Big Boy Bed

Tristan has been asking and asking to switch to a "big boy bed," so I decided to try it this week and see how it goes. The very first night it was about every 5 minutes he would get up and come downstairs and say "Mommy, I'm awake." I would respond "Yes, you are, but you need to go sleep in your big boy bed." Tristan would say "Oh, OK," and run back upstairs. Rinse, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat for 1 hour and 10 minutes before he finally fell asleep. Night two process was shorter, but he was coming down every 2 or 3 minutes. Similar results the next few nights. Tonight he only came down a few times, but when Dan went up check on the kids Tristan was not in his bed. So he turned on the light and found this:

Shanghaied

shanghai [ˈʃæŋhaɪ ʃæŋˈhaɪ] Slang

verb 1) to force or trick (someone) into doing something, going somewhere, etc.

2) the act of moving to Shanghai against ones better wishes

   

Okay, we weren't forced or tricked, but after only 9 short months months to call Nanjing home, I really am not ready to be leaving. Of course 95% of that is the wonderful community of people that we met here and immediately clicked with. Something that I did not feel even after nearly 5 years in Portugal, it took all of 2 weeks to find here. I will really miss the amazing ladies I met who go out of their way to befriend and support each other. For the last few weeks I have been playing ostrich and pretending that if I don't do anything to prepare for the move, then the move won't happen. That strategy apparently didn't pay off, because tomorrow the movers are coming to do an inventory, and then will be here again on the weekend to pack up our house and take everything away. Luckily I don't have far to go, and plans are already underway to see several good friends next month on a girls get-away weekend.Yea!

Chinese Halloween???

Purple Octopus!

 As you might expect, the Chinese don’t celebrate Halloween. But it is an excuse for all the expats to get together, dress up the children, having a party and trick or treat at each others’ homes. And there is the added element of seeing the expressions on the Chinese faces as a pack of young witches-devils-ghosts lǎowài walk by.

Katrin and Clare working at the NIS Autumn Fest

After last year’s Halloween Amelia declared “next year I want to be an octopus” and, Amelia being Amelia, when the time came this year and we asked her what she wanted to be she said “I told you, I am going to be an octopus.” So Katrin did what she does and fashioned a great octopus costume. The first Halloween party at her school didn’t go so well as Amelia was a bit freaked at anyone wearing a scary mask. And the first trick-or-treating house didn’t go so well either as the German couple that answered the door went a little overboard…eerie music playing, the wife creeping out of the corner of the porch in a witch costume, and the husband growling from inside the house. Amelia claimed she was done trick-or-treating after that, although we enticed her to a few more homes with the lure of waiting candy. Next year will hopefully be a little smoother, although by then maybe it will be Tristan’s turn, since this year's lion wasn't too cowardly.

Golden Week in Japan and the Philippines

Hikone Castle

China doesn’t take holi-days, they take holi-weeks. For both the National Day (establishment of the PRC was on Oct 1, 1949) and Chinese New Year the country shuts down for an entire week. So we decided to take advantage of the time off and tour some parts of Asia. With so many options to choose from, we decided to spend one week in Japan and then take an extra one in the Philippines.

Aquaduct at Nanzenji

The week in Japan was the mommy & daddy vacation where we spent a lot of time with the kids on our backs and trying to make things interesting for them while still getting to appreciate the sites and culture that we wanted to see. 

Discussing the art at the Hakone Open-Air Museum

Walking near Lake Ashi

After arriving a day late due to a typhoon, we explored the beautiful national park area around Hakone and Mt. Fuji. Despite not being able to see the mountain as it was clouded in, we enjoyed hiking around and taking in the natural landscapes. And the kids had fun on the various trains, gondolas, cable cars, and boats, as well as the wonderful Hakone Open-Air Museum, which we highly recommend for both adults and kids alike. There we all loved discussing and interacting with the installations in a beautiful mountain setting. 

Kiyomizudera Temple

Tristan waits for a bus

We then spent a few days in Kyoto which is daunting in the number of temples you feel compelled to visit (including 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites). We selected a few highlights and toured around for a couple of days at a relaxed pace and even caught a glimpse of two Geisha slipping out of a cab and into a tearoom one evening in the Gion distirct (though I wasn't fast enough with the camera). And then we would return to our shoebox hotel room in the evening and take a glorious Japanese bath. Amelia especially liked the ritual of showering and then climbing into the various baths of different temperatures. It was a very relaxing way to end a touristy day. We also did a day trip to the nearby Hikone to see a Japanese castle.

