Well, I finally installed a VPN program (yeah, until now, I didn't know what that was either) on our laptops here which will allow us access to blocked websites here in China, including this blog. It feels great to be able to blog again, as well as catch up with the blogs I like to follow. During my absence, I was able to post a few videos directly via One True Media, but now I'm back up and running.
Since we're starting a new chapter in our lives, I've decided to start a new blog to cover our 3 years in Shanghai.
The new blog will be Getting by in Shanghai, http://www.songtanjalee2.blogspot.com. Hope to see you there!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Shanghai 2/22/10
In case you're curious, here's a little clip of what Shanghai looks like by car. This is from our drive from the airport to our hotel. You'll see the Shanghai Expo Site in Pudong along the river. And yes, the sky really does look like that. It's been very hazy and smoggy all week.
Singing in the car 2/22/10
Here's Leah on the way from the Shanghai Pudong airport to our hotel. In the car, she started singing and doing this silly thing with her hands, which went on for several minutes, so here's just a sampling. In another video, she puts her hands to her chest and then up high while she sings. The driver was cracking up and thought she was really funny.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
2/17/10 at Damon's Restaurant
Leah just loves going out to restaurants. Here she is being silly and funny at Damon's, the evening that the movers emptied out the house.
Leah hanging around 2/17/10
Here's Leah at the hotel in Ohio having a lot of fun swinging on the hotel luggage cart. She does this every chance she gets.
FYI: I am not able to post to my blog from here in China, but will bring you some videos this way until we acquire access.
FYI: I am not able to post to my blog from here in China, but will bring you some videos this way until we acquire access.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Moving Day Saga
It's been a crazy week around here. A few days after our things destined for Shanghai were moved out of the house, we had a major change of plans. We decided to go ahead and have the rest of our stuff moved into storage. This, of course, created a ton more work for ourselves as we suddenly had to plan a second round of moving and get rid of our cars, but we hope to be able to rent out the house while we are away. Getting ready for the movers this time was a little tough. Since our air and sea shipments were already gone, we knew that whatever does not fit into our luggage will have to sit in storage for 3 long years.
Yesterday, the movers spent the whole day packing, and today they'll finish with packing while some other guys come over and crate the large fragile items, like standing mirrors and glass-tops. Then in the afternoon, they'll start emptying out the house. Of course, doesn't it figure we always seem to move house in the middle of a snow storm. I don't know how that happens.
Leah did great again during moving day #1. We had actually investigated the idea of putting her in daycare for these two days, but ended up not having enough time to make the arrangements since the movers came a day early, to our surprise! Like last time, we parked her in her booster seat in front of the TV, (thank goodness for the Sprout channel. She gets so engrossed in it!) and that kept her busy and occupied for the first half of the day. After lunch, John took her out for a drive so she could get a change of scenery and take a little nap.
Here she is hanging out in her booster seat. She calls it "seat" and loves sitting in it.
And here she is helping to clean...
So anyway, starting tonight, we'll stay in a hotel while we tie up loose ends around here. We still have so much last-minute stuff to do before we leave. On Saturday, we will begin our very long journey to our new home. I'll keep you posted.
Yesterday, the movers spent the whole day packing, and today they'll finish with packing while some other guys come over and crate the large fragile items, like standing mirrors and glass-tops. Then in the afternoon, they'll start emptying out the house. Of course, doesn't it figure we always seem to move house in the middle of a snow storm. I don't know how that happens.
Leah did great again during moving day #1. We had actually investigated the idea of putting her in daycare for these two days, but ended up not having enough time to make the arrangements since the movers came a day early, to our surprise! Like last time, we parked her in her booster seat in front of the TV, (thank goodness for the Sprout channel. She gets so engrossed in it!) and that kept her busy and occupied for the first half of the day. After lunch, John took her out for a drive so she could get a change of scenery and take a little nap.
Here she is hanging out in her booster seat. She calls it "seat" and loves sitting in it.
And here she is helping to clean...
So anyway, starting tonight, we'll stay in a hotel while we tie up loose ends around here. We still have so much last-minute stuff to do before we leave. On Saturday, we will begin our very long journey to our new home. I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Say Cheese!
Here's a little video from last Saturday of Leah dancing, jumping forward, saying "there you are!" when she finds her camera, and then saying "cheese!" when she's trying to take a picture.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Jumping Jumping
Just a quick update to say that Leah has finally achieved something she's been working at for the last week or so: jumping off her step stool! She did this a few times today and was really excited.
Also, before now, she could only jump up and down, but now she can also jump forward over and over, 7 or 8 times in a row! Go Leah!
