So, once again it has been months since I posted. Eeek! Sorry about that. 
But here is a little recap of our July, with a tooooon of pictures. 
I am not sure if I already mentioned, but I recently took a photography course. My friend from church, the sweetest and most talented and creative person I know, Ai Lau, knew a photographer and asked him if he would teach some lessons. So, my now friend, Baljit, taught her. Then she started posting her pictures on Facebook and they were SO incredible. She had just gotten a DSLR about six months before and her pictures were good, but now they were just stunning. So I asked her about the course, and took it myself. Along with three other ladies in our branch. :) 
I loved everything I learned, but I still have a long way to go. Sadly, my autofocus on my camera has gone as well. But that is a sad tale I won't go into. 
And- that is the explanation of why there are suddenly even more pictures than normal. 

July in Hong Kong is hot hot hot and humid humid humid. 
Maverick loves his bike! He says "bike bike bike" and sits on the seat even in the house, waiting for me to push it around. 

Maverick loves the beach and the pool, but he is apprehensive about cold water. This is us at the rock pools just behind my sister's building. There is a big waterfall with granite boulders that goes up into the hills behind the house. It really is gorgeous, but momma only stays for a little while because there are mosquitoes like CRAY!
Momma save me!







Mom was playing with the shutter speed, trying to freeze the water drops. 

More shutter speed changes to show the water moving.

We have also been working on potty training Mav. He had started to take off his own diaper whenever it was dirty. Or he would pat his crotch, say "do do do do",  bring me a clean diaper, and lay down on the ground to get changed. "Do do" apparently means 'diaper' or 'potty'. So we took these signs to mean he was ready for potty training.
He is pretty good while he is in the house, we haven't started working on outside yet. We did a "naked week" where me and him hung around the house (IMPORTANT NOTE- only he was naked), and he got to eat and drink anything he wanted (meaning lots of juice, crackers, and candy). He got a little potty seat that he adores. And whenever he goes potty he gets a treat- a Skittle or M&M. Sometimes he gets tricky and sits on the potty, gets his treat, and runs away without peeing. Drives me nuts, but it is also kind of impressive!

He also loves to flush the potty himself. Repeatedly. He runs in there randomly and flushes until I catch him. 
This is his 'cheezer' face. 
So happy about apple juice- he never gets juice normally. 
Mean mommy took a picture before she helped Mav out of this potty seat headlock. Classic. 
Naked week success!






This boy also turned 18 months in July!
Other than working on potty training, and having full blown toddler temper-tantrums all of the time, the biggest achievement of the month was that he can now attend nursery at church! WOOOT! This means that I only have to chase him through church for one hour every Sunday, instead of three! Running up and down the aisles, screaming, racing up to play keys on the piano while there are speakers, hitting, throwing everything in sight- just one hour instead of three, glory be! Plus I can get more spiritual enlightenment when he isn't with me because I can focus. That too. :) 




Another favorite thing to do is to go to the splash-pad in nearby Tung Chung. It makes Maverick super happy, which is adorable. But you have to watch him, or he will stick his head directly above the holes the water shoots out of, and those things are highly pressurized! He is one curious cat. Wherever we go people tell me how 'handsome' he is, and love his 'big blue eyes' and that he is 'happy' and 'curious' and 'clever'. I agree with them all- but that cleverness and curiosity often lead to trouble. What a little boy he is! 

Cousin Hazel is Maverick's best friend. All day every day he asks for "Haza and Lola". If we ever go outside and don't head towards their house, he cries hysterically. They are great with him! Always playing with him, feeding him, and protecting him. Here Hazel is carrying him so sweetly. 






One of my favorite daddy-son pictures of all time. Pure happiness. Plus, Maverick still looks so small here. 

Uncle David, Maverick, and Scottie. 




