Chinese New Year

So this year Chinese New Year landed on Valentines day...and out of the two celebrations I think the Chinese New Year won! It is the year of the Tiger and apparently Australia celebrates Chinese New Year more than any other country outside of Asia. On New Years Eve we went down to Darling harbor and went through the Chinese Tea Gardens. They were magnificent and so peaceful even though they were positioned in the middle of the city, the trees really made you feel secluded.

I learned a lot about Chinese new year. For instance, it is a time to visit family and call relatives. The new year has to do with the lunar calendar so it landed on Feb 14th because that is the day of the new moon. The celebration lasts for a while (2 weeks?) until the moon has gone down some. On New Years Day the children will get dressed, eat and then come and bow before their parents. Their parents will give them advice for the upcoming year and then give them a "red envelope" this has money in it. Olivia has a bunch of friends who actively celebrate this and follow these traditions and she told me (New Years Eve) while I was washing the dishes how excited she was for her red envelope...I looked through my house and realized I only had white ones! Stan said he would still give her some advice if she wanted :-) Next week we are watching the dragon boat races and going to the Chinese twilight parade...and will see all the fireworks set off, it should be cool! Plus my neighbor is taking me into China town to eat Yum-cha (I don't have a clue how to spell it, but that is what it sounds like).

It was so easy to forget that it was also Valentines day. The schools do not do any activities for Valentines day and the stores don't really hype it up. Stan still pulled out all the tricks by ordering me flowers and chocolates! Thanks Stan!

Little Olivia

So in case you didn't know Olivia has not been doing too well as of late. Quickly I will rewind her medical history to bring you up to date. Olivia was a pretty normal sized (7.6lbs), healthy kid when she was born. During her 12 mo check up she had a sudden drop in her growth (usually you have a positive curvilinear growth pattern) and she suddenly took a negative linear pattern...not even a small curve. Her pediatrician thought it was so weird he had her have a bone x-ray to see if she would be able to grow normally. The tests came out fine but three months after that, she had her first urinary tract infection. This was routinely investigated by a VCUG which showed she had reflux in both of her urethra's (her urine goes back up to her kidneys instead of down to her bladder), but there was no scaring on her organs so the doctors wanted to wait to see if she could grow out of it. By the time she was three she was having lots of UTI's and her reflux grade had moved from moderate to severe; not to mention she was on the strongest and most expensive (I might add) preventative medicine available, which she was taking on a daily basis.

Olivia with a UTI on her three year old birthday. Day one (grumpy face) and day two doing her (an attempted smile) IV treatment.

When she was 4 we moved to England, they took one look at her and scheduled her for an operation. It was the best medical experience I have ever had. The hospital was absolutely beautiful, the doctors were great and they gave her something (for free) that our US insurance companies had been dodging for a while, hoping she would grow out of it! At the end of the operation she no longer needed the medicine and she had no more reflux. However, she did have scarring on her left kidney due to the multiple infections while in America and the first part of England. We were Ok with this because you really only need ONE kidney and the right one was still scar free!

Everyone told me scary stories about the British medical system...I would have to say I disagree!

Only a little scaring on the left side!Right after her sting operation (almost two years later from pictures up above)

Anyway, one year later we moved to Australia and Olivia started to get infections again. We had to wait a while to get an appointment, but we were able to get hooked up with the top pediatric urologist at a private hospital in Bondi to check out the problem post operation. He ran some tests and we did some scans and found out that her right kidney is now damaged as well. Today I went in and we decided that she needs to be back on preventative medicine so she doesn't further damage her kidneys AND he is suggesting we do a re-implantation operation (where you cut off the urethra's and re-attach them to the kidneys so they drain the urine instead of shoot it back up). We are going into the hospital in one week for another consultation/ evaluation and then should be doing the pre-operation tests in two-three weeks. For this, Olivia will be under anesthetics and they will be taking a camera up her bladder, through her urethra's and into her kidneys. They will also be doing a VCUG to see if her reflux has come back.

On a side note, since all this started to happen, Olivia has not been able to gain weight. Mary is two years younger and is the same height and weighs more that Olivia does. Olivia is well below the national growth charts (weighing in at 35 lbs at 6 years old) and the ice cream, hot dogs, and protein shakes "diet" just don't seem to work. We are also working with another pediatric gastroenterologist to see if she is not absorbing her food, but that is a side hypothesis. I talked to the Doctor about Olivia's growth and he told me after we correct the reflux she should start growing again! He said he has seen small child after small child time and time again and they always start growing once the problem is corrected--so here is hoping... we should have everything done before May-keep you posted!

Brunette

So there are some funny things that happen in Australia when it comes to me and hairdressers. I don't know if it is my accent or what but I can NEvER convey what it is that I want done...in fact it is usually the opposite. For instance, I am a blond and have been my whole life but I still get highlights done to bring out the light blond I lost during childhood. My hair is a honey blond NOT barbie blond and whenever I get highlights done I say "DO NOT MAKE ME A BARBIE DOLL" and the Asian ladies nod, smile and make me a Barbie doll (see picture below).