Also, before now, she could only jump up and down, but now she can also jump forward over and over, 7 or 8 times in a row! Go Leah!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Smooth Move
Well, to our surprise, moving day went pretty smoothly. The movers were here bright and early on Thursday morning to pack up the stuff we're bringing to China. They showed up with two trucks and two containers, one for our air freight and one for our surface goods. We had to be pretty organized and prepared before they got here so we could tell them what stuff was going where. It was a pretty busy morning with the whole house in disarray, as you can imagine. Since we're moving into a furnished place, we're not bringing any furniture, except for a chair and a side table. But still, it was a lot of stuff! Leah's toys and clothes alone were quite a load. We managed to get most of her stuff in with the air shipment, except for the big stuff.
While we were planning for the day, we were not really sure what we would do do with Leah while the movers were here. We imagined that with the stair gates removed, the basement door open, boxes and packing material all over the place, and the whole place torn up, she'd be really in the way and would become a hazard to herself. Our plan was that if necessary, John would take her out somewhere for the whole day and leave me to make all the last minute decisions.
Would you believe that she sat happily in her high chair watching kids' shows for the entire 3.5 hours? All that couch potato training really came in handy! She never got scared of the guys or worried about all the noise and commotion. There was an occasional "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" when she saw her toys being packed up, but other than that, she did great! In fact, we almost even forgot the high chair and it was the very last thing we threw in the truck. Once again, Leah amazed us!
While we were planning for the day, we were not really sure what we would do do with Leah while the movers were here. We imagined that with the stair gates removed, the basement door open, boxes and packing material all over the place, and the whole place torn up, she'd be really in the way and would become a hazard to herself. Our plan was that if necessary, John would take her out somewhere for the whole day and leave me to make all the last minute decisions.
Would you believe that she sat happily in her high chair watching kids' shows for the entire 3.5 hours? All that couch potato training really came in handy! She never got scared of the guys or worried about all the noise and commotion. There was an occasional "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" when she saw her toys being packed up, but other than that, she did great! In fact, we almost even forgot the high chair and it was the very last thing we threw in the truck. Once again, Leah amazed us!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Another installment of Leah's Latest
In three short weeks, we'll say goodbye to all things familiar and board a plane to Shanghai, which will be our new home for the next three years. Until that time, there's still so much to arrange, but hopefully, with good planning (and very little sleep), we'll get it all done. The movers are coming this week, so we'll be very busy organizing and separating which stuff is going by sea, by air, in our luggage, with us on the plane, and which stuff we'll leave behind.
All of Leahs' toys will disappear and she'll have nothing to play with for another two weeks, except for a few things we'll bring with us on the plane to keep her busy during a 20-hour travel day. We have a feeling she won't let her play kitchen go without a fight. We feel really bad that she might not see it for another 2-3 months. It'll be a crazy week, especially since nothing is easy when you have an active toddler around.
So for now, here's my latest installment of what Leah's been up to lately. She's actually been doing many of these things even before I even went to Shanghai, but I haven't had much time to blog since then.
Jumping - Her jumping is getting better and better. She jumps all the time, and even did a double jump once. Oh, and when she's mad and trying to get her point across, she will not only stomp her feet, but she'll jump, too!
Singing and dancing - Leah loves music. She sings all the time now. She sings along with music in the car, and to herself whenever she feels like it. She loves to sing and dance together. And we have even seen her playing her xylophone like a piano while singing along.
Here are a few clips of her singing today.
Pretending to sleep - Something she likes to do is crawl into bed and lay on a pillow and pull the covers up and go "shhh" and close her eyes. She even does the motion for turning out the lights. If only it were that easy getting her to sleep!
Pretending to read - She runs her finger along the words in a book and pretends she's reading. Or she pretends to spell words. For instance, when I wear my Gap sweatshirt, she points to each letter and sounds like she's trying to spell the word Gap.
Oh no! - Her favorite expression nowadays is "Oh no!" and this has pretty much replaced "Uh oh". She's always exclaiming "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" every time she sees something is wrong. If she sees something has spilled, or the notices something in a book or on Tv, etc., she shouts this. One funny example, I had a zit on my nose for about three days, and she noticed it right away. Every day, she would come right up to me and point at it and go "Oh no!" with great concern.
Hug your ba-ba's - Whenever we say this to Leah while she's eating in her highchair, she goes crazy and thinks it's just hilarious. She grabs her sippy cups and hugs them really tight and laughs so hard!
Laugh and smile - She knows the meaning of these words now. When I say "laugh", she'll giggle. And when I say "smile" she'll do a big cheesy grin.
