Kite Flying at Century Square

Last Saturday we ventured out to join the many people flying kites at Century Square, just a short drive from our house. We had our new hawk kite ready for her maiden flight. Scott and Seth worked hard to get her in the air, with no small amount of attention and advice from the Chinese people who were there with their own kites.
Madelyn made some pretty good efforts with a phoenix kite.
Kite flying can be frustrating, as can missing your nap.

Hmmm... the phoenix kite doesn't seem to be getting very far off the ground.
So maybe our hawk doesn't fly as some of the other kites, but isn't it cool?
Still trying with the phoenix...
The hawk is coming in for the kill... Look at all the kites in the sky!
This guy was selling roasted sweet potatoes (or "too-tatoes", as Gwen calls them) from the back of his bike. I was sorely tempted.

There were also several kite vendors selling their wares from the back of their bikes. We bought a new string reel from one of them, and line of ten small kites strung together from another. These ten little kites Madelyn and I managed to tangle in about two minutes, with no hope of untangling them again, outside in the breeze. I'll try to get to that task before we go kite flying again!
Seth intent on the hawk's flight.

A Blanket and A Tiny Picture

This is the first tiny picture of Gwen!

Last night before bed Gwen chose "The Red Blanket" by Eliza Thomas as her bedtime story. It is the true story of a single mom's journey to adopt her daughter PanPan from China. The red blanket, which she bought for her daughter and took to China with her, was the first point of comfort for PanPan, and becomes an object of great affection for her as she grows up. It is a sweetly told story, with beautiful illustrations. I highly recommend it.

I've read this story to Gwen a number of times. Last night after we finished reading it I tucked the quilt I made for her while we were waiting for her referral around her, and I told her of its similarities to the red blanket in the story. She's heard about this before, but last night I think she made the connection to her adoption a little bit better.

The story also tells of the adoptive mother receiving "a letter with a tiny picture attached" after a long wait. Last night for the first time I told Gwen that we got a letter like that too, with the first picture of her we'd ever seen attached to it. "I want to see it, " she said. Fortunately I was able to get my hands on it pretty quickly, and I brought it into her bedroom where she was waiting on her bed. She was quite interested. I told her that the paper also said her Chinese name, Wang Yu. She said it several times, and asked, "Why they call me that?" I told her that the people who named her (most likely the orphange director) thought it was a pretty name; it means "Little Feather." I went and got Scott so that he could join our conversation. He studied the picture with her, said "Wang Yu" with her, and reminded Gwen about her China sisters, the other 3 girls who were adopted from the same orphanage at the same time as her. We said all their names. She knows who they are; we look at pictures on their blogs often.

There wasn't much more to this little encounter; we kissed Gwen good-night and put away her referral cover page, the one with the "tiny picture attached." It was one more step, though, one more link for Gwen to the miracle of her joining our family. Seems like she's stepped up the pace of figuring all this out.

Last Day

These pictures were taken on the morning of the last day of my dad and mom's visit, in the Chinese garden in our complex. We had such a nice time wandering through the garden together, climbing up the little rock hills, admiring the goldfish in the pond, and taking pictures. Afterwards we walked back home for a lunch of leftovers, then headed out to the airport.

It was such a great visit... as I thought about it, I don't think we have ever had that kind of time together under one roof, nearly 12 days. It was a great combination of some really good things~ sightseeing, relaxing, helping kids with homework, reading, eating out and in, showing them the places we shop, marveling over Chinese driving habits, introducing them to friends, walking the streets around our complex and having good conversations. Thanks, Mom & Day, for making your way to us.

We are so looking forward to this type of visit with many more of our family and friends!

He's Back, Baby

This rather blurry picture of Seth jumping over five benches while wearing roller blades was taken today. His mouth guard was firmly in place between his teeth, but obviously it didn't slow him down. The boys had the day off school and enjoyed several hours at the skate park with friends. I wasn't there, my friend Maribel took them. The boys told me that she limited them to jumping only seven of these benches at a time. Seems like a reasonable request, don't you think?

So Seth came away with all teeth intact today. He only has a swollen knee with a large abrasion on it, and he's only limping a little. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Afternoon Nap

Grandpa and Percy shared the couch one afternoon last week, during my parents' visit.

Lily

Figuring Things Out

Gwen has recently been making a few connections about her heritage and about being adopted.


We have a number of adoption themed story books, and she has been requesting them frequently, and seems to identify with the adopted girls in the stories. On several occassions she has asked me if the girl in the story is her.


A couple of weeks ago we were out in a very busy area, lots of Chinese people everywhere. She must have overheard something we said, and was repeating "Chinese, Chinese, Chinese" to herself. I asked her, "Who is Chinese?" She pointed to someone and said, "That guy." I asked her who else was, and she pointed out another person. Then I asked her if she was Chinese, and she said no. I told her that, yes, she is Chinese, and did she remember that Daddy and I came to get her in China? She nodded affirmatively, and then said, "And you're Chinese?"

