What's up with Glenn, Heather, Katrine, and Elspeth
Here is the summary: Katrine loved the moon cakes, Elspeth not so much. Elspeth loved my spherically round moon like meatballs (oh so chinese I know), Katrine not so much. They both agreed that the lanterns rocked. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!
Tomorrow is the mid-autumn moon festival and Katrine could not be more excited. We had some friends over to visit today and they brought her moon cakes. She is thrilled. When we were in Nanning, she ate half a moon cake each morning with breakfast (yes, very healthy). She is also looking forward to introducing Elspeth to the joys of staying up late and walking outside under the stars with your muscial lantern. Yes, this holiday necessitated a trip to Pacific Mall for the sole purpose of procuring a musical lantern for Elspeth so that they could match (by the way, you should be looking forward to matching Halloween costumes as this is a theme in our life now). Dinner? Round meatballs, round carrots, round glasses of beverage all served on round plates. The only chinese thing that will be part of our meal will be the moon cakes that Katrine loves.
When we were in China, particularly Nanning, it was interesting to see all of the preparations for the moon festival. We asked our guide what she did with her family and she said that they went outside and sat under the stars together eating moon cakes. She also told us that it was traditional to give moon cakes to family and friends this time of year. Well, we will not be buying all of you a box of moon cakes. Put it down to my thrifty scottish ancestors. Instead, we are offering you these images from China and tomorrow maybe some photos of the girls with their lanterns. Happy Moon Festival!
Today has been an exciting day for us. We made contact with one of Elspeth’s foster sisters which will be huge for her. AND…..we got new photos from a fabulous agency who helped to provide Elspeth with formula until Gotcha Day. We will forever be in their debt. First for helping to provide her with basic nutrition and now for allowing us new glimpses into the past 2 years. We have been truly blessed. Enjoy.
Katrine had a great first day in Grade 2 and loves her teacher. She was also tickled pink when we gave in to her plees and got her sister a purple outfit so that they would be a matching set. I think that Katrine going to school was harder on Elspeth today. You could see the fear and anxiety in her eyes as the school bus pulled away with her big kid going who knows where. Just what she needs, to lose another. Then the sheer joy when Katrine got off the bus at the end of the day was priceless.
This evening provided early signs that we might not have a skater, dancer or hockey player on our hands but a gymnast. Front roll anyone?
Mainly a photo update for you to ponder. These signs beg you to come in to enjoy the taste of love or have a good knosh. Would either appeal to you in a restaurant?
Okay, I just have to do this post as this has been on my mind. You see, I have been trying to get things away that we brought home from China. One of the things that we had bought were a pair of split pants. Elspeth would have been wearing split pants in her orphange. If you have never seen split pants you can look at the photo below. Basically, when a kid needs to go they crouch and go. When we were in Nanchang you would often see kids go right there on the street. Their parent or caregiver would stop, wait for them to finish and then clean it up. In Beijing, you would see parents holding their child over the garbage can so that they could do there business. Now if you have ever potty trained a child you know how frustrating it can be when they have to go and you don’t know where the toilets are. From toilet training Katrine I learned where the bathrooms were in grocery stores, drugstores, heck even the teacher’s store. If you have a boy you can walk them to a bush and it is socially acceptable, well tolerated, for them to pee and then go back to playing. Maybe all of us who have to toilet train girls have something to learn from these pants.
Anyways, then I got to thinking about all of the different types of bathrooms and signage that we’ve seen. Totally not Canadian. Once you get the hang of squats they are not too bad…if you pretend that any liquid on the ground is simply water from the floor being washed. I think our most interesting visit to a squat on this trip was when the ducks who were eating beside the path to the squat tried to follow us inside. Have you ever tried to shoo away a duck while needing to pee at the same time? I hadn’t until this trip. I also particularly liked the small pot the hotel gave us when we asked for a potty (just in case). Now granted, the hotel actually had a potty where here it is definetely BYOP. But really, can you imagine trying to sit or even squat over that thing…especially when you are Elspeth’s size?
Okay, I know that you are all really reading this to find out what is up with the kids but I need to start by saying “I’m not going back to school!!” Okay, I love to teach and see kids master new skills but this year I get to do just that here at home. Katrine is getting excitted about going back and seeing her friends again which is good.
What have we been up to? Well, I will let the photos speak for themselves. If you look carefully, you will catch a glimpse of that rare creature – the Elspeth smile!