Cheese! - She has her own camera (an old one that no longer works right), but she loves to turn it on and take pictures. Usually she has it pointing toward her face, which is cute. The last few days, I've noticed her saying "cheese" when she's trying to take a picture. And also when I'm taking a picture of her.
All done! - She says this in a sing-song way with the arm motions, the way we learned it in Kindermusik, whenever she's done eating or taking a bath or at the end of a book.
There you are! - She says this all the time whenever one of us reappears or when she sees something she's looking for, and it really does mean "there you are/there it is". Her version sounds like "day yee ah".
I'm fine - I've been teaching Leah how to answer when I ask "How are you?". So now, when I ask, she says all by herself "I'm fine". She usually tries it about 10 times in a row, and sometimes it's very clear!
Phone calls - Her phone calls are getting better and better. We get such a kick out of watching her on the phone. Stay tuned for some good videos of her making calls.
Here she is a few weeks ago in the car right after she woke up from a nap. This went on for about 10 minutes straight and I took a bunch of videos, but here is just one.
Her step stool - Leah has discovered how handy a step stool can be. She carries it around with her all over the house to get a better view of things on the countertops and over the safety gates. So now, we have to be even more careful about what is on the counters because she's grabbing everything she can off of them. Note to self: hide the step stool.
She also loves trying on her santa hat.
All of Leahs' toys will disappear and she'll have nothing to play with for another two weeks, except for a few things we'll bring with us on the plane to keep her busy during a 20-hour travel day. We have a feeling she won't let her play kitchen go without a fight. We feel really bad that she might not see it for another 2-3 months. It'll be a crazy week, especially since nothing is easy when you have an active toddler around.
So for now, here's my latest installment of what Leah's been up to lately. She's actually been doing many of these things even before I even went to Shanghai, but I haven't had much time to blog since then.
Jumping - Her jumping is getting better and better. She jumps all the time, and even did a double jump once. Oh, and when she's mad and trying to get her point across, she will not only stomp her feet, but she'll jump, too!
Singing and dancing - Leah loves music. She sings all the time now. She sings along with music in the car, and to herself whenever she feels like it. She loves to sing and dance together. And we have even seen her playing her xylophone like a piano while singing along.
Here are a few clips of her singing today.
Pretending to sleep - Something she likes to do is crawl into bed and lay on a pillow and pull the covers up and go "shhh" and close her eyes. She even does the motion for turning out the lights. If only it were that easy getting her to sleep!
Pretending to read - She runs her finger along the words in a book and pretends she's reading. Or she pretends to spell words. For instance, when I wear my Gap sweatshirt, she points to each letter and sounds like she's trying to spell the word Gap.
Oh no! - Her favorite expression nowadays is "Oh no!" and this has pretty much replaced "Uh oh". She's always exclaiming "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" every time she sees something is wrong. If she sees something has spilled, or the notices something in a book or on Tv, etc., she shouts this. One funny example, I had a zit on my nose for about three days, and she noticed it right away. Every day, she would come right up to me and point at it and go "Oh no!" with great concern.
Hug your ba-ba's - Whenever we say this to Leah while she's eating in her highchair, she goes crazy and thinks it's just hilarious. She grabs her sippy cups and hugs them really tight and laughs so hard!
Laugh and smile - She knows the meaning of these words now. When I say "laugh", she'll giggle. And when I say "smile" she'll do a big cheesy grin.
Cheese! - She has her own camera (an old one that no longer works right), but she loves to turn it on and take pictures. Usually she has it pointing toward her face, which is cute. The last few days, I've noticed her saying "cheese" when she's trying to take a picture. And also when I'm taking a picture of her.
All done! - She says this in a sing-song way with the arm motions, the way we learned it in Kindermusik, whenever she's done eating or taking a bath or at the end of a book.
There you are! - She says this all the time whenever one of us reappears or when she sees something she's looking for, and it really does mean "there you are/there it is". Her version sounds like "day yee ah".
I'm fine - I've been teaching Leah how to answer when I ask "How are you?". So now, when I ask, she says all by herself "I'm fine". She usually tries it about 10 times in a row, and sometimes it's very clear!
Phone calls - Her phone calls are getting better and better. We get such a kick out of watching her on the phone. Stay tuned for some good videos of her making calls.
Here she is a few weeks ago in the car right after she woke up from a nap. This went on for about 10 minutes straight and I took a bunch of videos, but here is just one.
Her step stool - Leah has discovered how handy a step stool can be. She carries it around with her all over the house to get a better view of things on the countertops and over the safety gates. So now, we have to be even more careful about what is on the counters because she's grabbing everything she can off of them. Note to self: hide the step stool.
