Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday and Sunday - March 6 & 7
We were really keen to get the kids outside - Isaac was so much better and the weather was clear, but there was still so much snow on the ground. We tookhe children to the local playground and they had a great time - we even saw a deer in the woods! 
All of Isaac's warm pajamas were waiting to be washed so we had to dig out some of Indigo's pajamas for him - he was very happy in her pink pjs.
It was sweet to see our two kids enjoying sitting on the chair together - it was actually sweeter before I was able to get the camera - missed the best moment as Indigo started to hug him a bit tightly for the picture :-) we're happy for all loving moments between the two of them! On Sunday we took a walk down to our beach - snow covered beach, but David was so excited for Isaac to see the lake. Once we negotiated the hill, which was a bit icy, down to the beach, we had a nice time. I loved the two kids each having a fun turn on Daddy's shoulders! It will be so fun to be playing on the beach and swimming in the lake in the summer.
It was sweet to see our two kids enjoying sitting on the chair together - it was actually sweeter before I was able to get the camera - missed the best moment as Indigo started to hug him a bit tightly for the picture :-) we're happy for all loving moments between the two of them! On Sunday we took a walk down to our beach - snow covered beach, but David was so excited for Isaac to see the lake. Once we negotiated the hill, which was a bit icy, down to the beach, we had a nice time. I loved the two kids each having a fun turn on Daddy's shoulders! It will be so fun to be playing on the beach and swimming in the lake in the summer.
Friday, May 14, 2010
We have a new blog!
We first started blogging with the journey to our precious daughter Indigo. We (mostly) maintained her blog the past few years as we experienced the joy of having her in our lives. On February 1, 2010 we became the proud parents of a second child, our son Isaac, adopted from Jiangsu province, China. We followed our journey to Isaac and our travels in China and our first week home with him on his blog. However, now that we have two children we're switching to a single family blog where we can celebrate all our family life events and follow our two children as they grow. Please join us on this journey as a family as we navigate the sometimes treacherous but very joyous path of parenthood. We appreciate comments and they do keep us motivated to keep going. Here is the link to the new blog:
http://brookesweissfamily.blogspot.com/
http://brookesweissfamily.blogspot.com/
Friday, May 7, 2010
Receiving Visitors & Rough Nights
On Friday night, bedtime with Isaac was really rough. He was starting to cry as soon as we even appeared to be getting him ready for bed. In China, most nights, he might have a little protest cry for a minute or two and then would conk out - we almost kind of thought it was just a little bit of stress relief, it was so quick. Now, he was crying for a long time when we laid him down, and staying with him did not seem to help all that much. We kept going back in over and over and he would fall asleep, only to wake an hour later and then again. David spent Friday night on the single bed in his room as Indigo was ready to reclaim her own room. We toyed with the idea of bringing him into our bed, but historically that has not worked for our family. The times Indigo did come into our bed she would never sleep, and as a result, we never slept, which seemed contrary to the objective. Also, if Isaac did sleep that way, we were fearful of the precedent and what it might involve to get him out of our bed. Additionally, we would now have Indigo telling us it was not fair if he slept in our bed. To top it off, I am a terrible sleeper, struggling with falling asleep and then when I do, poor David claims that I sleep diagonally, and so the last thing he needs, is another being in the bed competing for his space. We figured that Isaac was waking and upset in his new surroundings and as long as we went to him and comforted him, he would soon be comfortable in his own room, and for the beginning, we could take turns on the single bed in that room. So, that first Friday night home was rough. On Saturday we tried to get things a bit more sorted out and cleaned up at the house and just spend time together as a family - bear in mind that the snow from the blizzard was still on the ground, so outdoor activity was limited.
Late Saturday afternoon, early evening, we had a visit from our friends and neighbors, Eugene & Julie, with their daughter Katie - they were very excited to meet Isaac. They stayed with us for a while and the three kids had fun playing together and munching on an apple snack. Our friend Patricia had asked if she could bring dinner and come over to visit and meet Isaac and so we had a lovely evening with her. The kids had fun playing games with her and we did some dancing etc. Also, Indigo and Isaac played together very well and were each taking a hand of the stuffed bear and running laps around the house with her - it was very sweet.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Settling into Life at Home in America, midnight door drilling and more...
