Here are 10 NEW things that Anna can do:
10. Splashes in Puddles
9. Throws a Ball
8. Stacks blocks and then knocks them down
7. Likes to sniff everything! (Her favorite book is a scratch and sniff book.)
6. Runs around the house for no reason
5. Tries to copy what you are doing
4. "Sings" (does the motions while I sing) "The Duck Song"
3. Says "UP"
2. Understands "Give me a kiss." (and most of the time will do it)
1. When I hold out my arms she runs to me and gives me the biggest hug!
Chengdu is famous for being the home of the Giant Panda, tea capital of the world and having the best food in China. I found that the people were the friendliest there. Our Chinese teacher, Francis, said that is because Chengdu is self sufficient and therefore very relaxed. Chengdu is in the valley of mountains and supplies their own food . . .etc. . . so they are good all on their own.
The trip was short and not without some kinks but we still really enjoyed ourselves. I wanted to make sure we experienced the food, we walked around city, went hiking, drove through the country side, saw rice fields being flooded, visited the pandas and enjoyed each others company. We both really enjoyed walking around the city because we live out in the middle of no where and don't get to experience China night life like we did in Dongguan.
It is said that SiChuan (四川）has the best food in China, it also has the spiciest food! Jeremy and I wanted to make sure we experienced this world famous food while we were there so for every meal we asked the waitress/waiter to give us SiChuan speciality food.
Sunday Morning Jeremy and I finished our Chengdu trip with visiting the pandas. We got there early so we could see them up and about feeding before it got to hot. We visited the baby pandas and there was a guy playing with them. I really enjoyed watching the movie about them and going through the museum. If we had paid 1000 Yuan ($130) we could have held a baby panda - but we didn't.
Our last day of holiday we took Anna to a park downtown that had a children's play area. It was like a big tree house/fort area. Anna is still a little to small to do most of the things they had but she absolutely loved the slides and stairs. She could spend hours just going up and down stairs if her mother did not get bored of them. She also loves to go down slides and can do it all by herself! It took her a little while to get used to sliding down wearing a dress but she quickly figured out to lean back and pull her feet up so she could go fast.
We took Anna to the Beijing Blue Zoo which is a small aquarium. It was a lot of fun because it was the first time that Anna was old enough to enjoy it. She was actually quite afraid of the fish at first. She would point at the fish and want to see them but when we brought her closer to them she we squeeze us tight. Once she put her hand in the water to touch the star fish she was not scared anymore. They also had a people mover through a tunnel where we saw lots more fish as well as mermaids!
This aquarium is not anything compared to the BJ aquarium but it was small enough that by the time we finished Anna was too.
We have finally made a decision about our fate here in
“give Chinese orphans the opportunity for a life of love and American families the means to provide it. And, in the process, to positively affect the lives of those who help as well as those who are helped, compelling all involved to pass the feeling on to others.”
You can visit their site for more information. www.chinacare.org .
The only problem now is that the job is only for the summer, which means “Find a Job or Go Home” is still going to be a recurring phrase in our household. There is a definite possibility that I could stay on with China Care after the summer is over in a different capacity. We are looking at this summer position like an internship that could possibly turn into a permanent job.
Thanks to everyone who has been thinking about us concerning our job situation. Please continue to do so in the coming weeks and months as I start the job and seek to make a good impression.
Yesterday (April 10), after we came home from our walk, I was putting Anna's stroller away when I heard that blood curdling scream that every parent dreads. I went to see what had happened and realized that Anna had gone to our water machine and turned on the hot (boiling hot) water. It ran down her arm and burned it. I felt awful, my nightmare had come true. We have talked about how dangerous having a toddler and hot water in her reach but never did anything to prevent it (except the occasional "no! that's dangerous!" and a spank).
You can imagine the pain Anna was in if you have ever burned your self. Well, she had boiling water poured down her right arm! She was screaming and I was trying to remember what to do. I finally came to my senses and took off her clothes and placed her arm in the sink and ran cool water over it. I called Jeremy in to take over so I could make some phone calls. After talking with Sue Bassett and a Doctor and seeing a few blisters appear (and the big one popped just from the water running over it) we decided to take her to the hospital.
We knew the burn must not have been too bad when Anna was pretty well behaved on the 15 minute car ride to the hospital. However, she wouldn't let us touch her arm and would scream if anything touched it (which can be expected). Once at the hospital (we went to a local Chinese hospital) the doctor took a look at the burn. He confirmed our thoughts that it was not that bad of a burn but was concerned about it getting infected. (The water that comes from our tap is VERY dirty and since the blister popped while in the water it obviously got some of that contamination in the wound.)
After the doctor prescribed medication he took us upstairs where they were going to administer the treatment. We walked into the IV room/nurses station. This room was full of parents holding their babies who where all hooked up to IVs. Since that room was all full they took us to their private room (which costs extra). The ironic thing was that we SHARED our more expensive "private" room!
The nurses took some blood and gave Anna a test to see if she needed an IV of antibiotics. Next, they cleaned her burn and then popped the other two blisters. Then they set us up in front of an electromagnetic lamp where I had to hold down Anna's arm for 10 minutes while she fought and screamed! Finally, they put some smelly brown cream on her arm and wrapped it up with gauze.
You would think that the torture was over, but it had only began. Next, they took us to the nurses station where they laid Anna down, wrapped her arms like a mummy and made me help hold her down while the nurse put on IV in her forehead! (Fortunately, I was prepared for this since when I first walking into the "IV room" I saw many babies set up just like this.) I was then able to take her in my arms, go back to our "private" room and distract her from pulling out the IV.
There is not much left to the story. We waited for the IV to finish and then went home. We had to go back today for the second dose of antibiotics and a clean dressing (which Anna did not cry as much for). Anna is pretty much back to her fun, busy self. We are all glad that it is over and have turned off the hot water so it won't happen again.
I took a picture of Anna with her IV (the bandage is there to keep it in place) and you can see her arm (right) bandaged up. The Chinese woman is our helper who comes and takes care of Anna in the morning and cooks lunch for us.
This picture is her wound 24 hours after the incident. It looks 100% better then even this morning, but is still not a pleasant sight.
Today we had a lovely service at our fellowship celebrating resurrection Sunday. We sang great songs, saw the kids do a stick dance to "Arise My Love", and had refreshments. At 4 we had an Easter dinner party with our small group. The kids went on an Easter egg hunt while the adults ate yummy artichoke dip! For dinner we had ham (which is a rarity here), sweet potato casserole, and many other delicious dishes. We had plenty of dessert consisting of two cakes, peanut butter pie and I made cherry berries on a cloud. It felt more like Thanksgiving with all the eating we did. It was a wonderful, reverent day!
Anna would like to thank Grandma Carman for the beautiful Easter dress. She enjoyed wearing both the dress and the chocolate she got from the Easter egg hunt!
After 7 weeks we had to say good bye to our new friends the Clays. Lisa Clay came and lived in the vacant apartment at the beginning of February to wait for her baby's arrival. After a week alone her husband Aaron was able to join her. We really enjoyed their company. We had a lot of fun together watching Heroes, eating, playing games and talking.
