Michael’s new adventures

Having lived in mainland China for some 8 months, it was time for us as a family to explore our nearby travel options.  Therefor we chose to travel to Beijing.  The first time I visited Beijing was 16 years ago and that was also the first time that I was really proud to be Chinese.  Visiting Beijing again gives me a lot of pride.  Also I felt I was actually showing Ian my history/country (which he has been doing of Australia for years)!!!

Although we were only there for four days and had only visited a few places (Bird’s Nest Stadium, Water-cube, Forbidden city, Tianamen Square and the Great Wall), we had an incredible time.  We also had glorious weather the whole time (what was all the fuss about Beijing Pollution!?  It’s sooo much worse in Shanghai!).  Money must have solved some of those pollution problems!

Michael just had the best time - he LOVED the GREAT WALL!  We went to the part of Mutianyu (there are several parts of the Great Wall which are opened for tourism.  I went to the Badaling part in my first visit however, I have to say that, Mutianyu is MUCH better)!  We went really early in the morning and pulled out all the tricks in the 1.5 hour car ride with Michael!  Books, toys, songs, camera (with video of Michael)…and books again!  Michael finally lost it just as we approached the Wall.  Then it was uphill from there. 

We took the cable car (which Michael was scared - and is still saying “skard” when he sees the cable car brochure) and he attempted to walk most of the Wall that we did.  The weather was beautiful and it wasn’t crowded (until we were on our way leaving the Wall).  Then we topped it off by going to a local “western” cafe which had a terrace - it was set in a school house (and hence its name).  It was perfect. 

After returning to the Beijing city, we took an adventure and took the subway to the Olympic Stadiums.  They were magnificent.  Michael couldn’t care less about where he was - but he was excited about the HUGE square and proceeded to run everywhere.  Needless to say, he had a great sleep that night - Beijing definitely worked those little legs!

In this holiday, it made very clear a few things about a toddler:

- doesn’t matter where you go, as long as Mama and Dada are around

- doesn’t matter what you do, as long as there is a big area to run around

- doesn’t matter how much you plan, as long as you sort of follow some routine and don’t be overly-aggressive in the planning.

All in all, we had a wonderful time.  Can’t wait for the next holidays!  Until then, enjoy our photos and love from Shanghai.

Michael’s Album - Beijing, China

When we were first taken to tour around our apartment complex, it was pointed out that there was a “wave pool” and a “man-made beach”.  We thought nothing of it, as it wasn’t on Ian’s multi-criteria analysis (the criterion for us were things that are WAY more practical, such as, distance to work, kitchen facilities, location, etc).  Our first six months in Shanghai have passed rather blissfully … a relatively mild winter followed by a pleasant spring.

Frankly the idea of hitting a man-made beach was a little strange for us ”pro-nature” types.  However, with some suspicion, we went down to the beach with Michael a couple of weeks ago.  Boy, were we in for a  surprise!

Firstly, the beach was packed!  Interestingly enough, we live in a country with supposedly 1 billion Chinese, but the beach was filled with all westerners (baking themselves)!  Apparently, the Chinese who do live in our complex laugh at us from their apartment about these “aliens” burning themselves in the stifling heat!  But the truth comes when you look at the kids on the beach - they were having so much fun!  Little ones like Michael just loved the freezing kiddie pool and the bigger kids just have a ball riding the “so-called” waves.  The adults are all chilled, either having a beer or checking out the neighbors whom we didn’t know had been quite so gorgeous!

As for our Michael, he just had a ball!  Although the weather on that day was in the high 20s, the water was still freezing.  Michael kept giggling in his dada’s arms in the freezing water and Ian literally had to drag him out because Michael was turning blue!  After our fun afternoon (yep, we hung out there for the entire afternoon), we realized that Michael’s knowledge of a beach is one that is surrounded by 50-storey tall buildings!  Gosh, we can’t wait until he sees real waves and a real beach in Australia!!!

Until next time, we just had poh poh and gung gung for two weeks and they had a great great time!!!

