Phoenix enjoys:
Talking
Running
Eating fruit and rice
Playing hide and seek behind the curtains
Yelling “GIRL!” out our window at women…and men
Reading books – especially if they have ball shaped things, ballerinas, umbrellas, or clocks
Bringing us his slippers when they fall off
Hiding everything in cabinet drawers (today we found a bowl of strawberries!)

I ventured out downtown with a friend to take some photos of the crazy fireworks.  It’s not like America where the government deems one spot for fireworks.  EVERYWHERE had fireworks! A local said that the average family spends about $150 on fireworks each year.  Our city just renovated the main square downtown and it was so beautiful! The colored lights along the water added a nice touch to the fireworks.

Those fireworks were so close to the tall apartment buildings you see!

This is right outside our kitchen window!

There were fireworks throughout the night (even before it was dark!) but there was nothing like 11:50pm-12:30am. For that entire period it seemed that every family in our city was letting off their entire stash. Guess what? Phoenix slept through all the explosions – I guess we can stop whispering when he’s sleeping now!

Here is a video that I took from our porch during the big spectacle.  It starts off with the sky lighting up and then the building across from ours in our courtyard lefts off some big ones.

I saw this too and thought it was cute – it doesn’t have anything to do with the riddle:

Any ideas what we saw that made us so happy?!

People keep saying that Phoenix’s hair is getting pretty long. I did trim the bangs and we even taught our tutor what “party in the back business in the front” meant. I think he is over the mullet stage and it’s starting to look cute! Except for here…



Thomas says that his clothes are being stretched out by this baby – I think it also might have to go with the fact we don’t have a dryer. Thomas’ hair is also getting long, I can only hope for the wedding hair to come back!

http://katiestoops.com/wedding/

Phoenix loves this cabinet that has been moved into our bedroom. It has our stash of 5 pounds of chocolate chips – know any fun recipes with minimal ingredients? He likes to take all of his balls and close them in here and then take them out hide them somewhere else and do it all over again. The most common conversation in our house is trying to collect all of his toys from his hiding places.  I find them in my boots ALL the time, along with food!

Another favorite thing to do is for his to hide behind the curtains.

Just in case you haven’t heard Phoenix FINALLY said Mama! It is so great! I can’t believe the words that came out of him before mama – like pineapple and belly button!

Sorry for the bag photo quality! It was raining and I was holding Phoenix in our pjs!

So we have heard starting in two weeks it can be crazy around here! Everything shuts down for a week so you have to buy all your groceries and plan ahead.  Supposedly fireworks go off non stop and after a while they become white noise.  A friend last year said that he stood on his balcony and screamed and he couldn’t hear himself! This morning there was a commotion in our courtyard.  Phoenix and I (Thomas was at a fancy international breakfast without me!) found Superman, Jerry the Mouse, a King, and a long red carpet.  They had drawn a large crowd and were speaking on a loudspeaker.  They were saying something about how the King looked like a kid – my language skills don’t exact include interpreting from a loud speaker.  Anyways, everyone was laughing and kids from the surrounding apartments were looking out their window.  They retreated inside and then a minute of fireworks started! In the video I’m talking to Phoenix – but you can’t hear me! I was inside when I took this video too! I guess this is a dress rehearsal!

I love his red long hair! It is so long now it flips out.  It actually fits with his new Asian name.  It is “Phoenix” but phoenix is actually the bridal symbol.  We didn’t really think it was that big of a deal until we were thinking that it’s like if a little Asian baby was names “Isabella” in the states – would you laugh at him? I probably would.  So we are welcoming the laughs when we tell the locals his name.  I want to work on the phrase, “In English Phoenix is a very proud, respected, honorable name” maybe that will change the girl connotations here?
We’re hoping the gap between his teeth doesn’t stay there forever.

Love the hat, love it.  
From a month old to a year! These ceramic balls are cemented to the ground and Phoenix tries to pick them up – while screaming “BALLLLL!!!” He hasn’t gotten the clue that they don’t budge.  

We had a little party for Phoenix. Complete with the chocolately chocolate adult cake and his wheat germ carrot cupcake.  It had really yummy icing on it though.
He wasn’t really into it.  In fact for Thanksgiving I made an epic Key Lime Pie and I really wanted him to try some.  I practically had to hold him down and shove it down his throat – so I don’t think he’s really into desserts, he’ll just stick with his mandarin oranges.

He even had a birthday hat! But he ripped it off just like the other hat.

He got some cars – which he loves to show you the wheels and race them across our floors.  He likes to see if you will put them in your mouth. 
His favorite toys was the ball! I saved it for last because I knew there would be an explosion of yelling “BALLLLLLLLLL!!!!” He also tries to see if the ball will go in his or your mouth.
He really likes his corn on the cob, complete with a kid friendly stick handle.

