shoe shopping

Sophia was in desperate need of new shoes before our trip. The problem is (and I was told this more than once) is that her feet are wide and fat, shoes are long enough but she can't 'squeeze' into them. In the end we bought two pair, and an outfit all for about ten USD, but of course I am paying for the quality, I know. To my surprise, the sandals actually light up when she walks, and her new 'adidas' are actually 'adibas' brand. Genuinely fake. At least I know what I am getting.
Here she is diving into her new shoes:


The boxes are much more fun


these are my sandals


My feet aren't really this big but if I am to wear socks (I don't even know what socks are), then I had to get these big tennis shoes. I may end up looking like a clown.

chores (video)

In this video Sophia is helping our 'helper' (who is on loan to us for 2 weeks while our friends are away) do laundry. You can never start them to early...she hasn't quite got the folding down yet, she likes to take the dry clothes and just put them in various places around the living room while I try to fold them.

Thanks TCC!!! (1 video)

Here is a video of Sophia riding on the back of the bike with me for the first time (she looks dazed and confused). I had to practice around the school to get used to the extra 25 pounds. Today we went on our real first outing, in traffic and everything. we ventured to the school (where we used to study) and picked up a package slip, then we traversed across town to the post office to pick up our package from TCC. I was pretty nervous the whole time, especially when the package was bigger than I expected. Thankfully, halfway through the trip I got air put in the tires (very flat) and got my basket tightened. My balancing skills have to be really sharp every time we pass a shop playing music (very often), because Sophia starts dancing, wiggling those hips, and throws me off kilter...I will have to get used to it!
yes, TCC sent us an awesome package. no i will not post every package we get, but this one was so cool, filled with wonderful goodies, candy, magazines, paper towels (yeah), earrings, and check out the pumpkin candle, smells delicious. Now I must decorate for fall, even if it is still 88 degrees in our room at night....fall is here! Thanks SO much TCC! we love and miss you guys.
Kristin: pics are awesome girl, thanks and thanks and thanks.


Thank you TCC for encouraging us so much!


Sophia loves the toy keys, and can actually say 'key'.

colorful cooking

On our healthy diet (half healthy since we cheat half the time :), I love the vibrant colors of cooking that assure we are getting all kinds of good nutrition. This was for making Eggplant Roulades, which turned out for us more like Veg lasagna minus all the cheese. It was really good. I did a two week menu plan, which ends this weekend. It included:

Monday (15th): spinach salad with lots of raw veg, vinaigrette dressing
dinner: bean chili, fresh fruit
Tuesday: Tuna salad on greens, or wrapped in tortilla, fresh fruit
dinner: Veg burrito, acorn squash supreme (delicious, like dessert with no added sugar)
Weds: left overs, dinner Jiaozi (fried dumplings)
Thurs: ordered take out: curry pork and rice, dinner: roasted veg pizza
friday: Left overs, salad, dinner: hearty veg soup (a little spicy)
weekend: left overs and eat out with friends, etc.
Monday: spinach salad with red beans, dinner: Dijon chicken, braised bokchoy
Tuesday: lunch: tuna salad on greens, dinner: eggplant roulades, lemon zest spinach (it was yuck)
Wed: left overs, dinner: jiaozi (dumplings)
thursday: lunch: order out: curry pork and rice, dinner:???

Our 'helper' who is really our friends' helper is helping us while they are away (we are so thankful), she had to go home for a funeral for a few days, so we will see if I can make it to the market and cook some more meals this week. We leave on Monday for Thailand so I won't cook lots as I am trying to clean out the fridge. I may post a recipe of some of the above that turned out well...coming soon (hopefully).

The Williams

Happy Anniversary Travis and Julie, married 7 years ago today! David and I look up to Travis and Julie so much and are SOOOO thankful for them. Even though we have lived most of their marriage overseas, we have managed to go on a few double dates (one of which was here!). Those times have been very precious to us! Thank you guys for displaying a marriage and family centered around the creator of marriage and family. I would post a picture but I have no recent pics of them together! sorry.
Enjoy the day. we love you guys and miss you so much.

reading spots (2 videos)

Sophia obviously does not know how to read yet, but she 'reads' all the time. She likes books almost as much as she likes milk in a bottle. Here is a video of some of her favorite places to take a book. And here is another. Hope you enjoy.

