Best Friends

What a pair these two are. The one mothering (aka smothering) and the other taking it it like a champ (and actually loving it most of the time).

Tonight we sat at the kitchen table watching them laugh and laugh at each other. There sure is a lot of love there.

Sometimes they're a handful and I have to find inventive ways to entertain...but then they play like this:

Lately Miss A has been "helping" Brother a lot. She helps him hold things, tries to feed him, helps him hold his arms, and tells him how to say the prayer. 

4 1/2 months old!

She shares her favorite blanket and he shares his adoration for her.

If you ask me, 17 months is the perfect age gap. ;)

Two Months Two Babies

Guess who's getting way too old way too fast?

This guy!
He's almost 15 pounds at 2 months. Seriously.

We've had some mixed reviews on my parenting skills. Sometimes Brother is too cold, sometimes he's too hot. Sometimes I am crazy for having two children, sometimes I'm brave.

This is what I get the most:

-Hai you yi ge! Oh, there's another one! (Usually said when they realize the bulge on my belly is really a baby)

-Wei shenme? Two children? Why?

-The "thumbs up"

-The "back pat" (I'm not sure if the back pat is congratulatory or more of a sympathy thing)

-The "finger wag"

Most of the time people leave smiling. Who could resist these big eyes and sweet, sweet spirits?

...What are you Doing?

You'd think that's what I'd be saying to these Chinese people living all around me, but no.
Most of the time
it's the exact opposite.

The first time I actually heard these words from a Chinese person (in English, I might add) was while I was in active labor with Brother--in the middle of a contraction!

There was a shift change for the nurses. They walked in to introduce themselves and there was Mister kneeling on the hospital bed so I could lean against him and a nurse asked us "What are you doing?" Seriously. She said that. Later a cleaning lady got on to me for not wearing socks and sitting by the window.

Since then I've realized that people think I'm pretty strange.

-I buy TWO whole loaves of bread at the grocery store.
-Mister doesn't know how to open a bottle of wine (he learned while celebrating our anniversary, thanks to our neighbor).
-Miss A wears funny footie pajamas
-I travel with one arm holding a baby and the other pushing a toddler in a stroller.

These are "special" pajamas according to our neighbors.

We have two children. What? 

I know I'm strange to some people, but the Chinese are still a little strange to me too. :)

This is the really cute split bottom outfit Brother was put in at the hospital.

In the hospital there was a room with windows where the babies are given their first bath. The English name of the room is "Baby Swimming Room". I thought it was just bad translation, but no.
This newborn is floating by it's head in a tub that is a little deeper than the baby is long. A nurse would come over and push him around in the water every once in a while, but other than that he was left floating alone.

(Sorry for the poor pictures...I was trying to be sneaky because the grandparents were standing by us.) Don't worry, I did not allow them to do this to Brother.

I've been out of commission lately--for some reason I need six hands to take care of two babies and I haven't had enough to type, too.

Our China Boy

You know how sometimes in movies they show a hospital scene from the perspective of an ER patient? The patient is on a gurney and all he can see is faces and things whizzing by?

That happened to me. Seriously.

The only thing is, I wasn't dying or anything. Mister and I walked in to the hospital around noon on Christmas day. We checked in at the ER. They took my blood pressure. We went to get in line to pay. Then a nurse came and told me to follow her. They had me lay on a bed while Mister got everything taken care of. When he was done they pushed me around on the thing! (for "safety")

I should have realized it was a sign for my stay in a hospital in China.

After being monitored for a while, getting an ultrasound, and getting an EKG (very interesting experience) they finally took us to our room.

The next two days were spent something like this:

-Being put on petocin
-being taken off at 6pm because there weren't any doctors working
-getting woken up at 6am by a lady cleaning
-being put on petocin
-getting taken off at 6pm because there weren't any doctors working
-staying in bed the whole time because they wanted to monitor the nothing that was going on

These two days also included some hospital Chinese food (mmm), oxygen, impatience, gesturing, Mister translating, and lots of time missing my little girl!

This was our room. Not bad, huh?

On Thursday morning they finally decided to get a little more serious about things. They gave me a different type of medicine and I told them I didn't want to be monitored as much so I could walk around. By 3, I was having pretty intense contractions.

I was planning on not getting an epidural, but was still open to it. When, at 5, the nurses told me I was only at a 2 I told Mister to get me the medicine! The nurses all tried to talk me out of it, but I was having none of that. Thanks to the fact that not many Chinese women get an epidural, the anesthesiologist was in my room within minutes.

I don't know what "2" the nurses were talking about...but I was definitely further along than that. Less that a minute after getting the epidural, my water broke. The epidural was heaven.

A little less than an hour later a nurse came in to check on us. She made a funny noise and ran out of the room. All of the sudden people were running around the room getting things ready. The doctor came in and told me I should push through my contractions. I didn't want to, though so I tried to wait. I finally decided to appease her and push.

5 minutes later, we had our China-born baby boy!

This baby weighed 4.18kg (9 lbs 3 oz)!

