Sick Baby at the Doctor's Office

Yesterday I took Blake to the clinic.

He's not been sick, sick, but he's not been himself lately. He's been running a low grade fever for 4 or 5 days now, a bit whingy, and not eating very much. We know at least 3 sharp teeth have just popped through the gums, so maybe that is what's been bugging him, but I just wanted to check that everything is okay so off we went to the doctor.

My sick baby was HILARIOUS at the doctor's office and not acting very sick at all. He began by running over to the pamphlet holder and grabbing two large, illustrated hand outs about Self Breast Examinations and ran around the waiting room to show everyone.

Next he walked up to each person, arched his back and lifted his shirt and showed them his big belly and then ran away laughing.

Finally, when he got up on the scale to get weighed, he started dancing and wouldn't stop.

Not surprisingly, the doctor said he was fine. Must bring my camera next time we go to the doctor.

Playing Around the House

Blake is pretty physical kid. Sometimes it seems like he is in constant motion.
One of his favorite games these days is to stand up on the bench behind the couch and then throw himself over the top and land on the cushions below.
We are constantly amazed by the number of times he can do this without getting tired and how much joy he gets by simply tumbling over the sofa.
As an added bonus for mom and dad, he stops from time to time to play peekaboo with us behind the cushions.

Good Mates

We spent the day in Puxi visiting with some good friends. Here are the two buddies at the top of a double slide.
Introducing the beautiful princess Maeva.
I guess Blake forgot which hand his snack was in.
Here he is seconds after throwing the soccer ball.
Still a little small to mind this net.
Kilani found a shopping trolley to play with.
Blake still LOVES slides, but we may have a new fave - the swing was a big hit!

Uh Oh

Look who's learned to take off his own nappy.

This could get messy!
One of Blake's favorite activities lately has been standing up on a hope chest playing in my jewelry boxes. Opening the box, closing the box. Pulling out the drawers, pushing in the drawers. And emptying everything out of everything.

If you are a robber casing our joint, let me save you the trouble. These 20 kuai 'pearl' bracelets are about my most valuable possession.

Life is Good

Sitting in the early morning sun, reading a book. Life is gooooood.

Celebrity

Have I blogged about this already?
I can't remember, but I'll do it again because it cracks me up!

When we walk into Carrefour we are immediately mobbed by a group of ladies who work there. All of them calling, "Blak-uh, Blak-uh," and all of them scrambling to find some food to offer him. A few weeks ago there was a new twist. The lady in the orange shirt above, a cigarette & honey saleswoman (the two things go together so nicely), rushed over to us, grabbed the baby and two kuai out of her cash register and rushed over to this little yellow car and plonked him in and started the machine.

It was very clear to us that this was not Blake's first turn in the yellow car. He grabbed the steering wheel and started driving.

Today Scott got his haircut in the Salon behind the car while Blake basked in adoration of his Carrefour buddies.

Having a baby in China is at times the most difficult and at times the easiest place in the world. Difficult because safety standards are low or non-existent. Difficult because heaven only knows what is in the sandpit or in the water or in the food. Difficult because when things go wrong we are VERY far from our families
But there are some incredible perks:
No one would ever expect a mother and her baby to have to wait in a queue in China. Even in the most official places, like customs lines at the airport, we are whisked to the head of the line and treated like visiting royalty.
The whole country loves Blake and gets giddy at the thought of holding him or touching his little hand and they line up to have their photo taken with him.
For the first time in four years we have genuine interactions with the people who live here. Yes, they are all about Blake, but they are real.

It's a wild ride, but it sure is fun.

Sunny Days in Shanghai

They don't come too often. They don't always come on weekends or holidays.
So when the sun does make a surprise appearance, the best thing to do is to get outside and enjoy it!
Throw some bark and stones around. Climb on top of pillars. Get kisses from dad. Lovely.

Bloodshed

A few months ago Blake was biting everything in sight, including Scott and myself. I was getting a little bit worried that he would be that kid at preschool, you know, the biting kid. But then one day I realized he hadn't bitten anyone in over a week. We had made it through the biting stage without any bloodshed.

Lately, Blake has been pinching us. Like biting, he does it when happy and when sad, when joyful and when miserable.

Today while riding on Scotty's shoulders he reached down and gave his dad a big, loving pinch on the cheek. And cut him! It bled and bled and bled.

Hope he's not the pinchy kid at preschool.