Speaking of milk, yes we are keeping posted on the awful discovery of certain brands of milk powder that has been killing some children in this country. We give Sophia milk, not powder, but we were using the brand of milk that put toxic stuff in their powder, so we have switched brands!

market conversations

Everyday I hear something worth noting, but I always forget. Last week in the market a man asked: "are you a foreigner?" "yes." "so you are not a chinese?" "no, I am American." "oh. (smile and thumbs up followed)" I do get mistaken for having Asian affiliations, but I have never been asked quite like that before. David sometimes tells people I from the Northwest (near Russia), they believe him, or he says I am part of a minority group in America (descendants of American Indians, he means) and they leave it at that. I don't mind the confusion, it can be beneficial at times to not immediately be pegged as completely foreign.

other conversations i hear almost daily in regards to parenting: this is a real conversation:
"she's cold" (a Chinese lady talking about sophia)
"no, she's not" (me)
"she's cold"
"no, she's not"
"she's cold"
"no, she's not."
this was one lady, not three different people, she walked down the aisle next to the stroller with me telling me this. Today a different lady told me Sophia was cold and that she was going to catch a cold, she needed on longer pants (it was probably 75 outside, in the morning, and we were in the supermarket). With fall approaching, I can't wait to hear the scoldings I will receive, not to mention that all of the local children are potty trained in their first few months of life (a very difficult and time consuming task that only works if you have someone holding the child all of the time) so i am sure i will soon began to hear about the fact that Sophia is still wearing diapers. the joys of parenting cross culturally.

keeping us laughing...

Sophia recently has started to sit underneath my desk and 'read' or just sit there.


Mama, don't put me on this 'Eat to Live' diet, gross





what's up?


this picture epitomizes Sophia: so much fun

Liiiiigghht

Click Here to see Sophia saying light, we just like the way she says it. She is a sponge these days and now can also say the Chinese word for dog: gou (pronounced 'go'). The english way she says 'dog' varies and is quite funny. A lot of times it is 'dog ge' with real emphasis on the end, sometimes it is more drawn out: like 'dowwg.' In fact, one time as we were discussing this David said it sounded a little like how you might say 'Georgia Bulldawwg,' and I said, 'ut oh, better teach her go gators' and as I said this she did the gator chomp (which is just a clap for her), I couldn't believe she remembered that I did teach this to her about 3 weeks prior to this discussion and we hadn't practiced it since, what a clever little girl, lovin' her mamas' gators! We will keep working on it, of course! Until then, Go Gators....:)

Full Moon

We did end up going to our old helper's house to celebrate the mid-autumn festival. She lives in a village within the city so it was not far at all. We ate roasted duck, roasted peppers (hot), avoided the raw pork dish, and ate another sour dish that tastes like collard greens. It was all quite good. I also avoided a dish that had little tiny fish in it, in the pic below they are offering Sophia some of the fish as they clean them. yum or yuck, whatever your preference.




this is what unhulled rice looks like, it is time to harvest the rice, which is what part of the festivities are about, celebrating the harvest.



Sophia was all over the place, and has her eye on somewhere she wants to go in this pic, she loved to go look at the pigs and the ducks.


this guy is Sophia's biggest fan. His parents own a restaurant in this same village, and everytime we go he scoops her up right away and carries her around, and always gives her kisses goodbye, the whole family is incredibly sweet, we love going to visit them.

The sky is clear, the moon is full, David literally just ate a mooncake and gazed at the moon from our kitchen window. One with the culture :)

Mid Autumn Festival (video)

Today we celebrate Mid Autumn Festival with our neighbors, September 14th, corresponding to the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar. The moon will be bright and full tonight, and most Chinese will be eating moon cakes, lots of fruit, roasted chestnuts, and enjoying time with family and friends. We did have plans to go to our old helper's house, but her father has been sick all week, so we are not sure if we will go. The friends above brought over some moon cakes for us last night, and Sophia put on quite a show.


a moon cake.

