Christmas Music Class

Every week Will and I go to a music class for toddlers. I love it and so does Will- its our special mommy and Will outing. It so cute they play instruments, sing songs with motions, read a story, and play with a parachute. Around Christmas the teacher did a special Christmas music class and Dads were able to come because it was on a Saturday. Here are a couple shots from the morning.

                          Running from the bubble "snowflakes" and having a great time. 
Dads were enlisted to be reindeer for the sleigh ride. It was so funny. This room with like 15 Dads with antlers pulling kids in plastic tubs.

Fun with instruments.

Merry Christmas!

Lots of pictures to update from the last couple weeks but for now we will leave you with a Merry Christmas greeting from Will. :)

Our favorite blue guy

This might look like blue gumby to you but to us here this is HaiBao (Hi-bow (like bow wow) ). He is the mascot for the upcoming world expo and he is EVERYWHERE.  We see him on subways, tv, parks, supermarkets, elevators, you get the idea. Well they must have done some market research because the kids love this guy- and our Will is included- every time he sees him he excitedly says "Rai Row!" (that's Haibao in his language) One time we were having some friends over for dinner and when they rang up from downstairs I looked at Will and asked "Who do you think is here?"- "Rai Row" was his answer. Not sure this guy makes house calls, but there will be a miniature version of him under the tree this year, so Will can play with him anytime. :)

Will is doing much better!...so we put up the tree.

I realize that I need to update from my last post lest you think Will is still sitting on the couch all lethargic like my last post. He recovered in a few days but was still contagious so we had to keep him quarantined (he did pass it to a few friends I'm afraid- sorry Monica and Gina). SO Will was feeling much better but we were stuck inside so... we put up the Christmas tree! Before Thanksgiving I know I know but let's be honest its a little depressing on Dec 26 after Christmas and so this way we can enjoy it longer. Here are a few shots from the event. :)

When we took the tree out Will was really not into the tree at all. This shot was taken by me telling Will- "Will just touch the tree. Touch the tree." So definitely posed.

This is what Will asked to do for most of the time the tree was going up- "uh uh" he says as he makes the sign for eating.

This was taken to show you how very far from the tree action he was- he even had his back turned- ha ha.

However.... as the  ornaments started to go up he suddenly got very interested and wanted to help.  So cute.... and lasted for about 9 minutes before returning to snacks, but here are some shots from that brief window of interest.
So we have the apartment all decorated and haven't even made my Thanksgiving dishes yet- its great! You should all try it. :)

Here We Go Again....

Many of you may know that our family has had a surprising number of random medical issues this past year.  (Seriously two of us have met our deductible). But anyway, as you can see from the picture- it is Will who has fallen ill with hand, foot, mouth disease- yes that's correct you read it right. I thought that this was common everywhere but I think maybe only those of us who live in asia are more familiar with it. I'll spare you the details but it involves painful blisters in the mouth, hand, and yes feet you guessed it.  Today he seems to have turned a corner so we're hoping that it won't be long until he's feeling like this again.............................

(sorry Will- your father thinks I'm horrible for posting this picture- but I couldn't help it)

A Quick Getaway

Last weekend we went for a quick getaway to our favorite city in China- Hangzhou. It has this beautiful Lake in the middle and that's where we spend most of our time. There aren't many places here that I would say oh I love being outside- but Hangzhou is definitely one of them. We rented bikes and rode around the lake and paid the equivalent of 25 cents to rent them- crazy!  Anyway- we aren't the best picture takers- I often defer to others with cameras when I'm in groups and say- oh send me a copy (like that ever happens)- or I just don't want to stop what I'm doing to take a picture- however this time we were really good about taking pictures. So here a bunch of pictures from the weekend (too many maybe?). :)

Halloween

Ok, can anyone seriously deny that this is the cutest Lion they've ever seen?

Ok, so just incase you're not convinced yet, here is compelling evidence: a video, where he roars the cutest lion roar you've ever heard. Sadly, I (Den), like an idiot, filmed the video sideways (I had just been taking several vertical photos to try to get his whole costume). So please either flip your computer screen on it's side, or kindly tilt your head 90 degrees to the left, and enjoy the show...