Maddie's BIG Day!

Today was a special day for Maddie because it was her portfolio sharing day in class. I took a half day off of work so that I could spend the entire morning in her class and it was just special from beginning to end. When we walked into the class, Maddie immediately discovered the chrysalis had opened up and that there was a butterfly in the cage that she and her classmates had been watching for several weeks. The fact that the word, "chrysalis" came out of her mouth just about floored me. What three years old know that word and can recall it from the file banks in their brain?

Maddie and her classmates have been making books in class. Over several months, they were given folded paper, made a cover page, drew pictures in the middle pages and drew on an end page. They then sat down with Ms. Preeti and described what they had drawn so that she could write it down for them. The class then decided to invite all of the parents to sell their books so that they could have an ice cream party. Andy came into class for almost an hour today and Maddie sat with both of us and she read her books to us. We discovered that going "bonk" is a major theme in all of her books! She then told us how much to pay for each book and we obliged quite willingly!

Maddie followed her sale of books with the sharing of her portfolio from the year. Pretti had laminated a poem that Maddie had her hand prints on and gave them to the parents right now. I am so pregnant right that I immediately teared up because when she was 6 months old in Saudi Arabia, Val Awad had made the same poem and hand prints for us. I still have it in my classroom today! Maddie shared all of her things from the year and was so very proud of her work... each and every item had a story and the fact that she could describe in such detail things from October was amazing!

We ended the day by going out the playground and I pulled Maddie and all of her classmates in a wagon. Watching children at play is just so pure... I don't know how else to describe it! Maddie was so happy though to have her mommy be the center of attention - she actually seemed proud that I was playing with everybody! What a great year!

Maddie's Classmates 2006-2007

Maddie Loves Lester

Have you ever seen a child sing the Alphabet Song to their cat? Have you ever seen a cat sit there and endure the entire song without scratching or jumping out of the way?

I have!

Maddie loves Lester, our well travelled, very expensive, free cat. We originally got Lester to keep our dog, Jake, company during the day when we lived in Saudi. Lester is a Saudi cat with a long, long tail and a pointy nose. We were going to leave him with a nice family in Saudi, but my heart got the best of me and I insisted we bring him to Shanghai with us - via London - via Chicago - via Tucson - via Portland - via San Francisco. Well, he was free when we originally got him in 2002!

Maddie does love him though and he is VERY patient with her. He has never scratched her and lets her pull his tail without too much complaining. He may for himself to endure, but he's patient. He's a good splat and we love him!

Snacks - What Would You Choose?

Maddie has a hollow leg lately. She ate three pieces of pizza the other the night PLUS a huge bowl of watermelon. She then turned around the next day and ate about the same amount for a brunch Sunday morning. When she gets home from school everyday, she's super hungry so Ms. Zhou gives her a snack. However, since she has a hollow leg lately, she gets another snack before dinner when we get home at 5:00. So this was today...

Andy drove Maddie and Ms. Zhou to the Links office where Ms. Zhou catches the shuttle bus home and then Andy offered to buy her ice cream. Who could turn that down, right? So she ran inside the house, screaming at the top of her lungs... "I've got ice cream - I've got ice cream." I thought we could debrief about the day around the table so I grabbed myself a vegetable plate and decided to sit next to her. She had a choice: ice cream or vegetables. Guess what won! Vegetables won and in her words, "trees (broccoli) are fun to eat!"

She was finishing up her veges (still ignoring the ice cream in front of her) when she saw a jar of olives inside the fridge when Andy opened it. She had another choice: ice cream, vegetables, or olives. Guess what won! Olives won and in her words, "pickles (olives) are silly to eat!"

She finally did partake in that ice cream and then proceeded to eat a huge plate of shrimp for dinner immediately thereafter. Who is this kid?

Given the choices, what would you choose?!

Maddie's Passport

Warning: This one is REALLY long but I had to catch you up to where I started writing Maddie's Minute!

We've already established that Maddie has STATUS. But I got to thinking about how she has this super-duper special Miss I Fly A lot status. I remember when I used to get a plane with her and say, "This is fifth time she has taken off on a plane." I know that I lost count when we got into the mid-twenties. It was a nice way to waste some time on the plane though between her dad and I. "How many flights has she taken now?" we would say back and forth to each other.

I think we've got it about right for Maddie though. Youngins do crave consistency, but I think it's healthy to push the envelope a bit. We really pushed the envelope when we took her back to Yanbu, Saudi Arabia at 4 weeks old. Here she spent the first 21 months of her life. She probably thought it was normal to sit on the Red Sea during a lazy Thursday afternoon.... mostly because Thursday and Friday were our weekends!

