Eye Color

A lot of people back home, and even here, ask me what her eye color is. Well, we haven't exactly figured it out. As Nathan says, it's almost undefinable. Some have called it brown, some green, others said it's the color of a precious metal. What do you think?

From December 2010

Sunday Morning

This morning, we thought Lizbeth was so cute, and the sunlight was just right, we just had to take a photo shoot.

From December 2010

From December 2010

From December 2010

After the first few pics though, Lizbeth wasn't so thrilled.

From December 2010

From December 2010

From December 2010

From December 2010

From December 2010

Aren't these pics just so stinking cute though? That little trembling lip can break even the toughest heart.

Travels

Last week Lizbeth and I took our first trip on our own. Our good friends up in Tianjin hadn't met Lizbeth yet, and suddenly I realized that with them only a five hour train ride away there was nothing stopping me from jetting up there overnight to hang out. (Nothing except busy schedules, I mean)

So after securing a train up there and a flight back, off we went.

Lizbeth sitting on the train

From November 2010

Kim and Patrick are friends from home in Austin. They first told us about the company way back in 2006. They were home for awhile, and decided to help us move into our house. We thought it was so cool that they lived in China...I guess it wore off on us!

Now they have two kids, and we have one, and we all live in China. A couple of times a year Patrick has a business trip down here, and we get to catch up a little, but it's never enough. We're trying to convince them to move down to beautiful Qingdao, although secretly I think Tianjin is pretty cool (and so much cheaper than Qingdao!)

Here Kim is reading a book to all three kids. I really like this book, it's called Where's Baby's Belly Button and it was interesting to all three ages. Lizbeth 6mths, Keturah almost 2yrs, Moyer 3 1/2yrs.

From November 2010

You can catch more pics of our visit on their blog here

Our Apartment

Months ago I promised pictures of our beautiful new apartment. We are very blessed by this upgrade to a spacious three bedroom, two bath apartment. The area we live in is very beautiful, and we can even see a little of the ocean off of our balcony/drying room! The one downside is that it is at least a five minute walk out to the road to get a taxi or bus, but this walk is along the ocean, so who can complain? I also love living so much closer to the Carmans!

Six Months

From 2010November

Hard to believe I'm actually writing this post.

Lizzy An turned six months last Saturday. I haven't ever posted her stats, so I thought I would take the occasion to give you all a little update.

Weight: 7 kilos (15lbs 6 ounces)
35-40th Percentile, WHO charts

Length: 66.25 cm (26 in)
60th percentile

Sleep: Usually from 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM, but lately has been waking up again between two and four AM to nurse, then getting up again at 6:00AM

Naps: Usually a morning one, a noon one, a 3:00 one, and occasionally a 5:00 one. She seems to prefer more short (45 min) naps than less long naps.
All this aside, her "schedule" can be completely unpredictable. One day she may go back to sleep after nursing at 5 and sleep until around 9, and the next she can nurse at six and then only take one or two short naps the whole rest of the day. But since she is famous for being so happy, I've decided not to worry about it.

Favorite Sound to say: Nununununu
Though she can be heard making any number of sounds from "Mamama" to "Da di!" and "ba ba"

Personality: Extremely extroverted. This kid LOVES people, and people love her! However, while she will still smile at anyone, if mommy is in the room she will cry for her to hold her.

Food: Still nursing exclusively, except for the occasional apple she likes to suck on. We tried a few solids like homemade mashed potatoes, but they didn't seem to digest well, so we are waiting a little longer. I did buy rice cereal yesterday, so we might try again later this week.

Physical Ability: So close to crawling! She is on her hands and knees all day now, rocking back and forth, but can't quite figure out the next part. She's starting to get the knees down but doesn't know how to make the hands work at the same time.
She is also almost sitting unassisted.

Teeth: Still only the same two!

