Crawl space; eye issues; sidewalk bump

Hours after my last post about my son's unique backwards crawling style, Elijah broke into a standard forward crawl ... and has been doing so ever since. Like his sister -- and all kids -- he crawls past his toys and goes straight for the computer wires, electrical outlets, cell phones on the couch and whatever else that is dangerous and supposedly off-limits. He's on his second go-around with teething; he's about to add two more bottom teeth. He's handling this discomfort very well, perhaps because he's been down this path before. He's a good, strong boy, but he objected to his vaccination shots. Joanna had to have two shots also and did very well. She sat on my lap and I told her to close her eyes and count to 10. The shots came at "3" and "6" and she didn't cry, but asked me to "kiss it better."  She continues to thrive since she left school here and paid me the ultimate compliment, saying "daddy's school is cool." I hope "cool" isn't kid talk for something other than what I think it is. We still have a few differences of opinion, but I pretty much give her free rein with any school stuff, meaning she reads and writes when she feels like it. She's doing well.
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I had some uncomfortable aching in both eyes after a doctor at the local hospital changed my eye drops for glaucoma. My pressure dropped so low from the new drops that he took me off all drops. At least that's what I was told. To make a long and boring story short (and also boring), I went to the American Eye Center in Ho Chi Minh City. My doctor was Scottish and pointed to a wee bit of difficulty in regard to getting my old medicine in Vietnam. I went back to drops that I was on about 10 years ago in the U.S. They stopped being effective because I built up an immunity to them, according to my doctor in Ohio. Anyway, the old drops seem to be OK for now and the aching has subsided due to medicine prescribed by the new doctor. I'm getting new glasses there as well since my kids and I have scratched the daylights out of the three pairs I have now. By the way, the American Eye Center charges American prices, but I'll pay whatever for eyesight. The center is located in District 7, which is a very nice district in Ho Chi Minh City. You can smell the money and it has a nice aroma. On the way home in my taxi I saw a woman laid out on the highway from an accident. Her motorbike was obliterated; there were lots and lots of pieces of it all over the road. I went a long time without seeing any accidents, but I've seen three in the past month or so, two of them pretty serious.
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A girl riding her motorbike on the sidewalk hit Joanna while while we were walking.  But the impact was light because the girl wasn't going very fast. Joanna was shocked more than anything else. I saw Joanna was fine, so I regained my composure right away and asked the girl why she was riding her bike on the sidewalk when the street is right next door. The girl launched into a barrage of "sorry's" and that was the end of it. The motorbikes and cars with their total disregard for pedestrians no matter where they are remain the biggest downer of living here. More and better shops and restaurants are opening, so the quality of life is slowly improving. If it weren't for some of the  damn drivers who think they can go anywhere at any rate of speed ....
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Face masks are more in vogue here, which is kind of nice. I forget mine more than I should because instances and reports of Covid-19 are so minimal. I put up a hook on the door to hang my face mask. I still forget.  I'm writing this to help me remember to wear the mask. Hope it works. The mask also helps my skin handle the heat and dirty air better even if my scratched and battered glasses fog up.  I see what's happening in the U.S. with Covid and of course it's upsetting and disturbing, especially since we're making tentative plans to go to the U.S. for Joanna's schooling. Joanna really wants to go to Yellow Springs and attend school there. Elijah is happy no matter where he is, as long as he gets access to computer wires, electrical outlets, cell phones on the couch and whatever else that is dangerous and supposedly off-limits.
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I've gone a year now without a drop of alcohol, except perhaps in some cough medicine that I'm not aware of. My mouthwash has a little alcohol in it but I don't drink it. I've read 359 days in a row, according to my Kindle. I haven't had a cigarette in more than 4 years and 8 months, according to my lungs. Yep, I'm a real live wire these days.