Do not confuse 'moon cake' with 'moon pies' of 'moon pie and RC Cola' fame. no no. not the same, at all. Moon cakes are of all varieties, but most are filled with pork or bean paste, others with fruit, the outside is pastry like, but very deep fried. They are okay, so we stomach them. But only once a year, thank goodness.


A random look at Sophia: In this video David was teaching Sophia how to jump, and she really just ended up on her tippy toes.


contemplative, content


michevious, playful


joyful, happy
that's our Sophia these days...

Six years ago today...

David asked me to marry him.
He had already asked me, actually, but this question involved a very beautiful ring and a canoe ride to a remote area where a dinner picnic with flowers and music awaited us. Though we had been planning the wedding already, I was very surprised by everything. He wrote me an awesome poem that he has actually continued through the years, on that day it ended with "Lorraine Johnson, will you be my wife?" And you guys know the rest of the story....

The story now includes this doodlebug (as Grandma Pinnie calls her):

crazy girl loves to lean back on the ottoman and relax

just chillin' out mommy

this is the life...

one day i put her in one of Anna Williams' old outfits, her belly made the shirt a little too short,


and the shorts were a little (a lot) too big:

catch up

can you tell i am using this friday to catch up on things i have been meaning to blog... so many posts in one day. i just downloaded videos to the computer and am slowly uploading them to share. Here is one of Sophia pretending to eat a snack. She will do this quite dramatically and then share her 'food' with us. Here is one of her dancing, where she has recently started to spin and spin and spin, I guess she learned this from when I would pick her up and dance with her and spin her around. Incidentally blogging is not all I do (with my system it actually only takes a few minutes a post).
Here is what my recent daily schedule has come to look like:

• 6:30-7:00ish: wake up (it is 6a.m if i get to bed on time), read and study the word
  
• 7:30 get Sophia up, prep and eat breakfast
• 8:00- Sophia has free play while I straighten, clean up bfast and look at email
• 8:30-go to the supermarket (this is a 5 minute walk, sophia goes with me, we do not have a helper now so I cannot make it to the real market until the afternoon, so i see what i can buy from the supermarket, which sells some veggies)
• read to sophia before her nap
  
• 9:30-sophia naps, I finish my reading from the morning (or start it if I didn't get to it), plan/prep lunch (unless we are going out, which is often these days), or work on other computer stuff
• 10:30, sophia gets up and has snack, we usually go outside to play until lunch
• after lunch sophia has some free play then we read together before her nap
  
• 1pm, sophia naps, I do the dishes and listen to language audio, then straighten, laundry, possibly blog or start it, and keep listening and studying. Most days at this time is when I do all my dinner prep if I am cooking. Today I actually went to the market to get better veggies and then prepped dinner.
  
• 3:30 give sophia snack, and give her free play time
• 4-5: go outside to play unless it is too hot or raining, sometimes i put her in the stroller and run some errands.
  
• 5:30 dinner
• after dinner is family time, usually outside with neighbors and their children.
  
• 7:00 ish, David gives Sophia a bath
• 7:30, milk for snack and off to bed for Sophia
• 7:30, I just started running again (my previously hurt ankle feels great), so I am starting out at about 5K distance, feels great so far
  
• 8:30 shower, wind down, read, computer stuff if necessary
  
• 9:30, try to head for bed to read,
  
• it is usually at least 10 before we hit the hay, and then i start reading my 'veg' book which right now is the The Bourne Ultimatum (i have already read it but not without reading the other two first, a completely different experience, the books are totally different and so much better than the movies)

After reading this just remember that we live in Asia, which means possible interruptions at any time for any good or bad cause are frequent. But with a child I am actually able to stick to a schedule a little better and not oblige every interruption. of course the 'interruption' may not be people either, it may be sickness, no electricity, earthquake, etc. Anyway, that is a peek into my daily life.

Clarification

David wanted me to clarify, lest you think it is cool here, that I am using the blanket even when it is between 75-80+ degrees (but we do have fans and cool storm breezes). He and Sophia are still sweating. He is encouraged because he thinks when she gets older it will be two against one where the 'thermostat' is concerned. :)

Silliness and Storms

David trying to peak Sophia's interest in Mechanical Engineering, she seemed interested, I think he lost her when he started talking to her about fluid dynamics.