Overall, she is my sweet angel. Last week she was at school with me 7:00AM to 5:00PM Mon-Wed and Fri because of the play, and she was amazing. She mostly hung out with our Chinese staff so I could get a lot of painting done. (Pics of the play to come!) She was such a trooper, though she did pic up a little bug on Wednesday and still has a runny nose. I am so incredibly blessed by such an angelic child, and I thank God every day for her. Nathan and I love being parents. Maybe because we've been married so long, but it has been completely natural to us. Nathan is an amazing daddy and loves playing with her in the evenings and on weekends. Here are a few pics from their romp last weekend. By the way, her onsie was not my choice :-P (Thank you, Nainai)

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

From 2010November

And lastly, she loves to hear music of any kind, especially her daddy singing or playing his guitar. I just think this pic is so sweet. She really will watch him forever.

From 2010November

Daddies are special too

This morning our schedule has been off. Actually, we don't really have a set "schedule" for Lizbeth, but usually she wakes up between five and six to feed, sometimes goes right back to sleep, and sometimes plays for an hour or so, and then goes back to sleep. But last night we had the high school drama production, so little one didn't really go to bed until after 10:30, instead of around 7:30. Amazingly, she (and therefore we) slept in until 9:00 AM!

However, my delight was shortlived once I realized how out of sorts this made her. Although she awoke cheerful, since then she's been fussing on and off, and refusing to go back down for a nap. When I changed her diaper, she melted down, then putting her in her crib while I washed my hands elicited the type of cries we rarely hear. Nathan went to get her, and walked her, talked to her, and played with her to calm her down.

But she still wouldn't take a nap, and began to cry again.

I was in the living room folding and sorting diapers, and realized the cries had tempered down to a soft wimper. Tiptoeing over, I peaked into her room.

From 2010November

He was able to get her to go to sleep next to him on the floor! I could never do that! If I even tried, she would want to nurse, and if I refused, she would melt down into a full tizzy. Then I would be frustrated, she would be frustrated, and eventually I would either get up and give up, or give in and nurse her to sleep even though she didn't need it.

10 minutes later he was able to get her to transfer to her crib, no problem.

There is a special bond between a mommy and her baby, but I'm realizing there is also one between a daddy and his baby. Last night at the play, Nathan was in the tech booth and I was in the back row in case Lizzy Ann got fussy (which she did). I had her over my shoulder, looking behind me towards the booth. All of a sudden there was a squeal of delight as she spotted her daddy. Actually, it even sounded like "Daddy!", though it's a little early for her to be calling us by name. Still, it was fun to see how happy she was.

And how special her daddy is to her.

Halloween

From 2010Oct

Halloween over here is a bit different, since it is mainly an American tradition. I'm not sure most Chinese even know what it is. But the American families over here decided to make it fun anyways and there was a huge party in our housing complex, complete with carnival games like fishing for candy and picking the duck with the star on it. Later that night friends had set up a trick or treating route, and we checked out a few of the apartments (I had a fever and wasn't up to more than a couple homes, plus I really just wanted to show off my cute baby!)

Lizbeth's costume has a story behind it. Right now we are in the midst of a baby boom here in Qingdao, with four of the expat families in our company giving birth to babies in the year of the Tiger. Lizbeth was the first, and the last was born at the end of September. Well, one of our friends found Tiger outfits and gave them to all of us at my baby shower. Immediately, I thought, Halloween! What's better than orange and black? So I added black tights and a black onesie, making it season appropriate, and tada! So cute, right?

Unfortunately, it seemed a little lacking without a hat, but I still think it's great.

Playing with Daddy

From 2010Oct

From 2010Oct

Our wonderful friend who gifted the costume

From 2010Oct

Playing the games

From 2010Oct

Trick or Treating!

From 2010Oct

Mimi says Lizbeth is cuter than both of us, I have to say I agree :-)

From 2010Oct

No event would be complete without our friends the Carmans!

From 2010Oct

Of course, Lizbeth kept wanting to eat her wings

From 2010Oct

Anna loves to make Lizbeth laugh, and Lizbeth loves Anna!

From 2010Oct

All four Expat Tiger Babies, taken September 25th, the day after baby Maya, the youngest was born

From 2010September