So we're not quite there, but I think she's starting to understand a little. It's been a long time coming for her, I don't think she has even realized that she looks different from us. Caleb told her recently that her eyes were different from his, and about 30 minutes later she decided that fact was something to cry about. She said she thought he was laughing at her, which really wasn't the case. I'm glad we're surrounded by so many Chinese faces... she is the one who matches the majority. She just happens to be in a family that doesn't, so as a result she stands out anyway.

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The girls and I were in Ji-An Park last week, a lovely downtown park that I visitied several times last spring, on my own and also with the boys when we were here on our fact-finding trips. It is filled with retired people in the morning, people are in all the paths and walkways doing all types of dancing and exercises together. It's really a facsinating place. The girls and I enjoyed part of an hour there, it was their first time and they loved to watch all the activity. Of course they were being watched too... they had matching shirts on which made the three of us even more conspicuous than we already were. At one point Gwen said to me, "When we walk by those guys, why they all point at me?" Alas, this is to be her fate. The wonderful thing is, I know that God has equipped her with the strength to handle this issue. I look forward to seeing how her understanding grows and her self confidence grows to match it.

A Small Loss

I am slowly becoming aware of the fact that culture shock is experienced in layers. We've certainly had some bumpy spots on the road to normalcy as we've adjusted not only to life in China but also to apartment living, an urban rather than a suburban lifestyle.

The other day I realized an aspect of our "old life" that I really miss, something I hadn't thought of before. It's doing errands. I know that seems like a silly one, in light of all that there is that is very, very different, but as I thought about this I actually shed tears.

We can't drive in China. It isn't because they drive on the other side of the road or anything, but simply because it is a different type of driving, an agressive, "playing chicken" type of driving. The firm Scott works for asks us not to drive here. So six days a week we have Mr. Wu to drive us, and he has been great. There is only one of him, and obviously only one vehicle, so we've had to do some compromising on who goes where when, but taxis are plentiful and cheap and I've gotten braver about using them, so that has worked out okay.

But doing errands.... what I miss is going out by myself on a Saturday afternoon to tool around in the car on my own. Stopping where I want to stop. Not having to arrange when I will be picked up when I'm finished, but hopping in the car and then going on to the next place as my need or fancy arises. Mr. Wu is terribly accomadating, and he would certainly run me here and there if I wanted him to, but the fact is that I don't know where Here and There are around here! I know all the basic things, but I miss the little places I used to go in the States.

I guess this is all a blessing in disguise. The fact is that I can't shop like I used to. I wasn't ever a big shopper, but I enjoyed time out browsing at Target or Old Navy. There's no Target here, no Old Navy, at least not that I know about. And I guess that's a Good Thing, at least for now.

View From the Bund

The Bund is an area on the Puxi side of Shanghai comprised of buildings that are of an old European architectural design. They were built in the early 1900's when Westerners were pouring into Shanghai (the Infestation of Foreigners, one museum called this time) and establishing businesses. These historic buildings, which stretch along the riverbank for several city blocks, are now the pride of Shanghai and are beautifully lit up at night. Last week my parents and the girls and I walked along the Bund and peeked into some of the old buildings. We also enjoyed the view across the river to the Pudong side of Shanghai, which is where we live.
After we were finished and ready to head home, we made our way back to the Pudong side by way of the "Bund Tourist Tunnel". We rode in a little futuristic car through a tunnel under the river, through a barrage of lights and music. A bit like 5 minutes in Disney!

Caleb in Yangshuo

Finally I have some photos from Caleb's eighth grade trip. I had to post from his computer since he had loaded them onto it, and it's hard to pry that away from him!

This is the area of the town of Yangshuo where they stayed.





Beautiful scenery everywhere!
Moon Hill... they hiked up to this natural rock archway on the last day of the trip.

Caleb and his friend Brooks get excited about cooking Chinese food.

These unusual rock formations are called karsts.
Can you see Caleb getting ready to repel down this cliff? What a feeling it must be to be leaning back into space!

Suzhou Shopping

Backtracking to our Suzhou trip while my parents were here... just a couple of shopping photos. This one of Gwen and the little mannequin cracks me up!
Madelyn is the bargaining queen!
The little stalls are so colorful, with all the silk scarves, clothes, table cloths, painted parasols and bright toys.

Waiting Brushes

I can't pretend to be a photographer like my talented sister-in-law Mindy is (see her beautiful photos, a new one every day, at the Photo Dilettante link on my sidebar), but I love how this picture turned out. I took it in the art room at Concordia earlier this week when Seth was giving my parents a tour. The art room is on the top floor of the fine arts building, and it is a lovely room full of windows on three sides. Seth has had a love for all things creative since he was a toddler, and he is in his element in the class where these paintbrushes have their home. Currently he is working on creating a clay vase that resembles a penguin with its neck stretched up.

Climbing the Lupu Bridge

Last Saturday while my parents were here, we climbed the Lupu Bridge, one of the two bridges we can see from our apartment that spans the Huangpu River, connecting the Pudong and Puxi sides of Shanghai. The Lupu Bridge is the longest arch bridge in the world. After taking a high speed elevator up about 20 stories, you cross a platform to the rib of the bridge where there are 300 some steps to climb to a basketball court sized viewing platform at the top!
Crossing the walkway to the steps, where we will begin to climb the arched portion of the bridge. View on the way up of the shipyard below.