She just discovered how to put this on her head, sort of. Knowing she couldn't see she still bravely walked around, then would pull it off and laugh...


One of her many funny faces...


One of the many reasons we love this place.
Rooftop sunsets that take your breath away and make you thank the Creator.



This sunset was followed by a storm moving in from the left in the picture.
and another reason we love it here, the awesome storms that keep me using a blanket in the middle of summer.

Now here's a story...

This 17 year old boy on the right was in a motorcycle accident near his village. It was so bad that it broke his tibia (one of the small bones in your lower leg). It broke so bad that it actually came through the skin. The situation was worsened by the fact that he didn't have the money to come to town to go to the hospital, so he sat at home for five days. The family finally got the money and made the trip (the initial cost that they didn't have was less than 70 USD). But of course by then infection had set in, serious infection that could only be removed through surgery, and after surgery it is still serious. We and some others helped him get this surgery (they flew a doc from the provincial capital to do it), and since David could speak his language he went to visit him before and after. In fact David has been to the hospital quite a bit, and this young man's family now sees David as part of theirs. They wanted to meet the whole family so one day I went to the hospital as well. They said I could come live with them when I wanted to learn their language. I'm game.


This is they guy's aunt, and yes, at a whoping 5'4'' I am almost a foot taller!



People visiting him in the hospital (including his Mom and Aunt) really, really wanted to meet Sophia, so they came over one afternoon. Sophia enjoyed the company. The lady to David's right literally showed us her stomach and said Sophia had one like her :). They also brought us all this food that David loves (that I don't know how to use), one in particular is a dipping sauce, literally translated means 'water sour teeth' and that pretty much describes it--super sour!
We love this family and we know this will be a lifelong friendship. The boy is doing well after surgery and will stay in the hospital on strong antibiotics for another few weeks.
As they left our house the Aunt and Mom lagged behind a little and in our stairwell the Aunt started to cry. Tears of thanksgiving. I began to cry too as I thought about the whole ordeal and putting myself in their shoes, we are so thankful for the opportunity to know this family, and David continues to point their family to the One who really made this all possible to whom we all should be thankful.

trip tidbits

To understand this pic see the previous post about our time in Thailand. Here is the mannequin leg with funky hosiery, Sophia just thought it was weird (smart girl)!



mommy and daddy never let me type on their toys...


Sophia loves to get under and in things





This should be a post all by itself. We have a had a local tell us that China is the 'king of fake,' and yes we know that is true. But as we were walking through the airport David nonchalantly said, 'look, that guy has a Mac', he corrected himself and said 'or at least a fake one,' as we got closer to his table, we couldn't believe our eyes. Can you see it? too funny, an apple icon with Dell written in the middle. We shouldn't be surprised at stuff like this anymore, but we are!

check me out

My aunt Bap gave me this outfit. I think i am real cute. I am about to outgrow it. But so many people gave me compliments on it! Thank you Aunt Bap, I miss you!

Back home

Our day started at 5 a.m. and no electricity in the hotel. We opened the door to let the emergency light in so we could see where we were going and finish packing. We woke Sophia and were on our way. We arrived at our house around 6:30 p.m. That is a long day of travel and it wasn't even from another continent. Only four hours in the air, the rest in airports. Sophia did wonderful, just got a little fussy on the last flight, who can blame her!

Exhausted, we went to bed a little early only to be woken up by Sophia at 2:30 a.m (she hasn't woken up in the middle of the night since who knows when). We comforted her, put her down. No problem. More crying..Brought her to lay with us... Then put her back in her bed. More crying. We let her cry. She was in pain. Did I forget to mention that we finally discovered she has two front top teeth coming in? More and More crying. In the end Sophia and I slept in the guest room after an hour of crying. Teething is no fun. But we are excited about her new toothy grin. We are hoping tonight goes better.

Here are a few pics from the beginning of our trip, I will post others later:

David unplugged the phone for Sophia to play with. We have no idea what this conversation entailed, it was jibberish to us, but by her looks and gestures, she probably was saying...

"you don't have fresh milk on tap, what kind of hotel are you running here?"



