Thailand: Around and About

As with childbirth, our laborious journey was totally worth it.  Since we arrived, we've been having the time of our lives enjoying the warm weather and the love of my family.

It took Austin at least the first full week to adjust to sleeping here (he even ran a 102 degree fever for a few days), so we kept our activities fairly low key to help him catch up on his missed sleep.

My mom (Austin's Nana) has taken Austin out for a jog nearly every morning.  I know it gives her quite the workout pushing the stroller in the hot, humid weather, but Austin absolutely loves it.

My family has to have a native driver to get them around outside of their community (all the signs are in Thai and if they were to get in an accident the protocol is that "the white people pay"...no matter what).  It's quite nice to be able to sit back, relax and let someone else worry about the traffic.  Carseats are unheard of over here (though we do have Austin ride in one) and only the front passenger and driver are required to wear a seatbelt.  So, last week when we were headed home from the Zoo (post to come) and stopped in city traffic, my mom let Austin check out the sunroof.

When the driver is gone, we're limited to only a couple other modes of transportation: bikes and a golf cart.  As you would imagine, Austin loves them both.

My dad bought an infant seat for one of the bikes so we can drive him around.  Isn't he so cute in his little helmet (also optional)?  I've taken him on a few long bike rides (as has Nana, as you can see) and whenever we get back he always says "go." He just can't get enough of it.

I bet you're wondering why he looks so grumpy when all I've sworn is that he absolutely loves riding on the bike.  It's nearly impossible to get this boy to smile at the camera anymore.  Just you wait until I blog about our trip to the fun kiddie rides at the mall....imagine dozens of pictures of the saddest little boy you've ever seen on a carousel.

But the crème de la crème is the golf cart. Austin could probably ride on it for hours at a time. We have to take turns taking him out throughout the day (this time it was Aunt La La's). It's a pretty convenient way to check out all the parks throughout the community though.

Note,mostly for my husband will see this and worry that our son will turn into a "pansy": He doesn't usually wear his helmet on the golf cart.  He had just finished a bike ride and demanded a golf cart ride before bed. Could you say "no" to that face?

 And, speaking of parks, we've sure spent our fair share of time at them lately. Austin is turning into a little thrill seeker.

Thailand: The Arrival

Well, it's official, we are never coming home.  Never.  And you probably think it's because Thailand is so breathtakingly exotic that I could picture myself living here for the rest of my days.  It is, but we are never coming home because I will NEVER get on an airplane with Austin again.  Never. It may have even been worse than childbirth.

The first leg of the flight, from Seattle to Taipei, is 13 hours.  We were an hour late taking off (after we had already boarded the plane), which made it really 14 hours.  Austin slept for 4.  Yes, FOUR of those hours.  And it is nearly impossible to keep a toddler busy on a crowded airplane for TEN hours.  If someone had given me the option to jump off of that airplane I probably would have done it.  I brought tons of think to entertain him, including a DVD player, and lots of snacks.  It was all totally useless.  He did want to do anything but run around.  Needless to say, we spent a lot of time in and around the bathrooms and walking up and down the aisles.  It was brutally painful, but we survived that leg.

Our layover in Taipei was a little stressful because Austin was so incredibly exhausted that he had a million times more energy than normal.  Luckily we found a nice Hello Kitty play place that he ran around on for a good hour.  The next flight, from Taipei to Bangkok was only 3.5 hours and he slept for 2.5 of those.  I didn't sleep during either of the flights, but I was finally able to enjoy the in-flight meal and watch The Help (amazing, by the way).

After our 22-hour trek we were finally reunited with my family.  I admit, I bawled my eyes out in relief and exhaustion.  But it was over and I had a month of upper 80-degree weather days to look forward to.

18-Month Check-Up

Can you believe it's been 18 months?!!  I know, me neither.  I can't even believe it's been 6 months since his birthday.  Technically, though, he's not 18 months until next Sunday, but we went to the doctor already.  She wanted him to see him a week before we left for Thailand just in case he had any reactions to his immunizations.

This was the first time that Austin expressed any opinion about being at the doctors -- a negative opinion, of course.  He screamed as he was weighed and measured...literally screamed.  And then he went ballistic when the doctor tried to listen to his lungs and look into his ears.  He's been going through a pretty severe case of separation anxiety lately (perfect time to send him to nursery, right?), so maybe he thought the doctor was going to take him.  Whatever it was, he was not happy and he let us know.  And then the nurse gave him two shots.  So, yeah, it was a pretty traumatic experience -- for both of us. 

BUT, I love his pediatrician.  I feel like a super mom after talking to her.  As usual, Austin is right on track in every way.  He still isn't talking as much as would be convenient for me (though the doctor says he's where he should be), but I guess it's a bit unrealistic to expect him to say, "Mom, I'm hungry.  I would like a grilled cheese, some grapes, and water in my blue sippy cup."  So, for now I'll just keep interpreting the words and half words he does say.

Austin's 18 Month Stats:
Weight: 25.2 pounds (50 percentile)
Height: 32.75 inches (75 percentile)
Head: 48 centimeters (50 percentile)

Most popular vocab words: mama, dada, nana, papa, baa (Baxter), more, milk, no-no, caca (if something is gross), uh uh (uh oh), lala (Laura, as in Aunt Laura), go (in direct command to Baxter), hi, bye.