She also loves trying on her santa hat.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Mission: Almost Impossible
Well, I spent 3.5 days in Shanghai on a quest for a suitable furnished apartment that we can live with for three years. It was not an easy task. As you may remember, John and I made separate scouting trips back in November, and based on what we had been shown then, thought we had found the right compound for us.
So for this trip, our realtor basically picked out several apartments in that compound for me to choose from. Problem was, none of them even resembled the cool, hip, stylish ones we had seen there before, which it turns out, were owned, managed, designed, and decorated by a major property investor. The apartments I was shown this time around were landlord-owned and much cheaper, and not nearly as nice.
But I asked about another compound that I had heard about, and even though the agents kept saying it wasn't as child-friendly, decided to take a look, out of curiosity and desperation. Turns out these places were much bigger, brighter, newer, and nicer overall. And I didn't think the compound was child-unfriendly at all. It has an indoor and outdoor pool, a wave pool and a sandy beach, an indoor playroom and an outdoor playground, and lots of green areas to stroll around.
So the very last apartment I saw, right before I had to leave Shanghai, was the one I liked the best. The big question is what the furniture actually looks like, since the current tenant had taken the place unfurnished and was a major collector of Chinese antiques and had the place packed to the rafters with furniture. If we get it, we'll have to agree on the place without actually seeing the condition of the furniture, but they did show us pictures of the furniture and it looks fine. I liked the space itself. It was bright and had great river views, and it had beautiful bathrooms and floors, and a nice kitchen. So we're putting in a bid on that one and really hope we get it. Fingers crossed. If not, we're going to have to start from square one when we arrive in Shanghai next month.
Back at home, John and his mom, who we flew back in for the week so John could continue planning our relocation, kept Leah busy. According to their reports, even though they all had a great time, Leah really missed me. And I certainly missed her. When they picked me up at the airport, it was so cute seeing Leah running towards me as soon as she saw me. And ever since I've been back home, Leah has turned into a velcro-baby, who won't let me put her down and do anything.
I got back in time to go to Leah's last class at the Little Gym. I didn't want to miss that. She's so good at everything these days, that people are calling her a little gymnast. We're definitely planning on finding gymnastic and dance classes for her in Shanghai.
Oh, and Leah now has a passport! The day before I left, we made a trip to the passport office and applied for it in person. We had it expedited, and received it just a few days later. Her social security number is also on its way soon, and we'll also apply for her Certificate of Citizenship this week. So things are starting to come together.
So for this trip, our realtor basically picked out several apartments in that compound for me to choose from. Problem was, none of them even resembled the cool, hip, stylish ones we had seen there before, which it turns out, were owned, managed, designed, and decorated by a major property investor. The apartments I was shown this time around were landlord-owned and much cheaper, and not nearly as nice.
But I asked about another compound that I had heard about, and even though the agents kept saying it wasn't as child-friendly, decided to take a look, out of curiosity and desperation. Turns out these places were much bigger, brighter, newer, and nicer overall. And I didn't think the compound was child-unfriendly at all. It has an indoor and outdoor pool, a wave pool and a sandy beach, an indoor playroom and an outdoor playground, and lots of green areas to stroll around.
So the very last apartment I saw, right before I had to leave Shanghai, was the one I liked the best. The big question is what the furniture actually looks like, since the current tenant had taken the place unfurnished and was a major collector of Chinese antiques and had the place packed to the rafters with furniture. If we get it, we'll have to agree on the place without actually seeing the condition of the furniture, but they did show us pictures of the furniture and it looks fine. I liked the space itself. It was bright and had great river views, and it had beautiful bathrooms and floors, and a nice kitchen. So we're putting in a bid on that one and really hope we get it. Fingers crossed. If not, we're going to have to start from square one when we arrive in Shanghai next month.
Back at home, John and his mom, who we flew back in for the week so John could continue planning our relocation, kept Leah busy. According to their reports, even though they all had a great time, Leah really missed me. And I certainly missed her. When they picked me up at the airport, it was so cute seeing Leah running towards me as soon as she saw me. And ever since I've been back home, Leah has turned into a velcro-baby, who won't let me put her down and do anything.
I got back in time to go to Leah's last class at the Little Gym. I didn't want to miss that. She's so good at everything these days, that people are calling her a little gymnast. We're definitely planning on finding gymnastic and dance classes for her in Shanghai.
Oh, and Leah now has a passport! The day before I left, we made a trip to the passport office and applied for it in person. We had it expedited, and received it just a few days later. Her social security number is also on its way soon, and we'll also apply for her Certificate of Citizenship this week. So things are starting to come together.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Jumpin' Jin-Ri
In the past few days, Leah has started hopping and jumping. I think her jumping butt-plops were the preparation for this. These have also gotten a lot better since that one video over the holidays, and in addition to the ottoman, she now tries it on the floor (carpeted, thank goodness), in the bathtub and made a big splash! (fortunately with a cushioned bath mat), and on the beds. She really throws her legs out from under her and plops down.