Thomas almost blew someone’s face off:
Thomas and I had full intention of wrapping Phoenix’s presents.  We went to this gigantic market to find some wrapping paper.  At the very end we stopped in this one store and picked up something that looked like it.  Thomas asked them how much and it was a little more pricey than we thought it should be.  It was weighted at one end and so he was asking them how big it was and all sorts of questions.  Thomas noticed there were arrows on the outside so he turned his hands around the arrows and BANGGGGG the “wrapper paper” exploded – nearly missing an employees face.  Turns out it was NOT wrapping paper but a popper firework thingy.

Phoenix eats a new delicacy:
Lately Phoenix has had his days where he won’t eat anything.  He was having one of those days when I looked over while I was studying language and our house helper was FEEDING him a crayon!!! Really – helping him put a crayon to his mouth and he was biting and sucking on it! And you know what? He was eating it and LOVED it.  He also had red all over his face.  Now he doesn’t understand why I won’t let him eat them.

There is a bakery close to our apartment.  All of the foreigners go there to get sliced bread, they even have whole wheat! The other day I was walking with Phoenix and he was getting hungry so I stopped in to pick up something.  They immediately thought I wanted sliced wheat bread, because why else would a foreigner be in there? Well actually that’s usually true because all of there other breads they have do not look very good – loaded with the unknown toppings and insides.  But I gave it a shot and bought a bun looking thing.  I was expecting there to be meat inside honestly, not that that sounds good, but just typical.  Well it was actually whipped cream! Phoenix loved it and it got everywhere, especially because I was wearing him in our carrier.  We were walking down the street laughing together because of the whipped cream.

Nothing about making dinner is easy here.  It is getting better though! I made these homemade buns to be enjoyed with hamburgers I made.  I know, I made hamburgers! Our house helper thinks that all we eat is bread.  She told her husband that Phoenix says “bread” (not in English) all the time! I didn’t tell her that he is actually saying “ball” but it sounds like “bread” in her language.  She also told her husband that we make bread every night, which they think is disgusting.

Thomas’ new look? 

When we first arrived we had to exit the taxi to buy tickets to the park.  People immediately came up to Phoenix and I.  This woman was selling handmade crafts and was trying to get Phoenix to hold them so that I would buy them! It was crazy. All I could say was, “No thank you. Bye bye.” We drove through a very small downtown area and I guessed that there had been a sizable earthquake from all of the rubble.  Turns out there was a 7.9 earthquake three years ago, although they’ve had some 4.0 earthquakes several times since.  The next night I awoke to thinking there was an earthquake only to realize it was just Thomas moving in the bed!

On our first day we went to the Grand Waterfall spot.   It is quite a hike, although you can buy escalator tickets.  It was late in the afternoon so we didn’t hike all the way but I took decent photos of our view.  Here are some photos of inside the park.

Love Phoenix’s face here.

Even though it is quite the hike, women were still wearing their high heels (and mini skirts with leggings)! I felt kind of frumpy in my Keens and Anne Taylor Loft Jeans.

After the grand water fall spot we went to a smaller park and there were peacocks! They are so gorgeous! You could walk straight up to them!

Where did your head go?!

So turns out the park’s tickets while they say the tickets are good for two days they are not good for re-entering the places you have already visited.  We found this out the next day when we wanted to walk all the way to the waterfall.  So because of the earthquake the government has set taxi rides to be so expensive and since we were staying at a hotel in the park we had no where to go but to pay the taxi ride (ten times what we usually pay!) or stay in our room. If it sounds a little confusing, it is.  So we packed up our things and headed back to the “real” city, the city we took the train to. I was trying the best I could to explain to the ladies at the front desk we wanted our money back for our second night because we wanted to leave and after all of that she just said, “Where is your husband we talk to him”, my language skills need some work!

When we arrived it was apparent this city had not seen foreigners in a while! We do get this in our city but here it was extreme here.  I’m talking about gaping and conversations ceasing type of thing.  We hiked up to a Buddhist temple (we think) and got a great view of the city.  We walked around the city a little more.  I tried on the largest coat size in a clothing store and it was very snug! Thomas saw a sign for a “ZHuge Barbecue House” so we tried it out.  Their main dining area was under construction so lucky us they gave us a private dinning room! It was great with a baby who loves to terrorize places.

Our second hotel room, we loved it!

Temple we hiked to

View of the city from the temple. The building on the far right corner is our hotel, our room is probably just above the tree line.

This little boy wanted to go up to the temple on his flower decorated car.

Ducks for sale at the market.
 Some sort of cool looking eggs

Spicy! We have learned to say a little of this stuff.

A game that we see men playing all the time.

As opposed to the game we see the women playing.

This is the view from our first hotel, so beautiful!

This is the view from our second hotel, just a little more urban than the first hotel!

At the first place we got to see beautiful waterfalls and peacocks (photos to come).  At the second place we walked up to that tower on top of that tiny mountain and had our own private room at a barbecue restaurant.

