trace

we got the results from trace's echocardiogram yesterday. his heart is totally fine; he has no restrictions at all. the way i understand it, every few years he needs to have a new one done just to check and make sure all is still well in there.
best wishes.

how many men does it take to put up the trampoline? :)


as you can see, it was a hit with the smallest two. and the other 3... :)

trent and i think it's pretty cool, too :)

i eat my lunch between 1030 and 11am every morning in front of the computer. today i made myself a taco salad of sorts, using leftover chicken, a homemade tortilla, lettuce and sour cream. as i am devouring this tasty wonder, trace comes over and asks if he can eat some of the lettuce. straight... no dressing, just lettuce. hmm...
he slept a long time thru the nite last nite (he was asleep when i got home at 1030 and mother said he slept till almost 10 this morning) and mother herself even slept most of the night. it's only taken a week...
yesterday was a lovely day outside, so i took trace and jade to grandma and grandpa's pond... they threw rocks in the water, picked dead flowers, hit the water with sticks, ran laps around the pond... and they got a 4wheeler ride coming and going :).
sorry i have been neglecting to take any pictures...
best wishes.

sorry i don't have any new pictures...
trace is now sleeping through the night. unfortunately, mother's inner clock is still very "off".
he went to the doctor yesterday, and is 38 inches tall, 33 pounds; this = the 75th percentile for american boys. jade doesn't even hit the chart for american girls- she's barely even on the southern chinese girl scale :). at any rate, if trace follows his growth projection, he will end up 6 feet tall and 170 pounds. that's pretty big for a chinese guy. right now, he is fighting the cold/illness that jade had while we were away, and that i enjoyed while traveling. nothing to bad- just a runny nose and cough. doesn't seem to be slowing him down a whole awful lot.
trace and jade are getting along ok... he's not afraid to fight her back, which is good. they do play together... although they do not appreciate each other's choice in video/televised entertainment (probably due to the language factor), so we have to have both the tv and a dvd player/second tv going. when both are in the same room, one can become slightly overwhelmed, nothing totally unmanagable, though. today he went downstairs and came up with 2 sprites- one for him and one for jade. he was a little bit puzzled b/c pop tabs are different here then in china. but this was quickly overcome in his quest for indulging in the refreshing, fizzy beverage at hand.
trace must belong with us... he loves 4wheeler rides :). he enjoys riding down to grandma & grandpa's pond to observe the fishies swimming about. he got to play outside yesterday- it was finally nice enough for him to get out for longer and not totally freeze, which is always a good thing.
for those who are concerned, the status of our family room has much improved :)... you'd be amazed.
best wishes.

yesterday jade sort of came around... no screaming fits- although trace slept till 1 or 2 o'clock. he is still really jet-lagged, which means mother is really jetlagged. i was up from 3-5 last night, but i'm doing SO much better than i did the last two trips.
yesterday father took trace and jade to the bank with him. they both arrived home with suckers. he also took the two of them on a 4-wheeler ride. AND they both sat down to dinner together... the day before jade had a huge fit and wouldn't eat with the rest of us :).
i guess that's about it. i need to go do some laundry- you'd be amazed how much laundry seven people produce... :)

a family of seven = 10 loads of laundry
= a very full grocery cart
= enough guns for all the boys
= one more leaf and one more chair at the table
= 17 more jade-fits every day (at least until she gets used to sharing the throne)
= more 4wheeler rides
= 2 jetlagged individuals (for whatever reason i have managed to avoid it this trip)

apart from jade's issues concerning trace's arrival we are doing pretty well. he is sleeping well, just not at the right times, and eating well (so at 4 this morning mother was cooking bok choy). he's had his first 4wheeler ride and had many gunfights with the older brothers.
enjoy the pictures below...

