Moving this blog - Take note

Living where we do, we often encounter websites that are blocked. Although we usually figure out ways around it, it makes communication difficult. When we first arrived over 6 years ago, blogspot (and other google apps) were working just fine. Blogspot was the first to be blocked, then youtube, and docs. Our fingers are crossed that gmail will not be blocked.

Anyway, in an attempt to be out from under the blockage, I have moved this blog to a new location. All of this blog’s posts have been exported to our new blog.

If you are following via RSS feed, be sure to update the information.

The new address is: http://blog.jalopyhead.com

Happy Birthday, A-Mae

Anna Mae is now 4 years old! What an exciting time in all of our lives. Anna is so full of life and happiness. She's also developing in her memory and emotions. The other day she saved a cookie from school for mommy to eat (a feat in itself to get it home in one piece). Mommy didn't immediately eat the cookie, and the next day Anna reminded mommy of it by asking, "Did you eat the cookie yet?" When mommy said no, Anna said as she visibly became emotional about it, "But I saved it for you!"

Anna got to have 3 birthday parties!

Her Chinese school threw her a birthday party.



She celebrated alone with mom and dad.



And then we threw her a party with her friends at the house.


Oh, and Jacquelyn made a cake that was simply out of control!

Sea Apple

We recently bought what we thought was a coral for our salt water fish tank. However, it turns out it is not only not a coral, but that it is a poisonous sea cucumber called a Sea Apple. The fish store owner apparently didn't know too much about what she was selling. I asked her before I bought if it needed any special care, or if it could co-habit a tank with fish. She said no special care was needed and that being with fish was no problem. Right...

Video of the Sea Apple eating.
(Anna is jumping around in the background.)


When we got home we plopped it in the tank, got on the computer and started googling this awesome colorful "coral". That was when we discovered it's true poisonous nature. In addition, only experts are supposed to attempt raising these things. I am not an expert.

Nonetheless, it is the coolest thing that we've seen so far in the saltwater world and I wanted to share some pictures and video.

Closed

Opening up

Mouth is open

Insert food here

*Don't worry, it's only poisonous to the fish in the tank.

Don’t buy this, okay?

I was reminded of the…um…“quality” of certain things about China. B&Q was my first shopping experience since coming back from a 2 month holiday in the States. For those of you that don’t know, B&Q is an English DIY store that has things like storage boxes, wood for building. It’s very similar to a Home Depot or Lowes. However, as most things in China, the stuff they sell is basically dog crap molded into sellable items. But everyone knows that no matter how many times you wash crap it still stinks. (I’m a bit frustrated because our crap - that has been molded into cabinets – keeps falling apart.)

The out of stock display items didn’t bother me too much. Nor did the broken down storage containers bother me. The motivation for this post comes from the last part of our frustrating experience at B&Q – the cash register. We headed to the front at 8:25 – 5 minutes before closing. One of the things we wished to purchase didn’t have a price tag on it, so the cashier says, “Do you still want this? Don’t buy this, okay?” When we politely said yes, she shouted for a price check. As the price checker was walking back, she said, “Hurry up, I want to go home!”
I don’t know much, but I do know you’re not supposed to do that in front of a customer.

Safe on an Airplane

I no longer feel safe on a airplane. I accidentally carried on board an international flight a 10" Cutco knife. Jacquelyn came to and asked, "Have you seen the cutco knife that we packed?"Since we had a delayed and damaged suit case, I immediately assumed it had fallen out of that bag. But then she said, I had put it in your computer case. I said, "Well, there's no way it's in there. Otherwise we would have security questioning us on why we were trying to bring a 10" knife on board". Plus, I have been using my case all week with no inclination that there was a knife in the bag. So, we took out all the stuff and low and behold, there it was, wedged at the very bottom of a side pocket. Hmmm....

Tea Time

This past birthday & Christmas I got a new camera! I am so excited to learn how to use it. In the past 4 days I have taken almost 700 photos trying to get a good picture. This picture is not going to win any photography awards but I thought it was adorable. We are sitting enjoying a tea party here at Grandma Nainai's house.

