Happy Halloween

Mae was so darn excited to taste her first M&Ms. How do kids do it? She's had a few bank lollipops in her 5 months with us, but M&Ms? She KNEW. And she was MAD when they were all gone. Too funny.
Halloween was fun. Ted & Sam did a great job of "Twicker Tweet" and "Fank Yew" and thankfully it was cold so we weren't out too long. Mae and Daddy held down the fort at home.

We had an awesome time today at an art class. It's amazing that these things exist these days. For a $1 per child (suggested) donation, they had TONS of stuff to do. Play-doh, painting on easels, creating a hat, creating a pendant, a stamping table, a birdseed-filled sensory table (Mae's fav) and the CUTEST little 'cupcake' table. The cupcakes were clay, I think, that you painted. Then a mixture of shaving cream and glue (?!) was the frosting. You added sprinkles and a straw (for the candle) with a gold pipe cleaner in it (for the flame.) Ingenious. A little over Sam's head, but still way cute. They have a different theme every week, so I think we'll pick and choose to keep it 'cool.'

I am getting threatened right now. "You're not my friend anymore and I'm NOT going Trick or Treating with you and I'm NOT...etc etc... Yup, you guessed it; we cut the boys off of their candy. Too fun. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Settling in...

Well, it's been 3 nights now. Last night Mae slept through, and won the Latest Sleeper contest to boot! Our sitter came at 6 and while we didn't sneak out (how can you with 2 boys hugging, kissing and saying good-bye to you?) we didn't actually get down on her level and say good bye. She was fine and only cried an hour later when K. picked her up to bring her upstairs for her bath. She went down fine and stayed down, thanks to K. religiously following our routine. She woke at 6am, which without this (%&*$) time change would have been 7, which is a record. I am thrilled and so so so relieved that she did so well with K. Whew! We are going to get back into Date Night once a month with a sigh of relief. Next month is sushi night...been planned with our friends for months and I was just hoping we would be able to go. "They" said to wait 6 months before having a sitter, and I'm glad we did. She goes to Karin on Mondays for 2 hours and Erin has graciously come over to watch them for a few hours every now and then, but this was the real deal. Dinner, bath, bottle, bed, the works...and she did it! We saw The Departed, which had a top-notch cast (but am I the only one on the planet who mix up both Leonardo & Matt? And why do I keep mixing up Jack Nicholson with Anthony Hopkins? What is wrong with me?) but was really a guy movie. So next time, I'm picking. Lovely dinner (tuna tartare and a side of garlic mashed potatoes! My idea of a perfect meal!) We even started the night off right with a cosmo (me) & martini (Paul) at Bloom. A great night and a wonderful time for the kids too. K. rocks. We spent the day the park today...it actually got HOT...and saw Isaiah & Nicky (or Mickey, as Sam calls him) so the boys were in heaven. Paul spent many hours this afternoon carving pumpkins with Ted, only to have Sam smash them while we weren't looking. Not out of malice...he seemed truly confused that they were 'boken' but WTH?! Paul was pretty mad. Our robot is the only surviver. He and 'Dopey-dopey' are gracing our doorstep this Halloween.

2 for 2

Last night was another great one. After hourly head-patting from 7pm til I went to bed, Mae snoozed silently til about 6:45am this morning. Amazing. I just can't believe it could possibly be this easy. All appendages crossed for tonight, especially with the dreaded time change tonight. Considering Sam is up at 6:15 most days, tomorrow morning promises to be an early one. And it's my day to get up..darn.

