Brother and sister

One of the best things about Jonathan and Vivienne's developing language skills is listening to them communicate to/about one another.  Now, both being toddlers, they have plenty of moments like yesterday morning where their wants and desires end up being at odds with each other.  Jonathan had woken up happy and looked ready to greet the day, hanging with mommy and daddy.  But then, we heard Vivienne wake up.  Now, usually Jonathan loves to have Vivienne up and about -- so much so that at times we lock her door while she's taking a nap so he can't go in and wake up his favorite playmate before she's ready -- but for some strange reason, when she woke up yesterday, he got really weepy and started moaning, ""No Vivienne wake up.  No Vivienne down."  My only guess is he thought he could get some one-on-one mommy and/or daddy time and was disappointed to find out that wasn't the case.

On the other hand, both being toddlers, they also have plenty of the other kind of moments, the ones where they are completely on the same wavelength and absolutely delight in each other's presence.  Last night was such a time.  Jonathan was climbing on and off the changing table.  At one point, he stopped just a step from the bottom and said, "Stuck."  Now, there was no way he was actually stuck, but then he said, "Vivienne, help."  I offered to help him, but he insisted it be Vivienne.  Vivienne put out her little hand and held his hand like I do when they need just a tiny bit of help getting down from a chair or some such place.  Jonathan grasped her hand and proceeded to get down all by himself and then said, "Dank ooo" or some such toddler version of "Thank you."  They both laughed and then did it all over again.

I love seeing the two of them together -- that is, when I am not negotiating who gets to play with what toy when (the idea of "my turn" definitely comes before the idea of "your turn" in child development) or trying to convince him that it wasn't nice to push her down for no reason at all or her that we shouldn't hit people even if they take our stuff.  Stephen wondered the other day how Vivienne would be different if she had been the oldest child, and I wonder the same thing at times.  I am so glad she wasn't.  I am so glad that God not only gave the kids to us but that He also gave them to each other.  I love my Taiwan twins and I love seeing how God's plan is unfolding in our family as a whole, no matter how crazy and disorganized we might be.

They had so much fun playing peek-a-boo together the other
day.  That is to say, they had so much fun once the debate of
who got to use which blanket had been resolved by mommy.

And that's one of the most exciting things about baby David, too.  It's great for me to have another baby to love, but I am most excited to see what these three will be to each other as they grow and come to know each other.  I pray that they will be a blessing to each other now and always, just as I was blessed to grow up with my brother Jonathan.  (Yes, we named our son after my brother.  No, it hasn't been a problem to date because other than a few weeks a year and a half ago, they've been on different continents all of little Jonathan's life.  We shall see what happens when we finally make it to the U.S., but I'm guessing we'll manage.)

They both adore their new little brother already -- so much so
that is was a miracle I managed to get this shot amid the squabbles
about who got to lie next to the baby.

Summer Summary

Well, so much for posting once a month.  The whole summer has gone by since my last post, a summer filled with lots of fun things and milestones.  The biggest is our new addition, but that's for the next post.

Cupcakes, markers, and sunglasses = lots of fun at home.

And, of course, finger painting is lots
of fun, too.  Jonathan wanted to stop
and wipe the paint off his fingers and
body after each attempt.  Vivienne
didn't mind the mess and had more fun
painting herself than the paper.

There's been a whole lot of talking going on in the Clark home as both kids have become more and more comfortable with language(s).  We're still a bit away from full, spontaneous sentences, but they definitely know how to get their points across -- most of the time, at least.  (I still have no idea what he was asking for and wailing about at bedtime tonight, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't compatible with bedtime anyway so he wouldn't have been happy even if I did understand.)  If you want to be truly entertained, listen to an almost-three-year-old who doesn't know what at least half the words mean in the Veggie Tales theme song try to sing along to it.  Vivienne thinks that she is as old as Jonathan and should be able to do everything he can do, so her language development is almost as far as long as his is, though his vocabulary is more extensive.  They now carry on wonderful little conversations with each other and keep each other entertained better than ever.  On the other hand, over the summer, Vivienne has really grown from being a baby to being an out-and-out toddler, complete with toddler tantrums from time to time when she doesn't get her way.  For the most part, however, the girl is an absolute sweetheart, charming all who come her way, but sometimes Jonathan gets caught off-guard when he discovers that his little sister isn't quite as much a malleable pushover as she used to be!

