Maddie Became a Baby

There will be four years between Maddie and Amelia. I like the age difference because Maddie is her own person with her own life with her own memories. She's old enough to remember Amelia coming home for the very first time. As "the day" approaches, Maddie is becoming a bit more.... baby-like. At the beginning of the pregnancy, Maddie was convinced that SHE was never a baby. Pics we would show her from her first year of life were of "somebody else" and the the ultrasound picture we have framed of her was NOT of Maddie.

Every once in awhile though.... she wants to be the baby. It started with her sliding out of bed in the mornings and actually crawling into our room. When we set the crib up, she had to show us that she really did fit and that she could sleep in the crib. She told me that the diapers we bought were too small for her and that she needed some bigger ones - we just had to go shopping. All of this while she's telling me everything she is going to teach Amelia. (Number 1: Don't splash the bathroom wall with water when you're taking a bath. Funny that she doesn't take her own advice though!!)

Something happened today though! Maddie's Grandma Barbara bought a new computer and was transferring all of her files over when she came across this very special movie. Maddie's first steps actually occurred on Barbara's birthday when we were in Saudi Arabia... for some reason we had the video camera on Andy was able to make this movie. Maddie has now watched this movie 10 times in 10 minutes and is now convinced that she was, indeed, a baby at one time. In her words, "Maddie became a baby."

We love you so much Madeline Anna! Your first steps continue and it's a pleasure to be a part of all the firsts you experience!!

Maddie's Busy Day At the Races!

The peanut had to wake up early, but she made it to the ultrasound appointment with us and as soon as she saw Amelia's pictures on the screen, she immediately woke up! I'm so glad that she is going with us to all of these appointments. She's excited - I can tell because she's wanting to give up some of her securities in order to share them with her new sister. SHE actually said to me yesterday, "mommy, maybe baby Amelia should take my blanket. I think she'll like my blanket." That is HUGE!

Maddie spent the rest of the day with her Grandma Barbara and cousins Ethan and Elena. She loves her cousins and just kind of claims them as her own. She's not shy and she looks up to every single one of them for different reasons. Today, she went with Ethan to the veledrome to watch her cousin's bicycle races. He's quite the competitor and I wouldn't be surprised if you saw him in the Olympics someday. He's smart and dedicated which is an excellent combination to achieve dreams. It's good for Maddie to see other people's dreams as she forms her own.

Take Maddie Out to the Ball Game!

Things that Maddie likes at baseball games....

1. wearing sunscreen, glasses and a hat
2. eating snowcones
3. eating pretzels
4. eating licorice
5. running the bases after the game with her cousin Kayana
6. reading books with her cousin Elena
7. notice that baseball is NOT on this list



It's the most perfect thing to do on a warm Sunday afternoon and you can't beat the $8.00 general admission tickets. Baseball, even if it's triple A, is Americana at it's finest! We spent the afternoon with Grandma, Grandpa, Larry, Kim, Alexis, Kayana, Susan, Doug, Elena, and Ethan. Maddie was in absolute heaven! The video below is over a minute, but for those of you that are interested, you will see her completely miss the bases, run past the bases, and you will notice that she is the shortest on out there!

A Beautiful Oregon Day!

Today we jumped on the MAX train in Hillsboro and made our way down to the Rose City and the Portland Saturday Market. It's a great place to find cool things by local artists. Today we found a bracelet for Maddie where the artist resized it just for her. Amazingly, she wore it all day long and it was torture getting it off her wrist at bedtime. We also found some great flannels for both Maddie and Amelia for when we come home at Christmas time. I do think that Maddie's most special find was the balloon man. I'm still amazed that she has conversations with people she doesn't know, but the though of getting a flower balloon hat definitely got rid of all inhibitions!!!

When we left the Saturday Market, we made our way to Dan and Louis Oyster Bar. When Andy was growing up and lived in Eastern Oregon he and his family would eat here so it's always fun to go back. On the way though, we saw "Shanghai"sign that was definitely a photo opportunity - how could we not?! Once again, Maddie ate shrimps for lunch - I think she's addicted!

We ate our Oyster Stew, Clam Chowder, and Shrimp before hopping on MAX back to Hillsboro. I think I love living so close close to Max - it's just so easy to get into Portland and Maddie thinks that all trains are just way too cool.

Maddie helped us pick up the house a bit and Andy started cooking for our first dinner guests. Barbara and Earl came over for a great dinner of yummy oven poached salmon (Andy used the Convection Oven for the first time), fresh corn on the cob, delightful olive ciabatta, and a garden fresh salad complete with dill and smoked salmon. I tell ya, my husband can really cook! We completed the night with Grandma Barbara ready Maddie's entire library to her on the couch. Maddie loved it and I can tell that she misses the stimulation of school. She's just one of those kids that thirsty for knowledge as her wheels are always spinning!

It was an amazing Portland, Oregon day and we'll treasure it!!

It's All About Connections....

TCK.

It seems as if it's THE buzz phrase in international education these days. Expat children are growing us a Third Culture Kids. We saw this when we lived in Saudi Arabia for four years. Most of our kids were from Pakistan and India, yet they attended an American curriculum school and talked like they were from the Midwest or California. They didn't belong in their "home" countries, yet they didn't belong in America... they belonged in a third culture which seemed very ambiguous.

Maddie's dad an I are always talking about how we are choosing to raise Maddie. We want her to grow up internationally to have first hand contact with other cultures on a daily basis, yet we recognize the value of what we grew up with. Looking back, we both value all of the connections we made when we were growing up. Andy values the time spent with family when they went camping every summer. I value all of the memories I have with family growing up. Growing up means family. Maddie has us when we are overseas, but there is nothing quite like the connections that she nourishes when she comes home for the summers.

When Elena, Maddie's cousin, walked in the door today around lunch time, Maddie's eyes just sparkled. I was curious if Maddie would remember Elena as it's been almost a full year since seeing her. Maddie clearly recognized her as she didn't hesitate to start telling Elena about her world. Maddie downright SHINED when she realized that both of the them were calling grandma just that..... "Grandma, can we make some cookies" they almost said in unison. Now that doesn't happen everyday!!!!

Elena took great care with Maddie and in my mind showed an amazing amount of patience with my jet-lagging three year old daughter. Even when Maddie used the bubble solution to water the flowers, Elena was brilliant. They built trains together and Elena even taught Maddie how to throw a Frisbee for the first time. The greatest find was when they were in the crawl space and found a wooden rocking chair about Maddie size. They soon found out from Grandma Barbara that her dad had made it for her. Amazingly, Grandma Barbara said that Maddie could take that rocking chair to her new bedroom in her new house. I had to run upstairs and shed a tear for a minute (I am pregnant after all) because that's a connection for Maddie - a connection that I pray she never takes for granted because not all people are lucky enough to have those connections.

What a joyous day!!! It really is all about the connections....

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!