Aquaphor, oatmeal & knives

It's hard to tell, but Mae is holding a knife. Don't worry...it's fake. It looks like (according to the boys) a "Peter Pan sword" and it came in a Pirate set of a hook, sword, eyepatch and aforementioned knife. Mae thinks it is hysterical when she gets her hands on it and chortles with glee. I also love the sweater. She LOVES cats (chih-chee) and spent a good deal of time in front of the mirror today, admiring her sweater. Her face is all shiny, yes; thanks go to Heather S. for the suggestion of Auqaphor for our daughter's incredibly sensative skin. I KNOW it's dry here, but wow...it looks like sever windburn on her face...she is seldom outside, much less in a windstorm but it looks terrible. 2 days of Aquaphor and it already looks much better. Sam has a TINY raw patch by his mouth and he REFUSES to let me apply any...Mae just waits patiently while I smear it all in and then goes about her business. Cutie.

This next photo is for Karin, Erin's mom and Henry's Bestemor. She turned Mae on to oatmeal, prepared with whole milk and a dash of salt...quite different from mine, prepared with water, then liberally dosed with sugar and milk on top! She LOVES it and it's her new favorite. The egg has taken a back seat, so it's becoming lunch, in an effort to get good protein into her. It's pretty funny how coordinated she is with a spoon. Not too much ends up on the tray. In fact, I am thinking of moving her to a booster chair...she is pretty good with plates and bowls now and might be ready. Girls are just so different. Sam STILL needs a bib with any sort of spoon feeding extravaganza and Ted only learned to eat neatly from a spoon this summer (it is SO nice to go to an ice cream store and emerge with Ted looking normal, not covered from head to toe in the stuff.)

We haven't been to Chinese school in a few weeks due to random Jewish commitments, so we will head over tomorrow morning. Paul and I have a date night tomorrow night, a sort of 'prep' for a 'real' date night next month in North Boulder. We want to see how Mae handles being put to bed by Katrina and if it's possible. We plan to go to a movie and dinner...sounds dull but it's been....gosh....suffice it to say, quite a few months since we've had a true date. Should be fun!

she did it!

Last night I put Mae down at 6:15pm. I went in every hour before my bedtime to pat her head. At 6:45am this morning, she woke up. Heaven.

Tink

Ted's Capt Hook and Mae's Tinkerbell costume came today from the Disney Store. Mae's costume is a 2T and Ted's is a 4T. Ted's is HUGE, and long. Mae's...as you can see, can fit a 40+ pound almost-5 year old. What is up with that? Ah, cuteness.

damn you Betty Crocker

Don't try these. They aren't really THAT amazing (esp for 8 points per bowl) and don't even THINK you can eat only half the bowl, because you can't. Well, I can't anyway. The chocolate chip one was my downfall. Warm, gooey (forgot to follow the high altitude directions - results extraordinary), fast and comforting. Not what I need to know about going into the winter season. C'mon, iron will, where are you when I need you?

And yet another cute hairstyle. Cuter still when wet hair had dried-her hair is really thick and when it's wet it doesn't quite do it justice. I love the way the part just slices across her head. She was being very agreeable and looking down for your viewing pleasure.
Last night was terrible. She was up every hour or so. It was murder, especially after the night before. I did take her in for an ear check and she does have fluid in her ears (common post-cold) so maybe that is bugging her. Gotta hope hope hope. She wouldn't nap today either. Do they make Baby Ambien? heh.

books books books

I remember when I could zip through a fiction book in a few days and then read a few more before bookclub. Ahhh. I am reading alot now, but not fiction. When I had Ted, I read and memorized The Baby Whisperer. Excellent book for getting your baby on a loose schedule, so everyone knows what's next. Ted was a 'textbook baby' and that approach worked beautifully. I did the same with Sam, but ended up going with the techniques of Marc Weissbluth in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, which worked wonders for Sam. Thought I'd just list my 'stack' that I am working on these days:

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth
Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
Parenting from the Inside Out by Daniel Siegal & Mary Hartzell
The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Stock
Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son by Kay Ann Johnson

Lovely light reading, no? heh.

Teach them to wipe!

Last night I attended a 'Kindergarten Readiness' seminar at the preschool. I have no worries that Ted is not 'ready' for K. With 3 years of Preschool under his belt, a fascination with science and numbers, and a healthy appetite for books books books!, I know he is ready. But I wanted to get more information about the TYPE of school we are zoned for, and learn more about Horizons, the charter school I'm interested in for him. I didn't get much more info about the schools but I should be able to get a good feel by the end of December, with the Kingergarten sessions the school does for parents. At this point, I think we will open enroll him at Horizons. We probably won't get in and hopefully we will find Eldorado just fine anyway, but just in case. I did get a lot of extra info that was helpful though. Kingergarten (at Eldorado) is half day, every day. Morning session is 8:30-11 and 'afternoon' is 12-2:30. She suggested thinking about when your child works the best and requesting that session. I think Ted has way too much energy at the start of his day to ask him to focus, so I will request Afternoon (often a smaller class too). We plan to do K-care, which she said is really nice, very pre-school like, smaller, more mellow etc. Sounds really sweet and a nice way to get prepared for the day. She gave us some general things to work on this year and the funniest one was "bathroom readiness." I am one of the guilty parents who still 'does the dirty work' in that area, so I am to encourage his independence here...and do more laundry and have more baths at night! hee hee. Other things like helping him learn to zip his own zipper on his coat, snap his own snaps on his jeans, etc. will make him feel more independent and more ready for K. Fun!!!
Today at pick-up, one of his teachers, Caroline, said Ted had had a fantastic day. They were reading a story where a girl gets her feelings hurt and Ted said "That is not OK! That will hurt her feelings!" Nice that he was able to 'get that' before it actually was read in the story. Also, he got hurt on the playground and the other child apologized. They ask, "do you need anything else?" and Ted said "I need a hug and a kiss." From the other kid! Awww! Love it. Love the JCC. Love his teachers for their care and compassion. I am glad I have 2 more kids because the thought of leaving this supportive and loving environment for 'the system' is probably scarier for me than for Ted!

a good night

Well. Things were different around here last night. I put Mae down at 6:30, after a warm bath. We had a bottle and she went right to sleep. I set the time for an hour and went in and patted her head and covered her up with blankie. She opened her eyes and grumbled a bit, then turned over and went back to sleep. I set it for another hour but she was up at 55 minutes and cried, so I went in and did the same. The 3rd hour I was going to bed, in her room. That didn't work. She was up for the next hour, playing, humming and looking at me. So, after an hour, I covered her back up, patted her head and left. I didn't hear a peep til 4:50, when I went in and did the same routine. She then slept again til 6:50. For her to not have fussed from 4:50 on is amazing. And she essentially went all night without truly freaking out with the shriek of terror. I am encouraged. Tonight we will skip me being in there at all but keep the going in every hour before bed. Most different was my conscious attempt to be kind...not checked out and annoyed. I wonder if that was really it all along. We'll see.

FFFF - Pumpkins

This stands for Family FotoFun Friday Challenge from Double Happiness. This week it's pumpkins. I LOVE this picture.

Sleep Suggestions

Today I had an hour counseling session with a sleep therapist at Red Threads, the CCAI Counseling Center. Wow. As Jen (the therapist) put it: "I can tell you don't like what I'm telling you." I don't know what I thought, but I had hoped it wouldn't involve a location change. Ah well. I told myself when we got close to referral that I would do whatever I had to do to make Mae's transition smooth. If she was in foster care and co-slept, we would co-sleep (and I am not into that at all.) If she was used to a crib mate, I would set up the co-sleeper thingee attatched to our bed. I was all ready. Well. She slept in a crib by herself, so that was easy. Or so we thought. After talking with Jen, she thinks that (and this is VERY VERY common and the #1 thing Jen does with adoptive families, so we are not alone) her Amygdala is over-sensative. This is the part of the brain that provides the 'fight or flight' response. In a 'normal' baby, the parent functions as the developing hippocampus, reassuring the baby whenever he is startled. Although the ratio of 1 nanny to 4 babies was excellent, Mae probably didn't get the reassurance she needed all of the time, so her Amygdala freaks out at any threat. Waking up is scary, although most 14-month olds can scream once, look around, recognize their room, and self-soothe themselves back to sleep. A 5-month old can't though...how many 5-month olds sleep through the night? (Some, because Ted did, but not all). So. Here is our plan of attack:

• Be pro-active. She tends to wake every 1.5 hrs, so I am to go in every hour (before I go to bed myself) to pat her on the head. This might awaken her slightly, re-set her sleep pattern, and allow her to sleep through the normal waking time.
• Go in EVERY SINGLE TIME she cries. While some of her crying is not desperate, it may speed the process if I go in each time. "Every time Mommy will come" is the message we need to get across.
  
• Be calm and nurturing. Being angry or emotion-less will not help the situation. Things may improve dramatically simply by being in-tune to her emotions.
  

So there you have it. Paul and I were talking tonight and while we were on vacation she was doing pretty well...and I was in the room with her. So we are going to try me sleeping in her room on a mattress and calming her from there. We'll see how it goes. I am to call Jen back in 2 weeks to report how things are going.

*yawn* Wish us luck.

Social Security Adventure

We just returned home from a 2 hour visit to the SS Agency. I will say, wait time excluded, it was pretty pleasant. We were allowed to have food, so Mae had cheesesticks, a pear, some cookies and some cherrios while waiting, plus water of course (some places won't let you have food.) Also, when I decided to run get the FULL dossier from the car just in case, I didn't have to give up my precious NUMBER and start over (again, in some places, you leave, you forfeit your #). The only seat left was next to a family from Cambodia. A grandma, aunt, father and son. They were trying to get the boy a SS card. For the first time, Mae showed no fear and actually spent a LOT of time with the grandma. When I encouraged her to speak to Mae (might not be Mandarin, but I could tell Mae wanted her to TALK to her) she did all sorts of cute finger games with her. Mae never smiled but very seriously stood in front of her, her hands on the grandma's knees, staring intently into her face. I wonder if her nanny resembled this woman. I was happy that she wasn't afraid...usually if another older Asian woman tries to do anything to her she shrieks and turns away. Hooray for that! There was also another mother there who had adopted her 19month old son domestically. The 3 kids played together for about an hour. I had brought lots of books and they swapped them and chased each other and all in all, kept themselves amused. When it was our turn, I was relieved to find I had brought all the documents I needed. But. Because Mae is a Permanent Resident and not a citizen (yet), her Permanent Resident card has her Chinese name on it, not her American name. *sigh* So this means that when we finally get her Citizenship papers, we will need to return to change her SS ID from PR to citizen (knew that) but ALSO have to file for a name change, from Xiang Huai to Mae Moeller. *argh* Our only concern at the moment is taxes. She will have a SS# in about 2 weeks, so we think that is all we need to claim her on our taxes. Hopefully the fact that her name isn't the same won't affect anything. Here's hoping! (the pic is of her fancy hairstyle today. Sorry it's all blurry.)

I did it!

Just had to show off what I learned in hair class at Lollilocks last week! hee hee. The first 2 in front are the point...the 3rd one is just to keep her hair from falling forward and covering all that up! You make a loose ponytail and then bring the hair up through it, and pull it tight. It's like a french braid because it lies close to the head. Very neat! I'm so proud of myself. Most astonishing is that she will tolerate me doing it.

Playdate

Today Mae and I went to Lakewood for a playdate with the May/June Yahoo group. Dawn and her cutie Sun hosted- thank you! It was wonderful to see friends I haven't seen since parenting classes at CCAI. Beth was there with Shayna (pictured, with Sun in the background), Joanne with Jessica Xiao, Angela with Angelina and Megan showed up late with Lucinda. It was so nice to talk to these people that I feel like I know personally from our long year of waiting for our babies. Mae lasted til 3pm! What fun. The boys went sledding on "Rachel's Hill", had hot cocoa and then Sam took a 3-hour nap! Only for Paul! Oh well. When we got home we took Ole on a little hike. Or rather, Mae and I did the hike and Paul stayed with the boys while they played in the snow-mud and had a blast. Lots of fresh air today!

