Christmas in March

Christmas has arrived at the B-J-C household. How could that be, you may ask, in a predominantly Muslim country in March? Our sea shipment, aka the majority of things we sent from home, arrived yesterday. Three flatbed trucks carrying 5 crates arrived at the exact scheduled time to our house, with about 10 men to carry all the boxes inside. J and the woman in charge checked the number on the boxes to determine what was in them as the men brought them inside like a hill of ants, I mostly stayed in the house to provide further direction, and C watched on in pure amazement and wonder. He knew his toys were in the boxes as we've been telling him for quite some time that his toys were coming on a boat and would be here soon. Not surprisingly, as soon as he recognized something (his tricycle was the first I believe) we had to open it right then and there. It was an exhilarating morning, full of controlled chaos and relief that our things had actually made it.

Despite being quite sore from a day of unpacking and moving boxes around and the fact that we are still overwhelmed with full boxes, it feels so wonderful to be surrounded by familiarity and possessions from home. Our house is fuller and more homey and is on its way to feeling like "ours". We still have a furniture issue as we didn't ship as much as we probably should have, but at least now we have things to put on and in the furniture once we get it. And C of course is in heaven. He has been going through all his toys exclaiming, "remember this big truck?", or "look! it's my Winnie the Pooh", or "I don't remember this toy", etc. He has hardly wanted to eat or sleep with all the excitement and his overwhelming desire to play, play, play! It is so nice to see him so happy and comforted. J also spent last night putting together his new train table and that was definitely the toy o' the morning. We expect it will provide him hours of entertainment.

Today I am having lunch with an American women who delivered her baby in Singapore last November. I am looking forward to getting more specifics about this process and to hear her experiences. I am headed to Singapore tomorrow afternoon for 3 very full days of appointments and apartment hunting and shopping. And after C's nap today he and I are going to a neighbor's house for a playdate.

It feels like things are finally coming together.