fundazzle

The girls and I have been frequenting Fundazzle, a fantastic indoor playroom, since it opened last summer. Because the outdoors is so often undesirable or downright dangerous for us to play -- due to heat, rain, wind, or (most often) pollution -- I am really thankful for this big, clean, safe, semi-convenient, and relatively cheap place for TJ to get some energy out and Avery to smile at strangers.

It's here that I really see my two children's unique personalities shine. I've posted a couple of videos that capture their typical Fundazzle activities pretty well:

And here are some photos from the day as well.

exploring a bit

making new friends

eating, always eating

smiling

relaxing

running

zooming

only time she stops moving is for a water break

Holiday Recap

Since I failed to post updates after each holiday we've celebrated recently, I thought I'd just throw them all together into one post. We'll start with Halloween, which we celebrated with jack-o-lantern painted mandarin oranges, costumes at music class, and then a fun trick-or-treat tour organized by my friend around her apartment compound. A bunch of kids and just a few pretty close stops (4 building lobbies and the gate guard station) made for the perfect amount of candy and walking for TJ and her friends.

 Then came Thanksgiving, which we celebrated three times! On Thursday, just a regular workday for Matt (which meant he wouldn't be joining us for dinner), I made glazed carrots and roasted brussels sprouts and ordered a rotisserie chicken for a Thanksgiving-ish meal for me and the girls. On Friday, Bompa came over and we celebrated the football portion of the holiday: replays of all of the games, a special cheeseburger dip that Bompa made, and some quality guitar duets. Finally, Saturday we had our third annual traditional Thanksgiving dinner hosted by our American friends, and attended by Italians, Australians, and Chinese friends. For this one I made an apple pie and two classic casseroles, green bean and sweet potato.

sweet potato casserole topped with pecans in back
green bean casserole with homemade onion rings in front

Finally it was on to Christmas. Even in our short time in Shanghai, we have seen a huge difference in how much the holiday is celebrated. Each year, more and more places around town get into the holiday spirit, and they're also getting the decorations more accurate too. Check out this gorgeous tree in the lobby of a hotel on the other side of Shanghai where we enjoyed a little "staycation" one weekend.

TJ says "PRESENTS!!!"

Our tree was slightly less impressive, although the story behind it was quite amazing. Matt made a quick pit-stop at IKEA one night after work and cajoled the manager into selling him the very last Christmas tree they had: the display model. So he bought the tree, ornaments and all. Brought it home in the back of a taxi. Christmas champ!

the legendary "last tree in Shanghai" (and it was still November!)

We did a bit of decorating and baking this year to get ourselves in the holiday spirit.

TJ decorated these ones herself!

I remember making these with MY mom growing up

Matt and I did these ones

Buddha even decided to celebrate with some mini-trees

Santa came, but failed to assemble before delivery. So one elf built a kitchen while another ate a cookie.

...which were much enjoyed

snacks for Santa and his reindeer...

Matt hard at work on the kitchen

Santa's gifts for Tyler (she asked for a little kitchen)

Santa's gifts for Avery (Tyler told us Avery wanted a giraffe)

the scene after Santa's visit

On Christmas morning, both girls patiently hung out on our bed waiting for Mama and Daddy to shower and Bompa and Crystal to arrive. Probably the last year that's going to happen! Then we enjoyed a pleasant morning of slooooowly opening and playing with gifts, eating a two course breakfast (cinnamon rolls and fruit salad, followed by omelettes), and then in the afternoon Bompa made his special family recipe of Goulash. Matt calls it "dirty sock soup" because in lieu of cheesecloth, you can put the spices in a sock. Which we did.

Christmas morning cuties

breakfast round 1

Pat with the "dirty sock"

nothing says Christmas morning like a screwdrivers & Bloody Marys ;)

One of my favorite parts of the day was when Tyler gave her gifts to Avery. I explained to her the whole idea of presents -- receiving AND giving -- and we came up with the idea that she would go through her old toys and choose a couple things to give to Avery. Then she helped me wrap one and decorated a bag for the other. She's a very sweet big sister.

the girls being goofy

Sisterly Love

Tyler is a very enthusiastic big sister. Perhaps a little too enthusiastic, actually.

She is so eager to hug and kiss Avery that it often devolves into smothering. She has been caught numerous times with my breast-pump to her bare chest, attempting to "get milk for Avery". She wants to share every toy with Avery, even ones that might not be so appropriate for tiny hands or teething mouths. She has become insistent that Avery always be positioned to watch Tyler eat, color, read, solve puzzles, etc.