I can't say that we were bright eyed and bushy tailed on our first day home (I think that was the day of Tuesday, after getting home around 2 in the morning). However, it was wonderful to have my mom here and my sister and baby Sage. Indigo loved playing with Sage and treating her like her little baby.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Last Day in China and Journey Home
Look at our beautiful babies sleeping peacefully - took this the last night we were in Shanghai.
Unbelievably our last day in China arrived. We had our final delicious buffet breakfast and then I scooched David with the kids out of the room so that I could do the final packing. The only part we would not miss of our trip - the constant packing each time we moved on. David took the children to a nearby park where they had a wonderful time.
You can see how much Indigo was trying to help Isaac on the playground equipment - being a very sweet big sister. It's hard when kids try to help - sometimes, it seems to actually make things more dangerous but you don't want to stifle that desire to help. They also did a little shopping and Indigo got a fan and Isaac got a train. They arrived back when I was mostly done and was racing to use up the last of my paid internet time to get the blog caught up. We met Jimmy in the lobby with all of our luggage. We made an impressive sight. We took Grandma to her terminal and had to say farewell - that was tough after a wonderful and special and magical trip together. We are scheduled to see her again in July for her 80th birthday! We went to our terminal and had plenty of time - the kiosk for our flight was not even open yet. Granddad and I chose some books at the bookstore. We kept counting our cash and seeing how much we had left so that we could use it up. We got checked in and no problems with any luggage. We had some lunch and then browsed around the airport gift shops - much more expensive but we made a few last gift purchases and waited for our flight.
Right before boarding, someone from the airline came up to me and asked if we were our family. I was thinking "what's the problem". However, she said that as a family of four she could move us up to a row of five where the fifth seat was not taken - awesome! We were previously far back in the plane and we were being moved forward. When we boarded it turns out that we had been put in Economy Plus! We were so excited. Those five or seven inches make so much difference. We told Granddad that he could move forward and sit in the fifth seat with us but as it turns out he found an empty aisle seat one row back from us so that was fantastic too. The flight from Shanghai left very late - as we waited on the run way we could just see the fog rolling in and it was obviously delaying flights arriving and taking off. We did finally leave but we were going to land very late in Chicago. The flight to Chicago was a hundred times better than I expected. All along I had thought how are we possibly going to manage two toddlers on a flight back from China. I was dreading it. The kids were amazing. They slept most of the time.
Also, because of the direction, the tail winds take almost two hours off the flight making it closer to 12 hours vs. 14. The kids were so good. Indigo chose to sleep on the floor most of the time, probably not highly recommended for sanitary or safety reasons but great for peace and quiet. Despite the children being great, David and I were not really able to sleep but just not also having to cope with the kids went a long way. You can see we took a lot of photos of our location as we traveled and crossing the international date line.
So, we arrived late in Chicago! We had to go through Immigration and take the additional step of going to the officer with the all important "brown packet envelope" that we had carried all the way from the US consulate in Guangzhou and Isaac became a US Citizen. We were not sure if we could make our connecting flight but we have it the best shot anybody could. We had Isaac in the stroller and Indigo standing on the back and we were running. We had to check our luggage back through after clearing customs and then catch the train to the terminal we needed. We then had to clear domestic security again. Thanks to Granddad we were able to get into the express line but were delayed as the security folks ran most of our bags again and made Granddad unpackage a whole bunch of things - things that had cleared security a bunch of times already. We then ran for our gate, but our flight was not only closed, but had already left. We later heard it had actually left early. We then had to get to a United counter to find out about getting on another flight. There was into the airport closer to our house that we could have made but they told us since we had checked our luggage through (even though there was no way it had made the flight) that we had to go to the same airport where our luggage was going. The only good news was that they were able to get us on a flight that same night and we did not have to spend the night in the Chicago airport. Granny had driven up that day with my sister Clare and my niece Sage and had planned to meet our earlier flight. Our friend Pam was also coming with a second car to fit all of us and our luggage. We called to say that we could just catch a cab but nobody was having any of that. You can see that David was exhausted as he lay on waiting chairs with Isaac on top of him.
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Shanghai Saga Continues (FINALLY)
Okay - it's really time to bring home the China trip so that we can report on home life! On Sunday February 22nd, we started our day by going to the Jewish ghetto area of Shanghai and visiting the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. The site comprises the former site of the Ohel Moshe Synagogue and two exhibition halls. Isaac was mostly interested in the construction vehicles on the building site across the way - as you can see from the photo.
