Horses, bikes and Bomby

Every time we go to Baguio I always wonder why we don’t go more often. It’s a long drive but it’s such a breathe of fresh air when we get there! Randy wasn’t here so I asked everyone to come with me, Maria our amazing nanny, shieril our amazing helper and Paolo our amazing driver. So with the dream team coming with us I felt much better about going without Randy. My friend Haley, her parents and her three kids came too. 
We left early in the morning and we made sure we brought Bomby along too, the Kindergarten ‘pet’ that rotates around on the weekend. I always feel like I have to entertain the class pets so this weekend was a perfect weekend for us to bring Bomby along. I did feel like security at the Embassy probably would have preferred if Rover the Pre-K dog was coming but Adam’s class is the Flaming Firebombs so Bomby it was. 

A short 5 hour trip later we arrived. These three were awesome in the car. The boys had their kindles to occupy then and Miral napped and then ignored the toys I had brought for her to play with for the tissue box and wipes holder.

The first thing we did was walk up to the big house. We wanted to show Haley, her parents and the kids all the pretty views and the historical house that we aren’t allowed to stay in with kids. We even stopped to smell some flowers on the way.

By the time we got back to our house the horses had arrived! Everyone was very excited.

After horses it was on to collect pine cone in the forest.

All in all a pretty great Baguio day! And of course as usual we ended our day with dinner and roasting marshmallows by the fire. 

The next morning we woke up and spent the morning being lazy. Well that was my goal, but it actually involved a long time spend trying to get pomelos from this pomelo tree, which ended with  a plastic bat getting stuck in this tree, thank goodness for amazing nannies who can scale a tree barefoot and shake the bat out. And a bunch of hours spent playing T-ball, thus our need for the plastic bat.

Well, first we had a photo shoot with Bomby, because at the end of every weekend with a class pet comes the printing and making of the pages for the class journal…which makes me nervous for science projects because I am always printing photos at 8 pm in Sunday night.

Then you guessed it, back on the horses! It never gets old people. Well maybe only for me who has to walk quickly uphill to keep up with the horses and make sure they don’t start trotting…

Back up the hill for mommy to the big house.

Lagging behind…

Adam requested I take these pictures of him getting off the horse. Let’s call these his glamour shots. 

Then guess where we went, if you guessed more horses, you are wrong! They opened a new go cart track right outside the Embassy compound. So we walked up there. Adam did a few laps on the pedal go carts but quickly decided to switch to a bike. The bike was pretty big, so I held his seat for a few laps…until Adam asked me to let go. Talk about a metaphor for life as a mom. I just couldn’t let go. The bike was so big and I was sure Adam was going to wipe out. I stayed behind him holding on, pretending I had let go, until Adam said- “Mommy, I can see your shadow still holding on, let go!” So I did and held my breathe and of course he was amazing! He flew around the track on that big bike and didn’t fall once. Lesson learned. Adam has always known when he is ready. It is one of his many strengths. 
And not to be outdone, Malcolm has actually never pedaled before. He’s still on his balance bike with no pedals. It only took about 10 times of mommy pushing him around the track before he caught on and was pedaling around like a pro! Silver lining to Randy being in Pakistan, I get loads of exercise in. 
The next morning I was feeling lazy after all those laps around the track so I went out for a run. For the boys the horses are the best part of Baguio, for me it’s running out in the woods. I missed my running partner though. 

Then it was back to go carts and big boy bikes for these two who were old hats around this time. 

When did my kindergartner turn into a teenager….

Then it was onto the butterfly farm! I would like to say no butterflies were harmed in this activity but I can’t be sure people….

A brief 5 hours later in the car  and we were home again. 

We were all sleepy and ready for bed but first….Bomby needed to be documented. So a mere hour and only one small fight with the printer later we were in bed for real.

We’ll miss you Bomby, but I won’t miss the homework….

29/52

Week 29- This was a big week for you! You started crawling! You’re not up on your knees yet, but it’s close. You’re so determined, when there’s something you want, you drag that little body across the room and reach it! It’s usually a piece of plastic or one of the boys toys. It seems so early for you to be on the move but I have a feeling you are the type of person that puts your mind to something and goes for it! You look like the cutest little glowworm squirming along. 
Your brothers are so excited that you are on the move! They love to dangle something just out of reach and see you army crawl your way over. I feel like you were just born a second ago and now you’re mobile already! I have a feeling you’re going to be an early walker….

28/52

Week 28- You seem so much older all of a sudden. You are into everything and want to eat EVERYTHING, except food. You’re not as into purees still, only food you can eat by yourself. You chew on alot of hard carrots and apples. I think it also helps your gums feel better, you have some teeth right about to pop out. 
You have started crying when mommy leaves the room or comes in and doesn’t pick you right up. I don’t mind though, I love holding you! It’s almost time for daddy to come home and I can’t wait for him to see how big you’ve gotten. 

27/52

Week 27- I signed Miral up for a music class when I went back to work. I wanted to make sure I had  little bit of time with just Miral since things often get hectic. Every Saturday morning I take Miral to music class and the boys go do something fun, an arcade or a kids play area. This plan was working pretty well but then of course things came up and we had to miss a class or two and make one up on Sunday when it’s harder to leave both boys at an arcade. So this week Adam came with me to music class. Malcolm had a playdate with a friend so it worked out. 

An added surprise was that the teacher on Sunday was Teacher Carol, Malcolm’s Pre-K teacher and Adam’s old Pre-K teacher.!Adam loved being there and wanted to hold Miral and show her everything! Miral LOVES music. The minute you start singing to her, she calms down and watches you. She loves music class. She watches all the babies, listens to all the singing and loves using the rattles. If only I had brought the real camera but it’s too hard to take real photos and also dress Miral up like a flower in a flowerpot 🙂 Luckily she’s still super cute. 

