Ryken had his 4 month checkup yesterday. He’s doing great on growth and development and is a healthy, happy baby. For those who are interested, his weight is 8.1 kilograms, height is 67 cm and head circumference is 43 cm. This is how measurements are done here. The conversion is 17.9 lbs weight, 26.4 inches long and 16.9 inches rounded head. That’s all healthy! He’s not rolling completely over yet, just to his sides. His favorite time of the day is bathtime – he loves splashing in the water and talking. He got 2 shots yesterday and did good. He screamed a lot but that was mainly because the nurses were holding his legs down – not something he likes. They had 3 nurses – one to hold his legs and 2 to give the shots at the same time. He promptly fell asleep after crying for about 2 minutes.
Liz is doing good at her new school. Anthony took her yesterday and for a show, she screamed and cried and yelled “DADDY” not wanting him to leave. Apparently, once daddy was gone, she cried for 3 minutes, then went on to have fun the rest of the day. She was happy and excited when I picked her up although she wouldn’t tell me what she’d done during the morning. But, she did tell Ashley, and I listened in as she described playing with dolls, playing outside, painting her feet, eating lunch and not playing with playdoh. Too cute!
Ashley is in soccer camp this week – in the mornings from 9-12. I’ve been using my bike to take her – it’s about a 15 minute bike ride away. The first day I took her, I found out she is the only girl in the camp! I think there are about 20 kids – all boys. Luckily, they have a female coach and Ashley has befriended her. The coaches say Ashley is doing great – she’s trying hard and having fun. She says she’s enjoying it and likes to play soccer, but she doesn’t like boys.
We are now in mosquito season full swing! We’ve got bug zappers which don’t seem to be working and plug in the wall mosquito repellant and have finally found a mosquito net to put around Ryken’s crib. He’s been getting eaten up by the little buggers, as have Liz and I. It’s been hard for me to sleep at night due to the buzzing going all around my head. If this keeps up, we’ll have to get mosquito nets for everyone else in the house too!
It’s starting to get really hot here everyday. A few nights out of the week, we’ve had lightening and thunder with a little bit of rain. For some reason, when it gets hot out, the Chinese men like to show off their stomachs, usually if they have rather large ones. They tuck their shirts up under their chest and stand outside next to their cars on the side of the street. Nice….not…
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Liz's First Day at School
We decided to put Liz into a little preschool for a few mornings a week, just to get some socializing in and some learning of Chinese and English. Today was her first day and she was actually excited about going, especially when talking to Ashley since Ashley has been “going to school” (camp). Liz always wants to be like her big sister! There are a few kids from our complex that go there, so I went to visit it last week and liked it. Run by a German lady, out of an apartment, it’s a bilingual program, English and Chinese. Hopefully, that will encourage Liz to start using some more Chinese. Right now, she will tell me “speak in English” or “Xiaoshu no Chinese, speak English” if we start speaking in Chinese. She can understand what Xiaoshu tells her in Chinese though, she just doesn’t want to hear it or speak it. Maybe if she’s with other kids that are doing it though, she’ll change her mind. When I took her this morning, she didn’t cry or get upset when I left. She was busy playing on the merry go round outside, so she was happy. They said she did great all morning and she ate a lot at lunch (like that’s a surprise!). She didn’t talk much, but she did participate in all the activities, so that’s good. I drop her off around 8 and pick her up at 12:30. She’ll go 2 days this week, 2 days next week, then 3 days a week for most of the summer. Ashley is signed up for summer camp sporadically throughout the summer, so if Ashley stays home for the week, then Liz will stay home too. That way we can venture out and do some sightseeing or kids activities all together.
While Liz was at school, I went shopping at Carrefour (a supermarket) with our driver, David. I like David a lot, much better than our first driver. He is trying to learn English and so we will practice with each other, him English and me Chinese, as we drive around town. It’s a good way to learn. I’m used to doing my shopping on my own, but Xiaoshu needed some cooking oil and I didn’t understand what she needed, so she told David and then David came with me to shop so he could get it. He pushed the cart around and tried out all the items I needed to buy to make sure they were working (apparently that’s common here in China – plugging things in at the store to make sure they work). It was interesting and a bit difficult to get used to – making sure I didn’t lose him in the store. He’s a very helpful addition to shopping though!
