Faces

We took a trip down the river last week. The plan was to take a Water Taxi to a flower market, but we got on the wrong boat and in the end decided to just take a free ride down the river. We ended up a mostly empty mall, but we got a free boat ride and Asher kept us entertained the whole time. Here is a sample of the faces we get from Asher everyday.

This is a new favorite, the I'm not getting my way and I'm not happy about it face. In this instance Asher wanted to climb down the steps onto the dock and jump into the water. As a responsible parent I had to tell him no. He didn't like that.

This one is the everything is okay in the world because I'm with dad face. It's probably one of my favorites.

The what in the world is that face. Bangkok has caused this face to be seen quite a bit, everything is new here and Asher is still trying to figure it all out. This one could have been caused by the fact that we were on a boat or by the trash we saw floating down the river or by a passing train or by a bird. Asher loves to chase birds.

And finally the regular smile face. One of Asher's new tricks is to make his silly scrunched up nose face every time we tell him to smile. I'm sort of partial to this smile although the other one is pretty funny.

Photos from Today

We got our new bedding today, Asher had a blast bouncing on our bed while we made up the bed.

At the Park

Here are some pictures of Asher at the park today. We found this park near our house and I imagine that it will become a regular place for us.

Asher ran around in the sand near the playground, but he did not like it when the sand got on his hands.

He watched the big boys play takraw.

After that he watched some more big boys ride skateboards. He really wanted to get out there with them, but we held him back.

There was an Asher-sized maze in the middle of the park, so Asher took a walk through it. Don't worry, he didn't have any trouble finding his way out.

Probably the oddest thing we came across today was this statue of babies.

I really don't know what it is or why it was there, but please make sure you see the baby butt crack in the upper left hand corner of the picture.

Sights

Walking around Bangkok with Asher, he was pushing the stroller and checking out the sights on the way to the Sky Train.

Most of Bangkok was checking him out. We love to watch the faces as people pass by him and stop to smile. Asher seems to love the attention and loves to point and people and say hi.

We are still adjusting to the heat, but we are enjoying being able to play outside. Tonight I turned on the outside faucet and let the water run into a bucket. Asher loved it and spent a long time splashing.

How We Survived

Here's how we survived a trip from North America to Southeast Asia with a very sweet (and active) 16 month old baby boy.

Actually Asher was great, so it wasn't really survival. It definitely wasn't fun, but that kind of trip is never fun.

I started taking pictures the afternoon before we left and tried to chronicle our journey from Vancouver to Bangkok.

Waking up from his last nap in Vancouver, we finally had to wake him up after almost 3 hours of sleep.

Our arrival at the airport in Vancouver. Final tally on the luggage: 3 trunks, 6 large duffel bags, 2 car seats, 1 guitar, 2 backpacks, 1 carry on suitcase, 1 small duffel bag, 1 diaper bag and 1 stroller.

Once we strolled through security we let Asher loose so he could burn off some energy before the long flight. The airport was practically empty at midnight, so Asher had plenty of space to run.

He did set down to rest for a few minutes before climbing down and discovering the moving sidewalks. We spent about 15 minutes going the wrong way on one of them.

Hour One.

On the plane and settled into our seats, Asher was exhausted, but wouldn't sleep. The lights were all on and a meal was served right after take-off and that kept him up even longer. He finally crashed about 4 am and slept for about 4 hours.

Hour Eight.

Drinking milk and talking on the phone, Asher seemed to be unaware that anything was different about today.

A video update of Asher's Airplane Adventures. There's something all over his face, I have no idea what it could be. Considering he ate Teddy Grahams almost constantly for 14 hours there's a good chance it could be crumbs.

Hour Ten.

Another video update. Asher took a good nap, he slept from the beginning to the end of, "The Informant." I was holding him at this point and appreciated his thoughtfulness and willingness to not wake up until the credits had started. When he woke up he was quite excited to see that Daddy was nearby.

Hour Twelve.

Almost there and Asher is still happy playing with Daddy, one last video update.

Hour Fifteen.

We made it to Hong Kong and raced through the airport to make our connecting flight. Roger and I were having some serious caffeine withdrawal, but didn't have time to stop for coffee. Asher kept his hands above his head the entire time we were in Hong Kong. I think this is his exhaustion pose.

Hours Sixteen - Eighteen.

Asher and Roger slept almost the whole way from Hong Kong to Bangkok, I read a book. Sorry, no pictures, we were all looking pretty rough.

Hour Nineteen.

Arrival in Bangkok. After being an angel for nineteen hours of travel Asher lost it while we were in line for immigration. Perfect timing. An immigration official came and got us from the back of the line and took us through to the front. Asher is amazing.

Hour Twenty.

Luggage collected and trip over. We finally made it to our new home. Somehow by the end of all of this Asher ended up with a baggage tag on his arm.

Pictures from Bangkok and the new house coming soon.

Bangkok

Hey Bangkok....

Asher's here!!!!!