Jeans and cold weather

There is about 6-7 weeks a year in India when it is cold enough to wear my jeans. Now is the time. I'm thrilled. The temp? A "cold" 80 degrees in our bedroom all day long. Nice.

Luke has started toddling and knows a few words: "Seeee thaaaaat!" and "dada"

Seriously. He also loves the word "up" (although he can't say it) and starts crawling as fast as possible towards the stairs that go up to the bedrooms...

Luke has also decided that the maximum time he wants to spend in the bathtub (a plastic washbasin that is about 18 inches in diameter) is about 15 seconds. This started three nights ago. Not sure why...but perhaps because it is cold? Sure makes bath times challenging!

Not much else new. Luke continues to shriek when excited, violently nod his head back-and-forth when happy, and make his brother laugh during prayer time before every meal. Shane continues to straighten the carpet when he sees the edge got folded over, jump off things, and sit on Lukas whenever possible. Both of them love the Christmas decorations which consist of a nativity scene, a plastic Christmas tree with a few plastic ornaments, beads, and lights, and some fake boughs (and plastic ornaments/lights) above one doorway. If they're happy, I'm happy!

Back in India

At some point, I feel that we should record the challenges of cross-cultural, cross-continental travel for our kids to appreciate at some point in the distant future. Let's just say that 22+ hours on planes with less than 2 hours sleep due to active little guys was not fun.

The good news was that clearing customs in India was quick, the swine flu screening (they have thermal imaging cameras and a masked nurse who asked some questins) was efficient, and our bags showed up undamaged.

Shane and Lukas both recovered from jet lag quickly. The noise of India (horns, shouting, etc. until about 2am) didn't seem to bother them although it is such a contrast to quiet Beaverton. Lukas is on the verge of walking and wears the same size diapers as Shane. A big boy.

It took us a while to get back in the groove: to stop invading ants and mosquitos, order more drinking water, fill up empty gas tanks, figure out why gas stove wasn't working (forgot that Indians put safety first and always turn of the gas cylinder switch), pay the street sweepers & newspaper guy & more who magically appeared at our gate within hours of our arrival, jiggle the phone line to get the connection to work, trim vines/plants which had taken over balcony, looking in several stores until we found XL diapers, and much more. Hmmm, maybe our tiredness isn't jet lag but just due to life!

But there are certainly many nice things about India: the postman who rang our bell and welcomed us back even tho' he didn't have any mail for us, the great cooking of our househelper, Shane's delighted expression at seeing his old toys, Lukas quickly crawling around the house without the friction from carpet, buying fresh potato chips from my favorite shop, riding my motorcycle, cheap tropical fruit we buy from a roadside stand, and reading our favorite Indian travel magazine.

Life here is as busy as the USA but it is the simple things that take up so much time. But the change is refreshing in many ways.

Life in the USA

Since we arrived in the USA in mid-July, we've enjoyed plenty of good food and great hospitality. But after five weeks of travel, sleeping in at least 8 locations, helping with two weddings, and multiple speaking opportunities, we're a bit tired!

Lukas hit a milestone last week when he began to crawl. Shane has conquered his dislike of swings, learned to ride a tricycle, developed a strong dislike of spider webs, went on a boat and train for the first time, and has had many other new experiences.

More later, but just wanted to document some of these things for posterity...and any faithful readers!

Shane speak

Shane does have his own unique language. About 3 months ago he started putting together small sentences and his English vocabulary is pretty big. He also knows a few Hindi words. But the thing I love his several unique terms that we never taught him. He just assigned meaning to these words...

Bubbock = Grandpa (sometimes interpreted as "grandma" too, we think)
Bolo = come! (in Hindi, this means "speak" so we think that he heard shopkeepers telling him to "come here and speak to me" and made the connection in his head)
Poof = spoon
lap = please sit
Um = food

There you have it. A little lesson in Shane speak.

Father's Day #4

Sunday was a fun day for me. We celebrated our first Father's Day in 2006 because a pastor decided all guys who were married and hoped to have a child one day should be applauded...and get the freebie they were distributing in the meeting. We didn't find out until about a week later that Libby was pregnant already.

Then 2007 was a few months after Shane's birth. And 2008 was with Shane, but Luke was "in the oven" and born a few weeks later. This year was relaxing and simple. Lots of time sitting around the house in the morning. A gift subscription to Wired. Then we headed for McDonald's.

I know. In the West, I typically avoid McDonald's. Yes, I've watched Supersize Me and know the dangers of the food as well as the marketing targeting kids. But overseas...well, it is a refuge of air conditioning, clean/fly-free surroundings, reasonably priced food (we all ate for under $10), and special people (i.e. the type who have seen foreigners so aren't tempted to pinch the cheeks of the boys).

And Shane recenty discovered ice cream cones. He's still learning how to lick them and made us laugh a lot. Unfortunately they were out of stock of the newly introduced Chicken McNuggets and, for some reason, this particular McDonald's doesn't have a milk shake machine.

The afternoon then included a needed nap, Shane exploring a backhoe that was parked down the street, washing the car (strangely relaxing), and some other home improvement stuff. It was fun and strangely memorable. I love the boys...each with their own unique personality: Shane is observant and cheerful and Luke is excitable and affectionate.

I'll try to blog here more often. Libby continues to post great blogs about culture challenges, life in India, and lots about the boys on her blog. There's plenty for both of us to write about, but little time!

Catching up

Okay, so Libby has been writing a lot about the family but posting to her blog. Check out some of these great posts and photos!

On both boys
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Tell me how the boys are different?
http://libbys-life.blogspot.com/2009/02/tell-me-how-boys-are-different.html
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
This is your wrapping-presents break
http://libbys-life.blogspot.com/2008/12/this-is-your-wrapping-presents-break.html

On Luke
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sweet Pea and his secrets
http://libbys-life.blogspot.com/2009/02/sweet-pea-and-his-secrets.html
Friday, January 23, 2009
Seamless
http://libbys-life.blogspot.com/2009/01/seamless.html

On Shane
Sunday, February 08, 2009
A special day.
http://libbys-life.blogspot.com/2009/02/special-day.html

Other family topics
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Grandparent's visit
http://libbys-life.blogspot.com/2008/12/grandparents-visit.html