Oh For A Break!

Almost everyday, after a morning of preparing ingredients for lunch and dinner, seeing Ethan to nursery (usually by Jianming but occasionally by me if I need to buy grocery), bringing Jethro to playgroups, fetching Ethan back from nursery on my way back, cooking and feeding everyone, I will sit on the floor against the couch and attempt to read a story book. I don't sit on the chair itself because if Jethro wants me to hold him, he'll be able to touch the things on the chest of drawers next to it. He is less inclined to ask me to hold him when I am on the floor.
Invariably the 'reading' is interrupted in short intervals by:
1. Jethro screaming next door (either he can't get something out from under the bed or he hurts himself or Ethan has done something in retaliation to Jethro's doing something)
2. Jethro in the kitchen for more than 30 secs (then I have to go and see if he's touched the untouchables such as some eerie nooks and crannies or worse, worse and a thousand times worse, the rubbish bin)
3. Ethan screaming next door (usually because of what Jethro has just done to his toys, to his drawings etc...)
4. Jethro going into the toilet instead of next door (we usually close the toilet door so he won't be tempted to go in - closing the toilet door can't stop him if he really wants to - but sometimes we forget)
5. changing nappies
6. everything being too quiet and peaceful for more than 5 mins
7. administering to a myriad of various small things
I am this 'relaxed' because I am waiting for Jethro to feel tired and go (cry) to sleep. If this doesn't happen, a bottle of milk when the time comes and he has to! Sometimes after playgroups, he falls asleep for that half an hour on the way back and I can expect him not to feel sleepy till evening, in which case I have to prevent him from falling asleep in an agitated state on my part ("No, Jethro, don't sleeeeeep!").
I rely on Ethan alot really. To keep Jethro happy mainly (unconsciously on his part by just doing what he does every day, every minute, every second), to sometimes help me shepherd him from the kitchen or toilet, to sometimes shout out warnings of what mischief the bugger is up to when out of my line of sight.
Of course, Ethan is not helpful when I am trying to get Jethro to go to sleep or when they are fighting over the same toy or when he's whining for something himself, but one can't always have one's cake and eat it, can one?

Photos at the playground taken by my sis. After a short while, there was a huge downpour which sent us scuttling back. What's worse was that we did not bring along the rain cover for the buggy due to the sunny weather earlier.


A walk in Princes' Street Gardens after seeing my sis off at the train station.


Jethro being too helpful:
Daddy says: "No, Jethro, I don't want to wash them. Give them to your brother." x times.

Wiping his toys. We've got to find a cleaner cloth for him.


Activities at the museum:
Soap carving. Jianming's was very deeply carved and detailed, but he didn't have time to finish. Mine was sort of completed but not well-defined enough and way out of my original design. Ethan's well... more like etching really. It was meant to be a car.

Drawing your face in a spaceman helmet in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first man on the moon.

Just walking around. The museum is Ethan's favourite destination.


Ethan the hippie pirate. I have a video of him singing a song about Jesus (inspired by VeggieTales) which suddenly, unaccountably, changes into a song about pirates but I am just not good at putting up videos.

Ethan the monster


Autumn trees and a walk (to Farmer's Market on a Saturday morning)

The Flodden Wall, an ancient relic. Life in Edinburgh in olden times is rather well documented and seeing these remains of the ancient past seems to make one feel closer to the lives of people long dead.


'Babysitter' Ethan




Old MacDonald had a farm... Old MacDonald had a zoo...


The fascination with hats:


Waiting for his share


Fun with Joshua and his toys




An afternoon out with Ethan (Jethro napping and Jianming typing):

(he thinks that by covering my eyes with his hands I won't be able to take his picture...)