But nowadays, she is really starting to jump. And whenever we even say the word "jump", she'll do it. You can see how proud she is of herself! And we are too.
But nowadays, she is really starting to jump. And whenever we even say the word "jump", she'll do it. You can see how proud she is of herself! And we are too.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Birth Certificates
We were very happy to receive Leah's birth certificates in the mail yesterday, so we can finally apply for her passport. It only took a month and a half, instead of the 3-4 months that we were originally told.
We're hoping her passport doesn't take too long, since the timing of our move is dependent on when she will be able to travel out of the country.
We're hoping her passport doesn't take too long, since the timing of our move is dependent on when she will be able to travel out of the country.
Monday, January 11, 2010
18-month check-up
Leah had her 18-month check-up today at the Cleveland Clinic and did great as usual. She's a very healthy and happy little girl and the doctor has no concerns about her. She is still right at the 50th percentile for height, weight and head circumference, which is great since when she first came home, she was between the 10th and 25th percentile for everything. She had to get two shots and hardly cried at all. We're so proud of her!
Here she is in her little hospital gown. How cute is that?
We let our pediatrician know about our move to Shanghai, and she's going to get us in touch with a pediatrician/colleague of hers who is the CEO of an expat hospital in Shanghai, in the event we need help. But Leah doesn't need anything more until she turns 2 years in July, and we'll probably be back home around then for a visit so we can go back to our regular pediatrician.
Here she is in her little hospital gown. How cute is that?
We let our pediatrician know about our move to Shanghai, and she's going to get us in touch with a pediatrician/colleague of hers who is the CEO of an expat hospital in Shanghai, in the event we need help. But Leah doesn't need anything more until she turns 2 years in July, and we'll probably be back home around then for a visit so we can go back to our regular pediatrician.
Role Swap, part 2
A week from today, I'll be back in Shanghai on a mission to find our home for the next three years, while John stays home with Leah and plays Mr. Mom. Hopefully, he'll remember how to change diapers since he hasn't had any practice since November, when we did our first role swap.
We have pretty much decided on getting an apartment instead of a house, and there is one compound we both saw that we think might work for us. It seemed to be very family-friendly and had a very active and busy outdoor playground, with a pre-school on-site. Plus, there was lots of open space to roam.
In addition to househunting, I'm going to take a closer look at what's available there in terms of English language books, clothes, toys, groceries, toiletries, etc., so we can decide what we need to bring and what we can leave behind.
I'm not really looking forward to the long travel days and the jet lag, but I have a feeling I'll become a pro at it after three years of going back and forth.
We have pretty much decided on getting an apartment instead of a house, and there is one compound we both saw that we think might work for us. It seemed to be very family-friendly and had a very active and busy outdoor playground, with a pre-school on-site. Plus, there was lots of open space to roam.
In addition to househunting, I'm going to take a closer look at what's available there in terms of English language books, clothes, toys, groceries, toiletries, etc., so we can decide what we need to bring and what we can leave behind.
I'm not really looking forward to the long travel days and the jet lag, but I have a feeling I'll become a pro at it after three years of going back and forth.
Friday, January 8, 2010
18 months old today
We can't believe Leah is 18 months old already! It's so amazing to watch her grow and change day-by-day. Cognitively, she can understand so much and can communicate so well these days. It won't be too much longer before she starts putting words together.
She was supposed to have her 18-month check-up today, but we had a snow day here and the appointment was rescheduled for Monday. Lucky for her, since she's due for some more shots, including her second H1N1 shot. Turned out we didn't get that much snow after all, so while we were out running errands, we ended up going downtown to the Korean restaurant for some delicious food. Leah loves Korean food and pigs out whenever we go there. We can't believe how much she can eat. We've become regulars there and will really miss the great food and the nice people there, and that will definitely be one of our stops during our home visits.
Over the holidays, we finally switched her car seat to forward-facing. Even though you can do this at 12 months or 20 lbs., we wanted to keep her backward-facing for as long as possible for safety reasons. But she is starting to get taller and heavier and it was becoming hard for me to get her into the car seat, plus, her feet were touching the seat back, so we decided it was time. The only bad thing is that I can't reach over the seat and hand her things anymore. Now I have to throw them, but she thinks that's pretty funny, too.
Here are some of the cute, funny, and smart things Leah has been up to lately....this is a long one.
