Ex Patria

National Blog Posting Month

Why it should happen that I take part in this challenge, I cannot tell you.  I am even convinced that I can't possibly post once a day for a month.  It's impossible.  I have too much to do, and I have a life.  Of sorts.  But here I am, all signed up, and ready to go.  Maybe it will do something for me, or for the blog.

Watch this space, and don't cackle until November 30, please.

U.S. Embassy Yerevan 2.0 - New and improved security

Just  what the President ordered, perfect security for our Embassy officers and their families.  And now that we prohibited those countless masses of eight (8) US citizen kids from taking part in the Embassy hosted Trick&Treating, the Embassy is even safer.  I really wonder how they managed to reign in those non-Embassy kids in last year.

I mean, look - those American kids without Embassy affiliation?  Their parents are overseas for the money, I'm sure.  Never know what those guys are up to.  No good patriots, otherwise they'd stay home and help to fight the war on terror. That guy there, I hear he declined to go to Iraq twice! Who in their right mind would do that? And those kids?  Just look at them, all blond and blue-eyed and innocent looking - everyone knows that those are the most dangerous ones.  And those outfits!  Dressing up as super heroes and gorillas -- it's common knowledge that gorillas are dangerous!  Who knows what those kids have in mind!  Probably want to lift some candy, or something.  You can see it in their eyes. No, no, far better off without them.

Which reminds me - let's also make life difficult for the International School.  They were admitted to the Embassy for events before? Got all sorts of unofficial privileges?  How crazy is that?  Wasn't the Unabomber a teacher?  No? Oh, well, never mind, but these guys, you can just tell - and again: kids.  Kids everywhere at that school. Never know about those kids. Let's just be thorough and shut down everything the Embassy has ever done for the school.  We need to keep ourselves safe.

Let's generally just be really repugnant to the US community.  I mean, they are only - what?  Twenty of them, non-Embassy?  Second class citizens in any case, and some of them even married to foreigners.  Proves something, I'm sure.

What?  Those little American kids say they hate the Embassy?  Just because they are not allowed on the US playground? Cannot go Trick&Treating with all their friends?  See!  I told you! No backbone, and dangerous, all of them. Maybe we should preemptively... hm.  That might be a little too soon.  But I'm watching them.  Oh, I'm watching them.

Two

Jacob has been one of those protracted babies.  He loved being a baby, and he was a great baby.  He slept a lot, he was quiet and cheerful, never fussy, never difficult, smiled a lot and brought happiness to all those he met.  He was easy, a bonus baby you get for I don't know what, a real present from the Gods. 

I fell head over heels in love with him.  He's my cuddly wonderful baby.

Only, he's not a baby anymore.  Just in the last week or so, he's transformed from baby to toddler, as if he knew that magic number "2" was coming up fast.

So now, when I put him down for his short nap around noon, and he's not sleepy, he doesn't cry in protest but swiftly climbs out of his crib when he's done with his milk, and comes down the stairs.  He points out tractors in board books, and cats and cows. He can sit for hours and look at books.  He loves anything that goes "vroom vroom", he loves chasing David and scaring the living daylights out of him. [He's a big kid, too.  He weighs only one kilo shy of David who stopped eating sometime around his second birthday.]  He walks out to the fig tree, climbs up a garden chair, and casually stuffs himself with ripe figs.  When I ask a kiss of him, and he shakes his head, and then I pretend to pout, he runs to me, says "Sorry, Mommy" and kisses me.  He can put his favorite DVD into the player, turn it on, turn the TV on, and sit and watch.  He says "Danke" to me, "Thank you" to his father, "Shnorhakalutjun" to his nanny, and "Spassibo" to the maid.

What the hey?

He's still cuddly, especially when he just woke up.  He needs hugs and kisses sprinkled throughout the day.  He's still cute and wonderful.

But he's also loud and boisterous and very much a boy.  And he's happy.  There's really not much that is more important, right?

Happy Birthday, my little big boy.