we are home.
we left gz at 1130, but our flight wasnt till 230, so we had plenty of time to play on the moving sidewalks. hong kong was horrible. first, the place is HUGE and trace doesnt walk fast. and that transfer counter is slow. we had about 10 minutes to eat food that was steaming hot... we tried carrying it on (it was wonton soup) but they wouldnt let it on- even with 2 hysterical, angry american women speaking rather forcefully that the poor child hasn't really eaten since breakfast and they had best let it on. they didnt.
we all slept on the plane... i guess i was out for about 3/4 of it. mother did wake me up to see the mountains of alaska. he did very well on the plane, but 13 hours 44 minutes is long for anyone, much less a 3.5 yr. old :).
we got thru customs/immigration without too much ado, and somehow managed to find father in the masses of indian people waiting on a huge air india flight.
father & trent were very excited to see trace for the first time. trace & trent watched dvds the whole way home... well, until trace fell asleep... and then we stopped by some friend's house to pick up jade. they also have virtual twins from china- who are 8 mos. older than jade & trace. jade is so tiny! we got used to 35 lb trace, 25 lb jade is amazingly tiny! we always 'knew' she was small, but now we can really see it!
we finally got home around midnite. by 1215, trent, trace & jade were having a gun/sword battle. i took a shower. trevor threw up. mother & father were amazed they have 5 kids (that = one very full suburban).
i went to bed around 1, was up shortly after 7. trace and mother have slept some. so far he has eaten some potato & tortilla chips. i will have to go to the grocery store today and buy veggies- i havent ever really explored the veggie aisle, i guess i will soon learn my way around :).
right now trevor is getting xiao automan set up to watch some automan.
it is good to be home.
i will try to get some pix up tomarrow.

sorry- no pix. unless i can impose on donna and owen again... they werent there earlier- but we will see them at the consulate in an hour or so.

(yep, i'm doing the message first... i'm not sure how pix will upload- i'm on yet a different computer :)...)
guangzhou is great... trace is doing really well. he's started to eat: he LOVES chinese veggies! molly took us out to dinner and ordered these veggies-kinda like spinach- in soup; he WOLFED them down. so we've started ordering veggies. he will eat broccoli and culiflower and the spinachy stuff and carrots. and he can use chopsticks like quite the pro.
today was the red couch picture... not a huge deal for trace. he just hopped up on that couch and smiled :). not like the babies who cried...
we had to buy another suitcase :). enough said :).
lesa (not lambert): we only saw 3 foster kids, none of which were your son :(. i'll tell you more about fuzhou when we get home.
i'm going to cut this short. this keyboard is awful. next post will be from home!!
best wishes.

i felt so bad yesterday that i could not get on and post pix/words for all of trace's fan club!! hopefully ALL these pix made up for it :).
i was able to find some 'friends in high places'... donna, elizabeth & owen are staying in a different hotel (the victory- literally a hop, skip & jump from the white swan) and they have a computer with free internet that CAME WITH THEIR ROOM! as you can imagine, i am filled with envy. the internet is quite speedy, too. so they will be recieving daily nap-time visits from me from here on out :). my gratitude to them is immense :).
Q/A: we have purchased lots of wonderful items at the gift from china (charity) store... and are going back tonite/tomarrow morning. we havent stopped in many other shops- it's so much different w/a 3 year old boy. most of the shop owners dont hassle you b/c they're not going to sell us any little girl clothes!
FROM FUZHOU TO HERE:
our flight from fuzhou to guangzhou was delayed an hour, which means we ate our 2nd chinese meal of the trip (the first being roomservice wonton soup) in the airport. we arrived at the hotel at about 11, so we simply collapsed. the hotel is just as we remember it, although i dont think it's as full as it was last time. lots of babies none the less :)!
today we went to the botanical garden (yun tai)... it was as nice as we remember, but the weather wasnt as nice as last time... instead of sunny it was misty. then we went to the pearl market- mother purchased a few tops, trace and i made a mcdonalds run. for all who are interested, trace's diet is basically french fries, chips, fried chicken (he has fried chicken & tator tots for breakfast every morning here- he gets along quite fine at this buffet unlike the one in fuzhou that he hated), fruit snacks, nuts, yogurt, sprite, orange juice and gatoraid. he did eat one banana for us... but that hasn't happened again :).
yesterday was the medical exam and visa pic- adorable little visa pic :). the med. exam went well- all he has is a minor heart murmor- level 2, whatever that means. you'd never know anything's wrong with him... he runs, jumps and automans all around like you wouldnt believe for a kid w/a heart problem :)!
we do have one small problem with our boy. he can charm anyone. he got a coke off the flight attendant, and they let him go potty during landing (while we are all supposed to be buckled with traytops securly fastened and carryons properly stowed). they came and talked to him many times. the shop owners love him. the travel group that we've been getting to know the last 2 days love him. everyone laughs at automan :). oh well :).
i think that's about it. although we cant wait to be home (not looking forward to the plane ride though; even with automan dvds, it's daunting) gunagzhou is so nice and i think i could handle this lifestyle for more than 4 days! but alas.
alrighty, i'll hopefully be back tomarrow with some more CUTE PIX.
best wishes.

