Heritage Trip To China

LiLi Visits China

After nine years we decided it was time for LiLi to return to China. Tomorrow we leave for Hong Kong. We are staying in the same hotel that we stayed 9 years ago the day we flew to China to be united with LiLi. 

Our exchange student from last year,  Yan Li, is meeting us and will travel will us for two weeks as we visit Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Kunming, Lijang and Beijing. We will get our first real taste of LiLi's homeland as tourists as we see The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, The Stone Forest and more. 

We have a long flight to Hong Kong through Seattle but we are stocking up with books, devices and snacks. 

Next stop Kowloon!!

LiLi Starts A New School

LiLi transferred from her Montessori school to an IB magnet school call Sanderlin on Monday. On her first day she told us she was nervous. There were so many children. She went from a class of six to a class of eighteen . But the teacher was great. She had a seat waiting for LiLi and had her name in several places in the room.

We waited anxiously that day to see how it went. When she came home she was so excited. She had gotten several excellents and was taken to the principal to be given special recognition.

Yesterday a really smart boy that she like wrote a welcome to Sanderlin IB World School card, with smiling clouds, gardens and more. Since LiLi can't really write sentences she wrote him a song ( words and musics ) and sang it to him.

I think we made the right choice.

Learning To Read

This week LiLi started to read. Her first sentence was "Dot has a hat." We have a I-Phone app called Montessori crossword. She sounds out and completes all the three letter words like lid, jog, pen and tip. She has made an amazing jump and we are so proud of her. She is very proud of herself as well.

Its October in Florida and the weather is fair, electric bills are down we have a beautiful daughter. "Help me" she said yesterday "I'm just a little girl."
Life is good

Little Changes

Last night we watched the Wizards of Waverly Place. At the end there a scene betwee the brother and sister . She told here brother I would never hurt you . You are every I always wanted to be.

We looked at LiLi and she was crying. We thought about it and this was a first. She has never cried watching a movie or television show . When ever she saw one of us tearing u p she would ask "Why are you crying." I guess she never felt it before.

Little steps, then great leaps, always just before your eyes.

The Proverb of The Red Thread

The Great Wall of China

Proverb of the Red Thread: An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.

The Wisdom of LiLi

At the Thanksgiving feast LiLi asked everyone "what is beyond the Universe " No one had an answer. Then she came up with one "Maybe it's the future!"

LiLi Talk

LiLi heard us talk about using oil and on the salad at dinner. We eat Oil ? Yes I said but there are different kinds of oil . Th i is olive oil there is vegetable oil , peanut oil and and other types of oil that you can't.

She said what kind is that ?
I explained about using different types of oil in your car.
She said oh yeah like gas
Yes I said

She said the earth is made of gas and fire

Wow I said that is very smart?
Do you know where the Earth is? ( Thinking she didn't really know what the Earth was )
Between Venus and Mars she said

For this I had to think .. this is right ..of course .
I started to tell her about the different planets. Then she started to tell me about gas storms on the gas planets.

Yes indeed she is the master of learning

Life Is Good

Each Friday we gather with the other parents at the Montesorri -By -The Sea at Pass-a Grille Beach. We drink wine or beer, listen to the music and watch the sunset while watching our children play in the surf. The Beach is among the most beautiful anywhere.. and the other parents are so nice.

LiLi is four and a half . She loves her playmates .. especially Finn who she is with almost every day in the afternoon . Finn's Dad is from ..guess where ..Findland .and a cool guy . He drives Finn to school by bike and rarely uses a car. He dropped out of a business related professional job to make chairs by hand .. He is locally famous. Her other friend is Isabelle . She is a year and half older and LiLi worships her. Her Dad is from Morocco..... as you can see it's an international school.

She made her first word in the sand last week . She now has good sand writing.

Life is good ..