Tonight marks the end of our first week home…its been a long week but productive week.
We were greeted at the airport by some of our China family and it was a really nice way to ease back into reality. Katrine was thrilled to have a chance to run around and blow off steam with her “sisters”. The fact that cupcakes were brought in addition to friends made it that much more special. Then it was time to introduce Elspeth to a Canadian automotive tradition: the car seat. She was not impressed. A five point harness is quite different than complete freedom in chinese taxis. Good thing was that she didn’t last long before falling asleep. When she woke up it was to her new home and some family waiting on the doorstep. Introductions were given as she clung to Glenn’s shirt. Eventually she was coaxed off and began to explore what we are affectionately refering to as Toyapalooza. She was particularly enamored with the kitchen. Guests shown to the door, a warm bottle and all four of us were in bed.(well, Glenn and I ordered some late night pizza first. I mean, keeping the McD’s french fry industry in business leaves one decidely hungry after three weeks)
The next day we got both Elspeth’s SIN and Health Card in her proper Canadian name. We are keeping our fingers crossed that her permanent resident card also comes that way so that there will be no issues with her citizenship. We have also gone to visit the doctor, got her parasite tests and TB tests done and I have applied for EI. Oh and did I mention that poor Glenn woke up the day after we landed with a horrible head cold? It hit him really hard. Katrine and I have just been battling jet lag while Elspeth is adjusting. Amongst all of the jobs that have had to get done we have had some fun. Katrine went to skating classes with daddy twice this week so that she would have a little something that was just for her. We also introduced Elspeth to the joys of our local parks and splash pads. As you can see from the photos, she is still adjusting. She had more fun splashing in one of the puddles left from a rain shower than in the puddles at the splash pad!
She is also adjusting to our house, routine and food. She is starting to smile more readily as the week has gone on. She is also starting to be less clingy to me. Yes, that’s right. The girl who clung to her Baba for dear life in China, became a Mama’s girl upon arriving in Canada. So much so that she would want me to hold her while trying to cook and if I put her down or into her booster would throw a fit. Now though she is seeking out Baba more again which shows that she is beginning to claim her new environment as her own. She is also making progress in terms of the number of foods she will eat. Breakfast is by far her most favourite meal. She will eat a whole clementine, small glass of milk, a scrambled egg and then bowl of oatmeal in one sitting. Then when I sit down to eat will make little bird noises to indicate her indignation that I am eating and not feeding her. Of course, she won’t eat my GF toast and bacon but she insists that I offer it to her. We still have a long road until she is at a more reasonable weight for her age, until she can use speak to indicate what she wants, until she truly feels safe and secure and a part of our family but we are off to a good start.
The fourth, and last, of the missing blog updates from when our computer was blocked in Beijing
August 18th
The title says it all. Originally we had thought to tire the kids out by visiting the zoo tomorrow. Nope, we will be sleeping in and then taking a taxi to Tiannamen Square before walking back here. Today was fun but high UV and HOT. Katrine told us in no uncertain terms that she wants to go home. China is awesome but she wants to go home. The heat sent Elspeth into a fit this morning and she has begun trying to exert her independence around feeding herself. Tantrums are just easier when you are not dealing with them on buses, tourist attractions and hotel lobbies. I think that if Katrine had been an easy baby dealing with Elspeth’s rants would be emotionally exhausting. Now you just wait them out and remind her not to head butt or scratch. When we visited the orphanage they bragged about how independent she was. Great in a regular two year old but we have to regress her so that she learns that she can depend on us for the necessities as a baby does from birth. Unfortunately tonight’s tantrum resulted in her refusing to eat much for dinner because she was not allowed to just feed herself. The plus side is that she is now comfortable enough with us that she can just let it go. Down side, a 13 hour flight tomorrow.
Now onto the good part of the day. This morning we visited the Temple of Heaven. Once again the grounds were beautiful. Spent a lot of time wanting to just let Elspeth lose on the lush green lawns but they are lush and green for a reason…no one is allow on them. We got to watch a variety of groups of senior citizens engaged in morning exercises (once you reach 60 you get free entrance to the grounds and there really are no other gathering places). We saw grandparents teaching their grandsons how to play mahjong, various taichi and dancing groups. One guy just made me laugh, he was standing off to the side of a dance group very elegantly doing the movements with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Doesn’t the smoke negate the benefits of the exercise?