Conferences

Friday there was no school for Parent Conferences. It was a stressful day (with 4 kids, mine + Henry) but a beautiful one, spent at Sam's swim lesson, a park and Panera. Paul met up with us at the J and we waited around for Ted's conference. He had so many problems at the beginning that we were thrilled and relieved to hear so many good things he is doing. Apparently he still gets into 'scuffles' with the other boys, but is always willing to talk about it and find a solution. On Wednesday, he somehow hurt his friend Jack's feelings and Jack was very sad. Ted had said he was sorry but Jack was still sad. "What else can you do to help Jack feel better?" his teacher asked. Ted thought about it for a minute and then said brightly, "I brought cupcakes for snack!" Jack grinned broadly and the two went off to peek at the see-through Tupperware. I'm so glad he is taking the time to follow through when he is in the wrong. At home I can barely get a gruff "Sorry! Geez!" out of him. They also commented on his sense of humor, which apparently goes over the other kids' heads, but cracks the teachers up. Hmm...glad they enjoy it! And he is a science lover, so they encouraged me to put him in some after-school science classes at CU for little kids. None work with his schedule this semester, but maybe in January. Science! Must be from Paul's side! (hence the pic) They said he is very very interested in how things work and why. They also said, which was VERY interesting, that he enjoys all the traditional trappings of preschool-loves loves loves storytime for example. They reiterated what I knew from last year, that he needs and craves constant routine. They're encouraging him to wear his weighted down backpack (that he creates daily from stuff at school) but he has to unpack it at clean-up time, which he will do willingly. They also will let him chew gum at school if he is really having a hard time, so I will bring some in if they want him to have it.

As for Sam, all is well. He loves art, he loves music, he loves to be outside, he loves Jason and Kylie. He's happy and thriving. I'm so glad we kept him in Caterpillars this year. He is such a hoot. Not as much to say about Sam, because he is doing so well. They gave us some great pictures of him playing that I'll scan and get up soon. Sweetie!

*yawn*

Mornings are predictable around here. Sam is our personal alarm clock. Without fail, we hear the click-click of his door at 6:30am on the nose. Mae, who squeaks off and on from about 5am, usually hears him and is up for good by 6:45 (unless I've done my sneaky bottle trick at 6am). Ted drags himself downstairs around 7:30. One morning this week, after Ted had settled himself in with his little brother and sister, he called me to come see. Mae was throwing her head into his lap, resting there for a while, and then doing it again. Very cute. They all look like they could use a few more Zzzs though!

La Pie, Effet de Neige by Claude Monet

Whew!! This week's photo challenge from Double Happiness was a challenge for me, for sure!! I am not at all good with computers and art together. I can barely resize an image correctly. But I have always loved Monet (thanks Mom!) and the title of the challenge- Reinterpretation of Classic Art- had me googling away, trying to find something that I could doctor. And then..it snowed! Hooray! I love this painting, called La Pie, Effet de Neige, because it's always reminded me of my grandmother's backyard right near the alley. There were trees and a hedge that marked her property from the neighbors and we'd play in that underbrush for hours. There was also a short wooden fence separating her property from Ginny's next door (easy to climb over to collect walnuts!). For whatever reason, La Pie does it for me. And then I got a great shot of Mae's first reaction to snow. You can't really tell since I had to resize her to look far away to fit in, but I've put all 3 here so you can see. The Monet original, the Mae original, and the two together. The title means "The Magpie, the Snow Effect" which I take to mean, look at the sharp contrast between the black magpie and the white snow. And now, the added bright red coat. You can click on any of the images and see them larger.