Oh what a crazy wonderful thing it is to hold a precious new child straight from Heaven.

This man is The. Best. He translated everything for me and was better than any doula.

and from Heaven he is.

Brother was born on December 27th at 6:05 pm--weighing 9lb 3oz and measuring 21 inches!

The Waiting Game

Have you ever waited for something for so long that it starts to feel like it will never happen?

Like Christmas--it seems like you wait forever, 

it comes, and then 

it's over.

Why does this happen? It's like I'm always looking forward to or looking back at something and the actual something passes by without being fully enjoyed.

Miss A was born a week after her due date and only after being induced. I got to the point where I felt like I would just be pregnant forever. 

This time, though, it would be different. This time I had already had a baby (only 17 months ago). This time I walked everywhere to get that baby out. This time, we packed our bags at the beginning of December. This time, we knew our little boy would come early. Wrong.

He's never coming either.

I guess I'll just be pregnant in China forever.

Here's our boy on his due date! On Friday he measured in at 8 1/2 pounds.

Mister gained a little sympathy weight this time. Or maybe he's just getting ready to help out Santa Clause...

This little one can't wait either! She just doesn't know she's waiting. :)

This isn't completely true. Our doctor wants me to get induced no later than tomorrow. We plan to actually head in to the hospital Christmas afternoon!

In the meantime, we will try really hard to enjoy the joys of waiting.

Like a little more sleep than a newborn gives you 

and the crazy feeling of a baby moving around inside you

and a little more sleep than a newborn gives you. :)

__________________________________________________

our humble nativity. :)

A nurse would ask her terminal patients if they regretted anything in their life. 

There were a few different answers, but a common theme was this: they would spend more time living in the moment.

I very obviously needed to read this General Conference talk this week. (It's a really good one for the New Year, too.)

Chinese Children

Chinese children are pretty weird. (At least from my US-raised perspective.) Here's the thing:

-they go to school for 10+ hours/day during the week
-they take extra classes on the weekend (like history and language)
-when they're not in school they're doing homework
-the little ones are crazy (running around their English school, sitting on each other, getting completely out of hand)
-they like to eat weird things--like dried squid and chicken heart for a snack
-they (want to) wear pink when they are boys
-they wear very trendy split pants so they can relieve themselves anywhere (young children)

Chinese children are also pretty cute.

-They sing English songs with their cute accent
-When you ask them "how are you?" they answer "fine sank you, how are you?"
-They are entertaining (a little girl on the bus sang a song about all the things she loved "wo ai...wo ai...wo ai...")


Although not a Chinese child, we have a pretty weird one of our own. :)

she finds unique ways to carry her baby

putting things in her shirt is way fun

she's very good at hide and seek

and playing dress-up

she likes to feed herself

or just use her food as makeup and hair gel

she watches Curious George with her dad

Her style is one-of-a-kind

(one leg out of the pajamas)

oh so fasionable

She begs to get on the little rides, but cries when they start moving

She loves shoes

a lot

She likes to work

She may be a little odd, but we sure love it and think she's pretty darn cute! We're enjoying these last few days before our family of 3 becomes 4.

Red Tape

Posts have been sparse due to the announcement of the new leader of China. Our VPN was often blocked these past two weeks.


You know the term "connections"? The thing that gets you tickets to a sold out football game or reservations at a booked restaurant? I don't have them. Especially not in China.

This week I have learned how very inept I am at navigating the Chinese culture.

Example #1: I have been to the hospital 5 times this week. Five times. (Bus, subway, hospital, bus, subway, home. Travel time: 2 hours each day)

Good news: We think everything looks good! My bp is back to normal and my iron is better. There are a few tiny concerns, but we're working on taking care of them. (Almost 35 weeks here)

This whole thing was crazy...it probably wouldn't have been so frustrating if it didn't have to do with making sure I had a place to deliver my baby! Now that it is over maybe I can look at it as a learning experience?

Here's what you need to know (if you ever plan on delivering a baby in China.):

-They don't do appointments--you show up during a time frame that the doctor is scheduled to work, take a number, and hope to get in.

-Sometimes, she decides not to come to work on the day she is supposed to.

-It costs 1 kuai to see the doctor this way.

-There is this place called the International Department that lets you actually schedule an appointment. It costs 300 kuai.

-Taiwanese doctors are very blunt. This doesn't mix well with a hormonal pregnant mama.

-They also tell you to drink lots of soy milk.

-It takes five trips, constant communication with the hospital staff and your insurance company, and a paid online assistance company to get your insurance figured out.

-You have to give lots of blood. Literally.

It's really not always this hard to get things done here. If we talked to the right person first we would have been able to take care of everything with no hassle. We didn't know the right person so we had to navigate the maze that is

the red tape.


Example #2 to come.

Miss A survived this crazy week and is so excited to be down to one nap during the day!

Traditional Baby

We're getting to the point where we can't really ignore it any more.

I'm having a baby here.
in Nanjing.
We're going to be a family of four.

