Family Days

Jojo's Play Class
At the beginning of July, we enrolled Jojo in Gymboree's Level 5 play group. He really loves it! Many parents agree that it's one of the few safe, clean and age-appropriate places to take toddlers around here. He has a nice teacher named Christine (nice name!). So these have become our Saturdays. It's something we can do together as a family and it's really helped our adjustment here. This activity is called "tip and fall." Basically, the kid rides on the airlog and then falls off into your arms.


Jojo riding the air log at Gymboree

Jojo's Crafts
He's such a toddler now and that means he can't stop moving for even a second. He likes to watch a lot of TV, but we want to try and curb that. He loves to get out into the village on his little three-wheeler bike, but it's the rainy season now and it rains constantly. So we occupy him at home with crafts and stuff. Here's something I made him out of a box of oatmeal: It's box-head boy!


For some reason box-head boy makes a roaring sound

Christine also bakes cookies with him and such. one day they made playdough out of peanut butter and then made peanut butter cookies afterwards. I took a break from my lesson prep to sample the goodies! Since most of my teaching ministry takes place either in the afternoons or at night after work hours, I try to spend time a little bit of time with him in the day. He also likes cars and dinosaurs now.

The adjustment is still ongoing, but we're no longer surprised at the horrible state of driving (Yes, I've been here a year and I still hate every second of it! The chaos continues to build!), lack of daycare at churches, and other cultural frustrations. Veteran missionaries say it stops being "Culture Shock" and more "Culture Fatigue" that gets to you after a while. Oh well, that is Manila living. No wonder most missionaries live out in the province. :-)