Too Big

Um, Michael, your mama's rainboots are too big for you.

(Though I can see why you like them: red, grey, flowery, awesome.)

Drew is actually too big for our kitchen.

(Which makes it all the more selfless that he, and he alone, does the dishes every single day.)

Three boys are still not too big to fit on their mom's lap all at the same time.

(Made possible by three mini butts and a mother with an especially lengthy femur. Love. Love. Love.)

Affection

Ok. Take these guys, draw a BIIIIG heart around their faces, then smother 'em with kisses. 

...

...

...

Yeah, that’ll work.

This is what you do when you really miss a couple somebodies. You want to give them monster snuggley hugs but they are exactly 7,882 miles out of reach. 
You stare at the picture of the last time you saw them in person -- 1 year 6 months & 13 days ago --- and make all kinds of mushy heart and kiss edits. 
It actually does make you feel a little better, and hopefully, they feel cherished too. 


Cuz you are, you guys. 

Little Boys, Engaged in This Community

Typical afternoon.

Drew is out. Weekdays he's at his study lab. Today's Saturday, he's at a group for faith-seekers.

I'm planted on the couch drinking deeply of 1 quiet hour with my Father & his word ...then emails and now writing this for you (hope you like it?)

Mike is napping in his tent. Jon is napping in his crib.

Titus is sitting on our bed reading books and talking to himself in Chinese.

This means OUR PLAN IS WORKING.

The plan:

Put the kids in Chinese preschool.

Why:

So they can speak Chinese.

So they can make friends.

So they can be socially normal little boys, engaged in this community.

So they can keep up in Chinese elementary, middle and high school.

So they can still have friends as they grow up.

So they can be socially normal young men, still engaged in this community.

(and --nice bi-product --I don't have to homeschool them, whew!)

Do Note:

We've never heard of any expat kid completing even Chinese elementary school, but we're shooting for it. Titus has no idea that he's a pioneer.

There's no ESL equivalent -- CSL? -- Chinese as Second Language. There's no Title 1, special ed or remedial courses. You just have to keep up or fail.

In urban China, it's pretty impossible for kids to have friends unless they are in school. After preschool, kids make friends with their classmates. And that's it.

P.E. class with Mr. Qu.

Celebrating Titus' 3rd birthday in September.

The fall show. Can you find 艾泰德 (Titus)?

January open house. Parents witnessed a morning in the life of a preschooler.

And Titus wasn't participating. Ugh.

Milk break. Milk packets are heated in a bucket of hot water, then milk is squirted into tin cups.

Mrs. Zeng leads the students in one of their many little songs with actions.

Titus is back by the piano, wearing a navy and red coat.

Titus' head teacher, Mrs. Zeng, is absolutely brilliant with the children. She's endlessly patient about communicating with Drew and me.

Titus is very happy to go to school. He's not doing awesome (you saw that participation issue up there) but he's fine (kind, polite, has friends, eats his lunch, obeys his teacher).

All in all, stellar experience, but not sure if we can hack it in 1st grade...and through the next 14 years.

Here goes! Gulp.

Fire Palace

The last day of 春节 Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Year) --  my 8 year-old student’s family invited our family to supper at Changsha’s most famous restaurant, The Fire Palace, attached to the fire god temple. I decided to leave Mike & Jon home with Drew. I asked Titus to be my date. <3

The family invited a handful of other guests, and I enjoyed the conversation (made possible by leaving toddlers at home) and all the dishes, like snake, snail, stinky tofu, turtle soup, you know, all the usual.

After supper the family took us to the riverside to light fireworks. My date was thrilled to find that Chinese sparklers are like a blowtorch on a stick. 

street scene

entrance

The Fire Palace

Hunan opera stage

above left: fire god  above right: entrance
above black & white: burning incense to the fire god

snails

snake

Spring Festival actually does seem to inaugurate spring! Winter is passing and you know, it wasn't so bad after all! This is our fourth taste of winter here, and every year the cold season feels more manageable because every year we get a little smarter, taking a hint from how the other 7 million people here do just fine living through a Changsha winter. 


I've had a persistent case of chilblains on my hands, but I decided to be thankful because it allows me to identify with my neighbors in a way. Chilblains is pretty commonplace.


So now Spring Festival is officially over. Red lanterns have disappeared. Friends have reappeared. Shopkeepers have opened their doors (seriously everyone closes down...I could hardly find any vegetables or meat to buy for an entire week!) and students will be back in the classroom by the end of the month.


We are bound for springtime folks. And normal life. Cheers!

Painting

Washable paint courtesy of Wai gong & Wai po!

Boys Grow

Two important days passed in January!

#1 （第一）

Jonathon entered hospice care on January 17th, 2011. Jon boy was in hospice care at this time last year? Now he's so alive and determined to grow.

In the first photo, Jon has an infection and two cups of pus in his cranium -- you can see that his head is enlarged. The second photo was taken today while coloring. Rock on little champion. 

 

#2 （第二）

I gradually weaned Mike. We were both ready. It was still sad for me though. Tear. My last baby. I blinked and he became...

...an enormous 18 month-old who looks like he's five? 

But I'm glad my guys are growing up. It's God's design for them after all. Right now Drew and I are really getting a kick out of Mike, 18 months old.

Fearless, assertive, adventurous...this kid throws his head back and laughs from the belly. He finds humor in everything, especially when attempting escape, making a beeline down the sidewalk.

Gutsy, cunning, untamable..provoking our sanguine Titus into wrestling matches, which Mike always wins. He'll tackle innocent bystander Jon as well.

Creative, clever, relational...I got a feeling that this Mikey boy is going to be a smart guy, and genuinely likable, making friends easily.

If he doesn't kick down their lego towers and tackle them from behind.

He sleeps in a kiddie tent because he can scale any crib wall, and he prefers his Mama to be half-inside the tent with him, resting face to face, cheek on cheek.

This month Michael finally expanded from "dis" "dat" and "ma" to all kinds of attempted vocabulary. He also christened two walls and 50 sq.ft. of living room floor with milk from his full sippy cup. The milk floor coating was evenly spread by well-meaning Titus, who tried to sweep it up...

Finally, please observe another unpleasant phenomenon in our house. Flour disaster.

Paul McCartney: "And though she was born a long long time ago, your mother should know, your mother should know...." not to put the flour where the toddlers can get it. But I've got two strikes on me now, way down in the count, which means, I gotta choke up and protect the plate. Flour on the TOP shelf.