(you can observe the characteristic automan arm stance :)...)

about the name: it is from the orphanage... the doctor who looked at him upon his arrival chose it. an (which is what we still call him) means peace, hou is the orphanage surname.
has trace taught us any words?? ha! 'automan' is his favorite action series dvd... they are very similar to power rangers, only all in chinese. we're pretty sure he has them memorized. the more relaxed he gets, the more AUTOMAN we hear and see! he has picked up 'uh-oh' and 'ok' and stuff like that which is general slang here in china, too. nothing huge. and today mama was back to ayi :(... oh well- our demeanor was much improved over all, so no complaints here. i'm able to understand some of what he says... far from all, but i can pick out enough words to usually know what he's trying to communicate- him and store vendors and parents at mcdonalds :).
yesterday afternoon we took a walk in the pouring rain. we went shopping- first stopping in at a bakery. we took trace around to see what he wanted. he wanted the biggest cake in the store- about the size of your normal birthday cake. the store clerk tried to persuade him that buying a piece of the dangao (cake) would be ok, but he wouldnt budge. we bought the smaller portion, but i ended up eating it all; he didnt want anything to do with it. then we went next door to a grocery store where he picked out what he wanted: yogurt and fruit snacks to go with his stash of chips and gatoraid.
last nite we went to mcdonalds (hanbao! as he calls it. hanbao = hamburger, although all he'll eat are french fries) and ended up staying for no less than an hour and a half... there were many other children there and they all played in the playplace together... trace loved playing with the other kids! there was a boy a little older than he and they had an excellent time. lots of automan moves were performed by one and all- even these tiny little girls :).
this morning at breakfast we met an american couple- they are older; he is a retired animator from california... you can see the micky mouse picture he drew trace below. they have been in korea for a while, and now are in fuzhou.
for whatever reason trace has been mr. happiness today... we played guns in the room for the longest time (it's funny- he's NOT a morning person, so he watches dvds after breakfast... and slowly gets inspired and starts copying their moves... before long he's jumping all over and had mother and i cowering behind various funrnishings.). then we went on a little walk. it rained all day yesterday, so today there were puddles. he splashed every puddle. it came to the point where mother would pick him up and run down the street yelling 'bu!!' (no!) to keep him out :). we got lots of looks, but he was having a great time. he was also karate chopping and kicking trees, lightposts and the like (think: automan). first we stopped at an antique store we've been eyeing. lets just say that when we walked back by a few hours later it was closed. the man had made enough money this morning to take the rest of the day (or week) off :). trace found these stairs outside the antique store which he would jump off: he counts yi, er, san! (1, 2, 3!) and jumps.
then we went back to the shop by the park to buy a new gun since his old one broke (too much enthusiasm on his part). to whoever asked: i was reading about airline restrictions before i left and toy guns are ok, as long as their obviously not real. his are obviously not real, plus we will not be carrying them on, except one that he came with (the most unrealistic of them all) that he sleeps with (forget the soft fuzzy whatever we all had- he sleeps with a nice pointly plastic firearm!). we then walked thru the park shooting at the innocent passerby. some got a kick out of it, some seemed underwhelmed. at least they have something to tell their spouce tonite at dinner.
we then returned to the hotel and ate some room service and retired for the afternoon nap. we leave in a half hour or so for the airport so we will be in guangzhou probably by the time you read this (unless you wake at the crack of dawn to devour what i have written 'during the nite').
i guess that is about it... hopefully i will continue to be able to stay faithful to the blog and upload pictures without difficulty from guangzhou. i have been very impressed with the internet here!
father- i think trace would ADORE any gun trevor & wade pick out. oh! i dont know if eric is following this, but trace says this one word that sounds like 'toi' in french... ha ha ha :).
best wishes :).

(trace got the drawing from an american man who worked as a professional cartoonist... and he's in fuzhou now, teaching animation. we met him and his wife at breakfast this morning.)