For those interested, the history of Jews in Shanghai is interesting, and was not something that we previously knew anything about. There were essentially three different waves of Jews coming to Shanghai.
The first wave was around 1843 to 1920 and comprised of Sephardic Jews from Baghdad and Bombay. The most successful and well known, were the Sassoons and the Hardoons. They are known for many of the city's landmark buildings including Sassoon House, the Metropole Hotel, Grosvenor House, the Embankment building, Hamilton House and Cathay mansions. The Bund (rhymes with "fund" for pronunciation) means embankment. In the case of Shanghai, this is the mile long stretch of embanked riverfront - the western bank of the Huangpu River. The term "Bund" was brought to Shanghai by the family of Victor Sassoon. We saw a lot of the Bund on our river cruise but because of construction, the area was not really suitable for walking at the time we were there.
The second wave was around the 1920s-1937. Thousands of Russian Jews, fleeing pogroms and revolutions in Russia, first settled in Northeast China and then came to Shanghai, where the population peaked at around 4,500 in the 1930s.
The third wave was from 1938 - 1952. Shanghai was a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi terror. Some 20,000 Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria escaped to Shanghai. It was the only place in the world where no visa was required to enter. During 1939-1940, about 1,000 Polish Jews also escaped to Shanghai. From December 1941-1945, the Japanese interned the Shanghai Jews from the Allied countries of Germany, Austria and Poland and relocated them to the Jewish Ghetto in Hong Kou (Hong Kew). By the end of the war, Shanghai was home to 24,000 Jews. After the war and the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, the community dwindled as Jews emigrated to other countries.
Unfortunately, the museum buildings were freezing cold and so we did not spend as much time as we may have liked. As you can see, Granddad enjoyed some time in a sunny spot with his grandchildren. The photos are not the best quality but too sweet a moment not to include.
From this area we went to the French Concessions area and saw some very elegant Lilongs - the Shanghai answer to the Hutongs of Beijing. When you're in Shanghai, you hear a lot of talk about different "concessions". After China lost the first Opium War, the British established the first concession in Shanghai in 1842, by a forced treaty with the Qing Dynasty. The French concession area, where we visited, was established in 1849. Concessions were also established by the Americans and the Japanese. During the 1920s, the French Concession area was the premier residential area of Shanghai. The concessions were governed by the occupying country and were untouchable by Chinese Law. The concessions ended in 1943 and by 1949, most foreigners had left Shanghai.
Back to the Lilongs - the ones we saw examples of were very posh - not necessarily reflective of a typical Lilong neighborhood. The Lilongs have been in existence in Shanghai for over 140 years, from 1840s-1949. Lilong means "small lanes". The houses are very narrow and about 3 stories high, attached side by side, having one side lane at the front and a service lane in the back. The Lilongs are the most distinctive facet of Shanghai's architectural heritage - a fusion of Chinese courtyards (like those in the Hutongs of Beijing) and western row houses. They are in a dense, grid-like pattern with East-West and North-South lanes. Sadly, the land that the buildings are on is under intense commercial pressure due to the fast development of Shanghai. The examples we saw were very fancy and in a lovely shopping area with coffee shops etc. However, most residents of Lilongs are not well off and rents are subsidized by the communist party. In these situations, each unit may be housing three families per floor (creating very intimate conditions). Had we seen these Lilong, we likely would have seen laundry everywhere, some games of Mahjong going on etc. Neighbors spend much time outside and everyone knows everyone's business. It's sad that this way of life will be lost. A recent National Geographic magazine had a great story and photos on Shanghai, its development and preparations for the Expo and the direction the Lilongs are taking. As happens so often, I digress...
Anyway, from there we went to the "white house". The actual place has some historic value I suppose, but basically it was another government run place displaying crafts, carvings, jade, paper cuts etc. A place to buy stuff. There was some beautiful wood carving as you can see of the dragon being held in the dragon dance, but really, we would much rather have stayed longer in the French concession area. Granddad spent most of the time outside in the sun on the lawn and we joined him there while Grandma made some purchases (she was excited to be there :-). The photo of the squatty potty is from there (from the public toilet). Seems appropriate that Shanghai showed us the fanciest toilet and then also a regular old squatty potty such as we have used all over China.