Some Observations about the Party Scene

For JK’s birthday I thought I’d take her out on the town. There was a band in town called Immaculate Machine. (I forgot the name, though, and kept telling people we were going to see the Immaculate Conception.) The band was from Canada. What they were doing in China, I have no idea. Their music was quite good. I always wonder what motivation rock bands have to go out on tour. This band didn’t seem to be in it for the party scene, or money, or hookin’ up. They seemed genuinely interested in the music…which is nice. Overall it was a good night. We had a fun time together.

While talking together, we made the following observations:
-Neither one of us have really experienced the party scene before
-Neither one of us particularly like it
-Both of us think it is quite smoky
-We both enjoyed the music
-We’re usually in bed by the time the headline band hits the stage
-I think we’ll do it again, sometime

Immaculate Machine's website:
www.immaculatemachine.com

What I Want for Christmas - An Anna Mae Deluxe...

Things are winding down for us here in Qingdao. In just a couple of weeks we’ll be headed back to the States to spend our first Christmas with the Carman family since we were married. Although we’ve enjoyed the last 5 Christmases in China with our friends, we’re really looking forward to being able to spend it with family this time

Recently we were able to get a remote control car! (Awesomely named, "Land Despot" or "Overlord") But, as with most toys that 3 year-olds get, Anna enjoys playing with the box much more than with the car itself.

Trying to Make Lucas Laugh

Below is a video of us trying to make Lucas laugh. He has the coolest "Heh Heh" laugh in the world, but it hasn't been easy trying to get him to do it.

Bring On The Rolls

My son was born at a healthy weight of 6lbs 15oz but quickly began to lose weight, as do most babies right after they are born. Unfortunately with Lucas he continued to lose weight and at 16 days Lucas weighed in at 5lbs 14oz. Doctors recommend that babies should be back to their birth weight by 10 days! As you can see by the picture on the left Lucas was very skinny and dehydrated. It was a very difficult few weeks nursing constantly, carefully keeping track of feedings, wet & poopie diapers and weighing him every night to see if we were making any progress.

Today Lucas is 3 months old and looks very healthy (picture on right). Today he weighed in at 12lbs 14oz!! Way to go Lucas, you even have a double chin!!

Lucas Raymond Morton Carman

Lucas Raymond Morton Carman was born on July 29, 2009 at 10:20am in Beijing, China. At birth he was 3.15 kg (6lbs 15oz) and 50 cm (19.7 in)! He was born at American Sino OB/GYN hospital by natural birth.

With her friend, Ruth, Jacquelyn headed up to Beijing on a train on Monday, the 27th of July. That night, perhaps caused by the traveling, her water broke. Though her water broke, she was not yet in labor. This wasn't a bad thing though, since I needed to get up to Beijing to be with them.

The night that JK's water broke, she called me at 4am to tell me to get on the earliest plane available. I was a little out of it, but managed to get online and purchase my ticket. Since I was able to catch the earliest flight, the cost wasn't very high. I arrived and we immediately went to the hospital. At the hospital the doctors decided to admit JK, even though she wasn't technically in labor yet.

Jacqueyln eventually did go into labor. However, 33 hours after her water broke, the doctors decided to induce. Lucas was born shortly after.

Below are some pictures.

Apologies for not Blogging

Apologies for not blogging lately. Busyness, laziness, having a new child and blogger being blocked in China have all contributed to us not blogging lately. I hope to add some blogs soon.

My Beautiful Daughter

I took these shots while Anna was reading a book Sunday afternoon after lunch.

~Jeremy

I’m working on it. I’m working on it…

The other day we were at a restaurant ordering food and Anna Mae repeatedly asked me if she could have some juice. She said, “Daddy, I want juice,” in her ever-so-cute way. After the 4th time she asked me, though, I impatiently said, “I’m working on it, I’m working on it.”

A few minutes later, she turned to mommy and said, “Mommy, I want some juice”. Mommy, who didn’t hear me say earlier that she could have some juice, said, “No, babe, I think we’re just going to drink water tonight.”

Tears welled up in Anna’s eyes and she said, “But Daddy said I could. He said, ‘I’m working on it, I’m working on it.’”

I had to laugh at the way Anna took my impatient words to heart.

Wax Berry?