I'm not old enough to have two children, right?? We've found a good, Taiwanese hospital and have a doctor we love. We're still hearing different things about whether or not Mister can be in the delivery room. (He says no one will keep him out...)

Almost 31 weeks (according to our doctor here, already 32 weeks with a due date of December 16th)

It's a good think we have such great Chinese traditions to make sure everything goes smoothly!

-Rubbing the belly could spoil the baby.
-If a mom uses glue or adhesive, there could be birthing complications.
-Using scissors or knives (especially near the bed) may make the baby have a cleft palate.
-If a mom walks without swinging her arms, talks softly, and avoids foul language the baby will be well behaved.
-If the mom criticizes anyone, the baby will look and act like that person.
-Pregnant women should eat cold food to keep their yin and yang balanced.
-If the belly is pointed, it is a boy (he's looking out at the world, and is independent).
-If the belly is round, it is a girl (she's looking in, hugging her mom).
-Mothers should avoid funerals because there could be evil spirits there.
-It is very uncommon for parents to name the baby before it is born. Instead, they often give the baby false names (the name of an animal or just "ugly") to trick evil spirits so they won't take the baby.

You should hear the postpartum ones.

I Can't Resist the Little Miss

We are living a crazy life in this place called China, but a lot of times it is still just regular old life.

When we were getting ready to leave for China I spent a lot of time thinking: what is my reason for going to China? Of course a huge reason was supporting Mister, but I felt like I needed to know why I needed to be there as an individual as well. The thought kept coming, "to be a mother." This was weird to me because I can be a mom anywhere, but maybe I wouldn't be the same mom if we weren't living here.

We stick out like a sore thumb in Nanjing where there aren't too many foreigners--and even less with children. Since we are watched all of the time, I am constantly aware of and analyzing the kind of parent I am becoming. (I have a long ways to go at figuring this whole mother thing out!)  :)

Despite my novice skills, Miss A has delighted us with her sweet personality and love to learn new things.

**This post may only be interesting to close family, but feel free to read on if you wish. :)

Miss A does chores.

• She loves to wash herself, the floor, her baby, and anything else she can get to. (She especially loves to clean things if she gets a hold of a pack of baby wipes and pulls all of them out.) 
• These days I have to leave the dust pan and little broom out for her when I finish sweeping. 
• She wants to help put the dishes away (even if they are still drying).
• She tries to dress herself (and gets frustrated when she can't put on her own sock).
• She feeds her baby (A few days ago I found a stray piece of pancake smashed into the doll's mouth...

Wipes all pulled out, changing pad down, washing her baby

Miss A does signs.

• drink, more, up, down, food, all done, please, bye, and thank you (and boy does she use them to communicate!)

Her favorite sign right now: up. She loves to be held (unless she wants to walk...)

Miss A does talking.

• Her favorite phrase is "Where'd it go??" She holds up her arms like she's asking a question and says something that sounds like "wha-go go?"
• She loves to say "woah!" when she likes something or is suprised.
• I don't think I can keep track of all the words she says, but I'll take a shot for record's sake: baby, more, please, mom, dad, bye, hi, uh oh, woah! (favorite), banana, ny night, bath, ball, please, drink, down, sock, shoes, mouth, nose, eyes, ear, hair, dog, mao (cat in Chinese), and no.

Where'd it go? (the baby--she has been calling all of our bellies babies lately)

Miss A does play

• She loves books, especially about animals and learns more animal sounds each day.
• She will transfer things (toys, our shoes, anything and everything) from one place to another all day long.
• She laughs and laughs when she plays "rough" with Mister.
• She has a sense of humor and likes to do things she thinks are funny

Best person to play with ever.

Miss A does messes.

• She splashes in the bath like it's no one's business.
• She takes out anything she can get her hands on.
• She pours her drinks on her highchair and splashes around.
• She throws food on the floor when she's full.
• She rips up our foam mattress pad.
• She soaks us with her splashes when taking a bath.

Miss A does growing up.

• She walks all over by herself. (Still a little concerned on the bumpy, cobble street-like roads here)
• She practices standing up from a sitting position--even if that means falling on her padded bum every few seconds.
• She has seven teeth and more coming in!
• She folds her arms for prayer and says amen at the end.
• She knows when we're talking about her and responds.
• She follows simple requests.

What a walker! She carried a ball while walking all through the grocery store yesterday.

Miss A does difficult

• She won't sleep without her pacifier.
• She cries when she doesn't get her way.
• She wines when she doesn't get her way.
• She throws a fit when things don't go her way.
• She wants to sit/stand/walk on her own (even when we're on a crazy moving bus.)

Miss A does taking my heart.

• She "woofs" when she hears the dog and pretend cries when she hears the crying baby in our complex.
• She laughs to get attention and it makes others smile.
• She snuggles in the morning.
• She loves to go to bed and lays her head on our shoulder when we tell her it is time.
• She softens hearts and gives love to the people of Nanjing.

Living in China is the best--thanks to this little one and her dad.