Time flies as it crawls along

It's strange - seems like we've been back in the US forever, but also like we just arrived. Probably because each day is like the previous, play with baby, look for job, buy groceries, look for job, sleep.

Nothing very new on the job front, except a couple of interviews. I should know in a week and a half if I have a job in NJ and, if not, I'll be busting to get the job in the Philippines. If both fall through, it'll be keep pushing for new interviews. Heck, I'm doing that anyway. Just not that many openings out there :p

The Mouse is getting more fun every day, though the whining is taxing our very souls! She still doesn't nap or sleep very well, which can make GP very tired. We've only 6 more weeks to tough it out and then we'll start the molding process. Bwahahaha! Nap schedules, bottle drinking, introduction to food.

Mouse photo update

The mouse is 3 months and 1 week old now (every week counts when you are that age) and is maturing a little every day. Her neck control is good, she's grabbing things intentionally (we think) and she's definitely getting bigger and heavier. The six month clothes fit just right. We have a bag of small clothes - some unworn - to donate one of these days. Since she doesn't care what she looks like, we use a 5 or 6 outfit rotation of the outfits which are easiest to put on.

The lucky girl got her own bed finally. Lucky for us, too, as we can now relax more in *our* new bed. She still sleeps funny (see below), sometimes with one, sometimes with both arms over her head. She hates to have them wrapped and she seems to sleep ok unswaddled, so we've stopped wrapping her up.

She's just big enough to do "horsie rides" on the knee and she likes her floor play area, though she isn't thrilled about belly time.

New Mouse photos

I don't think I posted these before and some are very new (today) so I KNOW I didn't post them before.

Today we went for a drive north of Philly along the river, through the rain. In the morning we visited Santa Claus where we took the first every Mouse and Santa photo. Now I can concentrate on teaching GP that the man is named "Santa Claus" not "Santa Clara".

Last day in Suzhou with Guo Qing Qing.


The Gao family: GP, baba Gao with Mouse, younger brother


our Mouse on the airplane to the US



Mouse meets Denise


Mouse in her new coat from Target. 6month coat fits just right.


Two babes in Horsham, PA.


The Mouse takes a bath.


Mouse meets Santa for the first time.

Mouse's checkup

The Mouse went in for her two-month checkup today. The new office was suggested by our good friends and their opinion means a lot to us, so we went. The place and people were very nice and we were in and out pretty quickly.

The Mouse is, of course, very healthy and happy. She weighed in at 12lbs 9oz and about 23 inches long which puts here in the 97th and 75th percentiles. Doctor said everything looks good (which we already knew - look who her parents are!).

The low point was the vaccinations - 4 injections and 1 oral. She was a trooper, though, and only cried for a few minutes. I attribute it to the massive thighs which absorb injections with little problem.

******

Still waiting to hear about jobs, though I did have a "part B" type interview Saturday afternoon. The Silicon Valley job has a different opening, more managerial, so the hiring manager had new questions. I guess nothing will happen with this or any other jobs until after the new year, so I'll just try to relax until then.

******

We had a fun weekend, I hit the storage garage and dug a few things out on Saturday. GP got to see my baby pictures and decided that the Mouse *really* looks like me when I was a baby. Sunday we visited Erin and Trevor and their 2.9 kids. Number Three should arrive Wednesday. Number One and Number Two are terribly adorable and we would have whisked them away for a week or two if we had any extra space.

Sunday afternoon we visited Uncle Horst and had a good time snacking and catching up with him. We decided he can teach the Mouse German so she will be trilingual. Can't hurt in the future.

******

We considered an overnight trip to DC this week, but scrapped it due to very cold temps. It's unusual for GP to be in sub-freezing temps, but she said it's actually easier than where she's from in China. At least here, houses and business are heated well. We saw school kids going in this morning and GP was surprised they only had coats, hats and gloves. When I told her they took coats off inside the school, she said in China, they mostly wear coats all day because the schools are heated much. Wow, makes me glad I grew up in the US.

That mouse of ours (no photos)

Ok, I don't have any new photos to share, though I did take a new one with my phone so to change my background image. She's changed a lot on 5 weeks.

I've got a couple of minor topics, minor in that they ain't too important, but I'm awake and bored at 5am (as per usual), so you get to hear about them.

More cultural difference about children / food. We've found that swaddling the Mouse helps her sleep. This is well known to help most babies and we're glad it works. The cultural difference is, when I wrap her, I refer to her as a little burrito. When GP wraps her, she says Mouse looks like a zong zi. Maybe she's more of a tamale.

The Mouse was fussy yesterday as GP cooked lunch, so I played with her and decided she'd like some music. We don't have any central stereo in the house, so I used my mobile phone. Turns out she likes Vampire Weekend and she was happy to sing and smile.