I have seen this fruit many times when I would go to the market and buy my fruits and vegetables. But being a unadventurous person I have never had the courage to buy it. I showed it to my friend the other day and asked if she knew what it was. She said she didn't and I thought that was that. The next day when I was over her house she had bought some! She told me I had to try one and I instantly fell in love. This weird berry thing tastes a bit like a cherry. It looks and fells like a hard ball. There is a small cherry pit like seed in the middle.

My friend did some research on the Internet and found that they don't have an English name but is most commonly called a Chinese wax berry. So whatever this fruit is it has made my top 5 most loved fruit!

With June comes . . .

During the month of June the roses begin to bloom; trees are blossoming and these fruit (pictures on right) are ripe and ready to eat. The first city that we lived in here in China, Lechee would practically grow wild. We could just pick them off the the trees ourselves and eat them. That is where I first fell in love with this refreshing fruit. The outside is a hard spiky shell that you peel off to reveal a white fleshy "meat" inside. You bite into this sweet but not strong refreshing flavor. The inside has a good side pit.

I would eat soo much of them and our Chinese friends would worn me and say that a person should only eat 10 of them a day or it would cause the body to have too much riqi (pounced houqi here in QingDao). I didn't care - I would eat as many as I could.

Lechee is famous for growing in the south but is only in season for the month of June. The emporer way back when also had a love for these fruit and would have them brought up over the rough roads of the day to be delivered to him.

After two years of eating them while living in Dongguan I was delighted to see them in Beijing while we lived there. When I went to purchase them I was shocked at how pricey they were, but I knew how much I loved them and it was worth the price. I was greatly disappointed when I got home and they were not very good. Because lechee only grows in the slow this fruit was imported making it so expensive & not very fresh.

Since moving to Qingdao I saw my favorite fruit out this past June but was very hesitant buying it since my horrible experience in Beijing. I don't know what changed my mind but I decided to give it a try and boy was I glad I did. These lechee were very delicious! I have been reminded how much I love this fruit . . . . I think I might go and finish the few we have left.

Which is better? McD's or KFC?

The other day Anna and Mommy went to the doctor for a checkup. Afterwords, they headed to KFC for lunch. Anna now seems to have associated KFC with the doctor and pregnancy. We thought it was pretty funny.

Alphabet Song & Downhill Ride

Anna Mae has been learning her alphabet. Although she doesn't quite get it in this video, she's usually able to sing through the whole song.

At the end of the clip Anna and I are headed down a hill on a little car-thing in the park next to our house.

Jeremy, The Police & The News

The other day some friends and I were invited to hear the local police explain how they can help us foreigners in case of a dispute. A local news crew was there ready with their cameras. We all sat down at the table while the police woman explained that if we have a dispute we can call the police and have a "sit-down" with the other party to resolve the problem. It is actually quite nice knowing that we can do that. After I volunteered to translate for English-speaking foreigners, the news team asked me why I volunteered.

Now, I've never been interviewed by the news before. I had no idea who to look at. To make things more confusing, it wasn't the reporter that asked me the question, it was the cameraman. Should I look at the camera, the reporter, or the cameraman? In the end I looked at the cameraman. Is there a standard protocol when being interviewed?

3 years have past

My baby is no longer a baby. A day does not go by with one of us saying "You're/I'm not a baby any more, you're/I'm a big girl!" She has changed a lot these past 3 years.

Here are some things she has accomplished since turning 3:

• Potty Trained (yeah! no more diapers!!)
• English language: she is able to express herself using words but still struggles with distinguishing when to use his/hers & when speaking about time she always uses yesterday
• Can be polite when she wants to be: "Excuse me mommy" my favorite is when she spontaneously at the table says "Thank you mommy for making dinner, thanks daddy for making the bread"
• Can sit through a whole movie (as long as it interests her
• Writes both a capital and lower case "A"
• Draws a face
• Colors in the lines (most of the time)
• Loves to dance
• I think she is a little lonely, she gets upset when I'm not in the mood to talk back to her. She looks at me as says "Mommy, talk! Use words."
• She is very excited about mommy having a baby - she talks about it everyday, for awhile there I think she really thought she was pregnant to
  

It has been a great adventure raising a 3 year old, many tears, laughs, exiting times & dull times. I am so thankful for all those times. I look forward to many more years!! I love you Anna May, Happy Birthday!!