weinraub’s words

One of Denny’s ex-employees Phat runs her family’s Phuket elephant trekking business up in the hills above Kalim beach. So, last Sunday, we bundled up the kids and took them out for a quick ride.

In the pictures, it appears that Benjamin was none too pleased with the whole thing. In fact, as he was riding, he was guarded and quiet, pulling in tight with Mommy. But once we finished and got all dismounted, he made a big deal about wanting to get back on. Guess he did have a good time.

We got to hand-feed them afterward – chunks of bananas – just like we usually do at the zoo. Becca was comfortable enough doing it, though she complained a bit about sliminess of the elephants’ runny noses. Benjamin was a little spooked at the sheer size of the beasts, so he largely hung back.

Thais believe that riding an elephant brings good luck. I’ll let you know.

Since I quick smoking, I have practically no use for lighters any more.

So, today as evening settles in and the mosquitoes begin to congregate, I start to set up some mosquito coils. But I’m stopped dead because I can’t find a single lighter in the whole house. I ask Annie if we have any, but she comes up empty.

So, Benjamin (2y9m) runs inside, opens a desk drawer, and brings me back what is likely to be the only lighter in the whole house.

Amazing!

Of course, it’s a pretty weak display of parenting that my pre-school son knew exactly where to get a lighter and was able to access it himself.

But still, way to go!

Thanks to countless hours of private tutoring by Dora the Explorer, Becca can now count to ten in Spanish. She also knows “gracias”, “de nada”, “estrella”, and a few others.

On a similar topic, Benjamin (2y9m) astounded me yesterday by counting to ten in English.

Way to go, children!

Before the mayo, before the fresh-water packing, and before the can, there is tuna.

A day of fishing in the Andaman Sea waters around Phuket.

This is the first of what I will label “Guess-You-Had-To-Be-There” (GYHTBT) posts. These are just cute little episodes or observations, usually about the kids, that will almost certainly mean nothing to anyone else, but that I want to remember and preserve. Hopefully my record here will be enough for me to look back and fondly recall it.

So, feel free to bail out here. No hard feeling, I promise. Move along. Nothing to see here. Head on back to your homes, citizens.

First up: When Benjamin (2y8m) is agreeing with something, he says “Uh huh”, just like anyone. But he does it with the cutest melodic flavor, almost a southern lilt. GYHTBT.

Second: Although Benjamin does not yet have a Twitter account, he does have his own preschooler usage of #FTW. Whenever he does something of which he is proud or wins a game, he uses the Thai term ชนะ (”to win”) which is pronounced as cha^H na^H. In keeping with a tradition established by Becca, Benjamin restricts many words to the final syllable only. So, when he wins at something, he will triumphantly announce “Na^H!”. Very cute, but GYHTBT.