Hiking in the 2,000 year old graveyard

Amelia loved the dressed-up grave stones

After Kyoto we took a train to the mountain-top town of Koyasan where some of the 50 Buddhist temples have opened themselves up to overnight lodgers. So we had the opportunity to sleep in the temple, sit down to our private dinner (eating on the floor with pillows can be good with tired children!), take another Japanese bath, and attend ceremonies in the morning. After taking in quite a few temples on the journey, I wasn't sure how the kids would feel about staying in one, and was pleasantly surprised when Amelia said "that is so cool!" She didn't find the different tastes and textures of the vegetarian cuisine nearly as cool, but I quite enjoyed it. 

Enjoying dinner in Shukubo Temple

Joining in the Serenade 

We then left Japan for our more kid-oriented vacation in the Philippines. We stayed in a small resort in Bohol by the beach, but, as usual, the highlight of the trip was the swimming pool. Amelia and Tristan are getting much more confident in the water. Tristan can “swim” with floaties without any support from us, and Amelia is super close to being able to swim on her own without her water wings. She likes to jump into the pool so she goes completely underwater, and on this trip she practiced swimming with her snorkel mask (the snorkel got a little complicated). So when we went on a snorkel trip she jumped into the water with us and we strapped her mask on. She swam around with us looking down and saw lots of fish and even a blue starfish! She would put her head in the water for 10 seconds and then come up and very excitedly describe everything she had just seen. I think we might have a water girl on our hands. She wants to go back to the Philippines when she’s ten so she can learn how to scuba dive.

First of the boat to hit the dance floor

In addition to the pool and the ocean, we took the opportunity to take in some of the sights on the island on a day tour, including a butterfly farm, a sanctuary for tarsiers, some of the worlds smallest primates, the chocolate hills, and a river cruise. The kids really enjoyed all of these activities, and it was a great day out. 

Butterfly farm

It was great to take a two-week vacation from the Chinese hustle and bustle. And, us being us, the next planning is already underway. We’ll be in USA (California & Oregon) for the Christmas holidays and we've just purchased tickets for our February trip…Vietnam and Cambodia! For more photos of the trip, click here (and I'll be adding more in the next week or so). 

And the little 2

That's my Happy Guy!

Tristan turned 2 while we were in the US in August, so instead of a party, he got several parties each time we visited someone new. But he didn't get a blog entry, so he deserves that as well. While 2 has brought some additional challenges, like when he is determined that even though it is 90 degrees out I need to wear shoes, not sandals, and yes, the world will end if I don't, in general he continues to be his easy-going self, nearly always cheerful, loves to laugh, talks up a storm, loves to help out, and definitely the peace-maker around here. If he hears anyone mention they need something in passing he is off to go and find it. A little sneeze and he comes running with a tissue for his big sis. When there is a disagreement he is always the first to change his tune and when asked to compromise. For example if he and Amelia are both yelling and fighting that they each want the green cup, I'll ask if he can have yellow, he will totally stop, say "OK," hand Amelia the green cup and go on like absolutely nothing was the matter 5 seconds ago.  He is my special little guy.

Hanging out with Cousin Calvin
Notice any family resemblance? 

The big 4!

Amelia's new Playhouse!

Our little big girl turned 4 this month. What a delightful person she is. At the current time she is significantly more rational than her 2-year old brother, though we expect (hope) that gap lessens with time. They are both caring, compassionate people, that make me feel (at times) like I must have done something right. Just yesterday Amelia and I baked cookies for a charity fundraiser at her school. When she noticed a few sitting on the counter she asked "why are those cookies not on the plate?" I told her I left them out for her and Tristan and Dan and I to have later. She looked at me and said "But if we take them all to school more kids can have money to go to school." Man I love that girl.