It really all started when Maddie was 6 weeks old and we went to India. Perhaps this was pushing the envelope a bit too much (smile) but it was a wonderful experience. We ventured out to look at carpets and took her in taxis where there would be traffic jams because of all of the cows in the road.

Her next major trip was back home for Christmas vacation. We went to Helvetia Winery where Santa took pictures with all the kids. Ethan, Elena, Connor, and Sam all jointed Maddie in the picture. It seems she was just beginning to get the best of both worlds.... the stability of family yet she was a traveler. This was the year that we had a huge ice storm in Portland and we were three days late getting back to Saudi. But the trip was wonderful as there is nothing quite like Christmas at home with family.

Her third major trip was to the Costa Del Sol in Malaga, Spain to meet her Grandpa Bill over the February Eid Al Adha school break. This was actually her second time there, but she probably didn't remember the first time since wasn't born yet. We made it Ronda to see old bull fighting rings while her mom and dad downed Caffe con Leches. It was just plain fun to be there with her - the only downside was that there wasn't an agent at the window to stamp her passport with a Spain stamp... it is really all about the stamps ya know! Again, we were snowed in but this time in Saudi for two extra days. How often does that happen?!

Her fourth major trip was to Bangkok and Koh Samui, Thailand for Spring Break. She just sat in the Baby Bjorn while her dad and strolled up and down the beach. It also was Maddie's first of three visits to Zazen, the most wonderful place on Bophut Beach. Dad and Maddie slept on hammocks in the shad in between eating pineapple on the beach and wading in the sea.

Her fifth major trip was back home for the long summer. It was a great first summer of family, fun and sun. Not only were we in Portland, but we made it down to Tucson and, of course, into Mexico to eat at our favorite restaurant in Nogales. El Cid closed after that summer, but we keep going back to try to find the next good place. Maddie spent some quality time with the best chocolate lab every to walk the planet. Jake (aka: Moosehound) was the best traveled dog at this point and was as patient as could be with Maddie. We also made it to Maddie's first baseball game in Bloomington when we went to see the Peoria Chiefs. We couldn't beat the seats behind the dug out!

Maddie's sixth major trip was to Prague in November over the Eid Al Fidr school break. She sat in her SUV of strollers as we walked the cobble stone streets sipping warm mulled wine. It was Maddie's first real experience with cold so we bundled her up in a coat given to us by a friend in Saudi and bought her a hat the had airplane ears. We took pictures in front of Prague Castle and looked at a lot of crystal... another reason to keep Maddie in the SUV of strollers!

Maddie's seventh major trip was to Paris also in November. We stayed one block away from Notre Dame and window shopped in front of all the stores that had moving nutcrackers, snowmen, ice skaters, and Santas. One day we just walked and walked and walked while it was drizzling. We walked to the Louve and the Eiffel Tower, crossing bridges back and forth.

Maddie's eighth major trip was back to Thailand for Christmas with Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl. It was proven time and time again how Maddie is a real trooper. Bangkok was wonderful as we put Maddie in her backpack and then hopped in and out of Tuk Tuks. This picture is of Maddie at the Jade Buddha Temple. We left Bangkok right before Christmas Day and made it down to Koh Samui for Maddie's second trip to Zazen. Opening Christmas presents on our balcony with the sound of the ocean on the beach was anything but the cold we experienced a month earlier!

Her ninth major trip was to Florence, Italy over Spring Break. This is where we stayed in an old farmhouse with her Grandpa Bill, Grandma Mary, Great-Aunt Rhonda, Great-Uncle Jack, Second Cousin Cathy, and Bert. While we visited the doumo in Firenza, we also made it the countryside. It was the week that the Pope had passed away so it was an interesting time to be there. Absolute silence in all the cathedrals was a must and Maddie was actually quite good at that!

Maddie's tenth major plane ride was back home for the summer of 2005. This was the summer we left Saudi Arabia for good and prepared for the next chapter in life onward to Shanghai, China. Before doing that though, Maddie had the distinct honor of being the flower girl in my niece's wedding. We managed to get Maddie all measured in Saudi and Jessica had a very special flower girl dress made for her. My favorite part of the wedding was when Maddie was following the other flower girl, but kept saying "messy" as the other flower girl threw rose petals onto the aisle!

