna's quintet of toddlers.



After having their treats, everyone got to try their hand at a new activity, lacing a cardboard shape. Then, party favors were passed out. Binbin was *not* pleased with a mere party favor of colored modeling clay. Birthdays, he rightly believed, must have presents! His disappointment was apparent to all, as he sought refuge in Baba's arms. We hastily wrapped up our role in the party (no un intended), and headed home, where presents lay waiting.



Stay tuned for "Birthday, Part II."

favorites

video: Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas
breakfast: pawprint shaped pancakes, with green and pink holiday sugar
dinner: hot dogs and french fries
phrase: no, it's too sticky
activity: climbing into mama and baba's bed in the wee hours of the morning
music: Chinese children's songs and Woody Guthrie's songs to grow on

big bird

"Big bird" refers to the whopper of a turkey Keena raised for us for our Thanksgiving supper. At 31 pounds, it weighed slightly more than Binbin! While the thought of eating turkey sandwiches for the next month had its charms, we were happy to have Keena and Zach cook the bird and come help us eat it Thursday afternoon. We also invited the Horches--Fred, Hadley, Cordelia, Everett and Ian--and the Baumgarte/Topp family--Thomas, Karen, Julia, and Benjamin. It was wonderful to share the cooking duties and possibly even more wonderful to have the kids eat and entertain themselves while the not-kids had about an hour of nearly uninterrupted conversation.

Since I haven't posted in ages, we've got a glut of photographs from this month. Beginning with a snapshot from a short hike at Bradbury Mountain. Though we never did make it to the top for a snack, we did run around in the woods for awhile.



We spent several afternoons raking leaves. Since Binbin started watching Blue's Clues as Miss Donna's house, he's been asking for things in the form of a pawprint, including raked leaf piles. We've got an enormous sugar maple in the backyard, so there were plenty of leaves to mound into multiple piles...the better to jump in!



One morning, Binbin found sparklers in the cabinet. So we took one out to light up on the deck.




You probably didn't know that pancakes can also be made in the form of a pawprint. Yup, they're tastier that way, too. And the colored sugar doesn't hurt. Yum!




Here, at last, is the picture proof you've been waiting for. That's Zack with the knife. Keena stands at a safe distance behind.



Pictures of grown-ups aren't all that interesting, so here' just a snapshot of the three boys together on one bench: Benjamin, Everett, and Binbin.



Thanksgiving day was filled with excitement for Binbin: Baba and Mama did not have to work, the Macy's parade included big balloons and marching bands, lots of older kids came to play at our house!

But even the days after Thanksgiving were fun: Baba and Mama still did not have to work and Binbin could wear pajamas almost all morning. We took out lots of playdough colors one morning, and Binbin arranged them on his chair. Pretty!

holidaze

Ever since the switch back to standard time, we've been living much of our family life in the dark. Maine is so far east that it really should be in the Atlantic timezone, one hour ahead of Boston and New York. So, the sun rises around 6 and sets close to 4:30. Binbin doesn't get nearly as much outdoor playtime, and sometimes he just isn't ready for bed.

Add to that the fact that the baseboard heater with its unpredictable snaps and crackles frightens the daylights out of him...and you've got a recipe for nightly visits from Binbin, blankey, blankey, and monkey. Though we're bleary-eyed in the morning, it's hard to be upset when Binbin whispers, "Hi, Baba!" or leans close to give eskimo kisses with his nose.

More indoor time means also more time in front of the TV, and Binbin has rediscovered Pingu (claymation penguin shorts), and added more Thomas videos and Blue's Clues to his telly intake. Fortunately, he will still choose working with screwdrivers and baking scones over more passive activities.

Earlier this week, while driving home behind Anjali's mommy's car, Binbin decided that he would like to invite Anjali over to play. Voila! our first successful, self-determined playdate. The two of them played with trains and shopping cart, pompoms and pipecleaners, ate a morning snack of bananas and rice chex, and had a grand time together. Parents were delighted and squeezed in some grown-up conversation.

Growing up clue: When Miss Donna figured out to serve folded slices of ham between crackers as "sandwiches" to Binbin, he replied: "That's a good idea, Miss Donna. Thank you!"

Still little clue: A pre-potty training experiment this morning required the use of 5 pairs of underwear and pants. This child prefers the convenience and comfort of diapers.

daycare, weekend

We don't spend as much time doing the drop-off and pick-up from daycare in the states as we used to do in Taipei. And while I've been meaning to take pictures at Miss Donna's, I always forget. And then, when I do remember, I forget to download them. Finally, here are some snapshots at Miss Donna's Morning Sun Daycare. The kids, all two-year-olds, are in the backyard, looking for grasshoppers amidst Miss Donna's cherry tomato plants.

From left to right are: Izaak, Binbin, Alexis, and Ryan






Binbin occasionally makes art while at Miss Donna's house. On this particular day, maybe about 3 weeks ago, he drew what he called a "funny face" in the corner in yellow. The funny face brought smiles to our faces.



Last weekend, we had some gorgeous fall weather, and *finally* Binbin consented to go for a hike at Bradbury Mountain. At times, he bounded ahead, propelling himself forward at top speed...



...which means not so great pictures *and* a tuckered out kid who never made it to the top of the mountain. What do they say? It's about the journey, isn't it?

weekend in Acadia

Oct 5-8, we drove up to Mt. Desert Island's Acadia National Park. We stayed in a little cabin at Quietside Campground, on the west side. Our dinners were cooked on the little campstove, In the cooler evenings, we made fires in our firepit, and one night we tried roasting some marshmallows. Binbin thought that we fun, but he wasn't keen on eating the blackened marshmallows. In the evenings, we also saws stars, the moon, and the Milky Way.



Saturday morning, our first stop was at Sand Beach. It was a bit windy, but glorious and beautiful morning for digging in the sand



Here's a view of Sand Beach from the cliffs above.



Binbin hiked in his new green crocs. He did remarkably well, clambering up the rocky trail.




He found the mushrooms quite interesting. Certainly worth a photograph.



By early afternoon, he was exhausted.



So we went for a drive up Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in Acadida. Binbin missed the view, but we captured it in digital image, of Bar Harbor far below.



They predicted rain for the next morning, Sunday, but as it turned out, the rain came Saturday night, and Sunday was a stunning, crisp fall day. We went for a walk around Eagle Lake on the famous carriage trails. Here are some scenes near the lakeside.