Phil and I have absolutely the sweetest child in the whole world. You may be prone to disagree but you'd be wrong. I wish I could keep a constant record of every little amazingly wonderful thing that she does day in and day out but I can't or don't. So, here's just somethings off the top of my head from the last few days here in Beijing.
When we were out the other afternoon playing she was running around one section of yard with her arms in the air yelling, "Goal! Goal! Goal". On the way home from that same play time she was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at the top of her lungs.
We had just gotten downstairs and outside when she suddenly said, "My wallet!". "Did you forget your wallet, Maddie?" I asked. "Yes, give me the key and I go and get it. By myself." She said.
We've been letting her take her baby stroller outside on walks with us here. She LOVES it. She also loves pretending that cars are coming so we all have to get over to the side of the sidewalk and let them pass. We just wait until they are all gone and she tells us it's okay to keep going.
Her new obsession is the movie, Napoleon Dynamite. Yesterday afternoon she was running around the living room saying, "Napoleon Dynamite" over and over. Her favorite scenes are "Rex Kwando" and "Napoleon's Dance".
A few mornings ago when I went to get her out of bed she said, "Little sister here?" "No, she's not here yet." I said. "Born?" she asked. "Yes, she'll be born but probably not today." "Oh. I hold her?" she asked.
Our time here in Beijing has been really great so far. As a family, we're having lots of time to play and just focus on the goodness we've already been given. Mom is wonderful in her flexibility with us and keeps M each morning so we can study. That is, when we haven't planned more fun things to do. For example, this morning we're going to a super-duper indoor playground.
There's a lot of detail behind what I'm about to say that I'm not going into but I'm just so thankful that Mom is here during this time and not Yali. I think the nicest thing is not having any cultural tension or language pressure in the home right now. I really hope that Little-Miss-What's-Her-Name comes a bit early so Mom can stay around longer after her birth.
My sister and her girls are coming in just a few weeks!! I can't believe it and I can't wait. It seems like everyday I'm sending Jana another thing I'd like her to buy and bring us. I think the most random item is a bag of cornmeal. That request could only be more Southern in nature if I was asking for a bag of grits instead. I don't know how many times I've wished I had a skillet of cornbread to go along with our meal.
Last night Phil and I went out for Turkish cuisine. It was amazing. The restaurant's specialty seemed to be kabobs so that's what we had. Beef, lamb and chicken. All were really good. Afterwards we had peanut-butter milkshakes from the tex-mex place. We had thought about going to Out-Back Steakhouse but Turkish (something we've never had before) won in the end.
Mom and I went out for breakfast last week and had biscuits and sausage gravy. It was good. The gravy was great but the biscuits could have used my Dad's touch. On our walk home that morning we found "Grandma's" restaurant and saw that she serves biscuits and gravy, too. So, we need to go see if Grandma does it any better.
Eating is definitely a highlight here. We have fresh milk everyday. Fresh milk. What a city.
When we were out the other afternoon playing she was running around one section of yard with her arms in the air yelling, "Goal! Goal! Goal". On the way home from that same play time she was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at the top of her lungs.
We had just gotten downstairs and outside when she suddenly said, "My wallet!". "Did you forget your wallet, Maddie?" I asked. "Yes, give me the key and I go and get it. By myself." She said.
We've been letting her take her baby stroller outside on walks with us here. She LOVES it. She also loves pretending that cars are coming so we all have to get over to the side of the sidewalk and let them pass. We just wait until they are all gone and she tells us it's okay to keep going.
Her new obsession is the movie, Napoleon Dynamite. Yesterday afternoon she was running around the living room saying, "Napoleon Dynamite" over and over. Her favorite scenes are "Rex Kwando" and "Napoleon's Dance".
A few mornings ago when I went to get her out of bed she said, "Little sister here?" "No, she's not here yet." I said. "Born?" she asked. "Yes, she'll be born but probably not today." "Oh. I hold her?" she asked.
Our time here in Beijing has been really great so far. As a family, we're having lots of time to play and just focus on the goodness we've already been given. Mom is wonderful in her flexibility with us and keeps M each morning so we can study. That is, when we haven't planned more fun things to do. For example, this morning we're going to a super-duper indoor playground.
There's a lot of detail behind what I'm about to say that I'm not going into but I'm just so thankful that Mom is here during this time and not Yali. I think the nicest thing is not having any cultural tension or language pressure in the home right now. I really hope that Little-Miss-What's-Her-Name comes a bit early so Mom can stay around longer after her birth.
My sister and her girls are coming in just a few weeks!! I can't believe it and I can't wait. It seems like everyday I'm sending Jana another thing I'd like her to buy and bring us. I think the most random item is a bag of cornmeal. That request could only be more Southern in nature if I was asking for a bag of grits instead. I don't know how many times I've wished I had a skillet of cornbread to go along with our meal.
Last night Phil and I went out for Turkish cuisine. It was amazing. The restaurant's specialty seemed to be kabobs so that's what we had. Beef, lamb and chicken. All were really good. Afterwards we had peanut-butter milkshakes from the tex-mex place. We had thought about going to Out-Back Steakhouse but Turkish (something we've never had before) won in the end.
Mom and I went out for breakfast last week and had biscuits and sausage gravy. It was good. The gravy was great but the biscuits could have used my Dad's touch. On our walk home that morning we found "Grandma's" restaurant and saw that she serves biscuits and gravy, too. So, we need to go see if Grandma does it any better.
Eating is definitely a highlight here. We have fresh milk everyday. Fresh milk. What a city.