The Crawfish Festival

Pam was not feeling well. So instead I took this other girl . It was a great date. Gela Delafose was playing . We arrived and looked at the band for a while . We ate etouffe and sat on the seawall together and looked at the city lights. She was frisky and climbed on my back .. We ran around and chased each other falling to the ground,,laughing . She wanted to dance . We went to the center of the dance floor. Every noticed her and said how beautiful she was . We dance with abadon . The Cajun beat was inspiring. It was getting late and we decided to go back to the car. She said" Let's dance back " We could still hear the music. We laughed and dance on the sidewalk .. " I thought to myself " This is the greatest date I have every had '.This girl is so interesting ..and she is only four years old ..and my daughter"

Lili is now four .. She goes to the Montessori school here on St. Pete Beach. I guess it's good for her.. After one week she announced "The Earth revolves around the Sun"!!! I didn't know she knew what the Earth or the Sun were .. never mind how they revolved. She has been in more school events that I realized there were for three years olds. In December .. just after her forth birthday, she appeared in a a Christmas pagent . ..and in the end she danced on stage.. It was televised on the web.. We couldn't have been more proud..

And so it goes .. LiLi starts school, turns four .. makes many new friends and learns about the world . Our Spanish teacher is Luis .. On the televison she heard Spanish and sad" that's Luis talk ..like Mexico " She loves going to the movies..riding her bike .. she says .. "we're Obamas " and is learning about manners.. she says " Thank you for your present"

We spent Christmas with Luis .. speaking a little Spanish and going to the beach

Life is good

Happy Holdays

John, Pam and Lili

LiLi in Search of A School

I guess all parents think their child is really smart.. Today Pam told LiLi it was too hot to ride her bicycle outside . She said " we could tie an umbrella to the bicycle to cover me ". LiLi the inventor .. she already tells me that I can't flush the wipes and all other sorts of things that it takes a mother or a wife normally to lecture me on ..So we think it's time to find some formal structure to her education .. There seems to be so many schools to choose from all of them hard to get in.. Right now we are leaning towards a Montesorri school near our house.

Time will tell if this is a good decision .. anyway here's our genius

An Old Soul

In the Hindu religion an "old soul" is someone who has been reincarnated many times and has a wisdom beyond their years. There must have been Hindus in Yunnan Province because LiLi is definitely an old soul. She sees things beyond her years. ..Pam's cousin, David, is getting married and LiLi is going to be a flower girl. Today a package arrived from Pam's mom.. LiLi looked at it and said " It must be earrings for the wedding" And you know what ? It was ...How did she know to even think that at 3 years and four months.

Later she started playing with the computer and said she was going to find her favorite song...not really possible . She did however bring up a program with music on it . She said "Mommy, Daddy you dance" We did a little and then we said "Do you want to dance, Lili? "No, you two go ahead" Was that a three year old talking?

One day at the office she looked at a picture of Cesar Chavez on the wall and said "that man is from Mexico"...an old soul.

Someone asked if she was from China..she said " I'm a little bit from China but mostly I'm from here"..an old soul.

Pam had a migrane ..LiLi said 'let me kiss your head and make it feel better" an old soul

We were playing a game thowing the ball to each other on the floor and counting ... One, two, three..then uno, dos, tres (LiLi can count to eleven in Spanish) then LiLi switched to what she said was Chinese to count ..She had the tones down perfectly.

If she wants to stand on a chair or use a pair of blunt scissors..before you say anything she says "I be careful"

The thing that impressed me most was the other day I came home... down, feeling sorry for myself and muttered aloud "no one loves me". LiLi was playing right next to me ..without even looking up she said "I love you BaBa".

You could have knocked me over with a feather...an old soul

Happy "Gotcha Day"

It was one year ago today that our lives changed. LiLi has grown over 5 inches and gained around 7 pounds in the year. In the beginning we thought she had suffered burns on her legs but it turned out to be a rare skin disorder called EB. We were quite scared at first because in serious cases it can be fatal or the child suffers mutiple serious problems. After finding a specialist in Miami we found that LiLi has a very mild case limited to her legs..she quite possibily will grow out of it in puberty.

LiLi is a real talker ..smarter than we are evidenced by the fact that she finishes our sentences when we can't think of a word (remember we're the old couple).. "did you take your aaah(mom)? ..medicine(LiLi). Just now I went to turn on the tv but couldn't find the remote.. Without any discussion of what I was doing or looking for she said "it's over there" and she was right.

Bedtime can be difficult .. lots of stalling ..LiLi wants another story, milk, needs a diaper change anything to delay .. She likes it when I put my hand on her chest and sing "Hush little LiLi don't you cry, PaPa going to sing you a lullaby"... she corrects me if I get the words wrong.