25/52

Week 25- This week you got to go swimming for the first time! The big pool was a little warm so me and your brothers took you in the hot pool. You loved it, even when you got your little face spashed by all the other kids around. You loved watching all the action and splashing around! You also look pretty darn cute in your bathing suit. 

26/52 and 6 months

Week 26 and 6 months! How are you already half a year old?? It really seems like you just arrived so teeny and sweet. 
Now that you are six months it is finally time to give you some real food! Everyone was very excited to feed you solids and crowded around! Your brothers each had a spoon and as soon as your bib was on they tried to give you a bite. Your first food was carrots, just like your brothers. The first bite went in ok but then you immediately made a face like we had fed you dirt….so we tried again. Another grimace. Oh boy. Over the next few weeks we tried peas, no better, same for prunes, apples, bananas, fish and peaches and all were met with the same grimace. What you do like is to hold your own food. You love to gnaw on a carrot or a piece of apple. You are a woman who like to be in control of her own destiny and food already. 

Spoiler alert- Now its been almost two months because i’m a little behind with these posts and all of a sudden you are eating up a storm! You love fish and carrots the most but you also really like prunes and peas. But like your brothers your favorites so far as mango and fish!

24/52

Week 24- Babies grow so fast. I always forget how short of a time they use stuff. I guess that’s why I’ve had baby stuff last for three. 
But now that you are getting bigger I decided you room needed to be more grown up! I got out the little chair that was Adams and a bookcase.  The boys helped me pick some books that would be good for your room and a few toys. I love that the boys love to hang out in your room and feel comfy in there. It’s important for me that they want to be all together.  You really are getting into toys. You love looking at mirrors and smiling at the cute little baby in the reflection!

Malcolm is a human that likes animals

Now that Malcolm is four years old he really seems so much older. He is also the funniest four year old I know. Here are some recent snippets. 
We picked Randy up from the airport- “The baby’s name is Ava Miral and she already came out.”
When he wakes up and doesn’t see anyone awake- “Is anyone here?”
“Start from the end” This means the beginning. 
“Two ones, I want two ones” 
Every wish he gets- “I wish for a dog and a cat”
“Why do I never ride in cars with TVs?”
“What are you easy talking about?” This means what are you even talking about?
He’s learning how to write and his alphabets. He’s been practicing writing his name and is getting to be such a sweet, smart boy. Here is his most recent recent book. 

23/52

Week 23- This week was a big week for us. Mommy went back to work. After five wonderful months spending all day with you I had to leave you. It is never easy to leave your babies and for me it always coincides with the time when things start getting easier. When babies start hitting routine and longer naps. I am happy you were on a routine and napping and sleeping better because it made me feel like even though I wasn’t there you would be happy. You also hadn’t been the bottles number one fan but when I went to work you started taking bottles like a champ. It was a big relief and also makes it easier leaving you knowing you are eating lots. You have a quite morning with your nanny Maria, napping, going downstairs to the lobby and playground to see all the other babies. Soon you’ll be climbing all over the playground, but for now you watch and smile and take in everything around you. Your brothers come home after lunch and play with you and cuddle you. Then I get home early, around 3:30 for some cuddles, walks and playtime before dinner, bed and bath. Not a bad day. 

Dino Parade

I had promised Malcolm a dinosaur party when we got home from the U.S. With our snow delay this poor dino party got moved three times, two people came on the wrong day and Randy had already left for Pakistan by the time it happened. But I was so happy we had the party anyway. Malcolm loved it and although he had already had three parties, this one was with his friends from school and made him so happy. 
Here is what happens when you ask your talented nanny to make a fruit plate and she has pinterest!  

We also inflated the biggest T-Rex balloon we could find, which is Malcolm’s favorite dinosaur, although he does tell me he loves all the meat eaters.

We decorated with a ton of dinosaurs and a ton of balloons. Adam loooooves to decorate and helped me put dinosaurs everywhere, these dinosaurs were clearly on a parade.

Malcolm’s only request was to have a T-Rex cake. So I whipped this up for him. Ha-just kidding. A very talented cake maker made this beauty for him and Malcolm loved it!
We dressed up in our finest and were ready for our guests to arrive!

The hit of the party- a dinosaur pinata!

I was holding the pinata so no pictures of the actual event, but here are the kids scrounging for treats.  One of the harder part about Randy being gone that I didn’t even think about is not having a partner to photograph all the kids milestones- I usually take the pictures while Randy holds the pinata, or Randy takes pictures while I feed the baby for the first time. But even with just me pictures still get taken and we just count the days until Randy gets home.

Soon it was birthday cake time. All of Malcolm’s friends were so excited to eat the dinosaur!

(I love Shireil, our amazing helper, she always sneaks Miral into the back of all the pictures. It is the cutest thing)

Before we knew it the party was over and our friends left. Anyone who knows me knows that I am the type of person who hates when a party is over. I always try to get some people to stay a bit so everyone doesn’t leave at once. Lately I don’t mind leaving as much because I basically travel in a party of five anyway. This time when everyone left and Randy wasn’t there to talk with about the party I really felt his absence, probably the most I have in the now two months he’s now been gone. Then it had only been three days since he left so it was all very fresh. But I wanted Malcolm to have a special day so I swallowed back my sadness. We opened up all his presents and then went for a long walk outside until sunset. And that is pretty much how I tackle all the hardest days without Randy, I get outside and spend it with the kids doing something we can all enjoy. I am for sure the luckier one this year, because as hard as it is being the only parent for all the middle of the night wakeups, all the dinners, all the baths, all the tears , I also get to spend every day with our three wonderful kids.