Sometimes, especially when she is tired, she'll make eye contact with me and I'll get a feeling that she is more than she appears. Perhaps she is Bene Gesserit, born all-knowing like Alia Atreides. If she has the Voice, the terrible twos will be extra awful.

It looks like the trip is set for Nov 28th. Just waiting for management to approve the flights and housing. I guess they are pretty busy laying off a couple of hundred people.

A bunch of photos - Mouse at 1 month

These photos were taken around the house, out for Mouse's one-month celebration and on our trip to Shanghai for the one-month checkup.

Red knit outfit courtesy of family in Nanjing, pink/pink outfit from Baby Gap, Chinese oversuit from eBaby, and brown/yellow knit sweater made by GP.

Hating the internet

It's stressful enough working on your resume, searching Monster for jobs, etc., but especially aggravating when the DAMNED internet connection of five kinds of flaky!! I need an emoticon here for me throwing the window open and cursing to the gods.

So, now you know what I'm doing, job searching and updating everything on Monster. I hope I don't get to start over AGAIN because the connection needs to "refresh" itself every 10-60 minutes.

Today went surprisingly well. We took the Mouse to Shanghai for her one month checkup and decided to try it by taxi-train-subway-taxi instead of rental car. I have to say, even given the packed train (standing room only) and subway stations (rush hour in a city of 20 million), it was still less stressful than sitting in the car. Mouse slept almost all day and the doctor pronounced her healthy and growing well :) She's at 4.6 kg now (1400 pounds - wait, I did something wrong, 10lbs 2oz) and about 21 inches.

I think one of the major points today that led to success was the Baby Bjorn that I bought in the US. It made carrying the baby very easy and, more importantly, getting on/off trains, in/out of taxis, etc. was MUCH easier than having to use both arms. She seems comfortable and sleeps well in it. I hope this bodes well for success in our US move in 3 weeks.

By the way, it's hard to sneak around the house in "don't startle the sleeping baby" mode when you have Rice Krispies ankles.

A visit from Grandma

GP's mom is visiting for a week or two to cook all the traditional Chinese "just had a baby" foods and help with the baby. Gives me time to blog, though I am mostly cooking my own food ;) She's a great lady and we get along well; she speaks no English and I can't understand her Chinese, so we remain on good terms.

As soon as she cleared the door, I took her bag and she ran to hold the baby. Who can blame her.

UPDATE: I don't know why, but I can't get the photos uploaded to the server. I will keep trying.

UPDATE 2: It worked when I went through the US VPN. Ah, Chinese internet. I took the opportunity to add a photo of the Mouse with Aunt Tracy, too.

Fancy schmancy

GP had told me that the hospital we went to, United Family Hospital, Shanghai was a popular one with singers, TV stars, etc. I could understand as it is ostensibly the nicest place in Shanghai to have a baby.

Today, GP was reading the local news and saw a photo of a Shanghai TV star at the hospital. She'd had her baby there on the 14th. What a coincidence, so close to stardom. When I asked the woman's name, GP told me "Ji Xue Ping" and I realized that she was in the birthing room right next to us for two or three days. I always saw the name on the door, but never realized she was famous.

Our baby is more beautiful than hers, though ;)

Carried away

Anything new in my life becomes a supply for many and often postings about that thing. Now you must suffer through baby photos.

The birth announcement in the hospital lobby (the webpage announcement will be up next week).


I knew daughters take maintenance, but I never thought she'd get into fake tanning before owning a cell phone.


That's all until I'm witty again tomorrow ;)

More of the Mouse

A funny story before the photos. On the way to the hospital, GP asked about things that might happen during a C-section.

GP: "So, they will give me an ID?" (pointing at wrist)
M: "It's IV and, yes, they will give you an IV"
GP: "VD?" (she says still misunderstanding the letters)
M: "I *hope* they don't give you VD"

Black and white looks better given the poor lighting and Mouse's slight jaundice (we're starting some light therapy today). The second photo should pop into a bigger version in a separate window.

Mouse, Day 3

Luckily for us, our baby has a beautiful cry. Also luckily, we are starting to figure out how to keep her from practicing so much.

Here are more photos and there are some at Picasaweb (see the link in the title bar). Video will have to wait until I get back to my transfer cables in Suzhou (and learn how to transfer, edit & post videos :p ).

Houston, we have a Mouse

name: Mouse aka Xiao Lao Shu aka Xiao Mei Nv
DOB: 2008 Oct 7
time: 12:26 local
wt: 3.55kg (7lb 13oz)
length: 52cm (20.5in)
looks: OMG so pretty

Update! - work, baby, weather

It's hard to get excited about my first day without a job. My last working day was Sunday because we had 7 days on / 7 days off due to the national China holiday (China is now 59 years old). So, my first day with no job comes right in the middle of a break. I guess next Monday when I have to take the train to Shanghai instead of my company car, I'll really understand the change.