Tyler recently learned how to climb in/out of her crib, so we transitioned her to a "big girl bed." And then Avery was outgrowing her bassinet, so we transitioned her to the crib. I'm guessing you can see where this is going, as you're (hopefully!) less sleep deprived than I am... but next thing I know, Tyler is in the crib with Avery, trying to "cuddle" her as she naps. Yikes!

Last night over dinner, Tyler kept asking and asking and begging and whining to hold and feed Avery. So I decided to let her channel all of her sisterly affection in a more positive -- and supervised -- way. She was very patient, stayed focused, and was gentle and supportive with Avery. For her part, Avery seemed enthralled with Tyler, and actually drank an ounce of milk while on her lap.

I am really enjoying seeing the girls' relationship develop. Well, at least when it's sweet moments like this. I could do without the crib incidents.

Tyler Sings in Chinese

Tyler has learned her first Chinese nursery rhyme!

It took me awhile to figure out the lyrics, because Chinese is difficult enough for me without having to also understand through the mispronunciations of a toddler and the heavy accent of her teacher, our Ayi (helper). I finally had to enlist the help of our friend Crystal, who is fluent in both Chinese and English. But it's a cute little song, sung to the tune of Frere Jacques.

First, the English translation, since that's probably the only version that means anything to the blog readers.

TWO TIGERS

Two tigers, two tigers

Running fast, running fast

One has no eyes, one has no ears

Very strange, very strange.

Next, the Chinese version. I've written the tone-less pinyin (our alphabet) under the hanzi (characters).

两只老虎

LIANG ZHI LAOHU

两只老虎，两只老虎

Liang zhi laohu, liang zhi laohu

跑得快，跑得快

Pao de kuai, pao de kuai

一只没有眼睛， 一只没有耳朵

Yi zhi meiyou yanjing, yi zhi meiyou erduo

真奇怪，真奇怪

Zhen qiguai, zhen qiguai.

And now, Tyler’s music video debut – enjoy!

Santa Visits Shanghai

Although this was Tyler’s second Christmas, it was really her first experience understanding and participating in the holiday: dancing to carols, watching the twinkling lights on our tree, and eagerly unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning.

our little tree with stockings filled by Santa

Santa visited us, bringing Tyler a tricycle and some blocks, and bringing Matt a remote control car (hey, if you still believe…)

Santa's gifts for TJ & Matt

Matt’s dad joined us on Christmas eve for Mexican food and a movie (introduced us to The Big Chill – excellent film with excellent soundtrack!), then he spent the night so as not to miss TJ’s early start the next day.  We spent a lovely Christmas morning opening presents and eating cinnamon rolls.   

 

 

admiring herself in her new hat from cousin

Then we headed over to some dear friends’ home for a New Zealand Christmas dinner.  It’s summer there for the holiday, so ham sandwiches and salad are typical fare, and it was delicious.  We even got to group skype with friends that had moved back to Portugal.  It’s nice having a Shanghai “family” network of friends since all of us are so far from home for the holidays.

We hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season wherever you are, and here’s to a fantastic 2013!

Trick or Treat

I’m a little disappointed that since living in a dorm in college, I have never had a trick-or-treater come to my door.  In DC this was because only drunk homeless men stumbled by my alleyway entrance.  In Spanish Harlem, it wasn’t worth it for a kid to hike up 5 ½ flights of stairs for one lame piece of candy.  In the village, everyone watched or participated in the parade instead.  Which brings us to China…

Last year, I chronicled how Halloween was starting to catch on as a holiday, thanks to the proliferation of expats, especially Americans.  This year, we saw the big nightclub up our street setting up a haunted-house type gauntlet that costumed patrons had to walk through to enter the club.  We saw a row of shops offering sweets to trick-or-treaters who came by (T-o-T-ing at shops, rather than residences, was common in NYC too -- makes sense in big cities of mostly apartment dwellers, I guess).

As for our celebration, we kept it simple this year.  First we got dressed in costume (well, at least one of us did)…

not sure about this outfit, Daddy

ahoy, sailor!

got my T-o-T bag and everything!

…then we went out for a ice cream at Cold Stone (yep, they’re here in Shanghai).  Treat indeed!

no pausing for silly photos, just gimme the ice cream!

can't smile because I'm thinking about that next bite!