Mr. Wu, Seth and Gwen up ahead on the stairs.
See all the cranes in the shipyard? It was really neat to see these mammouth sea-going vessels in various stages of construction.

All of us at the top!



Back at the bottom of the bridge... we made it!

If you come to Shanghai, you too can climb the Lupu Bridge. Maybe we'll even have a clearer day! By then the site for the World Expo 2010, which is right below the bridge on the side of the river opposite the shipyard, will have buildings on it and we'll be able to check that out as well.

Seth's Tooth, Continued

Yesterday afternoon I took my parents out to Concordia at the end of the school day so the boys could show them around. Right as we got there Caleb announced that Seth had broken off his tooth again.

I hoped he was joking.

He wasn't. Apparently Seth bit into some chewy bread at lunch time, pulled at it a bit with his front teeth, and the next thing he knew the extension that had been added to his broken tooth just five days before was gone. He said he thought he heard something fall to the ground, but he wasn't sure.

We went on with our little tour of the school, and I called the dentist when we got home ninety minutes later.

The miracle of it all was that I had the dentist's personal cell number. Dr. Ti didn't answer when I called her number at first, so I was dealing with the appointment desk for the whole clinic (both medical and dental), and getting nowhere. Next Wednesday was the first available appointment. I tried the dentist again about 15 minutes later, and she said she was finished with her day, and she would wait for us to come in so that she could see Seth right away that night.

She started over with all the work she had done last week to seal the broken tooth and recreate the part that is missing. It is an amazing process, how she builds up the extension of the tooth with this mailable resin and a small tool, hardening it a bit at a time with a blue light. She did a beautiful job, again, and was also able to etch the existing tooth this time, since the tooth was not so sensitive as it was last week, which may help the extension hold better. She was pleased to see that the exposed nerve was still red, indicating that it is alive.

I thanked Dr. Ti profusely when we were walking out, both for the beautiful, careful work she did and also for staying late to accommodate us. She told me that she loves to do this kind of work, especially on front teeth, and then she told us there would be no charge for this visit.

Wow. All I could think was how God had gone before us. How else would we have received this kind of extra special care?

By the way, Seth now knows that he cannot use that tooth to bite down on anything. At least not until the tooth has developed enough for a more permanent cap!

At the entrance to Concordia, after the tour and before the dentist!

Tiger Hill

Walking in the garden at Tiger Hill.

Tiger Hill pagoda through the trees.

Well, the pictures just really don't do this garden justice! It is quite large, and very wooded. I loved walking through the large trees here, probably because it's something we don't see a lot of in downtown Shanghai.
The pagoda, which was completed in 961, and just added to the registry of historic buildings in 1961, is noticibly leaning to one side. It is on top of the hill, the high point of the garden.

Tiger Hill pagoda, as seen from a lower spot in the garden.
This garden had various waterfalls and wonderful, interesting rock formations. The girls loved climbing about in precarious places! Here they are with Scott down by a little waterfall.

It's A Personal Gospel

At our church the children stay in the service for part of the singing time before being excused to their Sunday school classes. Yesterday as the kids were leaving the sanctuary, the congregation sang "Jesus Loves Me." I was taking Gwen out to her class. When she heard the familiar melody, she looked at me and said, "Mom, they're singing my song."

Boats at Tiger Hill

This scene was right inside the gates at Tiger Hill, the large garden containing a pagoda that was built on a hill on the outskirts of Suzhou over 1000 years ago, completed in 961.

Let's All Do Our Part

Sometimes (often!) signs aren't translated quite right, but we get the point here... Seen in Suzhou, walking up to the 1000 year old pagoda on Tiger Hill. More pictures coming.

Seth Again

Today we went back to the doctor and dentist. The doctor removed the stitches in Seth's chin and lip. This was a little painful for him as the chin had scabbed over one of the stitches, and of course the lip skin is just so very thin and tender. He made it through that like the tough guy that he is. We weren't sure what would happen at the dentist. She was able to get a good x-ray and found that the apex of the tooth, which is the very top part that is in the bone, is not fully developed yet so it is not possible to do a root canal. She sealed the exposed nerve on the broken edge of the tooth in hopes that it can be saved and the remaining portion of the tooth will stay alive and the root can continue to develop. She was only partly hopeful that this will be possible, because of how high the tooth was broken off, exposing the nerve, and the fact that it is so many days after the fact that it was sealed. She then proceded to build up the tooth with a resin material... I was not expecting this and so was pleasantly surprised. The result left Seth with a tooth that is not quite as long as the other, but she did that on purpose so that it will be a little stronger. It is sort of a temporary fix, dependant on whether the nerve lives. It may last him several years. We need to wait and see how the tooth does. Please pray with us that the tooth can stay alive in spite of the trauma it has suffered!