My son's 'mooncrawl'; food for thought; wonderful gift

 My son Elijah is now crawling, but he usually goes backwards. He does a unique version of Michael Jackson's moonwalk -- on all fours. Most of the time Elijah's belly is on the ground. Sometimes, he'll lift his knees, and prop himself up with his hands and feet like he's trying to stand, then he'll drop back down to all fours and crawl backwards. Actually, I saw him go forward a couple of times to crawl two "steps", but that's it. He may be crawling forward more, but I'm pretty absorbed with Joanna and her homeschooling. My son has one of those walkers with wheels, and without question, he's heck on wheels. He'll go forward, backward and deftly navigate though tight spaces. All at a high rate of speed.  The walker is tough on feet and ankles -- ours, not his -- if you're not paying attention, and he's started chasing after Joanna, who subtly reaches out and freezes the walker.  Elijah is quite large by local standards and has an amazing appetite for a 6-and-1/2-month-old.  He eats everything we eat except stuff like cheese and honey. He had three asparagus stalks the other day with some potatoes and chicken. And while he's generally easygoing, he loses his cool when the food is slow in coming. I don't want him to have weight issues like his dad, but he seems fine so far. Just big. He's a real joy with a charming smile. 
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While on the topic of food, I'll note that Joanna's appetite has really improved since she left school. I handle all the cooking at home these days, and Joanna has taken a shine to my menu. It's meat, potatoes and vegetables, with the "meat" being salmon, chicken, chopped steak, sausages,  and pork. The potatoes will be microwave baked and sometimes mashed, but mashed is a workout here in the heat. Vegetables are usually zucchini, green beans or asparagus. My "school" day with Joanna always includes a long walk and park time, so her appetite has improved accordingly. As her teacher, I've learned that Joanna needs constant positive reinforcement -- she'll read extremely well and sound out difficult words if I can deliver chocolate or a trip to a nearby fish store or a video. She seems to have inherited some of my obsessiveness and all of my stubbornness, so I have to be careful about how much video time (and chocolate) she gets, and how I react when she flips out when the computer is shut down. I've gotten pretty good at redirecting her attention with other tasks and general silliness. But she'll sneak onto YouTube and watch some borderline animal videos with borderline language from time to time. However, Sesame Street remains one of her go-to favorites. She also likes Scratch Garden, which is OK. Her temper and strong will can be quite challenging, and oddly endearing. She knows what she likes and wants, and voices her views in no uncertain terms. She's becoming more proud of her dot to dot and coloring efforts on the wall of fame. She'll color "rainbow" rhinos, armadillos, whales and snails.
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Our long walks have taken Joanna and me to a new coffee shop called Yorokobi. We'll still visit the Coffee House, which has the nicest staff on the planet. But Yorokobi has top-notch cheesecake and cupcakes.  The cappuccinos and staff are more than adequate, and since it's new, the clientele is low-keyed. The Coffee House attracts some customers who bring their computers to use the free internet and perhaps think they're a little high-brow, and they don't always seem enamored with Joanna's outgoing personality. I've seen enough eye rolling and cold stares at Joanna's (hyper)activity from some of the customers to know that it's time to scale back on our appearances there. Don't get me wrong. Most people are very friendly to Joanna, but change is good sometimes. Anyway, on our way back home from Yorokobi we pass a little fish store with an impressive collection of exotic fish. Joanna insists we go in and she goes absolutely bonkers if I don't stop there. I stop there. The staff has taken a shine to Joanna, who runs around the little store pointing at the fish yelling "look at that one, look at that, he's trapped, sorry eel."  She can name some, like the catfish and eels. The other day, one of the owners gave Joanna a fish -- which we later named Goldie after Elmo's goldfish on Elmo's World -- and a bowl with a cool blue light attached, as well as food for the fish. He wouldn't take any money from me. A generous, kind and wonderful gesture, indeed. Vietnam is like that ... one moment a motorbike will nearly run you down on the sidewalk, and the next moment you'll be overwhelmed by an act of kindness. 

Congrats to Joe Biden; homeschooling my daughter

 My wife was so happy when CNN called the election for Joe Biden that she left me a note on the dining room table congratulating Biden -- and me.  (The only thing I did was vote for President-elect Biden in a state that went to the loser of the election.) She was literally bouncing around the house. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I woke up at 3 a.m. and happened to see the news alert on the internet. Our family is very pleased with the result because it means we have the opportunity to come to the United States although we remain concerned about a surging pandemic that the current president has chosen to diminish and ultimately ignore. The silence of many who didn't congratulate the winner  speaks volumes about the divisions and difficulties President-elect Biden will face when he takes office. And the current president's lack of cooperation to assist President-elect Biden with the transition is consistent with the outgoing president's performance the past four years. When you consider the current secretary of state, attorney general and president, there's a real three stooges aspect to the current leadership --- sorry, no offense intended Curly, Larry and Moe, because, unlike you guys, the stooges leading the U.S. can be mean-spirited at times. While elated with the result and the fact that President-elect Biden got more than 75 million votes, I'm concerned that more than 70 million voted for the loser, who still refuses to admit he got whupped. Sometimes, losers don't like to admit they've lost. If the new vaccine is as good as advertised and President-elect Biden can get Covid under control, we're optimistic for a 2021 move to the U.S. It's essential for our daughter's education (see next item).
Oh, congratulations, President-elect Biden.
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I'm homeschooling my daughter Joanna after her difficult stint at a local school. We start between 8 and 8:30 a.m. with some dancing and videos. Then we move on to dot-to-dot with numbers and letters, which she'll color with crayons. A good effort gets the picture on the wall of fame (actually, a window). There's seven pictures on the wall already -- two dinosaurs, an armadillo, a frog, turtle, whale and fire truck. We've only had eight sessions so she's doing great. She'll write letters and numbers, which isn't her favorite. Then we'll work on reading. I'll read to her and she'll read to me. She loves this and can read the basic stuff quite well. I'm so proud of how she tries to sound out words she doesn't remember. The first couple of days she'd just memorize the passage -- she's got a gift for memorizing -- but now she's actually reading the words. Her behavior and attitude have improved so much the past two weeks. I'm light on discipline and don't require her to take a nap, and she's blossomed. After lunch we'll head out, shopping for dad or going for a coffee or whatever. Along the way we snap photos of critters and I answer a constant barrage of questions from an inquisitive 4-year-old. The walk can get quite long so we're both tired at the end of the day. Our "school" day can wrap up around 2:30 or 3 p.m. or even 4, but really it's about 6 hours total including lunch and goof off time. The issue for me is that Joanna doesn't seem to need sleep, but I  do. I still prefer this to the 9 hours-plus she spent at her previous school and I know she prefers it too, and that's what's important.

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My wife is focused on our 6-month-old, Elijah, who is determined to crawl perfectly.  He'll get up on all fours and gingerly bring a knee forward. Then he'll flop. He's so close to an all-out crawl. He's a huge guy, which is no shock since he loves big people food, especially salmon and potatoes.
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The weather remains acceptable .... highs in the upper 80s with high humidity. Cloudy. On the minus side our air quality is unacceptable -- a rating of 4 or 5 daily with 5 being the worst ... other than red alert. The impact on my skin is noticeable, but that matters little at my age although Joanna always wants to know: What happened to daddy's face? Kids don't care too much about that stuff anyway. And that's a good thing.