Mama had time to have a Taiwanese breakfast with a cousin. It was a once in a while treat! And after a little bit of down time, Baba and I went to help our friends pack and haul some stuff to their new place. Even though I was pretty tired at the end of the day, I'm happy I could connect and help. Time well spent. 

"Squirrels, tires, bones, and skin"

NJ showing me his colorful bus.

Haircut from Baba. NJ doesn't like the buzz, he did better with just the scissors. It took a little longer, but we got through it! 

This is the shortest his hair has been since we first got him. Baba wanted to test out the Nash cut. I suggested it as a joke last time, but this time he gave it a try. 

Someone else also got a haircut, Baba buzzed his own head too. 

At bedtime we went through his devotional book as usual. One of the questions was What else did God make? (Besides the sun, moon, and stars?) He says, "Squirrels, tires, bones, and skin." So random, what's going on in that little mind of his? 

"I'll share my toys with the baby"

Ready for school after some fruit and yogurt.

An after school treat together. 

Last minute dinner with family, Baba's cousin vacationing for the weekend from up north. 

"It's like a balling alley. I made the pins and have the ball."

While I made dinner, NJ played. I was proud of his creativity, he put his blocks together to make pins and used his ball to knock them down. He called it his balling alley. I think he really liked bowling at the party!

Baba and NJ were having lots of fun hugging, kissing, making faces, and making each other's faces. I loved NJ's uncontrollable giggles. These boys love being silly. 

"What were you thinking?"

After picking him up from school, we went by the store for a few things. Plus I needed to make a return. Yay, money back! NJ was helpful as always and held the basket for me. I eventually took it from him though when it got heavier. His teacher said that he was especially a really great help today, he wanted to help with everything. I'm so proud! 

Earlier in the day I made some whole wheat pizza dough and we made some chicken and veggie pizza for dinner. I got a little bit of a workout too with trying to roll the dough flat enough. I still would have liked it thinner, but that's where I need Baba's help. 

My boy getting dressed for bed. When I see him like this it reminds me of when he was a little baby.

On our way home today he asks me, "What were you thinking?" I've never heard this one before! But it reminds me of the fact that now that he is processing everything, thinking and asking about everything, I feel like I'm constantly having to explain myself. For things that most of us don't give another thought to... Why did you turn right and not left? Why didn't you let me open it? What's that for? Why were you talking to that person? Where are they going? Why do you have to do that? How do you do that? It gets exhausting (and sometimes frustrating) but I have to remind myself that this is how he's learning and it's good that he's asking. I wish I had better answers sometimes. 

"Are we ready to check up?"

NJ was one happy and hungry boy this morning! He ate two or three bowls of cereal, a bowl of watermelon, and toast while also drinking more milk. He'd ask me, "Can I please have more cereal?" When I answered yes he says, "I love you, Mama." Sometimes I think his love for food is greater, but I will take the love he gives. So sweet. He was very intent on getting what he wanted too. He told me, "That one's mine ok? (the toast) Can you cut it? Straight, like you always do. Ok?" Baba says he's just like me because I like things a particular way. 

NJ- "There's a ant by her foot and she's not killing it!"

I told him that she probably doesn't see it, he can't expect her to. She kills most bugs though, she likes the chase and pounces on them.

Trip to the grocery store. So glad it was a short one because this guy gets so restless and impatient now. What happened to being able to take my time? Not anymore. When we were headed to the front NJ says, "Are we ready to check up?" You mean check out? 

NJ was being so helpful with bringing in groceries. 

After being in the kitchen most of the day, I wanted to rest for a bit. We just had lunch and I was heading to my room. NJ says, "Where you going? But you can nap here. I want you out here." It was the sweetest thing, he made a little bed for me with a pillow and one of his blankets. And when he saw that I was walking over he lifted the top end of the blanket for me to get under. How could I resist? I said, "Oh, thank you! You did this for me? You really know how to take care of Mama." He took his time to cover me up and got another one of his blankets to also cover my feet. It was so hot I really didn't want a blanket, but it was so caring of him. That's what he's learned from us, I'm always worried about his feet getting cold at night. He even brought me the remote and said, "So if I want to watch something... if you want to watch something..." My heart melted. Of coarse I did not rest much because he sat in his little chair and stared at me. And he started to play which got louder and louder. He must've thought I had laid down long enough by then. 

Later we jumped in the pool with guh-guh and baby to cool off on this hot afternoon. The water was so cold, but refreshing. The boys had so much fun. We love having them over! 

Taiwanese Cultural Festival

Ah-gong was at one of the booths so we got to see him there. He let Nathan pick out a puppet, a traditional Taiwanese one. I like how both of them are wearing sunglasses and smiling, they were happy to see each other. My dad also gave us some tickets for food so we didn't even have to buy any. There were all kinds of goodies, Taiwanese meatball, Taiwanese tamale, fried chicken, stinky tofu, shaved ice, pineapple cake... I could smell the stinky tofu the moment we got out of our car! And one of our friend's daughter kept saying how it smelled really bad. I guess I'm used to it. 

I broke out the bubbles and the kids had their fun for a while. They blew bubbles on each other (and us!), popped each other's bubbles, chased them, laughed, and spilled the liquid all over until it was gone. They were so cute while they were at it, though! 

This character was walking around and somehow we got most of the kids to pose for a photo with it. They were kind of freaked out, so was I and I'm not a tiny little toddler! But they were ok, we just said that it's a man in a costume. I have no idea what the story is on this, I gotta ask my dad to fill me in. 

We were especially excited to meet with other adoptive families (all from thogl in taiwan). I was hoping to see more, but I'm glad that we could connect and let our kids play together. They seemed to really have fun. Wish we could see them more often, but we're spread out all over the place.