The Ergo Is Your Friend

Okay, I have to tell you that next to the stacking cups, the Ergo is the best thing we have ever purchased! LOVE it! It's 100 times more comfortable than just carrying her and she loved it. It helps you bond even more because they are so close to you. She was so content that she happily snuggled next to Mommy on the ferry, the skytrain, through the mall, and through the streets of BKK. She was in awe of the boat and had giggle fits when the wind blew her hair. She didn't mind the skytrain (it is sooo nice & air conditioned), but was a bit scared, I think, on the way back because it was a lot busier. Will only do the skytrain in the morning next time. But when we were walking around, she even took a nap in the Ergo and let me tell you if you can sleep through Bkk traffic, you can sleep through anything!

Yesterday we stuck to the schedule exactly and just hung around the hotel. Today we walked a great deal and I have to say that I no longer need to concern myself with diet and exercise! I rarely eat my whole meal cause I am concerned about feeding her. I am too tired for a glass of wine, and there is no late night snacking because there are no late nights! Not to mention I must have sweat of a good 5 lbs off hauling her around the last week! Still, the Ergo made it so easy. It's a MUST BUY for any parent. I can't say this enough!

While Miss Ruby was an absolute angel most of the day, we had our moments. I wanted to get her shoes to go with her dress for the board meeting. We tried to go to the Embassy but they were closing for lunch when we got there so we had 2 hours to kill. We headed over to Central Dept. Store (Chitlom) which is a short 10 minute walk. She was on serious overload in the children's shoe department. (Ha ha - so was I! They were all so cute!) The girl loves shoes and clung on to a pair of Miss Kitty hot pink patent leather looking shoes with rhinestones on them and wouldn't let go. Luckily, that is the color I was looking for so after prying them out of her tiny little hands and bribing her with a Mum-mum cracker we paid for them and got out of there. Poor Jeff. He just shook his head and looked a bit stunned -like, oh my, there are two of them! LOL. 

Had lunch on the 7th floor of Central. It's called the Loft and is great place for lunch. Reasonable and lots of variety. I used to go there a lot when I worked at Plaza Athenee around the corner. (We stopped by the hotel also for a cool drink and to say hi to the mgr there) Anyway, for lunch I got a Vietnamese soup that I just love with poached snapper and fish balls in it and a side of steamed rice and shared with Ruby. It was the first time I gave her fish and she liked it. So far, she eats mainly boiled rice or rice congee for breakfast and fruit or fruit juice. I caved and gave her a little muffin and she smiled pretty big at that one! Likes Orange, Mango, Carrot, and Guava juices. Not a fan of coconut juice. Her face was hilarious, like what the heck is this? Not a big fan of apple juice either. For lunches and dinners it is chicken fried rice or noodles or soup with rice and veggies. She tries nearly every thing and pointed to my salad the other day so I gave her some. The girl likes arugula! Seriously. I cut more up in little bits and put in her rice bowl and she sat there picking them out by hand to eat them. Unbelievable! I will often get steamed broccoli and carrots or other veggies on the side and chop them small and mix in with her food and she will pick them out and eat too. The only things she wouldn't eat so far were the chicken fingers we tried down at the pool (I had to pick the fried part off for her) and hot dogs. This pleases me to know end cause anyone that knows me well, knows I think hot dogs are vile! Yucky meat by-product and intestinal stuff. Eew! Well, anyway, in an attempt to break her in to what she thinks of as American food, Anna prepared a few mini hot dogs and had it on the plate with her rice dish one night. Jeff saw them first and just looked at me. Oh no. What to do? I couldn't insult Anna. So Jeff sees Anna turn around and quickly snatches one and eats it. Good work, hubby! A few minutes later he steals another. There is one left. Oh, gosh, I think. Am I really gonna do this? Okay, it's not gonna kill her, I think. Let's let her try a tiny bite. Low and behold, for the first time she refused to open her mouth. She shook her head no and that was that! Ha! (Woody, I swear I am not making this up!) The kid likes healthy food and momma is in heaven! Not sure it will last forever, but we are off to a good start! 

Now back to yesterday. It was interesting to me that no one at the US Embassy is actually American. They are all Thai. Very, very nice and helpful though. We found out we couldn't make an appt. until after we went to the USCIS on Wed, but at least now we know where to go and who to see. After a sweaty day, only a half hour nap in the Ergo, and a lot of running, I was amazed at how sweet and happy Ruby was. She had even let me feed her instead of clutching her spoon defiantly. It was a really good day so it was only naturally that something had to give. (Yea, I know, I need to refer to my list from the other day about napping!) We planned on coming right back so we would make nap time, but when the Embassy told us to come back 2 hours later there was not much we could do. They seem to close and open when the feel like it. We were told to come back between 1-3 and when we got there at 2 they said, oh, sorry, it's closed! After a few minutes of calling back to their supervisors, they let us go in. Now we know to get there much earlier next time and how to handle it all.

When we  got back to the hotel we  decided a dip in the pool would be welcome. In hindsight, another nap might have been a better idea. She loved it and we had a blast, but when it came time to leave she through the worst hissy fit we have seen yet. Full throttle tears and crying that lasted all the way from the pool, through the hotel, back to the room and while changing her. Usually just my holding her or drink of water or a mum mum will stop the crying in 5 minutes or less (although she did seem to have a nightmare the other night with crying that lasted a bit longer) but this one was a serious tantrum. I let her cry it out and by the time I was putting on her pj's to chill in the room, she was fine. Daddy followed a few minutes later with all the gear left at the pool and got her to smile. Whew! The diva toddler went bye-bye and the angel came back to reside for the rest of the night. We all went to bed early and Jeff and Ruby are still sleeping as I type. I like to tip toe over to the computer before either of them get up and re-connect with everyone. Who knew I'd be a morning gal?