Maddie's eleventh major trip was to Shanghai where she now lives out her life and you read about it on her blog. Since we've been in Shanghai we've traveled home for Christmas (12th trip) and then met up with Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl in Hong Kong (13th trip). We all walked around Kowloon and then took the ferry to Hong Kong where we took the tram to the top of Victoria Peak on a rare sunny Hong Kong day. After Hong Kong, we traveled to the Philippines (14th trip). We ventured out into the very busy city several times and once again, Maddie was a trooper.

Maddie's fifteenth major trip was back home for the summer which was the first summer she was truly mobile. The summer was filled with preparing for the move to China. We stayed in Portland most of the time, but we also made it to Tucson and Illinois. In Portland, we visited with family and flew kites. In Tucson, Maddie helped us paint the house yellow and, of course, we search for the best Mexican food in Nogales. In Bloomington, we chased bubbles in Grandpa's back yard and tried to catch fireflies with our bare hands.

Maddie's sixteenth major trip was back to Thailand for Christmas in 2006. Christmas and New Year's at Zazen where they remembered her as a little tiny baby. I think we'll stop with her major trips right there. What is interesting is that when we lived in Saudi, we were also leaving - that was the thing to do.... to meet people around the world. Now that we are in Shanghai though, people want to come see us! Grandma Dotty has come, Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl have come, Aunt Susan has come to Shanghai.... Grandpa Bill and Mary have come, along with Great Aunt Rhona and Great Uncle Jack. Recently, Aunt Sissy and Uncle Bubba came to China. See? Everyone visits us now! Who knows how much traveling is ahead, but life is good and Maddie is growing up as a citizen of the world.

If you read this entire post, then kudos to you! Andy calls me a blog addict but I write with a sincere purpose. That purpose is to document our daughter's life in the hopes that someday she'll be able to look back at how much we loved her and respected her spirit day in and day out.

The girl's GOT STATUS!

Maddie's got STATUS!

Maddie's got STATUS ya know.

Maddie's got STATUS because she lives in Shanghai......



Maddie's got STATUS because she thinks bunny ears are cute......


Maddie's got STATUS because she eats at restaurants where they give you a flashlight if you can't see......


Maddie's got STATUS because she stays at hotels on famous rivers around the world......


Maddie's got STATUS because she spends much of her life riding around on luggage carts in airports.....


We bought plane tickets for summer travel today and used our complimentary vouchers to upgrade to first class. This is how the conversation went today:

Nice United Lady: Your three year old won't have any vouchers.
Me: But she has had her own number for a year and a half.
Nice United Lady: But she doesn't have STATUS.
Me: Have you checked? Look it up!
Nice United Lady: I've been here for ten years and this is the first time I've met a three year old with Premier status.
Me: Welcome to our world!!! ;)

Happy Travels are Coming Our Way!

Chinese Fun Day!

Chinese Fun Day!

I have to giggle a bit because at Maddie's school, they plan days focused around all things China. I think the parents expect this too. Sometimes I just want to say, OPEN UP YOUR DOOR, but a lot of expats surprisingly aren't comfortable really getting in there.

Admittedly, we are about 50/50 when it comes to experiencing the China around us. It's not because of desire though - it's because of time! When Maddie's Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl visit us in China, they remind us quickly what it's all about. We'll head off to school and they'll head off to the most excellent adventures around Shanghai. Oh The Places You'll Go!!! (A most excellent post by Maddie's Grandma! - Go to Friday, May 11 on her blog!)

Maddie has a great day at Chinese Fun Day! Though I think she has just as much fun with Ms, Zhou on their Fridays together. I actually stayed home this Friday while Andy went to a school function and was able to eavesdrop on Maddie and Ms. Zhou when they weren't outside playing or going to movie night. The entire conversation is in Chinese and I have NO CLUE what they are saying. They were chattering back and forth, singing songs, Ms, Zhou even "corrected" Maddie in Chinese when Maddie splashed her with her bath water - Maddie responded with excuses in Chinese that went something like this.... "but Ms. Zhou, I do this every week to you and I think it's funny!" I stay out of the way because the minute Maddie sees me, she stops speaking Chinese. She's not embarrassed - it's just that it doesn't make sense to speak to a non-Chinese person in Chinese.

Chinese Fun Days can really be everyday if we want them to be. We are a very lucky family and Maddie is a very lucky three year old!

Maddie's SISTER!!!!

Maddie found out today that she will have a baby sister in September!

When I was pregnant with Madeline, Andy and I chose to NOT find out what we were having. She kept us guessing up until the very last minute and I will never, ever forget Andy screaming, "WE HAVE A GIRL!" as I was in my daze. What a joy it was to be surprised! We wanted to be surprised like that again this time, but Maddie is convinced that she is going to have both a new brother and new sister! So we decided to find out and talk up the new peanut with Maddie. The most amazing thing happened when the Chinese ultrasound guy told us we were having a girl - we were so surprised and delighted - just as surprised and delighted as we were with Maddie.

