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.
Friday, February 26, 2010
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!
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