I had Xiaoshu come with me to pick up Liz at her school so she would know where it was and the teachers could meet her. She was getting in the car with Ryken and kept saying “I can hold him, I can hold him”. I had to tell her several times that he sits in the car seat when in the car. She seemed really disappointed since she loves holding him. I’m sure she’s not used to the concept of carseats as only the RICH Chinese use them. The whole ride there and back, she would talk to him and coo with him and hold his hand – basically, not leave him alone. He’s getting quite used to all the attention and doesn’t like to be left alone for any period of time. We’re working on getting him to fall asleep on his own, but Xiaoshu has to constantly be told that it’s ok as she would prefer to rock him to sleep. I usually just let her, since it also gives her some downtime to sit and relax, but we’re gonna have to stop it soon. He’s cooing and making lots of sounds now and giggling a bunch. His face really lights up when he smiles and he’s started rolling onto his sides – usually to find his hand which he loves to stick in his mouth. He’s starting sucking on his thumb, when he can find it from his fist. He loves putting EVERYTHING in his mouth – it’s his obsession now. He’s getting big – “pong” – as Xiaoshu says (means fat in Chinese). I believe he weighs about 18 lbs – that’s on our scale here at home. On Tuesday, he goes in for his 4 month checkup, so we’ll find out his official weight then. He’s outgrown all his 6 month clothes and is now in 9 months.
Anthony is away on business again. He left yesterday for Schenzen and then will be in Shanghai Friday and Saturday. He comes home Saturday afternoon. I am so thankful that we have Xiaoshu since she makes it SOOO much easier when Anthony travels. She was supposed to come to the house this morning at 7:30, so I could leave at 7:45 to take Liz to school, but she showed up even earlier – saying “1 person, 3 children, that’s too much”. Awesome. I had already gotten everyone dressed, so she helped with breakfast while I got everyone’s backpacks ready.
While Liz was at school, I went shopping at Carrefour (a supermarket) with our driver, David. I like David a lot, much better than our first driver. He is trying to learn English and so we will practice with each other, him English and me Chinese, as we drive around town. It’s a good way to learn. I’m used to doing my shopping on my own, but Xiaoshu needed some cooking oil and I didn’t understand what she needed, so she told David and then David came with me to shop so he could get it. He pushed the cart around and tried out all the items I needed to buy to make sure they were working (apparently that’s common here in China – plugging things in at the store to make sure they work). It was interesting and a bit difficult to get used to – making sure I didn’t lose him in the store. He’s a very helpful addition to shopping though!
I had Xiaoshu come with me to pick up Liz at her school so she would know where it was and the teachers could meet her. She was getting in the car with Ryken and kept saying “I can hold him, I can hold him”. I had to tell her several times that he sits in the car seat when in the car. She seemed really disappointed since she loves holding him. I’m sure she’s not used to the concept of carseats as only the RICH Chinese use them. The whole ride there and back, she would talk to him and coo with him and hold his hand – basically, not leave him alone. He’s getting quite used to all the attention and doesn’t like to be left alone for any period of time. We’re working on getting him to fall asleep on his own, but Xiaoshu has to constantly be told that it’s ok as she would prefer to rock him to sleep. I usually just let her, since it also gives her some downtime to sit and relax, but we’re gonna have to stop it soon. He’s cooing and making lots of sounds now and giggling a bunch. His face really lights up when he smiles and he’s started rolling onto his sides – usually to find his hand which he loves to stick in his mouth. He’s starting sucking on his thumb, when he can find it from his fist. He loves putting EVERYTHING in his mouth – it’s his obsession now. He’s getting big – “pong” – as Xiaoshu says (means fat in Chinese). I believe he weighs about 18 lbs – that’s on our scale here at home. On Tuesday, he goes in for his 4 month checkup, so we’ll find out his official weight then. He’s outgrown all his 6 month clothes and is now in 9 months.