Once we empty two water tanks Thomas valiantly calls and uses his best language skills to order two more.  [This is a side note but they were out of our favorite water which means we have to drink yucky soft water for one whole tank! Which means right now you can bet that I'm dehydrated.] The water man came to our door to exchange our old tank with a full yucky water tank. The man started speaking very loudly and pointed at the tank.  We had taken the cap off the tank so that the markers could be taken out and subsequently put back in by Phoenix.  Taking off the cap of the tank is against the unwritten rules (or they’re written and we’re illiterate).  Good thing our big bag foreigner friend was at our house to explain with his awesome language skills something to make the man go away with our capless water tank.

That night we found Phoenix putting a pen inside the other empty water tank that it waiting to be exchanged for the more superior mineral water [so I don't stay dehydrated].

Where is the new home for the empty water tank? The guest bed room with the door shut.

On Sunday night we are going on our language emersion trip for two full days! We cannot use English at all! Ekk! We are doing some sightseeing and probably talking to locals about: Animals and food.

I hope I get to use my favorite words; to stroke, carrot, and camel.

We stayed in a really nice hotel, they had this beautiful lily pad pond in the lobby.

I also had several AMAZING cups of coffee!

So then we traveled home and started our full-time language study. We have now completed a week! The way we’re learning language is quite fun (fun as it can be!). For the first three weeks we don’t speak we just listen to our tutor. Then after the three weeks we start speaking and our tutor guides us through this process. So we probably will sound REALLY bad speaking at first and he will help us pronounce words properly. This approach models children learning to speak. So at the end of the first week our tutor would say something like, “Put the dragon under the table and stroke his claw” and then we would pick up the dragon, put him under the table and stroke his claw. So our tutor teaches us vocabulary and we point or do actions with the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns we know. By the end of the first month we will recognize about 600 words!

We have also had our first local guest in our house! It is customary to bring a gift when you come over and so our guest brought a toy for Phoenix. The word “Phoenix” has some sort of meaning to the bride in weddings so people assume that Phoenix is a girl and when they find out he’s not they think that is really funny. Our tutors bought Thomas a birthday present, a candle and an ancient warrior figurine. The girly boot is our house guest’s gift for Phoenix.

Phoenix is really enjoying his time here. He has a new “auntie”, our house helper. He enjoys being chased by her, his daily walks, and her amazing local food she cooks every lunch. Phoenix is getting so good at walking – I can almost let him walk outside by himself. We tried this the other day and he got so excited he wanted to run and had a spill out.

“The Bird and Flower Market” is a market close to our house, it is so wonderful! We went for the first time during the week and there were a good amount of people there. We went back on a Saturday and it jammed packed Asian style! The good thing about going on a Saturday was not only were there fish, birds, and flowers but PUPPIES! Dogs are one of Phoenix’s favorite things – he squeals “Doooog!!!” and flails when he sees them. There were itty bitty dogs and giant dogs! There was the biggest dog I had even seen and I wouldn’t go near it, it was about the size of Thomas! If we weren’t traveling so much I would try to convince Thomas that we NEED one of these puppies, they are hard to say no to these eyes!

Another great thing lately has been the minor renovation of our kitchen. We got an oven! It has been great to make, sweat potato fries, meatballs (who am I?), meatloaf (really WHO AM I?!!), muffins, bread, bread, and bread. Our kitchen is lacking counter space so we had it on a very short counter where Phoenix could reach it. I burned myself twice with it in this old location. So Thomas and our tutor had a shelf made so its new home is over the washer. This oven likes to quiz me on my skill at converting Fahrenheit to Celsius.

We have visited our basketball court near our house. So get this, it cost a little less than a dollar per person to go into the basketball court, not a big deal. But here is the kicker, they LOCK you INSIDE! So imagine this scenario, Thomas, our friend with his baby, and me with Phoenix go to the court. Obviously I am not going to play so Thomas and the friend pay and go inside while I am left outside with two rambunctious could cry at any moment baby boys. This does happen, Phoenix starts climbing the fence while his baby friend starts wailing in the baby carrier on me. So I grab Phoenix (yes baby friend is still in the baby carrier on me) and walk to the guard station to motion, “key” and “basketball” to the guard who calls another guard who comes 7 minutes later to let baby daddy out of the jail…I mean basketball count.

If you read the last post about the grocery store here is an update, they’re remodeling the store! Which sounds great, but thing about your grocery store and it being remodeled and think about that happening in Asia. There is stuff EVERYWHERE! The workers wear dust masks, walls are falling down around you, there are piles of trash/groceries all around you. This photo really doesn’t do it justice. Also notice the soy sauce section, not aisle, section

 Thanks so much to everyone who commented on our last update, we loved it! We miss you! Coming up soon – Phoenix’s first birthday!