TTT – Days 11 and 12

Our view Sunday night . . .

Our view Monday morning. . .

The first photo was from Saturday, in fact, after we helped clean the beach outside Phuket with the Ocean Conservancy. The second is from our balcony, which overlooks a beautiful valley outside Chiang Mai.  I used to think that in the great ocean vs. beach debate I would always side with ocean, but the area we’re in now might sway me.

A few things happened today.  First, we did nothing today.  Not a thing.  We flew to Chiang Mai last night, and after getting settled into our room, we finally crawled into bed after midnight, but had a very restless night.  With almost no sleep, I just thought it might be best for us to hang around the hotel.  I also really needed a pedicure, since spending most of my days in the pool really did a number on my last one.  Etta chose my color (marooned on the magnificent mile, a good choice) and sat on my lap as Oscar watched Meet the Robinsons in the kids club.  Did I mention we had to do my spa appointment in the kids club since my lovelies refuse to be watched by a babysitter?  Interesting ambience, but my toes look just fine.

After that, we meandered up to the restaurant, since it was pouring outside and I didn’t want to get soaked.  Oscar apparently did want to get soaked, specifically in the pool, and while I tried to reason with him that we could not swim during a monsoon, he managed to throw a tantrum of international proportion.  It was spectacular.  There was a photo crew there for some sort of shoot (this is the third time we’ve been at a hotel where that was happening), and the photographers shot Oscar while he was screaming.  It was that impressive.  They also took a lot of pics of Etta, but that is always the case.  It took hours to get Oscar calmed down, but what finally did it was a big cookie from room service.  The little things.

While we waited for the cookie, Etta stood for the first time.  She was holding onto my head (I was bent over the bed and she was standing holding my hair and hitting my head like a drum) and when she let go of my hair, she kept standing for at least five seconds.  Even Oscar was excited about it.  The other remarkable thing about today was that Oscar kissed Etta at least four times while I was NOT watching.  I heard him do it while I was in the closet.  He bent over while she was getting ready for a nap and kissed her knees.  Could not believe it.  Don’t worry, he also pushed her down at least once this morning.  That, I could believe.

We took a break from the sun and chlorine and it may have been a mistake.  Not for me, since my skin is taking this opportunity to peel like it’s not going to get the chance again.  Oscar’s skin has been fantastic since we arrived here.  We’ve been battling a serious case of eczema, dermatitis, or some such thing. since last December and I have not had to use his medication once since we arrived in Thailand.  I had thought it was the humidity that cleared things up, but I suspect it might have been the combination of the humidity, sun and chlorine, since his skin flared today like I haven”t seen before.  I might throw him into the pool in the morning just to see if my theory holds.

Oh, and you’ll never guess what else happened today.  Oscar ate Thai food.  For real.  It was the blandest Thai food ever prepared, some sort of noodle and chicken dish, but it still counts.  I was so proud.

That was our big excitement for the day.  Tomorrow’s excitement should have something to do with the fact that we need to find formula and diapers somewhere.  Check back tomorrow to see if we were successful.

September 27, 2010 - Posted by Oscar and Etta's mom | Thailand, travel