Touchdown! Since John is a huge NY Giants fan, we've spent a lot of Sundays this season watching football together (at least until the Giants were out of the running). Leah loves hanging out with us in front of the tv and sharing snacks. We taught her how to say "touchdown" and now when she sees football on tv, even a short tv commercial or something, she raises her arms up over her head and shouts "tah dah!".
Mom-Mom. Ever since the holidays, Leah has started calling me "mom-mom". She had already been calling me "mama" before this, but just not that often. And she would say "Hi da da" to both of us. Now, I'm finally getting my turn. She loves repeating "mom-mom" or "mama" over and over again and will call out for me when she doesn't see me. If I'm upstairs or something, I'll hear her shouting "mom-mom!".
New animal sounds. She already knew duck, dog, cat, sheep, cow, etc......and now we can add horse, frog and monkey to that list.
Name that ornament. One of her favorite activities right now is to drag us over to the Christmas tree (yes, we're planning on dragging it out of here this weekend), and have us quiz her on all the ornament names. She is such a quick learner and has a great memory, so after quickly naming everything for her, she can identify and point to all the ornaments by name. In fact, she can't get enough of it and she probably won't let the tree go without a fight!
Knock Knock. I've had the show "House Hunters" on the past few days. During the intro to the show there's a doorbell sound. Whenever Leah hears that, she says "nah nah", she made that association on her own. If she can't get a door open, she knocks on it and says "nah nah". It's really cute. She loves saying knock knock, and we always hear her saying that in the car while reaching towards the door and trying to knock on it.
Hugs and kisses. Leah is so incredibly affectionate. She spontaneously, without any prompting, gives hugs and kisses all the time. When we say "I love you" she has to give us a kiss and a hug. She often comes up from behind and just hugs us. When we're out in stores or in restaurants, she often reaches for us and pulls us over to hug our arms, and won't let go. We call it, "Leah's having a moment". It can get a little embarrassing even! But hey, I'm not complaning.
Leading us around. She still loves to grab us by our fingers and drag us around. She'll lead us over to the Christmas tree and make us lift her up, or she'll lead us to her kitchen and pull us down to sit and play, or push us up from sitting, etc. She definitely lets us know what she wants and is very strong and persuasive!
Bye! Leah loves to say "Hi" and "Bye" and wave. She says it all the time, to people in stores, to us as we are walking away from her or going to another room, in the car, or on the phone when she's making pretend phone calls. These days, with her pretend phone calls, she's actually making calls instead of just receiving them. She presses the buttons and says "beep beep beep" for dialing the phone, and then a bunch of babble, and then "Bye!".
"Hi Beppe". After over two weeks with Beppe, Leah definitely now knows who Beppe is, something which we will help to reinforce with pictures since she won't be seeing Beppe often. Towards the end of the holidays, she was starting to say "Hi Beppe".
"Drink your milk". At meals, I just have to say "drink your milk", and she'll take a sip (if she's in a cooperative mood, that is).
Tick Tock. Leah got a little clock for Christmas and I taught her that the clock says "tick tock" and showed her by putting it up to her ear. She found a clock in one of her picture books and ran over and got her clock and put it to her ear and tries to say "tick tock". Too cute.
Play kitchen. She loves playing in her new kitchen. It's her hangout, and the first thing she goes to every morning. We get a kick out of watching her stirring something and then tasting it. Today, she was pointing to the cookies in the display case and saying "ka ka" (cracker, we sometimes just call cookies crackers) and then she ran and got a little goldfish cracker and put it next to it. She also started using the price scanner as a telephone and made a bunch of phone calls today. It was hilarious. I took a video of it and will post it soon.
Hot Hot Hot. When her food is still a little hot, I've always said "hot hot hot" and blown on it. She knows what this means and will do the same. If something is a little hot, she'll say "hot hot" and blow on it.
Hup. When she wants to be picked up, she'll say "hup" or "up" and hold her arms out.
Ah-choo. Leah thinks sneezing is pretty funny. I was sneezing the other day, and then doing it in an exaggerated way, and now she knows the word sneeze and will say "ah choo".
There it is/There you are. She doesn't really enunciate, of course, but she uses the correct intonation and uses it appropriately when she sees something or when she sees us.
Potty update. I haven't pushed this at all lately. But she still climbs out of the bathtub quite often and pees in the potty. And at other times, she will just sit on it with her diaper, and when I check her diaper it is warm, so she does pee. It's funny, because even if she has her diaper on, she will check the potty to see if there's anything in it.
