January

The picture? No, not a calender. It's Krabi. Poda Island, to be exact. That's how we roll! One of those longtails was the boat we took over from the mainland, about a 20 min. ride.

There's lots to blab about. Some important, some not important. The important stuff is that the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Even more important is so many babies have been born! My friend, Denise, had her first son. His name is Dylan and Ava (whose website is on the left) is a wonderful big sister. My friend, Marianne, had her second son. His name is Jacob and he's the little brother of Sawyer's pal, Caleb. My friend, Eva, had her second daughter, Faye. Faye is little sister to Olivia, who likes to beat up Sawyer on occasion and then kiss him. Finally, David and Rachel (whose blogs are on the left) had their fourth baby, Elijah. He's one of three boys. Daisy must be happy to know she can keep her princess title a little longer.


I'm just now emerging from a bit of a fog that began with the holidays...then Pat's family came for two and a half weeks of sightseeing and beaches...then the diarrhea came... If you talk to Sawyer on the phone, ask him what Aunt Nana had. He will tell you, "Aunt Nana diarrhea." Sawyer was the only one who had to deal with it for so long. Two whole weeks. Actually, the poops still aren't perfect but at least they no longer drip out of his diaper and down his leg. TMI? I was so tired of changing those diapers. Each little present was messy, required about 15 wipes, and the smell was almost debilitating. One morning we woke up to a poop disaster in Sawyer's crib. Almost lost my cookies.

On the brighter side, we had so much fun with the family! Pat and I saw more of Bangkok and surrounding areas that few weeks than we have our entire trip. I'll put together a flickr album with some of the hundreds of pictures we took. One of the coolest places we saw was Lopburi. Lopburi is just a typical city, but it's the invaders of Lopburi we wanted to see. The city is besieged by monkeys. Our van parked in an empty lot and the driver pointed to a small stone temple. Once we crossed the street headed toward the temple, we saw monkeys on the overhangs over the shops, on the power lines, dashing across the streets, lounging on the sidewalk eating handouts, or perhaps stolen food. They were hilarious. Of course, the city did smell like the zoo. The temple was crawling with monkeys. It became clear very quickly that they were in charge. We tried hard not to interact with them and to only take pictures and keep our distance. At times, we'd hear someone shriek and look over to see a monkey swinging around a Thai's neck trying to grap at food. My favorite part was the squealing car breaks on the street when monkeys would run out in front of a car. We think Pat's family had a good time and we were really glad Sawyer warmed up to everyone so quickly. He was a good sport with so many new people and I wouldn't have blamed him for being crabby since it was a big change.

Sawyer is no longer doing swim classes at Bangkok Dolphins. It wasn't that he didn't like it. He loved it and I think the water is where he's most comfortable with himself. But after taking him to a birthday party and a trial class at The Little Gym, I noticed he tends to shy away from big groups quite a bit. He doesn't mind doing what the other kids are doing, he just doesn't want to do it with them. That's fine, he's not even 2 yet and I know there's nothing wrong with being shy. But I did think it might be a good idea to get him more used to big groups of kids since he'll be in daycare the end of this summer. So far it's going okay. He has some good days and not so good days. Sometimes he is eager to try things, do somersauls and swing on the uneven bars. Other days he's just hiding and being whiny until it's bubble time and then stamp time when the teacher puts about 8 stamps all over his body, including his tummy. The instructers are so patient and really encourage you to NOT encourage the kids too much for fear they'll just rebel. So I spend a lot of time singing, "Da wheels on da bus a go around around..." (Thai instructer) on my own, waiting for Sawyer to see my giant forced smile and hope he joins Mommy. I'll get some pictures from class, it's actually a lot of fun.

We're sort of in home-mode. Every time I talk to my friends, especially Beth, I start getting my mind ready for the changes coming. That's not for another 6 months, but it seems like such a big change that I just have to get mentally prepared. Oh, speaking of change (hee hee), the other day I walked into the US Embassy for a meeting and saw the picture of the president. In the foyer of the building is always a large framed picture of the president. This time I walked in and it was a new president. I just about stopped in my tracks. It was pretty dramatic to see that face. During the elections I'd walk by and wonder, "Who will be looking back at me in a few months?" It's crazy to think that it's official. They still have to put up the VP's pic. I have to say, Dick Cheney staring back at you can be a tad frightening. I don't know the guy personally, not as well as I know George W. Bush, haha. I'm sure Cheney's a nice guy. But if they ever need someone to play Satan in a movie, they really should call him up. He's totally scary looking.

Finally, I'll get you up to date on Mr. Sawyer. He's a bit less patient lately. Mommy doesn't cut his meat fast enough. Mommy is too quick to put on the pajamas and doesn't give enough naked time. You know how it goes. He now stands on the BTS holding on to the pole like a grown-up. My city boy. Sawyer loves the aquarium and his favorite part lately has been the jellyfish. He calls them Debbiefish. I think Debbie will like that. What she might not like is that he's discovered an interesting resemblance of his penis to a Debbiefish. So aside from "wee wee" or "peenins," as he used to call it, it's now a Debbiefish. Sawyer counts to four. Sometimes he'll count to four, skip five, then do six, seven, eight, nine. His ABC's are still just ABCD, but he can identify most letters most of the time. Don't worry, I don't play school with him and duct tape him to a tiny desk or anything. It's just some of the stuff we do to pass time.

And speaking of time, it's time for me to read my book. My third book in the Twilight saga. If I haven't called or emailed enough, this is why. I'm obsessed and probably will need psychiatric help once I've completed the fourth and final book. The idea of this coming to an end is already gnawing at me. It's crazy because I hate vampires. I really would never pick up a vampire book, especially not intended for young adults. However, I've joined the bazillions of girls, young adults, and grown women who are caught up in this story. What a nerd.

I'll leave you with a picture of Sawyer doing his best impression of Thomas Magnum from Magnum PI. He's on his way to the pool with Daddy. So he can go potty in the pool...diarrhea. Daddy sits in the pool while Mommy scoops Sawyer out and tries not to look too suspicious. And then Daddy asks Mommy, "So, do you... you wanna take him back and clean him up?....and I'll just see you later?...or?" And then Mommy shoots Daddy a very evil look. And then we all go back to the hotel room to hose down.