Ok, see the roots, honey blond in this pix...that is all I want...not too hard right?

After about 6 times wrong, I said "I want to go DARKER!" I want my hair the color of my roots (not lighter) because I don't want to have to do this all the time. I say this and no one listens to me. However this time my hairdresser was Italian (not Asian) and she said--yes, yes, dark hair is very beautiful! I am thinking, good--she understands. So, 45 minutes later I am dark dark Brunette/dark red...a little too red...almost purple red. I didn't like it but it was explained to me later that the only way to get it OUT was to use bleach on my hair to get the color out (and who knows what color my hair would be then) and then dye it on top. I opted to NOT bleach the hair but instead to experiment on a few strands to see what would happen. The result was light brown highlights to try to break up the red and I have decided it is fine...a change from blond. Stan likes it and informed me that he dated more brunettes than blonds anyway...really? Well then , the only real problem will be in three months when it grows out :-)

Note: since going brunette, my hair has lightened up a lot and I like it, the red has even faded quite a bit. I wish I had pix to show you the improvement but this is it 1 month later!

First day of school!

So in Australia you start school the week after Australia day. School runs from the end of January until the middle of December. The year is broken up into 4 terms and we get two weeks off in between each term. I did the math and figured out my kids are missing out on about 4- 6 weeks of summer vacation that they otherwise would have had in the USA...and I wasn't counting any snow days.

Olivia is in Year 1 and has Miss Wong who she calls miss Swan. All the girls call her this because (1) it rhymes and (2) because she thinks her teacher is graceful and beautiful like a swan. She is a new teacher, young and really enthusiastic and happy. Olivia has to wear uniforms to school and her school also has a no hat no play rule. Once she forgot her hat and she came home and told me that they said "no hat, no play, you can't have any fun today"... I was thinking, what kind of a rhyme is that? But, it is true, the kids have to stay inside if they don't have a hat.

Mary is in preschool this year (just the one year before kindy). She has two teachers a girl and a boy and she is in heaven. They have a big yard to play in, a sand pit, obstical courses, singing time, painting, play dough, toys and nap time. It is M-W from 9:00-3:00 and Mary is pretty tired at the end of they day. I packed Olivia and Mary's lunches identical and Olivia came home with left overs and Mary asked me for more food in her lunch box at the end of the day.

Thomas is my 18 mo baby who stays at home with me. It is so fun having one baby at home with me while the older kids are at school. I can get all sorts of errands done and KEEP the house clean (at least while he naps) and have time to work-out and even take naps. Thomas is a crazy baby. He can swim with a little foam pad strapped to his back....Serious goes the length of the pool and back. He walks up the stairs without holding onto anything and when he does the stairs he goes a whole step each time without bringing his feet together on the same step. He is so tiny it looks really funny. He still doesn't talk much with the exception of BUG!...which he yells all the time, and Ball and Baba. I know he has it in him though because I have heard Popsicle, dinosaur, and bubble bath...but growling seems to work so much better for all three. Serious, boys are so different from girls it is hilarious!

Australia Day!

Australia day is Jan 26th! This year Australia day landed on a Tuesday and so everyone took a "sickie" the day before to get a 4 day weekend. There were so many people who didn't show up for work that Monday, the newspapers covered it as some kind of controversial subject. The biggest debate I saw was that the government leaders were calling those people un-Australian, and their rebuttal was "you mean un-American"...which I of course thought was funny as an American. Another thing that made me laugh was a poll asking people before hand if they planned on pulling a "sickie" or not. The poll showed about 40% planned on taking a sick day and another 20% planned on being legitimately sick, brilliant!

Sadly, public holiday and all, Stan was down in Melbourne Monday and could not fly back to Sydney to celebrate with us on Tuesday as he had to be back in Melbourne on Wednesday. So we celebrated separately. Stan took a long run through the city that morning and got to see all the festivities and parades and market stands. He also got to see the Melbourne fire works (which are supposed to be good). I took the kids to Putney park and then to McDonald's. I was laughing to myself because I was pretty much the only person at McDonald's (it must be un-Austalian to eat there on Australia day). Usually on Australia day you go to the beach and then have a bbq. You are supposed to eat pavlova for dessert and then watch fireworks (which go off in Darling harbor, a 20 minute ferry ride from our house). I went to the park thinking it wouldn't be as crowded as the beach (and I was right) but it was still really crowded. I just didn't think I could manage three little kids alone with a lot of excited teenagers and random drunk people on the beach. Also, if you go to the beach you MUST be in an Australian cossy (swim costume) which is usually either a speedo with the Aussie flag on it, or a bikini also with the Australian colors. Our neighbor was nice enough to put a minimum of three Aussie tattoos on each of my kids. We skipped the fireworks and went to bed early. After being lame on New Years AND now Australia day I have some serious plans for next year...its called a babysitter!