Anthony is away on business again. He left yesterday for Schenzen and then will be in Shanghai Friday and Saturday. He comes home Saturday afternoon. I am so thankful that we have Xiaoshu since she makes it SOOO much easier when Anthony travels. She was supposed to come to the house this morning at 7:30, so I could leave at 7:45 to take Liz to school, but she showed up even earlier – saying “1 person, 3 children, that’s too much”. Awesome. I had already gotten everyone dressed, so she helped with breakfast while I got everyone’s backpacks ready.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Missing Ashley
Today is Ashley’s first day at summer camp – it’s about 1pm and I miss her! Although, I must say, the noise level in the house is considerably lower and quite nice when she’s not here. Not really because of her voice, but because there is no bickering between her and Liz. She was so excited this morning and I took her to the bus stop where she was picked up by a bus. When it appeared, she was so happy and just ran up to the door and hopped on! Without even a hug or kiss goodbye. Note, this is the FIRST time she’s ever ridden a bus by herself to a school or anything. She did wave to me out the window and blow me a kiss – so sweet. The bus will bring her back this afternoon after a full day of playing and having fun. There are 12 kids from our complex that are going, so hopefully she’ll make some great friends today!
We already have a new driver. The first one quit last week for some reason so we have another guy, David. David speaks much more English than the last guy and seems to like the kids better, so I am happier. Hopefully, he doesn’t quit on us. Our friend’s driver in Shanghai is great! We wanted to steal him – he really loved the kids, even Ryken, and would hold them or carry them if needed. That was so nice.
We already have a new driver. The first one quit last week for some reason so we have another guy, David. David speaks much more English than the last guy and seems to like the kids better, so I am happier. Hopefully, he doesn’t quit on us. Our friend’s driver in Shanghai is great! We wanted to steal him – he really loved the kids, even Ryken, and would hold them or carry them if needed. That was so nice.
Shanghai - A Ghost Town?!
We went to Shanghai since Anthony had some business meetings to attend and we have friends there, thought it would be good to go visit and say hi. It’s about a 2 hour flight away. We arrived on Wednesday and were told ahead of time that there was some major convention or something going on and parts of the city would be shut down, including the around the Hyatt where we were staying. Sure enough, the roads around the Hyatt were EMPTY – completely empty. Shops, restaurants, businesses, they were all closed. We arrived by a Hyatt shuttle van from the airport and we were not allowed to drive up to the hotel entrance. We had to get out at the street and walk in. Yes, they had luggage porters to carry all our stuff. We entered the building and were greeted by a security checkpoint, just like in an airport. Up went the baggage, the stroller, the carseat, etc. Then we walked through metal detectors and got patted down – even the girls. The Hyatt in Shanghai is a beautiful hotel, with a lobby on the 54th floor.
http://shanghai.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/gallery/photos.jsp
Our hotel room was gorgeous – with 2 walls of the room being windows to view the city. It was a bit foggy so there wasn’t much to see, but I imagine it is spectacular when it’s clear. The bathroom was fantastic – Anthony thinks it’s the best shower he’s ever had. It was pretty nice.
Once we checked in and checked out our room, we decided to go swimming. We went to the pool, which had nice big windows. We were looking out the windows and were told to stand back – there were important people in the hotel and for safety we had to stay away from the windows (our assumption is for snipers) – then they closed the blinds on all the windows. Interesting huh? We found out in the morning’s newspaper that there were several world leaders taking part in meetings in Shanghai, in the area we were and some were most likely staying in the Hyatt, which was the cause for all the security measures.
This taken from the Shanghai daily news “The leaders taking part in the meeting are Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov…… The SCO, an intergovernmental organization that comprises the five countries and China, was established in Shanghai and is celebrating its fifth anniversary…… The four observer nations are represented by Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora…... Afghan President Hamid Karzai is attending the summit as a guest.”
That night, they had a big fireworks display put on for the leaders. The fireworks were going off right at about or a little below the 83rd floor of the hotel. How many people can say they’ve seen fireworks from above?! It was pretty cool – although with all the fog, we couldn’t really see them very well. It was very loud and scared Liz – Anthony took her out where you couldn’t see them or hear them so loud.
