Equipment

Who needs playground equipment when you have car stopper thingies... I'm not sure what this equipment is, I think it stops a parked car from sliding out of its spot?? No one ever uses them. Anyway, Hayden thought it'd be fun to climb into it.


See, it's so fun!

Um, Lizzy, you're a little old to be doing silly toddler stunts but whatever.

Cooperate

It's always hard to get good pictures of both of them. Lizzy tries to "help" Hayden to smile at the camera and it usually just makes him cry.


I tried to crop myself out but it didn't work, and my internet is too slow to try and fix it. Sorry.

Rickshaw ride

We don't own a car in China. So our modes of transportation include biking, taxis, buses, and recently on our trip to the park, a rickshaw! Yes, they still exist, the one we were on was motorized. It was quite a tight squeeze to fit me and both the kids in the little compartment but we did it. Even managed to take a picture!

We took the rickshaw to the nearby Baozi restaurant. Hayden LOVES the baozi. He won't eat hamburgers and sandwiches, but serve rice/noodles/baozi and he gobbles it up! (NOTE: baozi is a type of steamed dumpling usually with meat and veggies and sometimes seafood wrapped inside a thick dough and shaped into a little ball with mini folds on top)

Lizzy's school bus

It's been a headache trying to figure out how to get Lizzy to and from school. The taxi drivers I had kept bailing on me. Anyway, finally worked out a deal with the school bus. There are actually two busses that come to our apartment complex, it shows how many kids go to that school from here. At first I thought she was too young to be riding on the school bus all by herself, but it turns out I'm just a paranoid mother who has trouble letting go because she's totally fine.


Showing off her new backpack with her name on it.

*sigh* isn't she such a big girl now?! I can't believe I'm packing my child's school lunches now, seems like yesterday I was still getting lunch packed for me.

Hayden says "uh-oh"

Okay, this is a big deal. Hayden says, "uh-oh". Sure other kids his age are speaking sentences but he's developing at his own pace. I wasn't sure if it counts as a first word, because "uh-oh" is not exactly a word, is it? But it is the very first thing he can repeat perfectly after us and use in the right context. Good job, little Hay!

Obsessed with shoes

I've found lots of toddlers like shoes. Don't know why, maybe because they're closer to the ground. Anyone else have/had a toddler obsessed with shoes?!

Hayden's learned to grin at the camera - makes for very nice pictures

More vacation pics

Rock Garden

We may have said goodbye to our green backyard in the U.S., but welcome to our China rock garden! This is an area of rocks in our apartment complex and Lizzy loves to play here. Hayden is getting old enough to play along. What do they do? Lizzy likes to name the rocks and pretend play with them. Hayden likes to pick them up and throw them in the artificial rivers in the landscaping. Watch out, he doesn't always have good aim.

Pics of the Cruise

Can you see it?

Note from teacher: "Lizzy collided with another kid at the playground."
it looks like she has a black eye!

Starbucks

I miss Starbucks!!! Well, I can get Starbucks here, but I never do because it's so far away it's quite inconvenient. Here are some pics of the kids enjoying Starbucks.

Playing up high

I love to play up high!

But not that high...

First day at school

Sorry no picture today. I just wanted to record the date of Lizzy's first day at Junior Kindergarten. I didn't cry but got close to it when I was getting her ready for school. She loves it and had a great first day. I came home and told Hayden he's not allowed to grow anymore.

Hail in Tianjin

It hailed in Tianjin yesterday. First time we encountered hail in Tianjin, it was pretty bizarre because it was at least still 70+ degrees out. TIanjin roads are NOT made for much rain, and within half an hour, the entire road outside of our apartment building was flooded - check it out. Craziness!

Back in China

The kids were thrilled to come home to what seems like a houseful of new toys. Lizzy has an American Girl Doll whom she has named "Jellious" (Don't ask me why, I think it's a bad name too but it has stuck), and Grandma bought Jellious the new outfit for the new American Girl Doll of the year, who, coincidentally, is from Colorado. Anyway, it's a horseriding outfit and Grandma's special gift came complete with a horse, named Jack. We had left Jellious back in China, so Lizzy was so anxious to come home and put the outfit on her and play with her. Here they are: