Meals

We got to have several incredible meals with Jonathan's coworkers. Most of these were served family-style, so we got to taste lots of things. A few familiar things: corn, salad (watercress and
peanut), cabbage, radish slaw, squid, clams, fish and crispy fried
pumpkin that tasted like sweet potato. They also
served chicken necks, "edible fungus" which was not bad, silk worm, and unbelievably donkey, which was surprisingly tasty.

The pulmonary team

Our last night, we went out with the neurology team to this wonderful buffet. It was amazing!

Qingdao, China

Here begins the first of several blogs about our trip, so please forgive us for some Josiah-free entries. We'll be leaving out certain aspects of the trip, but feel free to ask us about anything in person.

We lived in the city of Qingdao in the Shandong province. The city has 9 million people in it; the province has 100 million. Never heard of it? Neither had we before we started making arrangements. Jonathan was there for a little over three weeks, and I joined him for the final two of those.

We hiked a mountain that overlooked the city. It was a breathtaking view (the steepness took my breath away as well).

As we looked out at the massive size of the city and thought about how many people lived here, we were reminded of this passage in Mark 6:
"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things."

Even though the work to be done in this city seemed overwhelming, this picture reminded me that it always starts with just a few people.

The city was very modern. We had several large grocery/department stores, several McDonald's, Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Huts and even a Home Depot. I managed to find the strategic locations of several Western toilets.

Qingdao is located on the Pacific Ocean, with a long walking trail and several "bathing beaches", although it wasn't anything like a beach town in the U.S. It is one of the newer cities in China (~100 years old) and its commerce has grown significantly in recent years.

We walked on the beach one day when it was really rainy, but it was still really beautiful.

One of the big tourist sites was this May 4th statue. I walked there one day, and three people requested to have their picture taken with me. I guess an American is also a tourist attraction.

Qingdao hosted the sailing events for the 2008 Olympics, and they are enormously proud of it.

We got to visit the Olympic center there, which was one of the more quiet tourist sites we visited. We liked it!

Playground Daredevil

I knew that the grandparents had taken Josiah to several playgrounds while we were gone, but this is first time I've taken him to one since we left. He's become a little daredevil! Last time I was with him, he paused for help before going down the slide. Not the case any more.

Before I knew it he'd plopped to his bottom and headed down. No help needed from Mom!

He headed straight for the tunnel with no hesitation.

He did still need Mom's help for this one, whether he liked it or not.

For those curious, we didn't really do anything for Halloween. We didn't have any parties or fall festivals that we were in town for, and our neighborhood isn't really a big trick-or-treating zone, and Josiah doesn't eat candy yet, so we skipped it this year.

Happy Halloween!

Thanks to Carrie-Anne for the fun Halloween jammies!

Copycat

I shot this video before we left and forgot about it until I downloaded our China pictures. It showcases the way Josiah mimics my tone, which I mentioned in an earlier post. What's cute now is he's started imitating our tickling noise (digga digga doo).

(Let me know if you can't see the video.)

Home Sweet Home

We're back and recovering from our many journeys over the past month. For those of you that didn't know, Jonathan and I just got back from China (the posts you've been reading the past few weeks were pre-posted before I left). Jonathan was there for a month doing a rotation at a hospital, and I joined him for the last two weeks. We had a great trip, but we're also glad to be home.

The China pictures will take a while to process. In the meanwhile, here are the pictures from Josiah's time with his grandparents. He spent the first week with the Moseleys and the second week with the Pages. He had a blast and has been a great sport, taking all this change in stride. I'm so proud of my kiddo and so happy to be back with him.

This is the picture I'd pull up on our phone to show people in China what Josiah looked like. "Very handsome" they'd say. For the rest of these I'm going to put Sharon's and Dad's comments respectively, because they were there. Getting their updates was one of the highlights of my day!

We went to the park with a bunch of moms from our church for playtime and a picnic! Josiah was the youngest--and therefore got the most attention from the bigger girls. They all had a great time. It was 85 degrees, so it was great that he had a hat, sunscreen and a t-shirt. Even if he took a ribbing from about half of the crowd about his choices of color!

On Monday morning I got up and relaxed in Granddaddy's arms for a loong time. It was just what Granddaddy needed---some sweet baby snuggling. Then I ate banana, cantalope and peanut butter toast for breakfast before we took Anna to school. Grammy stopped by the grocery store on the way home so that I could charm all the clerks at her Food Lion. Pretty soon after we got home, I kinda acted sleepy and wanted to take a nap. After morning naptime it was warm enough to play outside!! I can't decide whether I like Giraffy, the car or the slide the best. We went for a stroller ride so that I could bark at the dogs inthe neighborhood, too. Then, of course, on the way to everything I can stop and pick up acorns. I just like to touch them, and hold them. If I think I might want to taste them----I just tell myself "Neh, neh" and throw it down.
Then, Mama called me on the phone!!! How fun! We talked to our Father about her plane trip and the delay. I hope she is with Daddy right now!! I played so hard that I almost fell asleep before Grammy could get me upstairs to my bed. Then...slept so long she had to wake me up to go to school to pick up Aunt Anna. That car pool line was great! So many children to look at everywhere!

Anna played piano with me and I had a bath in the sink before Uncle David came to have supper with me, play with me and help me go to sleep. Uncle David took me upstairs at 7:30 and I happily went to sleep in his arms.

Today I had a friend over! Her name is Chelsea and her grandmother (Sharon's friend) is Debi Pruitt. She is a little older and could do some things faster, like climb up to slide down, but I showed that girl how to ride giraffee and how to get in and out of that car, and especially how to eat lunch! She eats like a bird! I got to play outside a long time again today because the weather is beautiful, and then we went to church to have supper with Granddaddy. That was the highlight of my day. I put away enormous amounts of chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes before Grammy pulled out the "back up" peanut butter crackers, grapes and apples. I would probably still be sitting there eating, but Granddaddy got up, walked away from me and went to the microphone. That was not fun for me so Grammy took me out on the playground with the other children. WOW. I love a playground. Grammy and Anna put my pjs on in the car because I played so hard they weren't sure I could stay awake all the way home--but I did. Glad to get in my bed, though. Nighty-night. I love you, Josiah

Dear Mama and Dada, I am doing well! Just wanted you to know that Grammy is keeping me so busy that I don't have a lot of time to write emails even though I am thinking about you all the time. I got up pretty early this morning to take Anna to band practice (in the dark!). I had baby cereal for breakfast. I know I'm pretty old and sophisticated to eat such stuff, but Grammy and Mimi/Nana were shopping together at Wal-Mart, and they saw that the box claimed lots of iron, so they decided to try it out. Well, even though Grammy had to feed me, I didn't mind because that stuff is GOOD. I even said "um-um." And, as you might know, Grammy likes feeding me. My little open bird mouth melts her heart. I went back to sleep and slept soo long. I did not know that Uncle David was coming over to play with me! After I had been asleep for two hours, Uncle David couldn't stand it any longer, so he got me up. Such good baby loving!! Uncle David played with me and it was great!

Then, we went to the seminary to see Granddaddy. There was some sort of building dedication big deal going on, but the main thing I cared about was that there were a lot of dirt clods that I could play with. Yeah! I ate lunch there. Catered Bar-B-Q isn't bad. After a nap, we went after Anna. I love that girl! She makes me squeal for joy! It was such a beautiful day we all got to play outside for a long time. Some folks from Texas came over to visit before I went to bed so I played with them for a few minutes, but when 7:30 came and Grammy mentioned "Night night time" I put my cars on the floor and reached up to be taken to bed! So sweet. When we got through reading, singing, etc., I reached for the bed and laid down without a sound. Grammy cannot get over how good I am! Of course, you already know that. Another day gone and closer to seeing you again...

We also discovered other musical instruments (besides the piano).

Reading with Granddaddy ---I love how Josiah is saying the animal sounds!

This is from rainy Friday at our house. Josiah was stuck indoors most of the day, but he was enjoying this turtle pull toy. He went round and round and round. He is sooo cute!


Sunday breakfast -- Grammy said that it had been a whole week and she had no proof that she was there with Josiah, So Granddaddy took their pic.


This is how we started out our trip to Charlotte. (to switch off with the Page grandparents).

We stopped at Bass ProShop in Concord to kill time and see the moose and the fish. We did not like the moose, but the fish were fascinating!

Transitioning well. This is Mimi/Nana and GP getting me out of Grammy's car. Happy Boy!

We are safe back in Atlanta. Your son has been a perfect little angel on his best behavior. The women at the office were all ga ga. When Joan picked him up,
he laid his head on her shoulder. Melted Joan. Attached is a picture of him with two of our class bells. He was fascinated by them.

He is adjusting to the house and loves chasing Sandy and Smokey all over the place. We have put up door barriers all around. The funniest thing was when Pam
would tell Sandy to sit and stay in a firm tone of voice, Josiah would imitate her. Hilarious.

Josiah is doing great. Mall playground. Crawled in and on soft big toys without stopping.

From Nana: He has given his Nana hugs and snuggles and the best grins ever! We showed him pictures of you two and he gave them kisses--on his own, without my prompting, promise.

Thanks Nana!

When I planned this insanely-busy trip, I originally thought I would do it all by myself with Josiah. Ha ha. My wise mother generously offered to come with me, and I'm not sure how I would have done it without her. She got to spend so much quality time with her grandson, whether entertaining him in the car seat or chasing after him in restaurants or finding a great tickle spot.

Both sets of grandparents jumped in to help so I could do fun things like have coffee with a friend or take a jog or go to Asia. We are tremendously blessed to have you guys and so is Josiah. We love you!

A Slide of His Own

The Moseley grandparents borrowed a slide from a friend, and it was just the right size for Josiah.

He had to make sure the door was closed every time he got in.

Cutie pie

Going down the slide

"This is my house" Pretty soon he'll get to share it with a cousin. Jonathan's brother David and his wife, Amy, are expecting a little boy in March. Amy and I went around Babies 'R' Us, and I gave her my two cents on registering. It was lots of fun.

In The Neighborhood

Josiah and I met up with our former neighbors in Chapel Hill, Rachel and Samuel (4 years old). I learned lots about little boys from babysitting Samuel. He's grown up so much!

We also got to visit our other neighbors Bill and Betty, but as you've heard the line before no pictures. It was a good time though.

Dinner with Caron and Matthew

We got to meet up with my friend from Chapel Hill, Caron and her little boy Matthew. It was fun to see how the boys have grown and catch up (as much as one can with two toddler boys). Caron and Jamie are expecting a little girl in February - yay!