Four Months and Growing...

At his four month check up J received four shots. We also found out that he is now just barely over 15 pounds and 25 inches long. I should have asked if my baby is a monkey because as you can see from the picture of him with his activity gym he has not only discovered his feet, but he thinks they should be used as additional hands. I wish I could use my feet like hands. I could really use an extra hand now and again. Taking care of Justin often requires both of mine!

Please to read for understanding of difficulty translation interpretation

Okay, I know that I need to post an update on Justin since he had his four month check up and I will, but I had to post this...

Rob's flight from Chicago to Beijing was delayed FOUR hours. He and Chicago are not a lucky combination. I recommend that you not travel through Chicago if you are with Rob (or be with Rob if you are going to travel through Chicago) because it will not go smoothly. Anyway, that messes up the Beijing to Shenyang segment of the trip and the arrival to Shenyang and airport pick up. I have a plan for him, so I could page him at the airport, right? The airport has a website, I will look up the number, call it, and see if he comes to the courtesy phone. I assume they have those in China...

So I go to the website and they do have an English version. Good. Most US airports probably don't have a Chinese version so I should be happy. Though with the Olympics coming to Beijing next year it makes sense to have an English version. In fact, the city is trying to make a good impression and clean up the "Chinglish" that is everywhere. So many things that are supposedly in English make no sense. It has got to be a tough task to fix the nonsensical English phrases in a city of 14 million. I doubt it is going to get done. I would start with places like say, the airport! Here is a link to a page of the Beijing Airport website. I love their seven tips.
http://www.bcia.com.cn/en/adveert_left_page.html

Lights, Camera, ACTION! And the little one finally rolled over!

Justin has been able to roll from his stomach to his back for about a month now. (I would have to look it up to know exactly when and I am too lazy for that!) I have never been able to capture it on video. Either I don't think of it in time, the camera batteries aren't charged, or Justin is uncooperative. Well, after yet another UNSUCCESSFUL try (several actually) I was able to catch him. Here at noodlesandrob.blogspot.com you get both the unsuccessful and successful camera attempts.

Never to early to read

More pictures on the way!

Wednesday my mom leaves after spending a month here with me and baby J. We are going to miss her. Not only has she been a ton of help, but it has been fun to show her "my" China and spend time with her. Luckily Rob will get back on Friday so I have something to look forward to. How lucky am I to have had my mom with me (or me with her) for six months! Two before the baby was born and four after (three of those four in the US). What a great experience. I suppose I can't complain now that she is leaving. Not many people get that much help with a new baby.

The day after she leaves I take Justin in for his four month check up and more shots. Ouch! The shots are harder on me than him. At least he will get his yummy cherry flavored Tylenol drops. He loves those! Anyway, once he has his check up I will post new pictures and details of weight, length, and all that good stuff. I know you are holding your breath!

Bathing Beauty

Here are some shots of my sweetie in the tub. He loves bathing with Mommy more than baths in the little baby tub. Who can blame him? In the big tub he can really get his legs kicking and evidently that's hilarious! We also add bubbles (Johnson's Baby Bath Bubbles) which is fun for us and for the rubber duckies. And the water is much deeper in the big tub! He loves to "talk" to the bubbles and the ducks and splashes up a storm. I allowed my mom to take some strategically careful pictures, but I am afraid video is out of the question. Perhaps when J is big enough that he can sit in the tub alone.

Shenyang's Forbidden City

Today I took my mom to Shenyang's Forbidden City.

No, it is not as big or as famous as the Forbidden City in Beijing, but Shenyang does indeed have one.

The Shenyang Forbidden City is the only palace complex in China outside of Beijing. It is not as big, but not as crowded either. :) Who needs much more than its 300+ rooms?

Started in 1625 and finished in 1636 by emperors of the Qing dynasty, the complex is more than 60,000 square meters.

My mom took some pictures of some of the things she found most interesting and I included some of those here. You may ask what it is that has this small group of people so interested. There isn't much visible in the shot. What could they possibly be looking at? The answer is my baby! Justin was one of the big attractions. If I sat down, people would crowd around and ask all kinds of questions about him. Of course I would have to endure them talking about how my baby was not properly dressed. Sure he was wearing a diaper, onesie, long sleeve shirt, shoes, socks, and sweatshirt with hood, but surely he must be cold since it was only 65 degrees. Good grief! Most of the time he was in the baby bjorn carrier right up against me. He and I were both sweaty when we got home! Justin gets stared at wherever we go. He is our own little movie star. I realize I put short video clips of him on my blog, but they are intended for family and friends who might have some interest in Justin. Why people want to take pictures and video footage of my baby who is just some random white baby to them is beyond me. Yes, I think he is cute, but I am biased!

HAPPY EASTER!

Here is my sweetie on his first Easter.. We tried to do the Easter bunny ears as a tribute to my sister Meredith and to the late Tigris . (Meredith put bunny ears on Tigris the cat one year, much to the dismay of the cat!) I don't know that Justin liked the ears any more than the cat did. I didn't have to worry about him running away or biting me though.

He was then clothed for some pictures with some Easter stuffed animals. Sure I got them at Kohls a long time before he was even born, but they still have the tags on so they are new to him, right? He had more fun with them than he did with the bunny ears.

I also decided to make my baby into an Easter egg. Okay, a baby with a ribbon wrapped around him. At least I didn't let him strangle himself. That might have been more fun for him.

Next year I won't get to have as much fun. He will be able to protest more!

Big Fire in Little China

Can you believe that I am writing a post that is not about my sweet baby? Today there is a large fire a block south of where we live. About 9:00 AM they closed the street. Now it is after 4:00 PM and it is still closed! I have never seen so many fire trucks and other emergency vehicles in my life! I tried to find out more about the fire, and was told "big fire" by one of the hotel employees. Yeah, I figured that one out on my own with the fire trucks and the smoke. Maybe I will find out more later, though since I don't speak or read Chinese I might not. I wasn't the only person checking out the fire. Check out part of the crowd.