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.