Last night at bedtime though she grabbed Pam's hand then my hand and looked and me and Pam and said "Mommie, Babba"....we waited...what was it ...another story... .milk...Then after a pause she said "I love you ..good night"

Happy Gotcha Day

John, Pam and LiLi

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LiLi The Genuis

Today LiLi seemed to leap forward in her ability to communicate. She really seems not only to be able to talk but can remember her whole journey. We asked her if she remembered China. She did ..she said something in Chinese. We spoke our limited words in that language and asked her again to say something in Chinese ..MaMa ..Baba.. we said no in Chinese and then she repeated MaMa Baba .. then we realized indeed that was Chinese.. she said other words, Wei etc. but knowing the difference between the words that were Chinese and English. We talked about our trip to Vermont she

Here she is with coconuts

said "snow!"! She remembered seeing GiGi (Aunt Gale) and Grandmama and when we talked about going to a restaurant with friends she said oh yeah!! and laughed

We asked who lives with us ..MaMa BaBa and who? ( hoping she would say Sammy the cat) she said Elmo!!.. I guess he does..

really stunning

Holiday Time With LiLi

LiLi is enjoying life as an American girl . Each day she get a new present. Some are for Chanukah, other are early Christmas presents or late birthday presents. She must think that america is all about presents (isn't it?).

Her words are coming quickly. Yesterday she said "see BaBa soon". She is in day care with a three year old friend. She love to say her name , " Asssshley"

BaBa asked MaMa for some money for lunch.. Just then LiLi came running up with something in her hand.. a penny!!

Each day a new door is opened.

This will be a wonderful Holiday with LiLi ..she glows with excitment and you can't help but catch it!

Pictures

LiLi loves to watch educational televsion. Every morning we wake up and sit together watching 64 Zoo Lane and Ebb and Flo . There is a giraffe on 64 Zoo Lane and when Lucy slides down her neck she says wheee!!. She is amazing in her ability to learn. She understands so much .. will run to pick up the phone and hand it to you ..helps clean up, holding the dust pan.. Signs and says I love you in the crib at night.

They say each child is meant for you ..you just have to wait for her. I don't know if that is correct but we do know that we couldn't love LiLi more . She is the cutest .nicest child we could ever imagine. If you are hurt she makes a sorry face and ooawh..says more to anything she wants more of.. knows where her treats are in the refrigerator.. grabs your hand and puts it on her clothes to tell you she spilled water on her ... grabs a cane and hangs from it ..feet in air ..she is so strong..so athletic.. loves to step up on a book to practice, can walk up the stairs (with help from her hands) ..and on the scale to weigh her self

She is a gift from God no doubt

Lili at Play

LiLi is doing great at home. She had learned many English expressions.. including cat bird and shoes . She loves 1..2..3 pop up and will hold us down to pop up with her.. where are your shoes LiLi.. she runs to find them .. Came home last night and removed my pants .she was behind me with my shorts.. put the pillow behind my head when I exercise. loves to sit next to us to watch Teletubbies .. pats the couch if we are not there..check out pictures at
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Life At Home

LiLi is settling in to life in America . She likes to see people and asks for the strolller which she calls walk.

We used to watch the Teletubbies and now it's LiLi's favorite show.. She likes the hypnotic windmill and the laughing baby.

She got a present of Mickey Mouse and loved it .She tried feed him Cherrios. A true American girl.

Home

LiLi arrived in her new home last night. We were worried that our rambuncious cat might frighten liLi. He ran under the bed and hide almost immediately when she came in. So much for that problem.

We were lucky on the flight home. The flight attendant asked the person next to us to move and we had three seats across. Charming LiLi made friends with a lady on the flight. She told LiLi in Mandarin to kiss her mommie and daddy and LiLi did. Only our second kiss. Lili also decided tht she was going to feed us and not the other way around. She took her spoon and fed her parents some ice cream. Maybe she can get a job and we can play with toys all day!!

LiLi met her Grandma, Aunt, Uncles and cousins and was given a big welcome to the family in NY.

We are happy to back in Florida now safe and sound.