The Temple itself was gorgeous. Just like in the photos we’d seen. At the same time much more extensive. You see, the emperors never did anything small. Summer Palace – grand. Forbidden City – grand. Temple of Heaven – surprise…grand. Also laid out in a symbolic manner. First the Temple of Earth, followed by the area for ancestor worship, then where the emperor got changed into the clothes of a regular guy because one does not approach heaven with lofty duds on and then the actual Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was certainly the prettiest portion but the circular lay-out of the Temple of Earth was more visually pleasing to me.
After a much needed rest we went to visit the cathedral on Wangfujing. It was rebuild in 1980 and is quite pretty. It is one of the few state sanctioned Catholic churches in Beijing. Then it was back to the hotel to rest, swim and pack (oh ya, and to have the “you can’t make me eat” tantrum).
This is the third missing post from when our computer was blocked in Beijing
August 17th
Well this morning dawned with our big miss feeling much better. Plus they were serving chicken congee so little miss and myself got to eat some really delicious congee this morning. Yesterday they switched to preserved pork and egg congee. Little miss spit out every piece of egg and pork. In other words, she ate watery rice. Very nutritious for someone who is under weight.
After breakfast we walked as a group over to the Forbidden City. On the way, we passed the building where they actually matched us with our babies. That was pretty cool. I mean, it is really just a plain building to look at from the outside but the inside happenings are what is special.
The Forbidden City was a lot warmer this go round but also a lot more crowded. Elspeth seemed to be fascinated with the buildings. She spent much of the visit pointing here and there making a vocalization which we have come to interprete as “What’s that?”. Katrine was also fascinated. You can tell because she spent the visit taking photos, reading signs and actually looking at things. I know, she wasn’t constantly in motion?? Yep, she looked and learned. I think that Glenn and I enjoyed seeing the Imperial Gardens the most. They were barren in February but now were a wash with green. I think that the most dynamic aspects of the garden were still the rock formations arranged at various spots around the garden.
We headed out after nap time for some shopping therapy. Didn’t buy much though. We did find a few more really cute statues on the side streets. My favourite was of a group of kids playing around with grown-up shoes. If you look closely, you can see that one little fellow is wearing split pants.
This evening our group gathered in the lobby before heading out for tea tasting and the Olympic Village. I was surprised by how interested in the tea tasting Katrine was. She and the other older sister in our group did a great job of watching what the girls were doing as they made each type of tea. Plus, both girls tasted each tea sample. They were however, even more excited to walk around the gift shop after the tasting critiquing which tea sets were the prettiest. As with last time, we ended up buying tea, a new tea set (it has dragons that change colour when hot liquids are poured in) and a peeing boy. We got two boxes of our favourite pu-er type of tea, a nice jasmine tea with a beautiful fragrance, a litchi tea that I can’t wait to try and make into iced tea and then a fruit tea which actually has bits of dried fruit floating in it. I can see that one getting good use for Katrine’s tea parties. Now for the peeing boy. He is really just a little boy made out of clay with a strategically placed hole. When cold water is poured over him – nothing. BUT, if the water is hot enough to make good tea watch out because the boy has a good trajectory. Katrine can attest to that because when the girls demonstrated the boy she got hit in the face.
After we left the tea shop we drove to the Olympic Village. We had driven by it a few times this week during the day and the stadiums are impressive to look at then. Quite grand, doing justice to the fact that they were host to the best athletes in the world for that year. At night though, they are lit up and truly come into their own. The bird’s nest is lit with red and yellow. The lights highlight the crisscross of beams supporting the structure. The water cube however steals the show. During the day the walls look like they are made of silvery pebbles. At night, you can see each blue bubble. The lights really highlight the texture of the walls. Gorgeous. I was also really excited to be able to buy a mug with all of the Fuwas on it. I think that they are among the cutest mascots ever. I use to have a sweatshirt with them all on it, which I adored and in true Heather fashion managed to destroy in a kitchen accident.
We are having a nice time here and finding time each day to work on building our family. We are figuring out how to give Katrine one on one time through both little and larger things. She is getting more use to the fact that she now shares us with another kidlet. Elspeth is accepting me and trusting me more although Glenn is still her centre of security. She is also learning that we do not give in to temper tantrums. Figure that there will be even more of them to come. We are by no means at the end of our learning curve but at least we are moving along as opposed to standing still.