After that, we headed back to the hotel, but stopped at the store so that Jimmy could take Grandma in to buy... a new suitcase! We needed the kids to have a rest before having to go back into the city to meet with people at our firm offices. It's so horrible when you have to wake your kids up just as they have fallen into a nice sleep. We were meeting on a Sunday at 4 p.m. at the office - and I had been asked to do some training! We got the kids up and took a taxi ot the office. Granddad stayed at the hotel, as he was still feeling under the weather. We put the children in a conference room with snacks and Grandma and David and I met the few people at our Shanghai office. Then David and Grandma entertained the children while I spent more than an hour with the IP folks. It was very useful so I felt good about it. The folks from the office had ordered a driver and so we all went together in a very posh vehicle to dinner. Dinner was at a fantastic Thai restaurant, back on the side of the river as our hotel. Dinner was delicious although some items "sworn" to not be spicy, were definitely too spicy for some. Given that we were at dinner for a while, and the kids were exhausted, they did super well. Isaac really liked Yan and Indigo took the photo of Yan that you see. It was a lovely evening. The driver took us back to our hotel and we staggered in for some rest. Then, the bizarre phone calls begin...
So, I think the night before, Saturday night, we're fast asleep in our room, and the phone rings - it's about midnight. I answer but I am really out of it. Someone is asking for David - a woman, and she sounds Chinese. I give the phone to him, but he is so out of it that he hangs up. Fast forward to Sunday night. I am still up and am on the computer catching up the blog. The kids and David are asleep after our busy day and night out. I don't remember what time, but after 11 at night, the phone rings, and it's this same crazy lady. She kept asking for David and even knew our last name - it was freaking me out. We're staying at the Crowne Plaza in Shanghai, China, and someone is calling our room and has our name. This woman said she wanted to practice her English. I am very irate (not me) and saying that it's late and I have sleeping children and how did she get our name etc. I hang up and she calls again. I hang up and call the front desk and ask if they can find out who has been put through - language barriers, not much success but I did ask that they block all calls to our room and not put anybody through. David thinks that perhaps it was someone from the wait staff at the restaurant where we had our buffet breakfasts - they would have our name, but I find it hard to believe someone there would risk their job harassing the visitors - mystery unsolved. This was our last night. I'll have a much shorter (promise) post next about our last day in Shanghai and the trip home.
Link to all photos for this day here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623952087712/
For those interested, the history of Jews in Shanghai is interesting, and was not something that we previously knew anything about. There were essentially three different waves of Jews coming to Shanghai.
The first wave was around 1843 to 1920 and comprised of Sephardic Jews from Baghdad and Bombay. The most successful and well known, were the Sassoons and the Hardoons. They are known for many of the city's landmark buildings including Sassoon House, the Metropole Hotel, Grosvenor House, the Embankment building, Hamilton House and Cathay mansions. The Bund (rhymes with "fund" for pronunciation) means embankment. In the case of Shanghai, this is the mile long stretch of embanked riverfront - the western bank of the Huangpu River. The term "Bund" was brought to Shanghai by the family of Victor Sassoon. We saw a lot of the Bund on our river cruise but because of construction, the area was not really suitable for walking at the time we were there.
The second wave was around the 1920s-1937. Thousands of Russian Jews, fleeing pogroms and revolutions in Russia, first settled in Northeast China and then came to Shanghai, where the population peaked at around 4,500 in the 1930s.
The third wave was from 1938 - 1952. Shanghai was a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi terror. Some 20,000 Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria escaped to Shanghai. It was the only place in the world where no visa was required to enter. During 1939-1940, about 1,000 Polish Jews also escaped to Shanghai. From December 1941-1945, the Japanese interned the Shanghai Jews from the Allied countries of Germany, Austria and Poland and relocated them to the Jewish Ghetto in Hong Kou (Hong Kew). By the end of the war, Shanghai was home to 24,000 Jews. After the war and the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, the community dwindled as Jews emigrated to other countries.
Unfortunately, the museum buildings were freezing cold and so we did not spend as much time as we may have liked. As you can see, Granddad enjoyed some time in a sunny spot with his grandchildren. The photos are not the best quality but too sweet a moment not to include.
From this area we went to the French Concessions area and saw some very elegant Lilongs - the Shanghai answer to the Hutongs of Beijing. When you're in Shanghai, you hear a lot of talk about different "concessions". After China lost the first Opium War, the British established the first concession in Shanghai in 1842, by a forced treaty with the Qing Dynasty. The French concession area, where we visited, was established in 1849. Concessions were also established by the Americans and the Japanese. During the 1920s, the French Concession area was the premier residential area of Shanghai. The concessions were governed by the occupying country and were untouchable by Chinese Law. The concessions ended in 1943 and by 1949, most foreigners had left Shanghai.