Speaking of Shanghai trips, we checked the Mouse today. She looks good, pretty big (3.3 kg or so, about 7lbs 4ozs), but GP's not ready to have her yet. We'll, GP's ready, but her body isn't. The midwife said 1st babies are usually late, so relax for another week and we'll check again. Ok by me - I'm not in a hurry for that much excitement.

The weather has been cooler, a few sprinkles today and some big winds due to a typhoon nearby somewhere. Since we also have to start paying for our own utilities, I'm glad to have the AC off.

Now if my allergies would stop being so annoying.

Good news and shopping (also good news)

First, let me act as tourist advisor and say this: there's no reason to go to Guangzhou. Just stay away, especially when the weather is 95/95 (Actually it was closer to 100F and I don't know what the humidity was.) Also, they talk funny there (lots of Cantonese - this area was originally called "Canton" if that gives you a hint).

On the good side, the China Hotel by Marriott was very nice and not too expensive. We should have stayed closer to the Tian He area as we went there at least once everyday. Only $5 by taxi, but still would have been more convenient and enjoyable. We had some good food (middle Eastern was great and the Westin buffet was excellent. China Hotel buffet was AWFUL!) and some good shopping. Many baby things we hadn't seen in Suzhou or Shanghai, though we still didn't find the diapers I had read about. Also still didn't find deodorant >:^\

On the very good side, GP was granted an immigrant visa which we must use by January 23 or so. We still need lots of details about after we get to the US, but I'm confident they will appear when we need them. Thanks to everyone for your good wishes!

Some photos from the 3 days of hot:
GP in the China Hotel lobby

Garden of the 5 Rams (some history of Guangzhou thing)


There were a few signs that said "don't stride" instead of "don't walk". It's not something personal against Aragorn :)









These group of oldsters (probably grandparents in China) were playing a hacky-sack game. And they were *good*






Across from our hotel was a Lamborghini dealer. wow.

We ate at 1001 Nights, an Arabian restaurant. So tasty! The bellydancing was mediocre, though.






At one of the big shopping malls.

And, of course, we bought baby things. But this is the last batch. We couldn't resist the wrist-and-socks rattles.

Family update

Originally I titled this "Baby Update" but then I realized it's a whole family update, not just about the Mouse.

I went to Shanghai last Monday after work for Tuesday-Friday training classes on Lean Product Development and Rapid Product Development. The training was great, though fast since only 2 days each, and it was exactly what my company should have given me long before I came to China. Stupid company :p I quickly found it's not just my company (I never thought it was), but some of the other managers, engineers, etc. I met were more organized than us. Not too hard to be.

I made some good contacts and perhaps something will come out of the networking in the future. I know the actual learning has inspired me to learn more on my own and use these things in my future work.

GP went to Shanghai Friday morning and got her immigration physical report. Everything is super #1 A-OK with her as we expected so we are ready for the interview next Thursday in Guangzhou. I think the hardest part of the trip will be the flights :) I hope that is the hardest part.

Saturday morning we had a baby check where the doctor said the mouse is doing very well. We will go every two weeks for awhile and then probably every week for the last month. I'm glad I still have a company car through September.

After the baby check, we did some shopping and finally started to buy some baby things. The stroller we bought earlier (maybe I already posted a pic) from an Australian couple. We restrained ourselves in the way of clothes since she can't wear too many in the first 3 months, right? Also bought some colder weather stuff for Nov and Dec in a little bigger size. My favorite is the big winter suit in Chinese motif. I think this will look great when we visit the family for Christmas :)







Most of the stuff is eBaby and seems to be from Shanghai. It has the US and EU quality tags and appears to be good quality, so we are pretty happy. Some of the other Chinese stuff we found was poor quality - onesies like cheesecloth :p

Baby Check

Saturday was month 6 baby check for the little mouse. GP drank a cup of sugar water an hour before the appointment for her diabetes check (results were ok as we expected). We went through the regular doctor check - weight, blood pressure, etc. - and doctor said "that's it". Uh, what?! There was supposed to be one last ultrasound, that's why we made the afternoon appointment, remember? For the special ultrasound doctor?

Month 5 had shown a cyst on the baby's head and this check showed every was cleared up, so no worries there. We also confirmed that the little mouse is a girl (month 5 she had her feet together), so we are back to concentrating on girl names. The Chinese name was easy (she'll have separate names) and we think we found a good English name which ties indirectly to the Chinese one.

GP is feeling and looking great (I need to post a photo, or better yet, a waddling video). She celebrated the doctor visit by eating spicy crawdads on the way home in the car.

*****

For everyone who says "why can't GP just move to the US? You are married!" I give you this article. Some people will do anything to move to the US and/or make money.