"You better listen to me, you don't know what kind of fit I can throw when I don't have my milk"




"You will find me some? Now we are gettin' somewhere. Charge it to the room"



"Hey mama, you want anything?"

On September 3rd 2008...

Sophia said her first word in Chinese: GeGe (big brother), we have actually never used the English with her. We were in the provincial capital on our way out to Thailand, sitting in a place frequented by foreigners (us), but there were locals there and one little boy in particular. We said, "Sophia, say nihao gege" and she said "gege" and she kept saying it, to him, not randomly. In our apartment complex, most of the kids are little boys, older than her of course, so they are all her geges, she has heard it a lot. Out of her twenty word vocabulary (inteligible), one word is Chinese. We were amazed.

After a two hour delay we boarded the plane for Thailand. Sophia had no afternoon nap and we also had a layover in Bangkok, we had to run through the airport to make the connection and we arrived at our hotel by about 8:30 Thai time which is 9:30 China time. Sophia was so tired! She slept well that night. On the flights we got bulk head seating and she loved sitting at our feet and playing with her toys.

We have struggled a little today. The room is quite bright and so Sophia just stayed in her crib for her morning nap, but she didn't sleep. She laid there for a while, then finally I gave her some toys, trying to keep her in there for about 45 minutes total. This place is not real conducive for kids. For lunch she ate watermelon and cheerios, while I ate a scoop of Mocha chip icecream, this because the Thai dish served (which looked and smelled delicious), had shrimp in it, to which I am very allergic. The food was not near soft enough for Sophia and her two teeth. This afternoon she slept for an hour and a half, then David skipped out of some meetings to run some errands and we all went to the mall. Sophia did wonderful, staying in her stroller most of the time. We ate pizza, Sophia ate a little spinach lasagna. We went to the grocery store in the basement and I got strawberries, grapes, and other goodies to be better prepared for tomorrow.

Of course we couldn't get out of the mall without some dessert, and so much to choose from, it was a real dilemma, Auntie Annes, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Dairy Queen, etc. We chose coffee oreo blizzards and some donuts for later. While sitting there enjoying our blizzards, some ladies from a hosiery store right in front of the bench we were on came out to play with Sophia, they were just talking away to her and unbeknownst to us, they unbuckled her, and proceeded to take her out (we were caught off guard, but started to pay attention) and then whisked her away into their store. We had to laugh, because neither one of us knew that was happening. They were very friendly, and we could see her the whole time. She took off with their calculator and then one lady started taking a mannequin leg (with funky hosiery on it), and moving it towards Sophia, this was all so surreal. It was like a TV show or something, making the leg dance, watching Sophia's reaction. There were about 8 women surrounding her. Anyway, all we can say is, what a day. What will tomorrow bring. We may try the scary looking swimming pool... I'll let ya know.

conversing?

Sophia is talking in complete sentences now. We of course cannot understand a word of it, but on and on she goes. Our friend's son, however, does understand her, and though he can speak intelligible words (he is 3), he has talked back to her in her language on occasion. They just happen to live four floors below us, so Sophia will hear him playing outside, run over to the window and start jabbering to him. Two days ago when she did this, she said: "awasdahd babba aahhcccc," to which Caleb replied (telling his father): "she wants to go to the pool." Hilarious. When he was up at our house recently he was leaving and he on his own said he had to give Sophia a hug and a kiss and he did, it was incredibly sweet (i had to ask for one, but he complied). She will miss her gege (big brother) when they leave for a month.

Friends

Some friends from out of town came to visit, and Sophia had such a blast with them as you can tell:





Sophia loved this man (below) upon first meeting. He walked in the door and she went straight to him, which is rare. This is our helper's dad.
They have a cousin, thirty-something, with a wife and two year old. The man was just diagnosed with AIDS and they brought the slips over for us to read just to be sure and to find out what to do. They were told by the doctors not to tell anyone else. We are trying to get him to come into town and get some medicine. We will see if he does. A very sad situation, one that is becoming all too common in these parts.



We leave for Thailand tomorrow so we are busy packing. I have never stayed in a hotel for a week with a very active one year old. Needing much grace. Then we do it all again, but for a month in October, wow. At least Dairy Queen and Starbucks will be involved.