Amelia Mabel is set to arrive in September and I'm sure she'll arrive strong and ready to try out for the Olympic team in gymnastics.! She's a very active little sister and Maddie will have fun with her... even now Maddie lays on our bed at night talking to my expanding belly while giving "zerberts" to her little sister. Amelia responds with a kick right in Maddie's nose as is an appropriate sibling response.

Ah..... this is going to be fun!

Maddie's FIRST/SECOND/THIRD Golf Tourny!

I lied... er, um, okay I fibbed.

Maddie attended her first PROFESSIONAL golf tournament a few weeks ago. She actually attended her second EXTREMELY IMMATURE, er, um... I mean, Amateur golf tournament today! SAS holds an annual golf tournament for its staff and parents every May. This was actually Maddie's second SAS golf tournament! So, I fibbed kinda sorta a few weeks ago when I wrote about the BMW Classic.

Maddie and I took Andy to the clubhouse around 11:00 so that he could "practice" (aka: sit in the clubhouse and do some serious male bonding) and then came back home to grab our camera because we were the official picture takers for the tournament. How I got roped into that one, I don't know, but all of the men thought it was pretty funny seeing the pregnant lady on a golf course! Maddie was okay for the first three tee times, but then quickly grew restless and got in "trouble" by playing in the sand traps. I see no problem with that if she's out of the way and quiet but the Links management thought otherwise... I'm so NOT a golfer. Andy says I have the Too Loud gene. Maddie must have the same gene but at least we have fun!

I let two of the school's secretaries, Eva and Ruby, take Maddie for awhile so they ended up in a golf cart taking pictures of various people. Maddie was so happy to be on the golf course. Andy and I were talking again last night about how we are choosing to raise her. How can we explain that this isn't NORMAL when all she knows in her short little life is surrounded by these surreal things that her father and I didn't do until our twenties/thirties? I guess that is why we talk of going "home" for at least a year to help her stay grounded.

Maddie and I met up with Cooper and Tonya after an hour of picture taking and climbed in another golf cart to race around the course. Three year old - golf course - quiet. Those are three words that prove over and over again to not go together! Thank goodness Andy played with the same team that he played with last year so they remember her running down the 14th fairway towards Andy one year ago. She did the same thing again today just because she could. She LOVES being a part of his life. Loves asking questions about golfing, Loves saying "good job daddy", Loves wishing him luck and giving him kisses. As she said tonight after a very exhausting day, "Daddy is my favorite mommy, but I love you too."

Aw, shucks..... at least she doesn't lie or tell fibs! ;)

BUGS - My 7 - 11 Week in Review -

Maddie is addicted to bugs right now. I'm actually quite amazed because she is such a girls girl. She loves make-up, dresses, tea parties, nail polish..... and spiders, worms, and bugs! Ever since her class went on their first field trip to the Insect Museum, she's enthralled with starting her own collection.

Malin's mom is a first grade teacher at school and ordered some silkworms with mulberry leaves for Maddie's class. The kids have been watching the worms for the past week eat and eat and eat and eat. Finally, today they came to class and one of them had started to build its cocoon. It was actually even fascinating for me to see the little guy through the thin cocoon working diligently inside to make it stronger and thicker.

Maddie is even collecting bugs at home to take into class. She catches a bug in the morning and then brings into Ms. Preeti - she's so proud!

From Maddie's Weekly Newsletter....

• We continue to expand our knowledge about transformations and transitions through insect life cyles. Malin’s mother, Ms. Toa has given us some silkworms to keep and observe in our classroom. Children’s first observations were that they were caterpillars, that they could not be snakes, that they were worms! Great first observations! We then discussed what might possibly happen (prediction) after we looked after them for a while. Some children thought that they would become “very big”, “very hungry”, build a house and become a butterfly. These observations and predictions prove that children have extended their original learning about caterpillars and butterflies to other similar life cycles. Much excitement took place when we arrived in class this morning to find that one of the silkworms had metamorphosed into a pupa having built its cocoon.

The First Swim of the Year!

Cold.

I, personally, am a wimp. I'm either "boiling" or I'm "freezing" and the "just right" range is quite small. Maddie, on the other hand, is a kid and most kids don't care too much if it's boiling or freezing!! The weather is turning quite gorgeous in Shanghai and thankfully it's not "boiling" in my mind. This is "just right" as far as air temperature goes! Water temperature though? In my book - it's FREEZING!