First Snow

It's official

Woo hoo! We have a walker!

And for those of you who don't know my family personally, the chaos that surrounds this video is, actually, pretty normal for 6pm. I didn't realize how NOISY my house was until I watched the video. Note that Mae and I don't even notice...oh, and the boys are PSYCHED that she is walking. Sam in particular is "so pwowd oh you, Mae." Aw.

Fall

A beautiful fall day at the pumpkin patch. More pics on moeltini.

Bye bye naps

Well, it's here. We knew it would happen and it has. Sam doesn't nap anymore. He will snooze in the car but not in his room. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

Anticipation

One of my very favorite blogs - Double Happiness - is having a photo theme of the week. I've posted this pic before, but I just LOVE the anticipation of the tickle (you can see my finger in the lower left-hand corner...I haven't even gotten close yet but she is ready!) Love it! Fun stuff.

puh-sighted

Sam: "I's so puh-sighted, Mommy, for have my tamp-o-ween!"
Anyone care to guess? :-)

Life calms down

Wow. I am too old for 5 parties in one weekend. Whew! Monday was a relief. The boys had school (we have so many days off for Jewish holidays that we are able to keep some of the regular school days the public schools have off) and then enrichment. Mae went to Tumbling and then on to Bestemor's with Henry, where she did great and was very busy. Usually Karin said she would just sit in her little stuffed chair, clutching her blankie and watching Henry. This week she was all over the place. They are really getting to be buddies. In lieu of their budding friendship, click HERE to peek at what Henry is getting for his birthday from Mae (his bday is on Xmas, poor kiddo, but since we don't do Xmas anyway, I figure he will always get bday presents from us!). MANY MANY thanks to Karen of Gwenblog for sending Gwen's unwanted Elmo Henry's way. I can't wait to see his face when Elmo goes crazy! Love it!

In other news, we haven't had a decent night's sleep in 3 nights now. Mae is napping like a champ but is up from about 11:30 til about 3am, screaming her head off. Holding her helps. No bottles, thanks. Not too cold, thanks to the long underwear under the jammies. I took her in this morning just to make sure her ears were still OK and they were. We surmised the Augmentin might be hurting her stomach (it does that) and since she wasn't eating, it would hurt it even MORE on an empty stomach. We'll see how tonight goes. Lordy.

And here is another tidbit you won't hear me telling our pediatrician. It's funny. I was VERY sure to wean Ted from any 'bad influence' about a week before a pediatrician visit. No more bottle at 15 months? You can bet he had his last bottle a week prior to his appointment. No more pacifier after age 2? Good thing he bit through it and only held it in his hand (for 6 more months) a few days before his 2nd birthday. With Sam I was more relaxed but also had less to deal with (no bottles and no binky anyway-can't remember what all else you stress about with a baby.) Well. Miss Mae would prefer to start her day around 5:30am and then nap from about 8-10. This morning nap is a drag and usually disappears before 18months anyway. Sooo...I thought I'd try and help it along. I have to say, it's working for us. Every morning between 5:30-6am, I hear her wake up with the "Rescue me NOW or I will scream the house down" cry and I race to the kitchen, micro the 8oz whole milk bottle, and dash back upstairs to her room. I settle her back into the middle of the crib, cover her up with blankie, and...hand her the bottle. And I leave!! Back to bed. She has slept in til 9am this way. Bye bye morning nap, hello 3 hour afternoon nap. Heaven. Now, if we could just get our nights together, I would be close to experiencing the (unknown at the time) bliss I was lucky enough to score with both boys. Excellent nappers, those boys. Sam is actually trying to cut his nap out these days. Sad, but normal. Ted dropped his nap about 3.5 and Sam is just 3...so I bet it will be gone altogether next semester. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted. In the meantime, anyone know how much a night nurse costs? Ah well. Snuggling at 3am has it merits too, I suppose.

