Tuesday Melodrama

----------Willow-------------

Willow is currently reaching under the radiator by her sassy seat, looking for any dropped cheerios from yesterday, and then eating them. She is always hungry. And I'm tired of constantly corralling her about and taking pieces of trash out of her mouth. She is constant movement and is my personal trainer--she keeps me moving non stop. It's exhausting! Hopefully she will be able to understand more English before she starts walking, otherwise I might collapse.

Right now, she understands her name--although she ignore it if she knows she is doing something she shouldn't be doing. She sometimes comes to me if I say, "come here". She sometimes responds to 'no', but I don't believe she understands what it means yet. We're still working on waving hello and goodbye. Sometimes it sounds like she is saying 'hey', especially when she's playing with her toy telephones. She crawls around and says, 'wee woe". I imagine that she's trying to say her name, since that's probably the one word she hears the most. There's a slew of other words that I think she's starting to understand: bath time, eating time, cheerio, time to change your diaper, give a kiss, and 'where's daddy?'. The sentence she understands without a doubt is, "I'm going to get you!" We've been saying this to her for months. When she was a little baby, it meant we were going to tickle her. Now it means we're going to chase her and then tickle her! She likes to speed-crawl away from us, shrieking like a banshee, whenever she hears this sentence. It's hard to say who finds this more entertaining: the baby or her parents.

Whew. Took a little break to play with Willow, feed her, and put her in her bed for a nap. She doesn't fall asleep when she nurses anymore, so there's been more resistance to nap time than usual. Though, she is always tired enough to fall asleep. Eventually. She sleeps in the strangest positions.

Did I write about the time when I thought she had fallen asleep, so I went to check on her and re-tuck her into bed. However, she was awake, had somehow reached her wipey container again, and had taken out every single wipe. I cleaned up her mini-disaster (she was soaked), and put her down for her nap again. Twenty minutes later, I went in to cover her up--since it sounded like she was sleeping. Instead, she was at the other end of her crib, had opened her curtains and was quietly looking out the window! What a little stinker! I put her down for her nap again, closed the curtains and hoped she would finally fall asleep. All in all, it took her about an hour to fall asleep. She wasn't screaming or crying, just staying busy as usual.

------------ADAM--------------

Adam is still plugging away at his graduate school program. He is currently taking a class about technology in the classroom (I think), and just finished making a cool website for his science class students to use. Even though its a lot of extra [busy] work, the Masters Course at least pushes him to do things that he normally wouldn't think of doing on his own. It's helped jump start some new ideas in his classroom, and that's been fun to observe from my perspective.

He has a middle-school lock-in this week. Which means he will be awake all night, and I'll be home alone with Willow. Saturday will be interesting too, since he will want to rest and I will want to work. They've been collecting money for the lock-in from the students who are attending (Adam is in charge of student council, she he oversees the student-lead activities), but it was recently stolen from their classroom. Uh-oh.

Spring break is coming up next week. This will be the first break we've had since Christmas/Chun Jie break, so we're both looking forward to it. Of course, Willow has no idea. We might be going up to the mountains for spring break, which could be a lot of fun. I've never been to this area, but Adam has been able to go about four times over the past three years. He gets to travel a lot with the middle school (and sometimes high school) students.

On a slightly humorous note, Adam downloaded Dancing with the Stars for us to watch because Donald Driver is one of the dancers this season. For those of you who don't know (like me), he is an 'amazing' player on the Packers football team. So, of course Adam loves him. And of course he wants to watch him dance.

--------Me-----------

I'm surviving. I enjoy Wednesdays the most, because I don't have any commitments to uphold on those days. Little Women is starting to kick into full gear, which means it consumes every corner of my brain. There's a lot to do, but I find it hard to complete all the tasks when I'm trying to take care of Willow--or impossible do from home. I either need to go out to a market (which is unrealistic with a baby in tow), or be at school (which is also inconvenient). So it has become a balancing act of sorts. The tickets that I ordered from the printing company finally arrived, so we've started selling tickets. Honestly, I feel 100% about the acting in this play. It's probably the strongest script we've ever used, and we have the strongest cast we've ever had. I usually leave rehearsals feeling confident about where we are in the production process. It's also fun to watch their characters transform before my eyes. Seriously, we have some profoundly talented actors and actresses this year. I think it will be a strong show, and every bit as good as the ticket price suggests.

