Friends with "benefits" - not that kind of benefit

We are truly thankful for many friends in our lives.  Aside from the pure friendship and support our friends offer, we often rely on our friends for many practical favours.  Just for this HK trip alone, many friends have helped us in various ways.  For example, we got an amazing place to stay, we borrowed an appropriate stroller, we got discount tickets for both Disneyland and Ocean Park, and we have gone to fancy, members-only, places to eat and play.   We can only hope that, someday, we can return the favour.

8 year wedding anniversary

Today we celebrated our 8-year wedding anniversary by circumnavigating Hong Kong Island on a yacht.  We visited the largely uninhabited Tung Lung Island and hiked to many beautiful scenic points.  What a special day!

Photo Book

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Woo Family Photobook

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Milestones

It seems like my daughter just had a growth spurt.  Over the past 2 weeks, she's been more interactive than ever.  She learned how to clap while we were at the cottage in early Sept and can now clap on command.  She can also sign 'milk' which my son was never able to do.  She smiles when we smile at her and she plays with us by tilting her head or sticking her tongue out.  Her crawling has improved; she is fast and is no longer gimpy with her right leg.  This past week, she has been pulling herself up and standing.  She even took a few steps with assistance.  I wonder if she'll start to walk while we are in Hong Kong, just like my son did when he was 11.5 months.

15 hours

We decided last minute to take a vacation to Hong Kong to visit my family.  I was dreading the 15 hour flight but it wasn't too bad.  My daughter slept for 1 hour in the beginning, was awake for 6 hours, then slept another 1 hour, was awake for 4 hours, then slept the rest of the 3 hours.  My son slept about 6 hours on the floor.  I was able to watch some movies: Something Borrowed (okay), Kung Fu Panda 2 (okay but only watched 20 minutes), Midnight in Paris (bad), Fast Five (good), X-Men (good).

The food on Air Canada was gross but we were able to manage the space situation by ordering special meals for me and my son so our meals came before the regular meal service.  That meant when my food came, my husband was able to carry our daughter and vice versa.  It worked out much better than last time when we traveled with my 11-month old son and both our meals came at the same time but one of us was not able to eat because there was not enough space for 2 trays of food and holding the baby.

5 kids 3 parents 2 weeks

My sister, her 2 daughters, and her friend's daughter is staying with
us for 2 weeks. The kids are generally good but they each have very
different personalities. 'A' is 9 years old and is constantly testing
boundaries. She often wants to be first, be the best, and wants her
way for everything. 'P' is also 9 years old. She is legalistic and
will follow rules to a T but will also call others out when they break
rules. She will not initiate but will follow others. 'B' is 7 years
old and is the quiet one. She is observant and very pensive. She
uses her words sparingly and is slow to react.

With this combination, my sister and I have had to be hardcore
disciplinarian to A and P. Usually, it's when A pushes the boundaries
or when P displays bad attitude or when they are fighting over
something 'unfair'.

After days of constantly asking them to share, to not fight over
things, etc, I saw a few glimpses of hope:

1. When P wanted to sit in the front of the rollercoaster, A didn't
complain even though she really wanted to. Right before they got on, P
asked if A wanted to sit in the front, A said yes and P let her sit in
front.

2. When they were all given a choice of 5 flavors of hand sanitizers,
A let P choose first.

Even though they will inevitably revert back to their personalities, I
am glad to see that they have demonstrated the ability and
willingness to improve their behaviour.