Thursday, July 19, 2007

Small Wonder

Chase continues to surprise and delight us.

She is running now. At full speed.
Everywhere she goes, she needs to get there fast.
I wonder where she got this from (Hubs!)?

She is also growing out of her shoes at lightening speed.

She can't seem to consume enough yogurt in the day. So I have started loading it up with supplements. Sometimes almond butter. Sometimes a lemon-tasting cod liver oil. Sometimes blue green algae. Sometimes wheat germ or brewers yeast. At this point I could put anything in it, and she would eat it right up.

We've also moved her up to level 4 at Gymboree, so she's playing with the "big kids" now - four times a week. It's amazing to watch her learning from them.

I, meanwhile, am starting to have dreams about Jimbo the Clown - and he's scary!

What to say?

Not much to say these days. It's a little stressful here at the moment. But I'm not worrying. I have my Chinese worry beads bracelet, which is supposed to take my worries away. I think it works. Most days, anyway.

So it's a beautiful day in Dalian, today. Warm, but windy. Blue skies. No haze, or as Hubs puts it, "marine layer." We've had an ongoing discussion about this supposed "marine layer," ever since we arrived. I think that as it is thick enough to eat, it can't just be fog. Hubs believes what our Dutch maritime friend said - it really is harmless.

I simply can't believe that if San Francisco is feeling the effects of Beijing's smog - way at the other end of the ocean - that Dalian, which lies just an hour East, has "clean air and a harmless marine layer."

But enough about that.

I just know Chase will miss being the center of attention e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e she goes. And although I grumble at times, I will certainly miss a lot of things about China. I think China changes a person. Or maybe having a baby and then moving to China changes a person. I'm not sure exactly how, but I feel like I've changed since I've been here - moreso than when we were living in London or Zurich.