Will & Tracy

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Sunday, November 23, 2008

What's in a name...




We have made it to the US and the kiddo was a gem on the airplane, but trying to explain jetlag to a 2 month old is something different entirely. Wow - the last few days have been rough. He did sleep better last night, but tomorrow we are off again for the 2 day drive to Michigan where his schedule will no doubt be screwed up again.

Spending time with cousins Hanna, Maddy and Lilly Rose has been a lot of fun and "BabyFinn" (all one word mind you) has gotten more super immunity in the last few days than the first two months of living in China! To purell or not to purell is not even an option - there is no time unless there is a Purell bomb I could have set off before walking in the door. I don't know why I'm even bothering with sterilizing the bottles/pump parts - I guess mainly to humor myself into thinking that it even makes any difference at all. In fact, BabyFinn has done a lot better of a job surviving the girls germs than mama bear who is fighting off a sinus infection along with continued jet lag. Poor mama bear...

At this point, I hope we have not confused the kiddo with all his nicknames - Will and I first started calling Finn "Bub" (short for buby (like baby) that ended up being turned into bubba - couldn't have that). Then we went to "boo boo" which we thought was appropriate - as in "boo boo bear" since I call myself and Will mama and papa bear. Then since he is a red head - I wanted to call him Pumpkin head since that is what my Dad used to call me. This is after the nurses at the hospital said his nickname was Peng Peng (Chinese meaning chubby). However, my personal favorite comes from cousin Eliza who the other night was at dinner with Aunt Beth and Uncle Kip asked them when "CousCous" was coming. Uncle Kip pondered and said "Do you mean Peng Peng?" - and she replies "Yeah, him!"

So call him what you will - BabyFinn, Peng Peng, Boo Boo, Cous Cous, Pumpkin Head - at this point he is pretty flexible as long as someone feeds him and doesn't step on his head. At least he has been spared getting his hair gelled or his toes painted pink!

Monday, November 17, 2008

2-4-6-8 Who do we appreciate?

Well last night Will and I appreciated Mr Finn for sleeping not 2, not 4, could it be 6 (sounding like an infomercial now) - no no - Finn slept from 9pm until about 5am!! Now Mama only slept for about 6 hours because I kept making sure he was breathing after 4am....thoughts of diabetic coma running through my head - how could a 2 month old sleep for 8 hours in a row!! I was trying to figure out reasons I could poke him and wake him up but finally my sane reasoning (now returning with more sleep for mommy) kicked in and I went back to sleep - well kind of. Now I know last night does not mean this is some sort of trend...but once again - I'll take what I can get. Now we just have to work on cranky time between 4-7pm where he gets so overly tired because he doesn't really nap during the day.

Anyway - today is our last full day in Shanghai and it is a busy one. My parents are making one last trip to the pearl market for me since I think a bag of gems got accidentally got shipped to Japan. Sigh....that just means I can start on another new shipment! :) I have a couple last minute get togethers with friends and a trip to the human resources offices of Parkway - where only two days ago they were trying to convince me that I still had their laptop computer (turned that in about a year ago) and that I OWED THEM 1400 RMB (about 200 USD) for cash advances that I supposedly took out (uh, never took out a cash advance from them). I need to play it cool though because I need to get one very important piece of paper from them so I can get my visa renewed next year under Will.

Okay - well - I'm going back to enjoy Finn and Grandma this morning and run and take a shower! See you in the US soon!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Grandma and Grandpa with Finn



Grandpa makes me laugh, but I like giving Grandma 'tude - she doesn't care because she thinks I'm that cute!

Friday, November 14, 2008

No more bumps, all babes






Ah...my last mini-moms group at least for now... we have all delivered our cute little babes....
Gina - Ella (Oct 16)
Maria - Josephine (Oct 23)
Melissa - Owen (Sept 19)
Sarah - Lola (Nov 2nd)
Tracy - Finn (Sept 20)

The Bund!






The Bund ("Wai Tan" in Chinese), the symbol of both old and new Shanghai, is a 4-kilometer-long waterfront boulevard along the western Bank of the Huangpu River. The name "Bund" is derived from an Anglo-Indian term meaning "a muddy embankment," recalling the flood barriers that used to line around it.