Love from Shanghai and enjoy our photos at the beach and with Michael’s gung gung and poh poh.

Michael’s album - 19 months old

Well … times were desperate.  Auntie Karen was coming in a week’s time and she really hadn’t been a fan of us messing around Michael’s hair (Karen scolds us regularly about the two minor disasters we have had!).  In addition, Poh Poh and Gung Gung were due in a couple of weeks.  Then the news that even Poppa and Nanna might be around in June made Ian and me think again about actually PAYING someone to cut Michael’s hair.

Ian’s hairdresser, James (from Guangzhou but in a “HK branded” hairsalon in Shanghai!) has officially become the “family” hairdresser.  Out of desperation, I went to him for my own haircut as I couldn’t find one that I liked.  Ian goes to James regularly and when his haircut was finished on the latest occasion, we then put Michael on the butcher’s table!

Little Michael was a little skeptical at first.  Not helped by the fact that everyone in the salon was hovering over him with some pink overcoat!  Then Michael literally sat through his haircut quietly and obediently!!!  No sign of a tear or a fight with the overcoat as expected.  He just sat through it!  Of course, Mom and Dad were full of entertainment playing him plenty of videos from the camera (of Michael himself!).  Although the haircut only lasted 15 minutes, it was definitely the longest haircut James had been involved with (Michael was also his youngest client!).  We were so PROUD of a little munchkin who came out exactly like his father (since now even their haircut’s are the same!).  How much more can one look like another being!

By the way - we did pay a FORTUNE for the 15-minutes.  However both Ian and I realize that even if someone pays us that amount, we wouldn’t have done as good a job as James!  So thank you, James.

Pictures for your amusement as our boy turns 18 months:

Michael’s Album - 18 months young

 
     Til next time, love and have a happy Spring from Shanghai.

China has censored any blog sites and so we aren’t able to update our blog (sharing with you our beginning of life in Shanghai).  In short, Michael is well.  And we can’t wait when Ian (with his mom) joins us on Wednesday this week.

All is well.  Love from Shanghai

p.s. if anyone knows about web hosting and have any recommendations on which one I should use, please email me: staceylacy@gmail.com until then…

It has been 8 months 1 week and 1 day of breastfeeding.  And I am going to miss it.  What I will miss the most is the connection I have with Michael during breastfeeding and while expressing at work.  All the hardwork in the first few weeks seemed like ancient times now, but there were lots of trying and determination to get Michael to be where he is.

I feel less of a Mom when I will no longer breastfeed.  But Ian reminds me that Michael is onto a different stage and he is as healthy a boy as he is now, because of all the “white gold”.  I shall have very fond memories, especially:

- What a cow I was to produce as much as 40oz of breastmilk a day!!!

- How gross to think that I multi-task in expressing milk and talking on the conference call!

- How heartbroken I was when all my breastmilk reserve went rotten due to my broken fridge!

- How my right breast always produced more milk than the left one!

Breastfeeding has been a really really rewarding experience and I encourage any new mother to give it a go and persist with it.  Your child and you will gain as much as the hardwork it requires.

So Long…

Michael turns 8 months this week and here are our lovely photos:

What is Mother’s Day, one may ask?!  Well certainly, in the civilized world, it’s nothing more than a day for more consumerism (flowers, dinners at a restaurant, possibly a gift).  Is this all it means?!

To me, my first Mother’s Day was all about being loved and pampered.  Michael wouldn’t know much of what went on, but his Dad certainly took the effort to make it a special first:

- a local philharmonic orchestra concert (more of an excuse to go on a date than anything!  Our first theatre activity since Michael was born.  It was just so nice to get dressed up and be emerged in the world of classical music!)

- an e-card from Michael (with some help from his Dad!)

- shopping without a list (those that know us well will know shopping without a list in this Lacy household is SOOOO forbidden.  However this was my lucky day!)

- my favorite Sunday SCMP in bed (of course, it’s the magazine that I was going after!)

