January in Jinshitan

The New Year has been off to a cold but brisk start. Lucia is back in school, which she LOVES (she often dawdles eating her oatmeal for breakfast until I remind her that she can't go to school until she finishes eating!), and Alex back to work. Though Chinese New Year is just around the corner (Feb 2 is the official new year of the Rabbit, though school is off from this Friday through till Monday Feb 7).

We all got fairly sick this past week or so, with Alex's head cold and overall not-so-good-feelings lingering on. Lucia got a fever last Thursday and I kept her home from school, but it literally lasted just half a day, and to her immense joy (as well as my own), she was back the next day. I got the same thing, now dubbed the "four-hour-fever" from 10 am to 2 pm on Friday, and was fine after that. Though Saturday afternoon, I came down with a head cold that I still haven't completely shaken, and Lucia got a cough with her fever that just today seems to be much better. Magdalena never got sick, though she has had a runny nose and slight cough the past two days, but I'm still nursing twice a day, so I think that has helped her.

It also snowed here again yesterday, and Lucia and I made snow angels again this morning. It has been cold, though, even before the snow - highs in the 20s, lows in the teens. Whenever I take Magdalena out, if she is not wearing her Chinese padded outfit - even if she IS wearing her REI snowsuit! - the Chinese accuse me of allowing her to freeze to death. I have all but given up trying to explain the virtues of fleece and synthetic weather-proof nylon.

Oh, and our ayi is now coming Monday and Tuesdays all day, Wednesday and Thursdays in the mornings, and Friday still in the afternoon staying late in support of "Date Night." I'm pretty happy about being able to exercise in the mornings as some of my friends walk then, and I've been able to join them more often. However, this also means that I (or we) have to cook dinner at least twice during the week (I know, cry me a river, huh? I did have Juanzi cook in the morning last Thursday when Lucia was home sick, and we just reheated it in the evening...!).

The girls are doing all kinds of cute and sweet things together - playing roll the ball, chase (Lucia yells "Ready, Set, Go!" from one side of the house, and charges to the other side, with Magdalena toddle-running behind her and making it only about halfway before Lucia has done a full circuit and wants to start again!), and sometimes even sharing their baby dolls and/or books.

They're also doing cute things as individuals. A week or so ago, Magdalena held my cell phone up to her ear and exclaimed "Ello!" So cute! And Lucia has been telling us for the last week that her new toothpaste (from the US) smells like "bubble crumb." It makes me smile just to write it! Magdalena loves to hand me silverware from the dishwasher - doesn't matter if they are dirty or clean! And she enjoys taking things out of various locations - the washing machine, the new play "kitchen", the bookshelf, the cupboards, the toy boxes, the grocery store shelves or piles of produce, etc - and moving them very deliberately to a new place - including handing them to me, the Chinese teacher, the ayi, or - when we're at a store and she is wandering about - a complete stranger. :-) Thank goodness Chinese people love kids! And today at school one of the teachers told me that Lucia insisted upon taking home five small oranges (like cuties) because she needed one for Daddy, Mama, Magdalena, Lucia, and Juanzi (our ayi). So magnanimous.

I can't believe that January is almost over, and we really have only two months left here in China. A year definitely flies by, and I am starting to feel nostalgic! However, we are also very much looking forward to being home - not the least of why is for the FAST INTERNET!!! That and driving. Oh yeah, and it will be great to see our friends and family again too... :-)

Happy New Year - especially all you RABBITS out there (Alex is one!) - Feb 1975, 1987, 1999 birth years out there, and those who will be born this year after February 2! I'll do a post dedicated to you soon with all the info I've learned about here, but let me just put out the teaser that you better get your stock of red underwear prepared...




One day the girls decided to fill the crib with the balls from the ball pit...

From Blog All Four

Look closely and you can see the red of my cell phone under Magdalena's right ear. "Ello? Who's calling, please?"

From Blog All Four

Here is Magdalena's Chinese padded outfit - it is pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself:

From Blog All Four

This is the sweetest picture of our girls together! Magdalena now gets very excited when Lucia comes home from school, sometimes even bypassing me to get to her sister and give her a hug and a kiss (though this was taken on a morning that Magdalena accompanied me to school to drop off Lucia).

From Blog All Four

Magdalena's got a new do - two piggy tails instead of just one. At least when she pulls out her hairtie, she now only does one side and the whole thing doesn't come out!

From Blog All Four

I tried to match Lucia's hair to Magdalena's for church last Saturday. This picture doesn't capture her extreme pleasure at being made up to look like her sister. :-)

From Blog All Four

I forgot to say that Magdalena is also JUMPING now - on our bed, on the sofa, on the chairs - so I finally got out the trampoline, and she does it there too!

From Blog All Four

Lucia is in a dress phase right now - she refuses to just wear pants (even the adorable brown corduroys with flowers on the hem that I bought her at Gymboree!) - so we have to ensure that she wears spandex-style pants and a long sleeved shirt UNDER her dresses now. Even on Saturday mornings, like when this photo was taken, she has to wear a dress!

From Blog All Four

Here is a cute video of them playing ball together. It also illustrates my attempts to teach Lucia common etiquette associated with coughing in public.