The Shanghai Bund has dozens of historical buildings, lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from Britain, France, the U.S., Russia, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain, a newspaper, the Shanghai Club and the Masonic Club. The Bund lies north of the old, walled city of Shanghai.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Per Carie's request - MORE PICTURES


Here you go family and friends - pictures of a couple of our days of bargaining with Grandma and Grandpa. We will work on getting a few pictures today of the them with Finn on The Bund - goal - a cruise along the Huang Pu river by the Bund.

We love the Chinese guy clipping his nose hairs with scissors - you too can buy that mirror for really cheap! Future QVC host?


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Welcome Grandma and Grandpa Lebel!

Well Grandma and Grandpa made it and I've was totally impressed how they made it through jet lag with minimal problems! I'm usually physically sick the second day, but my parents are like energizer bunnies and kept going and going. Finn and I had to take a break today with Grandma so we could take a nap while Grandpa took the driver to the Shanghai World Financial Center - which boasts (for now) the highest observation deck for people to go to - 100 stories - at least until the building in Dubai gets finished.

We did some bargaining madness yesterday - so I impressed them with my Chinese language and bargaining skills - well not really since my bargaining skills have gone in the pooper - but we had fun and Dad (aka Clark W Griswald) got some great pictures.

Still on tap for the rest of the week - a walk along The Bund, a trip to ZhouZhong (a water town) and maybe a Confucious temple. It is crazy that I waited 2 years and 3 months to finally be a tourist in this town.

In the meantime our "stuff" is on its way to Osaka, Japan. The apartment is empty - so sad. We came to Shanghai with 13 boxes and a guitar and I think Will said the movers packed up about 100 boxes to ship out! Good grief. I think at least 50 have some link to Finn - I guess we think he needs lots of stuff!

Tomorrow I'm off to my last get together with my little mini-moms group - we have all delivered our babies and so hopefully we will get some great group shots and promises to stay in touch. Some of us will some of us won't I'm sure - but I told them if any of our kids show up on my doorstep in 16 years, we'll take them! So Finn will have the same opportunity - we have lined up: Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia, and have plenty of stops across the USA.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Bittersweet


Today I took Finn and Grandma and Grandpa to Parkway (Formerly World Link) for a tour of where I worked for the last ~ 2 years and where Mr Finn made his grand appearance. Jennifer and Angel (holding Finn) were my two midwives that helped Dr Kong with the delivery. The other picture is Dr Yang the neonatalogist who (I felt) was the most important person to be there during the delivery - she is an amazing doctor and I knew if Finn needed any kind of resuscitation (thank goodness he didn't) I wanted her there.

But the other reason I had to stop by is to official resign. Sigh.... I will miss the doctors and nurses I worked with, but the sad administration still leaves me frustrated - I wished my ladies well and said I would stay in touch and send pictures of Finn so they know he is growing up big and strong!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

I feel pretty, Oh so pretty...

I have to say before moving to Shanghai I probably got a pedicure every 6 months and sometimes longer so it is a wonder to me that after a mere 6-7 weeks of going without one caused me to spend 2+ hours at the spa today undergoing major rejuvenation of my wicked witch of the west toes and trust me they were no part of any Halloween costume.

It was my first outing really on my own for any length of time and I left baby bear in the capable hands of Daddy. Since the pedicure was only to last 80 minutes, I was getting a little anxious to get back when I was coming up on the 2 1/2 hour mark of being gone and the fact that Will was not answering his phone. I come home to find a patient daddy and not so patient piglet baby demanding more food and entertainment from his parents. He definitely did not care about my toes - he only had one body part of mine in mind!

I thought at first that things would get easier when I got more sleep. Night time is improving slowly but since he is not napping very well yet during the day unless he is attached to me it is tough getting a mental break or heck even trying to help plan our move to Japan. He is also having more active alert time and starting to smile a bit which is fun, but I'm finding myself in new territory of being Finn's entertainer. Mary Poppins I am not, but I am definitely singing and dancing more these days - might as well do it now before the kid tells me I sound terrible and look stupid.

I can't wait until Grandma bear shows up to remind me of more songs - "The wheels on the bus go round and round" and "I've been working on the railroad" are getting old! Actually I'm starting to remember some Disney Tunes but realize I may need to ask for "Wee sing silly songs" for Christmas! That and maybe some voice recognition software because typing one handed is exhausting!