The Hungry Lion

The Tall Giraffe

For her party we invited her 15 student class of preK kids and their parents to join us for what we hoped would be games and bbq in our garden and the inauguration of Amelia's new playhouse. But with the weather gods (or the chinese government, depending on what you believe they are capable of) not cooperating we had to keep everyone in out of the rain. A few weeks prior to the party I had spied a large bin of cardboard for recycling outside of Dan's office, so I asked him to bring some home and asked Amelia what she wanted to create for the party, suggesting a castle or a house or some other singular structure. She wanted none of those. She wanted a cardboard zoo. And here it is:

The Friendly Elephant

Zebra and Pals

Beijinhos para Biju

Biju
April 2009 - August 2012

It is with great sadness that I am writing this message. Our lovely cat, Biju, passed away suddenly on Tuesday night, two days before the kids and I returned home from our trip back to the US. When Dan got home from work that evening, Biju was quite ill. Dan took him into the vet and he was apparently in renal failure and died within a couple of hours, we do not know why his kidneys failed, as he had never before been sick a day in his life. So what was planned as our happy family reunion, turned into a sad time in our household. Here is a video in memory of him and all of the good times we had:

For those of you who did not know Biju, here is a little more about him. He was a Portuguese street cat that we adopted as a tiny 6 week old bundle of fluff who quickly grew into a 14ish pound solid cat.

He was a huge fan of all baby toys, from swings to play mats, and every little thing he could bat around. We could not have asked for a better cat with our kids, but I guess being introduced to a 9 month old baby at six weeks old probably help. He was such a stable guy, they could hug him and lie on him, and even pull his tail with nothing but a quiet meow in protest as he looked at me to ask for relief.

My favorite variation of "Biju in a Box"

His favorite games included "Biju in a Box" and "Biju in a Bag." He loved to sprint from one end of the house to the other at top speed, sliding under chairs and into furniture. He would also chase string and rope toys over furniture and in circuits around the house. Both kids loved to grab a toy and run around calling "Biju, Biju, Biju," and he normally would follow playfully.

He became fast friends with Tazzy, a friendship they maintained his whole life with frequent play sessions and  afternoon naps together. It was not uncommon to look over and see his entire head inside Tazzy's mouth as she growled in jest. He also tried to entice Blaze to play, and was even occasionally successful, although normally he would just wait until Blaze walked by and swat him in the behind.

Best of Friends

He was an indoor cat, who wanted to be an outdoor cat, so whenever the door was open and he saw his chance he would sprint through it, and about 10 feet further to the nearest pavement, where he would lay down and roll in the sun and wait for me to come and scoop him up and bring him back inside. He was so mellow and calm I could flip him over and lift him up and he just hung there. He would go limp in my arms and let me take him anywhere. We did let him have his outdoor time on harness and leash, and he was one of few cats I have met that this was an acceptable solution. He loved coming outside with us and having backyard adventures.

Lying in wait

He wanted to be part of all of the action, and was always around for family events (looking at the kids birthday pictures he is in the background of nearly every shot). He usually came to greet us at the door with the dogs, and when I walked the dogs at night, I loved looking for him sitting in the window watching for us to return.

He was never a lap cat, but when he wanted to cuddle it was normally in the middle of the night, and I would wake up with a large weight on top of my chest, and an enormously loud purr in my ear. On cold nights I could sometimes convince him to sleep under the covers as an extra body warmer. When we adopted him I was still nursing Amelia, and he loved to be with us during that time, and was super affectionate and cuddly. I was surprised when he continued this habit when Tristan was born.

Anywhere he could climb into served as a playground

This was the first time the kids have lost such a big part of their lives, and explaining it to Amelia went well. She asked some questions about his sickness and was very matter of fact about it and accepted it easily. We talked about our favorite memories of him, and watched the video together when I finished it. She brought me her doll when I was sad, and explained the doll helped her when she had an owie. We didn't explain it to Tristan, as at barely 2 we have not introduced the concept of death to him. However  it was really sad when he asked me where Biju was. I told him Biju wasn't here, and he spent the next several minutes asking me to come with him to "go find Biju."

He was much loved in his 3 short years with us. I always pictured him growing up with Amelia, as her first word was "kitty" shortly after we adopted him. We miss you big guy, and I hope you've found green fields to run in and warm patches of sun to sleep in. I'll treasure your memories and all of the happiness you brought to our family.

Baby Biju, May 2009