Maddie came home today and heard her friends screaming in what I think was delight over at the swimming pool. Maddie was waiting by the door with Ms. Zhou when we came home around 4:30 with her swimsuit in hand. Apparently, the peer pressure of her friends screams were just too enticing so we grabbed a beach towel that had been collecting dust for way too long and headed across the street to the swimming pool. I was having one of those "we're the luckiest people in the world moments" because here I live on the golf course across from the playground that is behind the house that is dedicated to kids which is next to the swimming pool with a lock and a lifeguard 12 hours a day!

Maddie saw Ri-Ri in the kiddy pool and immediately asked for me to blow up her purple float. As always, these two see each other and it's absolute glee. I don't know how else to describe it. She talks - she listens - she laughs and Ri-Ri does the same thing. It will be great having both of them in school next year! She swam long enough to turn blue and then jumped out, shivering uncontrollably. But then she braved it one last time before heading over the swings with Ri-Ri. That was the most perfect way to come home from school and the most perfect way to spend your time before dinner!

So, that was the first swim of the year! Swim lessons are hopefully on the horizon as I can tell that there will be many, many more of these to come!

Warm Afternoons After School

This week at school was China Alive, which means that all middle school students go to various places around China for a week long field trip. The 8th grade trip is quite grand with kayaking, rock climbing, caving, mountain biking, traversing through the air 100ft up along a rope. Basically, it's everything a pregnant woman should NOT be doing so I was lucky/unlucky enough to stay home and work on the middle school schedule for next year. What this means though is that I don't have kids staying after school everyday so I'm able to come home at a good time that leaves lots of play time with Maddie.

Today we sent daddy off to the driving range and just played across the street at the playground. There is a trampoline over there that Maddie simply loves. She jumps 6 inches off the ground but the look on her face makes it seem like she is jumping 6 feet! We jumped on the trampoline and went down all of the slides before making a couple of hopscotch patterns with chalk.

This was Maddie's first experience with hopscotch! It was fun to write the numbers down and have her tell me what comes next. How did that happen? She kind of had a hard tie with the hopping on one foot thing so we practiced jumping with our feet together onto one number and then our feet apart for two numbers. What a blast it was! we hopped and laughed before coming in to enjoy an apple juice ice pop. The sky was so blue and wind was just slight - it was a perfect day after school! Even Lester sat with us the entire time - I actually think he was considering climbing up the slide. Hope to have more of these this week as we wind down the school year!

A Wang Dang Dinger of a Day!

May 1, 2007

Dear Diary,

WOW! What a day this has been as Maddie's mommy and daddy. Today is a "special" day for us in that this is a day we celebrate all of the wonderful things in our life. No matter what is going on, no matter what comes our way, we celebrate and quietly remember what happened three years ago today. As much as we try to stay positive, it's inevitable that our nerves are on edge just a bit and I think that Maddie picked up on the vibes the very minute she woke up. The picture to the left is just one of the many time outs that happened today!

Two things to note that are special: She gave up one of her words today... you know, it was one of those baby words that we all think are so cute. We often sit around saying, "remember when Maddie said this or said that?" Well, not we add glop-glop to that list. In the bath today, she didn't ask for a glop-glop - she asked for a washcloth. I think she even surprised herself when she heard the word fly out of her of mouth! The second thing that's worth noting, Maddie is now alternating feet as she heads down the stairs. She been alternating feet going up the stairs for months, this was the first time she alternated her feet going down. It certainly speeds up the process a bit!

It took FOREVER to get out of the house because EVERYTHING seemed to be a battle. She didn't want a bath, she didn't want to eat breakfast, she didn't want to go to the bathroom before leaving, she didn't want to leave her balloon at home, she didn't want to sit in her car seat, she didn't want to stop scratching the car window with her plastic horse's legs.... she didn't want to talk without that whine in her voice. We love you Maddie.....

After a brief shopping trip, we headed to school in order to get some work done. Maddie actually likes to go to school with us on non-school days because we hook one of her movies up to the projector and she gets to sit in huge bean bags. What is truly special about today is she had a pair of scissors with her while she was watching Cinderella III. And guess what she did with those scissors?! Maddie gave herself her very first self haircut... on one side of her head only. I have no pictures as proof, but I do have several HUGE chunks of hair sealed in a school envelope that I will give to her when she turns 18! ;) I was thinking it was time for another haircut - now we are really get to get one.

Like I said, it was a Wang Dang Dinger of a Day! Oh but we really do love you Maddie!