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium

Today Scott, Blake and I went with some friends to the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. By Chinese zoo standards it was a pretty nice facility. Clean, safe, organized, full of cool stuff.
Hard to say which part Blake hated the most. It could have been the crowds, though he's certainly been surrounded by that many people before - we do live in China. Though he clearly wanted to borrow someone's camera and no one would let him. It might have been the gigantic fish. Maybe it was the dim lighting or the ocean sounds piped in. We know he's not a big fan of the ocean.
Whatever it was, Blake did not have a good time at the aquarium. He started whining, by the middle of the tunnel he was full on crying and when he started screaming we said goodbye to our friends and high tailed it to the exit.
Outside, Blake cheered up pretty quickly, happy to be away from the fish, dark, music & whatever else was bugging him down there.
That's when things got sucky for Scott and I, though. Some cheeky devil unzipped our backpack and lifted my camera right out!
So no pictures of the cranky baby in front of the fish tanks.

Surprises

Surprise #1
Today when Scott came home from practice he poured himself an ice cold glass of lemonade straight out of the fridge. Out came the lemonade AND two pencils!!
I know what you're thinking - sue the company and win a million dollars. Good idea. Only these were Shanghai American School pencils, which means they were put in the carton in our house, not at the factory.

Surprise #2
Later on I was making some pasta for dinner and there in the spaghetti canister was a blue bouncy ball.

Blake is a curious kid. He loves exploring indoors and out. He loves opening and closing doors and putting on lids and then taking them off. And clearly he likes putting stuff in other stuff.

Everyday is an adventure.

Spaghetti for Dinner

Blake had just had a bath and was ready for bed when he decided to have some of dad's spaghetti. He got sauce on his face, tummy, legs and even in his nappy.
So after Blake's second dinner, he had a second bath in the sink.

Blake just loves noodles.

Bathtime

Bathtime around our house is a pretty fun time.

And there's nothing cuter than Blake sitting in his towel after getting out of the tub.

Blake Comes to School

Blake came to visit us at school today. We went out to the Kindergarten playground.Blake headed straight for the slide.
He and dad slid down together.
Like every other child in the world, Blake likes going up the slide as much as he likes going down.
Scott got a big cuddle at the bottom.
But then it got too cold and we headed inside. On our way home we stopped in the library and found Corduroy the Bear and gave him a little love.
A great day!

And we found his ninth tooth tonight while brushing!

Blessings

If I was the kind of person who counted her blessings, very high on the list would be our wonderful ayi Ling Ling.

Yesterday I was home sick. Not feeling badly, not stuffed up or headachy - I was genuinely sick, as sick as a dog and didn't move from my bed all day.

Mostly I slept, but when I woke up I could hear lots of noises from the other side of the door.
Running noises - he's small, but sounds a bit like a wild elephant.
Talking noises - Ling Ling talks away in Chinese and Blake grunts back in his own sweet baby language.
Crying noises and comforting noises.

We don't see eye to eye on everything. I think Blake should eat meals in his chair and Ling Ling allows him to graze all day in his play area. And we will never resolve the 'how many layers of clothes does he really need' debate. But it doesn't matter. What really matters, what is so so so important, what makes me the luckiest working mom in the world, is that Blake is loved and cared for by a kind, compassionate woman in our home where he is safe and happy.

I definitely should start counting my blessings because I have a lot to be thankful for.

A little while ago I blogged about Blake's new nighttime snuggles. Here is a picture of Blake cuddling with his dad on his way to bed. Beautiful.

Crayons

Today I visited our Pre K teacher and pinched some big, fat, non-toxic, washable crayons and then emptied half of our scrap paper basket and put it all in my school bag.

Blake has been showing a lot of interest in us while we are writing recently and is always desperate to hold the pen or pencil, so I thought I would give it a go.

At first he seemed very interested in the crayons. He lined them up. Then he held each one up on the paper like a little soldier. Next he tried to eat them. Finally he rolled them across the page which made some of the marks you see on the paper below.

And then he was done and ready to get out of the chair.


Maybe we'll try again next month.

Something Different Everyday

It's so exciting to watch Blake try new things and discover what he can and cannot do.

For example, he's doing a lot of backward walking these days. Sometimes he just turns around and walks backward.

Lately he's been spinning a lot, followed by crazy walking and eventually falling. Another thing he's been doing is standing with both feet on the ground, arching his back and sticking his tummy as far out as it can go - which is pretty far. Why does he do this? I get the spinning, that's fun, but this archy back business is a mystery.

Also, I am sorry to report, he is experimenting with tantrums. Lying down on the floor and crying so hard until he either gets what he is looking for or gets distracted. A glimpse of what is to come, I guess.

Today I came home to see Ling Ling pushing Blake around IN his trolley with a piece of melon in each hand. Bless. She is so lovely.

Some things haven't changed - he still enjoys 'reading' books - especially his favorite baby face book. Lift the flap books are also a huge favorite, though I am concerned about the safety of these books as their flaps are lifted very vigorously.

Cuddles

Lately Blake has begun to show an interest in soft toys. This is new.

Naturally, he likes to throw them, poke them in the eyes and occasionally bite their noses. From time to time, he also likes to CUDDLE them!! He holds them up to the side of his head and gives them a nice hug!

It is just about the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

My boy, the cuddler.