Hello all! 
June was such a lovely month. 
Maverick 
  • is adorable. As usual. 
  • However he also has been getting his '1 year old molars' and he can be so grumpy!
  • He ADORES dogs. Which is not the best sign for us, because Scott is allergic to dogs, and neither of us are big pet people. Whenever we pass a dog (which is about every 50 feet in Discovery Bay, also known as 'DB- Dogs and Babies') he says "Woof Woof!" in the most adorable high pitched baby voice ever. 
  • He has been learning lots of animal sounds. Dog, monkey, cat, and cow. Of course both the cat and the cow are just "mmmmm". 
  • He loves to read books. Almost every day he brings books to my lap one by one, for half an hour. Sometimes he even lets me finish them. 
  • He loves to wear other people's shoes around. 
  • Climbs everything. 
  • Actually can pay attention to t.v. for 5 minutes in a row. I know- why am I broadcasting this to the Internet, this is not really a good thing! But man oh man does it help to be able to turn on Curious George or Sesame Street when I have to do dishes or cook something. P.S. Why did no one ever tell me Sesame Street was so annoying- wish I had known before he got hooked!
In other, less baby related news, my parents are again traveling back and forth between Hong Kong and Macau every 50 days. Their mission is a true story of patience, but they bear it very gracefully, and we are very happy that they are nearby to see Maverick grow. 

Scott is working over time. The business is going great, and people are constantly asking him to speak at things. In June he spoke at an event for the Thomson Reuters Foundation at Trust Forum Asia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSRSBriPKn8 if you want to watch it!) about the Domestic Helper situation in Hong Kong. He loves his work, has a great team, and they have been getting quite a bit of media attention! In June there was a CNBC article about them. 

I am mostly taking care of the baby. In June, however I also took a photography course from a local photographer, Baljit Gidwani. A friend in our branch, Ai, took the course from him and loved it, and since then a bunch of the ladies in our branch have taken it and learned so much! Also, on June 10th me and Scottie celebrated our 4 year anniversary! I am so grateful to be married to my best friend, my role model, my biggest supporter and fan, the funniest guy I know, the sweetest, most loyal, smartest, hardest working, silliest, best father, handsomest, man in the world. Gushy, gushy, gushy, etc etc etc. You know the drill ;) But really. We love each other more every day and I am so blessed he chose me. 

But on to the pictures!











 Dragon Boat Racing
A holiday in HK, where teams compete boat racing in narrow boats with drums beaten to keep the beat.
The DB Dragon Boat Festival


Cheung Chau Island
One of the little islands close by is Cheung Chau. Every year they have the 'Cheung Chau Bun Festival'. We missed it this year because Maverick was teething so badly. There are parades, music, food, performances... The most famous part happens late at night, where there are bamboo towers covered in traditional Chinese buns, and people climb up with harnesses and grab as many buns as they can, Legends of the Hidden Temple style. Hilarious.
Sorry, that was a tangent.
 The rest of the year it's just an adorable fishing village. And on one side of the island there is a pirate's cave! When I heard this I was so excited and knew we had to go. I got myself pumped for this cave like a little kid, but was mostly just expecting it to be a hole in the side of a hill, like a smallish bear cave. The real thing was so amazing- it was like the type of pirate's cave you would see in a movie! We were walking along the walkway on the edge of the island, when the walkway ended abruptly and I thought we had gone the wrong way. Then Scott spotted a man asleep in a small nook of the rock, who was selling flashlights. We bought two, and he pointed us down a dark crevice with a ladder. We climbed down about 12 feet, and we were in an underground cave. It was about 3 feet wide and 50 feet long, a straight hallway across to another ladder up, on the other side of the island's tip. I was elated!









In Cheung Cha I saw this kind of store for the first time in real life. They sell 'gifts' to leave for your beloved dead ones to have in the afterlife. These fake, miniature items ranged from boom boxes- to iPhones (with chargers of course)- to vice sets with cigarettes, booze, and beer. 







The ladder we took down into the cave. 
Pirate Scott and First Mate Mav in the cave once used to hold real pirate booty! Argh!  
The view from the end of pirate cave!

Other


Maverick chasing and loving on a doggie.  "Woof woof!"
My photography teacher, Baljit. 


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