Being pregnant with two toddlers was rather wearing, but despite there being a bit too much iPad and DVD use, we still managed to have some fun.

Jonathan and daddy enjoy our fried rice picnic before church,
Vivienne finally learns how to swing by herself, and when there's
a stroller involved, Vivienne doesn't mind being pushed around
by her brother.

While the big people watched a super-late night Wimbledon
final, the little people thoroughly enjoyed a rousing game of
peek-a-boo curtains at Uncle Mike's school.

We also had some special visitors from England.  Stephen's parents and brother came and spent a week with us as part of their trip to Hong Kong for his cousin's wedding.  The kids had a lot of fun getting to spend time with grandparents and Uncle Tim.

We got to go down to the south of Taiwan and spent time at a missionary retreat center there with yummy food and a huge play room.  We also spent a day at the beach.

Jonathan loves the ocean from a safe distance, but he's still
not too keen on the water or the sand up close and personal.

Vivienne was a big braver from the safety of mommy's arms,
 but it will still be a while before either of them are beach lovers.
  They did like playing in the sand from the safety of the beach
 blanket, though, so that was a start.

One of the highlights from the trip, for me at least, was getting to take the kids to the Aquarium.  We took them there a year and a half ago when my family was in town, but though Jonathan appreciated it somewhat, Vivienne was too young for it.  This year, they both thought it was great.  Jonathan loves fish and sharks and all things water in his books at home, so I really wanted him to see them for himself.  He slept through about half the first afternoon there, so I thought that it would be fun if he and I got to have some special time together and go back again, just the two of us.  We had a blast, even if he was too afraid to wade in any of the water features by himself.  He especially loved looking for the sharks and the whales, though his favorite things were the gift shop, the ocean view on the walk between buildings, the sunglasses and bubbles we got in the gift shop, and -- best of all -- a sink just his size he got to wash his hands in several times (in a row).  And, of course, he loved the ice chocolate and the chicken nuggets.  All in all, it was a great day just hanging out with my sweet boy.

The biggest change this summer (apart from the newcomer, of course) has been SCHOOL!  When we found out that Jonathan's immigration will probably be keeping us in Taiwan longer than we initially had planned, we thought that it would be a good idea to get as much Chinese into him as possible since we have this great learning opportunity being here.  (We're still not sure how we're going to keep it up when we go back, but that's a question for another day.)  As it so happens, the parents of some students at the cram school where I teach run a school just two blocks away from our house that does everything from infant day care through after school for elementary school.  Our sleeping schedule as a family pretty much goes with the afternoon/evening schedule of Stephen and me and any attempt to get kids or parents up in the mornings has failed miserably, so we aren't really good candidates for traditional nursery school schedules.  However, my boss helped work it out with the school and our kids go for just a few hours in the afternoons after the other kids get up from their naps.  It works out great for us, and we really aren't worried about actual class time since Jonathan's just there to be immersed in Chinese.  We figure he knows his alphabet, can count to 14 or so, knows his shapes, and knows his colors -- but all in English.  At not yet three, we figure that's doing pretty good.  We were initially just going to send him, but they have classes for Vivienne's age since they start with little babies, and her language skills are almost up to his since she doesn't actually realize she's a year younger than he is.  Also, they do better together so it makes getting them off to school so much easier.

Although they screamed and cried a lot the first week, the school took it all in stride (because I am sure they were not the first toddlers to have a bit of separation anxiety) and both were always playing happily when we got them.  We started a couple of weeks before the baby came, so they were used to it by the time he got here.  By now, they go off each day with few complaints, and we have noticed a bit more Chinese working itself into their language.  The other day, I got Jonathan a cup of water and he told me "xie-xie ni" (thank you in Chinese), so at least he's learning his manners there!

These fish live outside the wedding photo shop across
from the school and are quite popular with the Clark kids.