Beige Couch Photo

Tonight we got together with Caitlan and Angelina's families. It is just simply amazing to see them change month to month. Little Angelina is, of course, the most changed. Her little chubby face and belly laugh are just a delight to see. She is going to be a big sister soon to a little brother from Vietnam! Caitlan is walking now too and she is so proud of herself. What a fun night.

Double duty

Last night was a blast. We are exhausted.

Harvest Festivals Everywhere-Part 1

Friday, October 6 is an action-packed evening this year. We are going to celebrate both erev Sukkot (the Jewish Harvest Festival) and the Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Here is some info on Sukkot. Info on the Chinese Moon Festival will follow in another post. Let's hope I remember the camera-it will be a fun week.

With the final blowing of the Shofar, the Jewish High Holy Days draw to a close and the focus of the Jewish community shifts from the solemnness of Yom Kippur to the jubilant celebration of the festival of Sukkot. Sukkot begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which is 5 days after Yom Kippur.

The festival of Sukkot, also known as Chag'ha Succot, the "Feast of Booths" (or Tabernacles), is named for the huts (sukkah) that Moses and the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land. These huts were made of branches and were easy to assemble, take apart, and carry as the Israelites wandered through the desert.

The focal point of the festival is the sukkah. Sukkot is the plural form of sukkah, which means "covering" or "shelter". Those who observe Sukkot build and live in a sukkah for seven days. These huts are constructed as temporary shelters and the roof is covered with foliage which is spaced to let the light in. Inside the hut are hung fruits and vegetables, including apples, grapes, corn, and pomegranates. The families eat their meals in the huts under the evening sky. Though most people limit their activities in the sukkah to eating; some, depending on climate and location, sleep in the sukkah as well.

Another important part of the Sukkot observation is hospitality. It is important to share your meals with others. In fact this sharing is so important that the holiday is also know as Chag Ha'asif, Festival of the Ingathering.

The ninth day of Sukkot is know as Simchat Torah. Throughout the year, a portion of the Torah is read every week. On Simchat Torah the final passages from Deuteronomy are read. The reading of the Torah is concluded and is started again.

Harvest Festivals Everywhere-Part 2

Mooncake Festival Article

By Pat Tanumihardja
For the Northwest Asian Weekly

An archer, a beautiful maiden, an emperor and a rabbit — these are the perfect elements for a fairy tale … or the legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival.

Although there are many versions to the legend behind the festival, this is the one I grew up with, and the most romantic of all.

A long, long time ago, 10 suns burned fiercely in the sky. Severe drought and heat plagued the earth. People were dying of hunger and thirst.

A divine archer called Hou Yi came down to earth and saved the people by shooting down nine of the 10 suns. While on earth, he fell in love with a beautiful maiden by the name of Chang Er. Their happiness, however, didn’t last long. It turned out that the suns were the Jade Emperor’s (the Emperor of the Heavens’) sons. The angry emperor banished the couple from earth.

The goddess Xi Wang Mu took pity on them and gave Hou Yi the pill of immortality. Chang Er stole the pill for herself and swallowed it. Then she rose to the moon and became the immortal moon goddess, unable to return to mankind.

Hou Yi loved Chang Er so much he overcame his anger and built her a magnificent Moon Palace out of fragrant cassia wood to shelter her from the cold. Touched, Chang Er asked the Xi Wang Mu to make her husband immortal as well. The goddess agreed, but with one caveat: She kept them separated. Chang Er now rules over the lunar kingdom, while Hou Yi rules over the solar kingdom, and they can meet only once a year, on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. This year, it falls on Oct. 6.

On this night, when the moon is at its brightest and loveliest, families will gather in appreciation of the moon. They will eat mooncakes and pomelos and pray for a safe and prosperous year.