 We love little Austin more than ever these days.  He's so fun and silly all the time.  He has a charming little personality.  At 18 months, Austin...

...is showing a streak of independence.
...does things he knows are "no-no's" on purpose (and he looks at us while doing them to see how far he can get without us stopping him).
...could probably eat cheese for every meal (especially cheddar).
...has started getting embarrassed easily.
...loves Sesame Street.
...barks when he sees a dog.
...has been taking 3 or 4 hour naps regularly (which has been heavenly for me).
...is obsessed with airplanes.
...is starting to play on his own a little more
....loves to Skype with his Nana.
...makes the appropriate sounds when playing with his dinosaurs or cars.
...has been put on time out a handful of times.
...climbs on everything.
...love to dunk his fries (or anything really) in "dippies" (ketchup, ranch, etc.).
...signs some words (milk, more, food, all done, please)
...loves to give his Daddy zugas (or raspberries if that's what you call them).
...has almost a full set of teeth.
...loves to be naked.

Notice the monkey backpack in the bottom middle picture.  It attaches to a "leash" so he can't wander too far from us.  We bought it for our trip to Thailand and he LOVES wearing it.  Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Happy Halloween (Two Weeks Ago!)

I honestly don't know how time goes by so fast.  It seriously feels like Halloween was last weekend.  We had a great Halloween.  We went to our ward Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday.  Austin wasn't too excited about his costume (interpret that as "screamed bloody murder when we finally forced it on him"), but he tolerated it once we got to the church and he realized that all the other kids were also wearing costumes.  And, by the time he discovered how to get candy, he had completely forgotten about the costume after all.  It was so cute to see him walk around and hold out his little pumpkin bucket.  He didn't want any help, either. 

He was a giraffe this year, thanks to our good friends who let us borrow the costume.  He also stopped multiple times during the ONE small loop around the parking lot to try to eat some of the candy.

On the actual night of Halloween we stayed home and passed out candy, which Austin loved as well.  I look forward to next year when Halloween will probably be even more exciting for him.

And I just couldn't help but remind myself how cute Austin was last Halloween.

I didn't take any pictures at the annual Spader Family Pumpkin Carving Contest, but I did light our pumpkins with pride on Halloween night.  Can you tell whose is whose?

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Remember last year when we went to the pumpkin patch with Carmen and Parker?  Well, we went back just yesterday.  Look at the difference a year makes...

The boys loved checking out all the little pumpkins and gourds.  Austin, as usual, did not want me to take his picture -- hence the grumpy face you'll see every one I did take.  I'm so happy that Austin has a cousin that lives near him (although, we'd love it if ALL his cousins lived near him).  Austin and Parker are great friends already and I can only imagine what fun the next few years will bring.

'Twas a Great Day for a Cape

Last Saturday Toren introduced Austin to a cape -- in the form of a backwards bib.  Austin loved it!   He thought he was pretty cool. And, I'll admit, he was.  After wearing the bib around for most of the morning I decided to make him a proper cape out of an old t-shirt of mine.  Well, he liked that one even more.  I realize he doesn't have pants on, but doesn't that just make him more superheroish?

He wore it while helping Toren organize a few things in the garage.

And while I tidied the house.

And while he smothered Baxter.

And while he ate a fruit by the foot. 

He even wore it to the annual Spader Family Pumpkin Carving Contest that night (no pictures).  All in all, 'twas a great day for a cape!

Our Day Today

I've learned that to be a successful stay-at-home mom I CANNOT stay at home.  In fact, staying at home all day ensures that by dinner time (if we are still alive) I am completely bonkers, the house looks war torn, and Austin is practically climbing up the walls.  Our best days are spent out and about until lunch/nap time.  We go to story time at the library, swimming at the public pool, to Walmart or Costco to browse around, to play dates with friends in the ward.  And sometimes we go to the mall.

I hate/love the mall nearby.  I hate it because it's a terrible mall (for shopping).  But I love it because it's so terrible that it's always deserted. I can let Austin run the length of the mall without getting into anyone's way.  And there are two play areas for him to keep busy on.  That's where we went today.  Sorry about the poor picture quality.  I took them with my phone.

As we were migrating to the next play place, Austin noticed Tilt, which, of course, was also deserted.  He LOVED it.  He probably wandered around checking out the games for at least a good half an hour.  He even found tickets that someone left behind -- enough to buy a pixi stick.

On the weeks that Toren is out of town I allow Austin and I to eat out for lunch once (it helps me stay sane).  Usually it's the dollar menu at McDonald's or a $1.50 hot dog at Costco, but today I treated us to Panda Express.  Austin devoured the spring roll, orange chicken, and rice.  He even got his own fortune cookie.  I wish I would have taken a picture when he found the fortune inside.  His puzzled face was priceless.  His fortune read: You would be wise not to seek too much form others at this time.  I'll be reminding him of this tomorrow morning when he wants breakfast.  Just kidding... Mine was: Lady luck will soon visit you.  I already feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend every day moseying around with this handsome boy.  I just couldn't ask for anything more!