Welcome 2010

This year for New Years Eve we went to a friends house who lives on the water overlooking the Harbor Bridge. We made it to 9:00pm with the three kids when the first set of "family" fire works were set off. After the show we went home! We fell asleep at 11:20 (boooo) and missed the biggest, best, most amazing fireworks display in the history of Australia (just ask the newspapers). Apparently, 1.5 MILLION people were in the heart of Sydney for the display. It was about 20 minutes long and was Australia's first microchip display of fireworks (whatever that means) and it cost a little over 1 million dollars. Six firework locations were used around the harbor and they all synchronized their shows to complement each other since they all went off at the same time.

To make up for our party pooperness we woke up in the morning and watched it on Utube so I guess that makes it OK! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmK2SkwtQ_k

Next year I want to rent a boat and watch everything on the water...serious, how cool would that be?!!?

We kept Thomas in his stroller (or pram as they would call it out here) the whole time since they were just a few meters from the water with no gate! He hated it!

Mary ready for the 9:00 fireworks display...Thomas FREAKED out this year!

The girls and their popsicles (I mean "ice blocks") it is HOT here during New Years b/c we are in the middle of the summer here.

Sparklers!

And next time we will bring a tripod...or just get pix off the Internet!

Christmas 2009!

This Christmas was wonderful...probably my best in many many years. The last few Christmas's have been in the middle of a divorce (my parents side) and then last year was our first post divorce Christmas (nothing like hauling the three kids back and forth between my parents houses to do each tradition twice). I seriously called it quits after last year.

This year was what I always wanted but could never obtain while being students for 7 years and constantly traveling. For instance, I got to decorate for Christmas and we bought our first Christmas tree.

All previous years we were not home for the holidays and were scrambling to get through finals. Over the 7 years of not decorating, we have accumulated a lot of decorations/ gifts, like ornaments and stuff. I was so surprised to pull out ornaments I had more or less never seen that said "Stan & Eisha 02" or "Babies first Christmas 05" it was all quite magical!

I got to cook the food/ meal and set the table and pick the background music... and host the parties! I especially loved this because I could still put my kids in their beds while entertaining company and stay out late. So much better then dragging grumpy kids everywhere.

We did our own family traditions Christmas eve and Christmas morning. It was so fun to plan out what memories we wanted our kids to have about Christmas day (eat first or presents first or acting out the nativity or cookie decorating etc...so much to choose from). Anyway, the morning was perfect. We had a beautiful set up with the china, table cloth, candles etc...and Stan made a cinnimon sugar muffins and homemade wassil. We ate and then cleaned up. Then we opened gifts. The kids were so excited and so grateful!

Note: those gold and silver things are called "crackers" you pull the end and get a joke and toy, they are pretty much standard in England and Australia during Christmas time.

Somehow I got coal in my stocking (nice Stan) and the girls felt so bad for me they decided to share their presents and candy to make me feel better...so cute! I asked them what I should do this next year to be good and Olivia said "you just need to give us candy, not put us in time out and take us to the play place in the mall everyday." Then the girls proceeded to tell me all the reasons I deserved the coal, "remember the time you yelled at us? And that time you took our toys away? etc...yea, Santa doesn't like that!" Side note: that is so funny I was just talking about how this was the best Christmas ever and I got coal in my stocking (brilliant)!

Anyway, the kids all loved their gifts and they all really really believe in Santa, so it is extra magical. We spent the late afternoon evening at a close friends house for Christmas dinner and with our adopted grandpa who surprised us with a cake especially made for us. It was a really really nice gesture since he does not have a lot of money. After all the food and friends we went to a movie and slept in the next day. It was wonderful, thanks everyone for the gifts and cards, we love them and we love hearing from everyone stateside! Merry Christmas!

Olivia wanted a Polly pocket for Christmas (I was like, serious?...thats it?) AWESOME!

Mary wanted "a littlest pet shop, and a pink sparkle rainbow pony"

So today we went to feed the sharks and sting rays. The people advertised that the sharks were tame, had no teeth and that it was the only place in the world where normal people could just climb into the water with them and feed them. So we suited up the kids and went! Olivia did smashing, Mary did okay but spent most of the time out of the water, and Thomas was more or less terrified. I ended up feeding from the sidelines to keep an eye on the kids who wanted to run around. While feeding the sharks I dangled my leg over the side of the tank next to my food stick. Ten minutes later a shark swam up to my leg and bit me, YES I HAVE BEEN BITTEN BY A SHARK, and whatever about the no teeth thing, I was bleeding and have a big circle gash... maybe I should be glad Thomas didn't want to jump on in :-)

Mary feeding the sting rays with a stick

They literally would come up for food and hang on the side of the tank

That one is huge, each tank was a different depth and had different sized animals, this was the big tank!

My little marine biologist! She was so good with the animals!

Me helping Mary in the smallest, shallowest pool...after this she wanted out (I guess she is 4).

That was the biggest shark...I got bit by a weeny one!

Thomas not happy about the "fish"

Stan and Mary in the big tank...this lasted about 10 seconds. Next time we do this I will wait until the kids are a few years older so they enjoy climbing into the water, but overall a cool experience!