The girls and I left the next day to stay at our friends house since the security was just a hassle and nothing was open around the hotel. When we left, we had to take a shuttle bus to a designated spot outside the security zone where we could then get a car or taxi to take us elsewhere. It was just amazing to see a city like Shanghai with blocks and blocks where there were no cars or people walking or anything open. I can’t imagine that happens very often in a city of that many people.
We didn’t do much sightseeing this trip –we hung out with our friends and took the girls to the park in the complex they live. We ate out quite a bit, at Western food places, of course. They have some good ones there, we even had barbecue – at a new place that just opened up by a guy from Austin, Texas! It was yummy stuff! We also did karaoke one night, with the kids. Ryken slept through most of it and it took a while, but we got Ashley singing some kids songs. Liz didn’t really enjoy it, maybe she’ll warm up to it eventually.
We had a good time in Shanghai and hope to go back again at some point when the city won’t be deserted and we can do some more sightseeing.
http://shanghai.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/gallery/photos.jsp
Our hotel room was gorgeous – with 2 walls of the room being windows to view the city. It was a bit foggy so there wasn’t much to see, but I imagine it is spectacular when it’s clear. The bathroom was fantastic – Anthony thinks it’s the best shower he’s ever had. It was pretty nice.
Once we checked in and checked out our room, we decided to go swimming. We went to the pool, which had nice big windows. We were looking out the windows and were told to stand back – there were important people in the hotel and for safety we had to stay away from the windows (our assumption is for snipers) – then they closed the blinds on all the windows. Interesting huh? We found out in the morning’s newspaper that there were several world leaders taking part in meetings in Shanghai, in the area we were and some were most likely staying in the Hyatt, which was the cause for all the security measures.
This taken from the Shanghai daily news “The leaders taking part in the meeting are Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov…… The SCO, an intergovernmental organization that comprises the five countries and China, was established in Shanghai and is celebrating its fifth anniversary…… The four observer nations are represented by Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora…... Afghan President Hamid Karzai is attending the summit as a guest.”
That night, they had a big fireworks display put on for the leaders. The fireworks were going off right at about or a little below the 83rd floor of the hotel. How many people can say they’ve seen fireworks from above?! It was pretty cool – although with all the fog, we couldn’t really see them very well. It was very loud and scared Liz – Anthony took her out where you couldn’t see them or hear them so loud.
The girls and I left the next day to stay at our friends house since the security was just a hassle and nothing was open around the hotel. When we left, we had to take a shuttle bus to a designated spot outside the security zone where we could then get a car or taxi to take us elsewhere. It was just amazing to see a city like Shanghai with blocks and blocks where there were no cars or people walking or anything open. I can’t imagine that happens very often in a city of that many people.
We didn’t do much sightseeing this trip –we hung out with our friends and took the girls to the park in the complex they live. We ate out quite a bit, at Western food places, of course. They have some good ones there, we even had barbecue – at a new place that just opened up by a guy from Austin, Texas! It was yummy stuff! We also did karaoke one night, with the kids. Ryken slept through most of it and it took a while, but we got Ashley singing some kids songs. Liz didn’t really enjoy it, maybe she’ll warm up to it eventually.
We had a good time in Shanghai and hope to go back again at some point when the city won’t be deserted and we can do some more sightseeing.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
You are free to move about the city
We have a driver and a car now!!!!! Anthony’s been working on it for a while and yesterday, he surprised me by meeting me and the girls for dinner with our car and driver to take us home! It was after one frustrating day of taking cabs and getting lost and trying to find cabs when there weren’t any, so it was a welcome relief to have a ride home. Mr. Wang is our driver and he speaks very little English, but can read and write Chinese, so I can just show him an address and he’ll take me there. I was able to run to three different places today and do things in the span of only two hours – which is something that would have taken me days to do with a taxi. It is also much more relaxing riding around in a minivan, with air conditioning, knowing that the driver knows where you want to go and how to get there, which is not a given when you take a cab. I am just so thrilled to have him and our car. It’s a minivan, forget the name, but everyone has them here – all in a dark blue color – I think it’s a Buick Shanghai or something like that. Seats 7, so big enough for us. We still need to get carseats for Ashley and Liz. We looked at a place this last weekend called Lufthansa Center, and they had Graco carseats – for OUTRAGEOUS PRICES! The booster seat that we have back home for Ashley – I think it costs around $50 US dollars, they are asking $200 US for it here. And a Graco convertible car seat was $500 US! That is just insane. There are lots of people moving, so I’m hoping we might be able to buy a used one off of someone who no longer needs it. It’ll take a bit of getting used to, having to rely on someone to take us everywhere, but he lives nearby, so given enough notice, we won’t have to wait long for a ride.
