I know that time flies when you're having fun, but I can't believe that our trip is over and that we're back in HK. Sorry for the absence in posts, but we had no internet access for about three weeks, and by the time we finally got it connected, it was a mad rush to see everyone before we left.
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The above was written more than a month ago...be prepared, this post is going to be crazy long! Part of the reason I haven't been blogging is because there's so much to catch up on, but with the kids asleep and hubby in China, now's a good time as ever to update.
The trip home was fantastic, although it would've been better with working internet access. We canceled Verizon because it was so unreliable, but it took Comcast almost three weeks to install new cables and get everything working.
In any case, we went to Sesame Place, had playdates with friends and relatives, did lots of clothes shopping for the kids, and just enjoyed suburban life. The hot weather was pretty unbearable after a while, and the kids didn't get a chance to go out as often as we would've liked. Still, it was great to spend time with my family, and I managed to watch the two of them on my own for the better part of the day. For someone who's not SAHM material, that's saying a lot!
The flight back was quite an ordeal because our HK flight was delayed at least five hours. We already had to entertain ourselves for about five hours upon arriving to Chicago from B-more, and when we found out that our HK leg was delayed for that long, we decided to get a hotel room and sleep it off. It did wonders for us and for the kids. Funny enough, Ethan was more relaxed during this flight while Sophie was the one who was sticking to me like a wet blanket. Besides the delay, the flight was normal - we're now waiting to hear back from UA to see what kind of compensation they will offer for the delay. If the delay were six hours, I could've filed a claim with my travel insurance, but I'm sure UA has arrangements with insurance companies to make sure that flight delays on screen are not more than five hours...
Jet lag lasted about a week - I took a lot of night shifts, which felt a lot like having a newborn baby in the house. Ethan would wake up, and then when he was ready for bed, Sophie would wake up. We'd try to rouse the kids in the evening from their afternoon naps, but our efforts were futile. No matter what we did to entice them, they just wanted to sleep. It wasn't too bad though - I remember trying to get over jet lag with Ethan while pregnant with Sophie, and it took us weeks before we were finally adjusted.
For the better part of August on the weekends, I had "pre-school" classes. We had intro classes and team-building sessions over the course of two weekends where they locked us in a hotel for three days or had us dangling 30 feet in the air on ropes courses. I had a blast, and I loved meeting my new classmates. I also learned a lot about myself, both as a professional and as a person. What stuck out most of all was this: in a team setting, I can be very selfish and sometimes, I won't play nice. Competition gets the best of me, it seems. Very contrary to the goody-two-shoes image that people usually associate with me!
School officially starts for me on Saturday, and I take classes from 9 to 6 with a two hour lunch in between. I'm starting out with accounting principles and data analysis. I already have a boatload of work ahead of me before class on Saturday, and I only just found out after a classmate's comment on fb!
Ethan also started school today. He's at the same school but a different branch. Most of it is familiar to him, although he did cry hysterically when it was time for me to leave. Some of his classmates from nursery also started kindergarten today, although he's not too buddy buddy with the ones who are in his classroom. It's a madhouse when school ends and all the parents are around to pick up the kids. Also, we have to walk quite a ways to get to the bus stop to go home, and today, he almost ran into the street. I'll need to think about the best route to go home...thought about just walking with him in the stroller, but then I'd need at least two showers a day after climbing the hill that we live on!
We're also in birthday planning mode for Ethan, although with the way he's been acting, I really don't even want to bother. A few kids from his nursery school had birthday parties, and they're quite the standard to meet! We do have a venue and food, but then we need to think about decorations, invites, cake, and entertainment. I'm thinking about just bagging it altogether and getting him a cake for school instead. He's in another horrific phase where he doesn't like anything and doesn't want to do anything and just screams and jumps around. Potty training? Forget about it. Kindergarten teacher doesn't help with potty training either. I'm just so tired of yelling...I know it doesn't help the situation, but I just don't know what to do with him anymore.
And then there's little Sophie. My petite daughter who is in the 3rd percentile for weight. Sigh. Here I am thinking that her eating and milk drinking has been so much better since her year check-up, but she's still small. Doctor says she's healthy though, and he doesn't seem to be too worried about her. I just wish I could fatten her up more. She's sleeping much better now - sleeps through the night no trouble. The key? Taking the drop side off of her crib and attaching the crib to my side of the bed. She still sleeps next to me, but at least she's not sandwiched in between me and Herb and she knows how to get down from my bed. I'll save the Sophie updates for an official month day post...albeit a few days late.
That's about it from me. Accounting principles and an 87 page case study await!
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