I wrote my April production to-do list, and it's pretty long. It's also exciting, because these are the items that really count in putting together a show. It's these details that will put the show together and ready for the public. I can't believe how close we are getting to opening night.

Well, Willow is up from her nap already. That was short! Oh well.

~julie

Cold Spring

This is the name of our district, which is inside our apartment complex. The whole thing is called New World Gardens, but our particular section is called Sunnyvale Heights. Everyone calls it Aqu, though. Unlike the Mid West of the States, which is having a record breaking balmy spring (already in the 80's)--we are still experiencing freezing temperatures, wind, and lots of overcast skies. On Friday and Saturday, it snow-rained again. So, while our families in America are watching the flowers bloom, the trees bud, and wearing shorts--we're still bundled up and dreading the time when our government regulated heat is shut off.

Do not allow Adam's attire to fool you. It's still pretty chilly outside. He frequently wears shorts outside during the winter to prove how tough he really is.



We went on a walk after dinner. Even though it was cold, it was nice to get out for a short stroll around our neighborhood. Across the street from our district is a river walk. It goes for miles and miles along the river, and besides having sidewalks and small roads for people walking, running, biking, or whatever--there's also lots of exercise equipment. It's where we can see nature, even in its polluted condition, it's nice to have areas that are not entirely built over by concrete. There are thousands of willow trees, some grassy areas, and at some sections along the river there are gardens. Depending what time of day, and what the weather is like, you can see all sort of activities taking place on the river. In the early mornings, dedicated people of all ages walk down to the river. Some walk, some hit trees, some practice their sword dancing, their tai chi, their fan dancing, their interesting calisthenics. Some use the provided equipment. Some fish, some take a dip in their speedos, some sit on the bench with their portable radios. If the weather is nice, there could be thousands of people out at the river. During a typical summer weekend, people set up tents and spend the day socializing, eating, listening to their music. I've seen groups of people chanting together, or singing traditional Chinese operas. Kids roller blade, adults play ping pong, grounds keepers water plants using water from the river. At night, people are still taking leisure walks, exercising, eating, talking, coming home from work or the market, or getting together in groups to dance. Even late into the night, there's always people around, always staying active and socializing.

But when we went out to the river yesterday, it was desolate. It could have been the weather. The day. The season. Who knows why exactly, but we were among the only people near our part of the river. It was strange. Even on calm days, there's always some sort of traffic, whether its maintenance vehicles, race bikes, or wheelbarrows. But, it was very quiet and deserted. We saw a handful of people, and that was it.

I took this picture so that you could see the 'grass'. During this time of year, grounds crew workers burn the dead grass and leaves to encourage new growth. It's very different, but a normal sight here.

Making sure Willow is still tucked in and warm.


The vacant exercise equipment. I was commenting to Adam how eerie it was to walk around the river when no one was there. It was like the rapture had happened. Or a zombie attack. It definitely felt apocalyptic.


It was a hazy sunset.
Willow by her willow trees.



There's lots of theories, made by us foreigners, as to why all the tree trunks are painted white in China. What do you think is the reason?


Bare willow branches, lovely 'sand' skies. Who knows if it's clouds, sands from Mongolia, or pollution.

This would be the place where we would exercise too. It's great for running or walking with friends. There's another sidewalk at a lower elevation that's closer to the water. There are piers periodically down the river too. Sometimes there are events happening on those piers. I've seen people renting little innertube boats, and they paddle out in the river with one oar. Sometimes the river is very low, sometimes it's high. Sometimes there are large deposits of sediment blocking the flow. It's a strange river. It usually smells a little in the summer, but at least it's a few degrees cooler there and the breeze is nice.

Brrr! Take me home!


I knew I wouldn't be able to do a chin up. I've never been able to do it. But Adam was pretty pleased that he could still do several. Seeing all the empty, eerie exercise equipment, it made me think of the country where we live. Lots of accessible equipment, as low-tech as possible, available to the masses. Lots available for everyone. Everything was the same. Simple. Efficient. Free. And at that moment, vacant.



Yeah....that wasn't going to happen.

~julie

Saturday Rest

Saturdays are proving to be a good rest day. Sundays are usually busy with fellowship, eating lunch with friends, grocery shopping, basketball, preparing for the coming week....
Although, from now on, I'm going to have to use Saturday mornings to go prop hunting at the markets. It was nice to enjoy one more quiet Saturday.