Last Friday, we all went to the clinic here to get updated on all our shots (minus Ryken, he’s too little!). Anthony got 4, I got 3, Ashley got 2 and Liz got 1. I didn’t realize that doctor clinics are also known as torture chambers for our two kids. The ear piercing screams that could be heard coming from behind closed doors while they got their shots was pretty horrible. I had to hold Liz in my lap so they could give her a shot in her leg. She was trying to pull her pants back up and she’s a strong little thing – almost succeeded in keeping them on so she wouldn’t get the shot. She wanted them to give it to her in her finger – poor thing. She only cried for a few minutes once it was over though, then it was Ashley’s turn. Anthony took her in while I stayed out with Liz. He told me that she actually did really well, although from the sound of it, I would have thought she was being tortured. In reality, he said she sat still for the shots and didn’t move her arms when they did it. So, maybe that means she’s getting a little better when it comes to those things. Luckily, I think it’s the last of the shots she needs for many years (or at least I hope so!).
All the kids are healthy now. I managed to catch the cold they had last week and now have a sore throat that isn’t going away. I don’t know how much of it is pollution or getting used to the pollution here and how much is just a virus or something. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day – a bit breezy, with blue skies and white clouds – no sign of the gray dusty polluted skies that we see so often here. I took Ashley with me while we ran errands – she had fun hanging out with mom. We also had playgroup this morning and I met some other moms with 3 month old sons, one who was born on the same day as Ryken! Isn’t it a small world?!
Last Friday, we all went to the clinic here to get updated on all our shots (minus Ryken, he’s too little!). Anthony got 4, I got 3, Ashley got 2 and Liz got 1. I didn’t realize that doctor clinics are also known as torture chambers for our two kids. The ear piercing screams that could be heard coming from behind closed doors while they got their shots was pretty horrible. I had to hold Liz in my lap so they could give her a shot in her leg. She was trying to pull her pants back up and she’s a strong little thing – almost succeeded in keeping them on so she wouldn’t get the shot. She wanted them to give it to her in her finger – poor thing. She only cried for a few minutes once it was over though, then it was Ashley’s turn. Anthony took her in while I stayed out with Liz. He told me that she actually did really well, although from the sound of it, I would have thought she was being tortured. In reality, he said she sat still for the shots and didn’t move her arms when they did it. So, maybe that means she’s getting a little better when it comes to those things. Luckily, I think it’s the last of the shots she needs for many years (or at least I hope so!).
All the kids are healthy now. I managed to catch the cold they had last week and now have a sore throat that isn’t going away. I don’t know how much of it is pollution or getting used to the pollution here and how much is just a virus or something. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day – a bit breezy, with blue skies and white clouds – no sign of the gray dusty polluted skies that we see so often here. I took Ashley with me while we ran errands – she had fun hanging out with mom. We also had playgroup this morning and I met some other moms with 3 month old sons, one who was born on the same day as Ryken! Isn’t it a small world?!
Date night
This was from a few weeks ago, I'd started writing for the blog, then just didn't have time to post it.
We had a pretty good weekend, although not as energetic as we’d hoped for. Both girls have been sick – Liz with just a fever and Ashley with a cough. Ashley’s started out as allergies, turned into an icky cough and tiredness. So, we had to stay in for most of the weekend. Anthony and I did manage to go out Saturday night for a date – our first time since we’ve been here.
