Stories and Water

After 2 weeks in Europe I then spent 2 weeks in China - alone. It was immediately a strange experience having so little noise and so much time to myself. Thankfully it was a useful chance to get back into exercising to burn off all the deserts and did not last long anyway.

For then I was off to Beijing--a wonderful place to go during major sports or political events--where there was no traffic, blue skies, warm temperatures and some excellent athletics to watch in the Bird's Nest. It did not disappoint: Lots of tension and unknowns, though the same outcome in the races that mattered with a certain Jamaican ruling the roost. It was great to see the Mo win and wonderful to experience the atmosphere as the Chinese competed and did quite well in some events. It was also a chance to run around town and catch up with old friends since I'd not been to Beijing for more than 6 months.

After a 5-day work trip to Kenya it was time to be reunited with the girls in my life: one of which had decided she wanted to start walking, though still needs one hand of support for a little while yet, another who has decided she can now remember what has been happening during the day and wants to talk about it in a delightful high-pitched girly voice that she has developed.

Indeed Hannah is now in the next class up in kindergarten, attending dance class twice a week (its good for her to have some strict routines to follow and more friends to play with), and remembering how to speak Chinese again. We're slowly weaning off of Peppa Pig and trying to focus on stories again, though just like when she was a toddler, she still loves the same book over and over again!

Leah's now entered the next phase of her life, where she can decide what she wants to eat (by pointing), where she wants to go (by walking), and what to play with (by crawling/grabbing). She seems to understand some of what is being said now, is finally getting teeth number 3 and 4 and very much enjoying the outdoors. During the recent 3 day holiday we managed to spend each day at a water park, by a beach, or at water fountains so the two girls could cool down, play with us, and even play together.

Whether there was really a need for the public holiday to be created as a one-off to celebrate the "end of Japanese aggression 70 years ago" is another question altogether (was it for internal political purposes, internal reputation purposes, or for external reputation purposes?). Well we didn't complain.

Hannah's always loved hugging her sister, and trying to carry her around; but now that Leah can play back everything becomes much more interesting: the games of hide-and-seek, for example. The two of them playing on the bobby cart together. Once Leah does start walking on her own, then things might get even more fun.