Joyful Captivity

I am officially on "vacation." Roque's off from work until the 2nd. It's not to say that I am absolved completely of Greyson duties, but it will be a comfort just to have his Papa around. There's no one else that can really take over like a father can. It's incredible what a loving husband and a hair cut can do for a mom. Since my last abysmal post, Roque's stepped up and taken on even more than usual to give me the much needed space. My awesome man has been doing dishes, mopping the floors, laundering bed linens, tidying, on top of all of the responsibilities of Greysoncare. This past week was a great improvement. My now healthy boy reverted to his two-nap schedule which allowed me to make dozens of Christmas cookies for our neighbors and friends. Nothing feels more like the holidays than oodles of butter.

Greyson says "Gou Gou" now, which is Mandarin for dog. To celebrate, I bought him a Gund plush puppy to which he has become jovially attached. He understands a lot of Mandarin now, like "drink water", "sleepy time", "milk", "take a bath", "let's eat", "cat", "giraffe", "give that to Mama", "bad" and others. He seems to understand an equal amount of English as well, so I'm curious to see when he actually starts talking more, what will dominate.










Last weekend we bought him his first pair of real walking shoes. Wherever we go now, I take Greyson out of his stroller to give him some walking time. At home, he pulls himself up on the wall and walks down the hallway. Sometimes when we're walking, he'll push my hands away, so determined to show he can do it, which of course, he can't yet. This past Friday we went downtown with Tita Jing to do some Christmas shopping while little Rene ate lunch, I took Greyson around the food court on foot. Completely unfazed by the holiday commotion, he loved walking amongst the crowds, and waving at Santa Claus. I've started to take him walking around our back yard. Here are pics from our little stroll this morning and a video of him scaling the walls of our hallway.



Last Sunday, Roque watched Greyson while I sang at church. He took this video of Grey Grey yelling at the top of his lungs for his Papa. Roque had just put him down for a nap and Greyson was apparently trying to convince his Papa to change his mind. You can see him walking round and round the crib, holding his Wooly.



Greyson loves it when his Papa rewards his eating with silly dances and faces. He laughs so hard sometimes I'm always afraid he'll choke.



In hindsight, this month at home with Greyson has been really rewarding. As tough as it was, the bonding that resulted in me being with him every single minute of every day is undeniable. I'm looking forward to Xiaoling coming back but I am considering reducing her days. Unless I'm super busy at work and have no choice, I want to make being with Greyson as much a part of my everyday as possible. It's ironic to say that in light of how difficult it's been, but that's the dilemma of every mother struggles with; the need to be free and yet the joy at being captive.