Morning Glory

The triplets are growing up…

Last night I had a conference call at 1 AM. It was one of those three continent deals, which meant APAC had the midnight shift. Fortunately, the call leader knocked off the APAC HR agenda first so we could get to bed. My Japan colleague had it worse… it was 2 AM for him.

I forgot about this call when I committed to run with a friend, Ross, at 6:30 AM. Ross trains regularly – he’s an accomplished triathlete for starters. For a while Ross and his running buddy have wanted to find an elusive trail near where we live in Pokfulam. With a renewed commitment to fitness I made the commitment to run with Ross and show him the trail. (Renewed commitment to fitness includes being suckered into buying “The Abscissor – Body By Jake” from an infomercial during a US business trip back in January. After a jet-lagged sleepless night, and watching the 30-minute show four times I was brainwashed into a purchase! I sent the apparatus to my father’s in Toronto and brought it back to Hong Kong on the way back from Antigua.)

Recently my sleep patterns have been all mixed up. (Another reason for renewed fitness, but to be honest the fitness is to insure I maximise my chances at a long and happy life.) Therefore, I was awake at 6:05 partly from my skewed body clock but also because of the chattering coming from the kid’s room.

The last few weeks when the babies awaken, they chatter for 10 – 15 minutes before demanding (read: scream or cry) to be removed from their cribs. This morning the chatter was very sweet. At first it sounded like Sebastian. Prior to talking, Sebastian had his own language that would softly fill the flat as he lay in bed contemplating life. Haven’t heard that language for a while, therefore, I was surprised to hear it this morning. “Has he digressed more?” I thought. (I have a theory that Sebastian’s recent wave of whining and uncommitted crying/whinging, when not really upset at all, is a form of him mimicking the babies.)

No, this was not Sebastian… this was Jasper. Jasper was sitting upright in his crib chattering to the world while Carys and Sela, contorted in their cribs – legs in the air, kneeling on knees – listened, and contributed every minute or so. (“Alright brother… amen…” – that sort of thing – in Seb’s former language.) The chorus, thrown in for good measure and probably to tease yours truly was “Da- da- da- da…” to which they’d all chime in like a staggered start to “Row, row, row your boat.”

Seems like only yesterday Sebastian chattered like this. (With Seb's speech issues, Terrific Tess - who we miss dearly, by the way - would probably argue, "It was yesterday.")  Suddenly it struck me… “Oh my gosh… these kids are growing up.” Another thing emanating from their room was a smell… the very familiar soiled (NOT just wet) morning nappy, stewing for an hour or two. Suddenly and conveniently it struck me… “Oh my gosh… I am going to be late.” I launched myself out of bed, threw on my running clothes and waltzed out the door. I stopped quickly to check the results from “The Jasper Experiment.” (I’ll be doing a full report on that experiment later this week.) The Team had already extricated the babies from their cribs so the nasty nappies were in control.(Offenders were Sela and Carys.) Sebastian was still asleep. I grabbed my shoes and was off.

Being a few minutes early (intentionally of course, not because of soiled nappies) I was able to stretch before Ross the Racing Machine pulled up alongside me. Ross had already run 45 minutes to hook up with me so I was pretty certain this would give me the edge to at least keep up with him. Not the case. Our 45-minute circuit around the reservoir required stopping on the hills. I was spent by the end of our run. Ross had another 45-minutes ahead of him to return home in Mid Levels. Now you should be getting a picture of Ross’ level of fitness… I think he has less than 3% body fat. (Thank you, Ross, if you read this, for tolerating me!)

But what a glorious morning… this is a wonderful time to be in Hong Kong. Today the sun is out; the mornings are cool but not too cold. They are also not stifling as will be the case in another two months. In Hong Kong, the transition from Winter to Spring is a wonderful time. And that’s why, after cooling down, drinking some water and pouring myself a fresh cup of coffee the whole gang headed down to load Sebastian onto the school bus… Seb carried his backpack and book bag, I held Carys, Lita held Jasper and De held Sela.

Down at the entrance where the bus picks-up Sebastian, we experienced the full community of our building and wonder of the triplets. It’s a cosy little guest parking area with a massive mountain, coated in a quiet, sub tropical rain forest, rising immediately behind the complex.

For starters, everyone who walked by waved and smiled because that’s just what everyone does in our building. As we stood their with Sebastian and the Terrific Trio though, we seemed to be just a little happier to see everyone… they all know where the trips have come from in the last 14 months and the tenuous milestones they’ve each surpassed. Everyone also knows we've followed a Protectionist Policy to shelter the Terrific Trio from potential infections. Those days are drifting further behind us and waiting for Sebastian’s bus with the triplets on such a gorgeous, crisp morning seemed almost like it’s own milestone. In no time we will be down there waiting for The Terrific Trio to be bussed off to school. Yes, the triplets are growing up. The past faded just a little bit more and the joy fought hard to trickle in.

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Comments

[Trinie]

Charles,

What a great post - and I am thrilled that the joy of your triplets is starting to come. Hope that every day you get a little bit more of it.

[knobody]

it's very hard to feel joy when you live in fear. i'm glad to see that the fear is abating.

[Mo aka Mum aka Maureen]

Chuckles! What a delightful blog. I could 'feel' the morning and your slowly growing joy was infectious. Thanks so much for the recent video of the kidlets. It is so dear and the pictures you posted are wonderful. They are a delight in their innocence, wonder, sweet smiles, jerky movements and joie de vivre. Tess will be home to you soon! Thank you so much for sparing her to come to Vancouver. She and Pam have given such help and support and love to Gran. She has missed you all very much, I know, and will so glad to see you.

Much love, M xox