Back to the Lilongs - the ones we saw examples of were very posh - not necessarily reflective of a typical Lilong neighborhood. The Lilongs have been in existence in Shanghai for over 140 years, from 1840s-1949. Lilong means "small lanes". The houses are very narrow and about 3 stories high, attached side by side, having one side lane at the front and a service lane in the back. The Lilongs are the most distinctive facet of Shanghai's architectural heritage - a fusion of Chinese courtyards (like those in the Hutongs of Beijing) and western row houses. They are in a dense, grid-like pattern with East-West and North-South lanes. Sadly, the land that the buildings are on is under intense commercial pressure due to the fast development of Shanghai. The examples we saw were very fancy and in a lovely shopping area with coffee shops etc. However, most residents of Lilongs are not well off and rents are subsidized by the communist party. In these situations, each unit may be housing three families per floor (creating very intimate conditions). Had we seen these Lilong, we likely would have seen laundry everywhere, some games of Mahjong going on etc. Neighbors spend much time outside and everyone knows everyone's business. It's sad that this way of life will be lost. A recent National Geographic magazine had a great story and photos on Shanghai, its development and preparations for the Expo and the direction the Lilongs are taking. As happens so often, I digress...
Anyway, from there we went to the "white house". The actual place has some historic value I suppose, but basically it was another government run place displaying crafts, carvings, jade, paper cuts etc. A place to buy stuff. There was some beautiful wood carving as you can see of the dragon being held in the dragon dance, but really, we would much rather have stayed longer in the French concession area. Granddad spent most of the time outside in the sun on the lawn and we joined him there while Grandma made some purchases (she was excited to be there :-). The photo of the squatty potty is from there (from the public toilet). Seems appropriate that Shanghai showed us the fanciest toilet and then also a regular old squatty potty such as we have used all over China.
After that, we headed back to the hotel, but stopped at the store so that Jimmy could take Grandma in to buy... a new suitcase! We needed the kids to have a rest before having to go back into the city to meet with people at our firm offices. It's so horrible when you have to wake your kids up just as they have fallen into a nice sleep. We were meeting on a Sunday at 4 p.m. at the office - and I had been asked to do some training! We got the kids up and took a taxi ot the office. Granddad stayed at the hotel, as he was still feeling under the weather. We put the children in a conference room with snacks and Grandma and David and I met the few people at our Shanghai office. Then David and Grandma entertained the children while I spent more than an hour with the IP folks. It was very useful so I felt good about it. The folks from the office had ordered a driver and so we all went together in a very posh vehicle to dinner. Dinner was at a fantastic Thai restaurant, back on the side of the river as our hotel. Dinner was delicious although some items "sworn" to not be spicy, were definitely too spicy for some. Given that we were at dinner for a while, and the kids were exhausted, they did super well. Isaac really liked Yan and Indigo took the photo of Yan that you see. It was a lovely evening. The driver took us back to our hotel and we staggered in for some rest. Then, the bizarre phone calls begin...
So, I think the night before, Saturday night, we're fast asleep in our room, and the phone rings - it's about midnight. I answer but I am really out of it. Someone is asking for David - a woman, and she sounds Chinese. I give the phone to him, but he is so out of it that he hangs up. Fast forward to Sunday night. I am still up and am on the computer catching up the blog. The kids and David are asleep after our busy day and night out. I don't remember what time, but after 11 at night, the phone rings, and it's this same crazy lady. She kept asking for David and even knew our last name - it was freaking me out. We're staying at the Crowne Plaza in Shanghai, China, and someone is calling our room and has our name. This woman said she wanted to practice her English. I am very irate (not me) and saying that it's late and I have sleeping children and how did she get our name etc. I hang up and she calls again. I hang up and call the front desk and ask if they can find out who has been put through - language barriers, not much success but I did ask that they block all calls to our room and not put anybody through. David thinks that perhaps it was someone from the wait staff at the restaurant where we had our buffet breakfasts - they would have our name, but I find it hard to believe someone there would risk their job harassing the visitors - mystery unsolved. This was our last night. I'll have a much shorter (promise) post next about our last day in Shanghai and the trip home.
Link to all photos for this day here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623952087712/
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