Stomp Stomp In one of her Kindermusik books, there's an elephant stomping. So whenever she sees an elephant, she will say "top top" and stomp her feet. The other day, she was in the closet pointing to something and stomping and saying "top top". When I looked to see what she was pointing to, it was one of John's ties (that he never wears) that has elephants on it. She loves this Kindermusik book and can do all the motions for each animal. She especially loves the page with the ladybug who can "stop and make no sound". I mentioned this already before, but she just loves doing this. She says "top", and makes the hand motion for stop and then the Shhh motion. She does this spontaneously all the time.
Other new words she says by herself are "baby", when she sees a baby, "good girl" since I say this to her a lot, "all done" and she says this with the tune and the hand motions we learned in Kindermusik, "cracker". I'm sure there are more, but this is all I can think of right now. She can repeat just about any word I throw at her. She understands so much and can follow instructions really well. She's a really fast learner and picks things up really quickly. This is such an amazing stage!
She was supposed to have her 18-month check-up today, but we had a snow day here and the appointment was rescheduled for Monday. Lucky for her, since she's due for some more shots, including her second H1N1 shot. Turned out we didn't get that much snow after all, so while we were out running errands, we ended up going downtown to the Korean restaurant for some delicious food. Leah loves Korean food and pigs out whenever we go there. We can't believe how much she can eat. We've become regulars there and will really miss the great food and the nice people there, and that will definitely be one of our stops during our home visits.
Over the holidays, we finally switched her car seat to forward-facing. Even though you can do this at 12 months or 20 lbs., we wanted to keep her backward-facing for as long as possible for safety reasons. But she is starting to get taller and heavier and it was becoming hard for me to get her into the car seat, plus, her feet were touching the seat back, so we decided it was time. The only bad thing is that I can't reach over the seat and hand her things anymore. Now I have to throw them, but she thinks that's pretty funny, too.
Here are some of the cute, funny, and smart things Leah has been up to lately....this is a long one.
Touchdown! Since John is a huge NY Giants fan, we've spent a lot of Sundays this season watching football together (at least until the Giants were out of the running). Leah loves hanging out with us in front of the tv and sharing snacks. We taught her how to say "touchdown" and now when she sees football on tv, even a short tv commercial or something, she raises her arms up over her head and shouts "tah dah!".
Mom-Mom. Ever since the holidays, Leah has started calling me "mom-mom". She had already been calling me "mama" before this, but just not that often. And she would say "Hi da da" to both of us. Now, I'm finally getting my turn. She loves repeating "mom-mom" or "mama" over and over again and will call out for me when she doesn't see me. If I'm upstairs or something, I'll hear her shouting "mom-mom!".
New animal sounds. She already knew duck, dog, cat, sheep, cow, etc......and now we can add horse, frog and monkey to that list.
Name that ornament. One of her favorite activities right now is to drag us over to the Christmas tree (yes, we're planning on dragging it out of here this weekend), and have us quiz her on all the ornament names. She is such a quick learner and has a great memory, so after quickly naming everything for her, she can identify and point to all the ornaments by name. In fact, she can't get enough of it and she probably won't let the tree go without a fight!
Knock Knock. I've had the show "House Hunters" on the past few days. During the intro to the show there's a doorbell sound. Whenever Leah hears that, she says "nah nah", she made that association on her own. If she can't get a door open, she knocks on it and says "nah nah". It's really cute. She loves saying knock knock, and we always hear her saying that in the car while reaching towards the door and trying to knock on it.
Hugs and kisses. Leah is so incredibly affectionate. She spontaneously, without any prompting, gives hugs and kisses all the time. When we say "I love you" she has to give us a kiss and a hug. She often comes up from behind and just hugs us. When we're out in stores or in restaurants, she often reaches for us and pulls us over to hug our arms, and won't let go. We call it, "Leah's having a moment". It can get a little embarrassing even! But hey, I'm not complaning.
Leading us around. She still loves to grab us by our fingers and drag us around. She'll lead us over to the Christmas tree and make us lift her up, or she'll lead us to her kitchen and pull us down to sit and play, or push us up from sitting, etc. She definitely lets us know what she wants and is very strong and persuasive!
Bye! Leah loves to say "Hi" and "Bye" and wave. She says it all the time, to people in stores, to us as we are walking away from her or going to another room, in the car, or on the phone when she's making pretend phone calls. These days, with her pretend phone calls, she's actually making calls instead of just receiving them. She presses the buttons and says "beep beep beep" for dialing the phone, and then a bunch of babble, and then "Bye!".
"Hi Beppe". After over two weeks with Beppe, Leah definitely now knows who Beppe is, something which we will help to reinforce with pictures since she won't be seeing Beppe often. Towards the end of the holidays, she was starting to say "Hi Beppe".