Here Willow is 'helping' her dad with his graduate school homework, early on Saturday morning. We went in to say 'hello' for a minute, but ended up pestering him too much. Willow is all over the place, and obsessed with computers, so it is difficult to get anything accomplished with her nearby.

We caved and ordered McDonalds for lunch. Knowing that they delivery to your front door does not help in trying to avoid fast food.

Reading about Chicago together.

Willow used to be terrified of the vacuum cleaner. Now, she is intrigued. She spent a few minutes checking it out, kissing it, hitting it....I don't know what goes through her mind.






Adam, after his domestic pursuits of the afternoon. He finished his homework, made sweet potato casserole on a whim, and vacuumed the apartment.

Willow, doing her bit to help out. Her ambition is to pick up every crumb, piece of lint, or whatever else she can scrounge up. It usually ends up in her mouth, so we're constantly having to sweep/vacuum. Even still, she has ingested her fair share of garbage in the past few weeks. Ugh. She has discovered that crawling under the table and through the chair legs is fun. It's like her personal obstacle course, or baby-maze. She also likes to go under her sassy seat where there's usually a few dropped cheerios or crumbs which she tries to eat.

~julie

The Indoctrination of Mr. Darcy

I just have to laugh at this book because Willow is going to grow up knowing about Darcy's ten thousand a year. It's so stinking clever, that it's probably meant more for moms than for babies. In this "Pride and Prejudice" board book, each page has sweet illustrations that count something from the original Austen story. I think I did laugh out loud when I read it for the first time. It was given to us by my cousin Joanna who always finds the best books for Willow.

Willow is studying the four marriage proposals page.

Willow's taking a look at the "Two Gentlemen: Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy" page.

Apparently, this book is part of a collection of "Baby Lit" books, including other board books based on Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte, Lewis Carol, and so forth. Oh my!

~julie

Obligatory Food Pictures

For the first, I bought an avocado in Shenyang. I love avocados a lot--and usually make ordering decisions at restaurants based on whether or not it includes avocado. I had only ever seen avocados being sold at an expensive Japanese import store, for almost $15 per avocado. That obviously was never going to happen, but I would often consider splurging. The other day, I saw avocados at a new import store for only $2 an avocado. Granted, this is still expensive, but I was much more willing to splurge within this price range. I bought two. Willow tried some out and loved it. I made grilled cheese with tomatoes, avocado, and fresh cheddar. Yum.

It may seem a little silly to post a picture of my avocado. It may seem frivolous to post TWO pictures. But, I nearly cried when I cut into this avocado and saw the green inside. I was so happy, I yelled out, "It's beautiful!" And then I had to take a picture or two.

Yesterday, Adam surprised me by a sudden desire to be domestic. He vacuumed our rugs and made sweet potato casserole. I'm not sure what got into him, but I was enjoying the results.


This picture doesn't really do it justice, but this chicken and broccoli casserole is one of our favorite meals. It's sinfully delicious.


As are these parfaits. Layer chocolate or vanilla pudding with this homemade peanut butter whipped cream. Add chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, oreo cookies, banana slices---yum.

~julie

First Day of Spring

A plethora of pictures to post today. Partly to satisfy grandparents, partly because I couldn't choose which to post. The only reason I didn't post more was because I got tired of uploading picture after picture. These were from the first day of spring. It was too cold outside, however, so we stayed indoors for our little photo shoot. I was focusing on Willow's chubby hands and feet. They are just so cute! I hope that her feet start to slim down soon, because she still doesn't have any shoes that fit her. Over the week, I worked on packing away clothes that were too small, and this included several pairs of shoes she was never able to wear. Her feet are unusually wide and ...tall...So, if the length of the shoe is correct, the height and width are not.


Haha, I couldn't resist putting a bow in Willow's hair for a few minutes. I found them while going through her wardrobe (spring cleaning, packing away her too-small items). She has just enough hair on top to stabilize her little clips. She has much more hair now than she did last month, but it's still very thin, short, and fair. I like to sing the Hairbrush Song to her. She is like the Peach.



Chubby, chubby fingers. She likes to play with non-toy objects. I had to watch her carefully while she played with this necklace. She is generally careful and interested in details. But, she likes to show her interest by shoving everything into her mouth.





















I can't believe how tall she is becoming! She sometimes bumps her head when she stands under our kitchen table. She doesn't understand how to avoid that problem yet.
I love her little ruffle-diaper-butt.

These faces crack me up! She is a little vicious at times.




Stuck in a basket.


~julie