It didn’t start out well since the girls were fussy and cranky and didn’t really want us to leave. We had to stay later at the house than we had anticipated. Our original plan was to go eat dinner here in complex with Ryken and then take Ryken back after girls were in bed and go out to a place where they might have music and drinks or something adult like. But, we didn’t end up getting out of the house until late and the place we were going to go eat here in the complex isn’t there anymore (have no idea what happened to it). So, we ended up leaving Ryken with Xiaoshu and taking a cab somewhere. We were still deciding where (had to be nearby with girls sick and all kids with Xiaoshu) when thought we’d try a place we had read about/seen nearby – called Obelisco. It’s “South American” cuisine. The food was actually really good – we had steaks that were fantastic and a very different salad which was good also. The appetizer we ordered was sausage with bread – and that’s what it was – sausage on bread – we decided they could have done something a bit more fancier that that – but all in all, the meal was great. We enjoyed having a meal with no kids and we actually talked about lots of stuff, not just the kids!
Anthony's brilliant idea for the evening was what the world needs for their salads - RANCH dressing. Yes, he thinks that if all the world had ranch dressing, it would be a much better place. Here, you usually find Thousand Island or Salad Dressing (mayonnaise) for salads. And for chicken or buffalo wings, it's blue cheese - ewww. We did find a bottle of Ranch at the local import grocery store (Jenny Lou's) and have decided when we go out to eat American food, we need to take it with us for salads and wings - ranch just makes it so much better.
We had a pretty good weekend, although not as energetic as we’d hoped for. Both girls have been sick – Liz with just a fever and Ashley with a cough. Ashley’s started out as allergies, turned into an icky cough and tiredness. So, we had to stay in for most of the weekend. Anthony and I did manage to go out Saturday night for a date – our first time since we’ve been here.
It didn’t start out well since the girls were fussy and cranky and didn’t really want us to leave. We had to stay later at the house than we had anticipated. Our original plan was to go eat dinner here in complex with Ryken and then take Ryken back after girls were in bed and go out to a place where they might have music and drinks or something adult like. But, we didn’t end up getting out of the house until late and the place we were going to go eat here in the complex isn’t there anymore (have no idea what happened to it). So, we ended up leaving Ryken with Xiaoshu and taking a cab somewhere. We were still deciding where (had to be nearby with girls sick and all kids with Xiaoshu) when thought we’d try a place we had read about/seen nearby – called Obelisco. It’s “South American” cuisine. The food was actually really good – we had steaks that were fantastic and a very different salad which was good also. The appetizer we ordered was sausage with bread – and that’s what it was – sausage on bread – we decided they could have done something a bit more fancier that that – but all in all, the meal was great. We enjoyed having a meal with no kids and we actually talked about lots of stuff, not just the kids!
Anthony's brilliant idea for the evening was what the world needs for their salads - RANCH dressing. Yes, he thinks that if all the world had ranch dressing, it would be a much better place. Here, you usually find Thousand Island or Salad Dressing (mayonnaise) for salads. And for chicken or buffalo wings, it's blue cheese - ewww. We did find a bottle of Ranch at the local import grocery store (Jenny Lou's) and have decided when we go out to eat American food, we need to take it with us for salads and wings - ranch just makes it so much better.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Simple Instructions
Assembly Instructions:
First push out each pre-stamped piece.
Before assembly, smooth all rough edges with enclosed sandpaper.
Get general idea of which parts go where
Pick up two pieces which correspond to each other by number and assemble
If connecting joint is loose, use glue.
This is an instruction manual for some miniature wooden furniture that you punch out and put together. I LOVE number 3. These instructions are just so simple that I find it refreshing.
First push out each pre-stamped piece.
Before assembly, smooth all rough edges with enclosed sandpaper.
Get general idea of which parts go where
Pick up two pieces which correspond to each other by number and assemble
If connecting joint is loose, use glue.
This is an instruction manual for some miniature wooden furniture that you punch out and put together. I LOVE number 3. These instructions are just so simple that I find it refreshing.
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