The mooncake, a dense pastry traditionally filled with lotus or red bean paste, sugar and salted egg yolk, has become a symbol of this festival. To commemorate the legend, an image of the goddess Chang Er floating to the moon is often imprinted on mooncake boxes.

It is also believed that Hou Yi summoned a rabbit to be his wife’s companion for those lonely days at the cold moon palace. So the next time you see a full moon, look carefully. You just might see the shape of the rabbit’s ears.

she knows her brothers

Today while waiting our turn in the doctor's office, Mae and I were looking through the little photo album I carry around. When we got to this picture, she pointed to it and said, clear as day, "Bru-duh." "That's right; those are your brothers!" I tried not to squeal too loudly. "Who's this?" I asked, pointing at Ted. "Teh," she said. "And who's this?" Here she looked at me very seriously, as if she was hoping she could somehow read the right answer in my face. Then she said verrrry slowly, "Ssssss." Too. Sweet.

Her ear infection is on the mend. If she gets another one before the end of the year, she will be screened for tubes. Let's hope we can avoid them, but WOW what a difference a day makes when on antibiotics.

Peter Pan

Erin is the winner! We are doing a Peter Pan theme. Ted is going to be Captain Hook, Sam will be the crocodile and Mae will be Tinkerbell. I think that the mystery guess of the 3 Cheeses also wins as the most hysterical. Erin and Henry, your original "MaePrint" will arrive soon. Congratulations and thanks for playing!

Can you guess?

Here's a contest. The winner...umm...will get something cool. Really. I promise. Hmm. Anyway! I always try to 'theme' my kids for Halloween just for fun. Based on Sam's costume, can you guess our theme, and who each child will be? Post in the comments! Good luck!

**just thought of a fun prize that Ruby's mom (her blog is currently unavailable or I'd link it) did. The winner will receive an original piece of Mae Art. Priceless! :-)

"Nana"

Whoa Daddy...here come the words! Mae's newest word is "nana" as in the yellow bendy thing. She gets so excited and says it over and over while giggling. She's eaten a heck of a lot of bananas in the last 2 days (which doesn't explain why her antibiotic "results" are still icky...sorry, TMI). But that leads me to another funny situation that has started happening. Mae has been taking 2hr afternoon naps the past few days, as she slowly shortens her morning nap. For the last 3 days, she awakens from her nap bone-dry (and we use cloth, so I'd know if it was wet!) So I've sat her on the little Bjorn potty in the bathroom and just hung out for a while. Sure enough, she goes. A LOT. Hmmm. This afternoon she was trying to sit herself on the little potty downstairs, so I took her diaper (again, bone dry) off and voila! She doesn't really seem to know what she's doing (as in, she doesn't clap or smile or anything...she's very matter-o-fact about it!) but it cracks me up. My boys trained fairly early (for boys) but this is hysterical. Don't you have to walk to be potty trained? hee! I'm not going to get too excited about it because it's probably just a fluke, but I didn't bother putting a diaper cover on for the rest of the afternoon (so I could feel if she was wet) and she held it again til bathtime. FUNNY! Girls are so smart.

Ahhh...

Yesterday Paul took Mae to Tumbling while the boys and I went to Yom Kippur services. When we got home he said she had been very withdrawn and whimpery. The last 3 nights had been bad too with very little sleep and lots of crying. So I called our doc and got her in at 4:30. Yup. Another ear infection. We go in for the re-check on Thursday and we'll talk about tubes. My friend Jen's son has tubes and she says it's great: out-patient procedure and since they don't get so many ear infections, they aren't on antibiotics all the time. Winter hasn't even started yet-oy veh!

Last night was still bad in spite of antibiotics and Tylenol. She was up and that woke Sam up...ugh. Ted had a swim lesson this morning and what got me through the night (about 3 hours sleep, I'd guess) was the promise of Ink! coffee at the lesson this morning. YUM. Almost makes me cheerful. Is it Friday yet? *yawn*