We didn’t have the typical flowers or dinner at a restaurant, but we as a family experienced firsthand a celebration of love, which was way better than I expected!  A photo of us at a housewarming party just prior to Mother’s Day:

So, to all the Mothers in the world - especially Michael’s Grandmas (Nanna Jill and Poh Poh) and the two Great-Grandmas in Macau and England - we hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day too.  Without you, Michael wouldn’t be here celebrating my first Mother’s Day!

Love from Hong Kong.

I read it on another blog and thought these were great mommy’s wisdom

(1) The commonest fallacy among women is that simply having children makes one a mother-which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes one a musician.– Sydney J. Harris

(2) Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials. ~Meryl Streep

How are you as a musician today?!?!

Michael is well and I have been missing him tremendously this week.  Luckily every morning his morning grin is still the sunshine of my life.

Love from Hong Kong. 

Being a working Mom takes efficiency to a whole new level. As a woman, you generally think that you are efficient, i.e. always multi-tasking and thinking about a million things at a time.   As a working Mom, you just have to take it that much further.  Here is the schedule of my typical work day:

5:30 a.m. (yes, morning!) - pump to get Michael’s breakfast ready

6:15 a.m. - Shower (with very dim light) - otherwise the bathroom fluorescent light will beam through to Michael’s room and wake him up!

6:45 a.m. - my breakfast (if Michael decides to wake up at this point, so much for breakfast!)

7:00 a.m. - waking up Prince Michael - he usually has the biggest grin waiting for me at this point.  So waking up at 5:30 a.m. is worth it!

7 - 8 a.m. - juggling amongst these activities: feeding, playing, getting ready for work, breakfast, etc.

8:15 a.m. - Leave the house (saddest moment of the day)

8:30 -12:30 p.m. - Work which usually consists of many meetings and includes 1 pumping session.  My colleague, Kitty, meticulously organizes my pumping sessions between all the meetings! 

12:30 p.m. - call our helper to check on Michael

12:30 - 2:00 p.m. - lunch with Ian (if he/I don’t have lunch appointment with somebody else).  Best time of the day!

2:00 - 5:30 p.m. -work again (same juggling!) and leave office latest by 5:35 p.m.

5:55 p.m. - arrive home if traffic is light and another best moment of the day!  Play with Michael for 5 minutes and then his bath time.

6:00 p.m. - 7: 00 p.m. -Bath, feed, burp and Michael is asleep

7:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Blackberry emails / telephone with office

Then comes dinner and some quiet time with Ian.  One last pumping at 10 p.m. before going to bed!  At this point, I am so tired that I can fall asleep standing up!

Of course the above schedule is the best scenario and it does have its variations.  One of the biggest reasons why the schedule works so well is that Ian is a 120% supportive father.  Hence, we are able to execute the schedule together, e.g. if I have an evening meeting, then he takes over at the bath & bed time routine.  Colleagues at work think Michael lives in a military school but only by following the schedule will we maximize some chance to play / interact with him!

Having said that, NONE of the efficiency takes away the guilt I (or Ian) feel about leaving Michael at home.  Apparently, it is just something that you have to get used to and there are absolutely no remedies for it (unless of course quitting your job is an option!).

Of course, as I am writing this blog, it is a Sunday morning, Michael is taking his morning nap… I probably won’t be able to load photos until his next nap!  Meanwhile, Ian is wonderfully preparing breakfast for us both, before Michael’s squeaks soon.

We are all well and with love from Hong Kong… Enjoy the photos (from my 2nd edit)!

Mommy returns to work this week officially.  I have been off for three months (14 weeks to be exact) and time really flies.  I have gone from a total amateur to now a juggling mom with five things in hand and in mind all the time. 

My handbag has gone from a purse size to a super-XL sac with breast bump, breast storage bag, a sandwich for snack etc to take to work.  My office has also added a new gadget (an electronic photo frame) which stores many of Michael’s photos.

Michael is doing well and has just learned to laugh this evening (I couldn’t video it but will do so at next opportunity)… but meanwhile, some photos for your enjoyment:

Meanwhile, all is well in Hong Kong.