"Drink your milk". At meals, I just have to say "drink your milk", and she'll take a sip (if she's in a cooperative mood, that is).
Tick Tock. Leah got a little clock for Christmas and I taught her that the clock says "tick tock" and showed her by putting it up to her ear. She found a clock in one of her picture books and ran over and got her clock and put it to her ear and tries to say "tick tock". Too cute.
Play kitchen. She loves playing in her new kitchen. It's her hangout, and the first thing she goes to every morning. We get a kick out of watching her stirring something and then tasting it. Today, she was pointing to the cookies in the display case and saying "ka ka" (cracker, we sometimes just call cookies crackers) and then she ran and got a little goldfish cracker and put it next to it. She also started using the price scanner as a telephone and made a bunch of phone calls today. It was hilarious. I took a video of it and will post it soon.
Hot Hot Hot. When her food is still a little hot, I've always said "hot hot hot" and blown on it. She knows what this means and will do the same. If something is a little hot, she'll say "hot hot" and blow on it.
Hup. When she wants to be picked up, she'll say "hup" or "up" and hold her arms out.
Ah-choo. Leah thinks sneezing is pretty funny. I was sneezing the other day, and then doing it in an exaggerated way, and now she knows the word sneeze and will say "ah choo".
There it is/There you are. She doesn't really enunciate, of course, but she uses the correct intonation and uses it appropriately when she sees something or when she sees us.
Potty update. I haven't pushed this at all lately. But she still climbs out of the bathtub quite often and pees in the potty. And at other times, she will just sit on it with her diaper, and when I check her diaper it is warm, so she does pee. It's funny, because even if she has her diaper on, she will check the potty to see if there's anything in it.
Stomp Stomp In one of her Kindermusik books, there's an elephant stomping. So whenever she sees an elephant, she will say "top top" and stomp her feet. The other day, she was in the closet pointing to something and stomping and saying "top top". When I looked to see what she was pointing to, it was one of John's ties (that he never wears) that has elephants on it. She loves this Kindermusik book and can do all the motions for each animal. She especially loves the page with the ladybug who can "stop and make no sound". I mentioned this already before, but she just loves doing this. She says "top", and makes the hand motion for stop and then the Shhh motion. She does this spontaneously all the time.
Other new words she says by herself are "baby", when she sees a baby, "good girl" since I say this to her a lot, "all done" and she says this with the tune and the hand motions we learned in Kindermusik, "cracker". I'm sure there are more, but this is all I can think of right now. She can repeat just about any word I throw at her. She understands so much and can follow instructions really well. She's a really fast learner and picks things up really quickly. This is such an amazing stage!
Monday, January 4, 2010
A new year, a new journey
After a wonderful visit, Beppe left today in the middle of a major snowstorm. I bet she'll be glad to get back to balmy Louisiana. Wish she could take us with her!
Anyway, now that Leah's adoption is finalized and the holidays are officially over, our eyes turn toward our next big adventure. I might as well re-title this blog to "Our Journey to Shanghai with Jin-Ri". Yes, we have indeed decided to make the big move to Shanghai for 3 years as expats! While I have mixed feelings about making yet another international move, I am at peace with our decision and will try to make the best of it. It will be exciting to be part of all the progress and change that's happening in China.
We will spend this month working out the details of our move. An international relocation is a major undertaking, as we know from our previous moves abroad, and there is a ton of planning and preparation involved, so this will be a really busy month.
For the moment, the timing is a little bit up in the air since we still have a few loose ends to tie up regarding Leah's paperwork. We are still waiting for Leah's new birth certificate, and once we have that, we can apply for her passport, social security number and certificate of citizenship (COC).
So, I'll keep you posted on our progress, and in the meantime, will continue to bring you Leah's updates as usual.
Anyway, now that Leah's adoption is finalized and the holidays are officially over, our eyes turn toward our next big adventure. I might as well re-title this blog to "Our Journey to Shanghai with Jin-Ri". Yes, we have indeed decided to make the big move to Shanghai for 3 years as expats! While I have mixed feelings about making yet another international move, I am at peace with our decision and will try to make the best of it. It will be exciting to be part of all the progress and change that's happening in China.
We will spend this month working out the details of our move. An international relocation is a major undertaking, as we know from our previous moves abroad, and there is a ton of planning and preparation involved, so this will be a really busy month.
For the moment, the timing is a little bit up in the air since we still have a few loose ends to tie up regarding Leah's paperwork. We are still waiting for Leah's new birth certificate, and once we have that, we can apply for her passport, social security number and certificate of citizenship (COC).
So, I'll keep you posted on our progress, and in the meantime, will continue to bring you Leah's updates as usual.
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