A Morning at the Beach

Well, spring has landed here in sunny Tassie, and I decided to bundle up all three kids and head to the beach and playground today. We parked a half hour walk away, ambled around to the park, then spent an hour or so on the beach. Alice had a ball, as did her ge ge and jie jie. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy!

Twelve Months Ago .......

I can hardly believe that it has been a WHOLE YEAR since we received the phone call that changed our lives. At about 9.20am on September 4th 2007, I was up a ladder, painting a window frame at the kids' school when my mobile rang. It was my batch buddy, Leah, and she was sobbing something about a baby. Once she calmed a bit I managed to work out that she had been called by her SW to let her know that she had been referred a beautiful baby girl from Jiangxi province. I promptly screamed and told her to hang up as MY social worker might be trying to call. The next ten minutes seemed like an eternity, until my mobile rang again. It was the SW, and she had good news. I don't remember too much of that conversation, aside from the fact that she wasn't going to tell me ANYTHING until I saw her face to face that afternoon!! I soon convinced her to open the envelope and give me some details about our new little daughter. The SW told me her name, date of birth and province, and said she was VERY cute!! I cried. That afternoon, all four of us headed off to Burnie (about a 40 minute drive) to 'meet' our new little family member. I distinctly remember looking at the first of three photos, and thinking 'Oh, she's a bit funny looking'!!! By the second photo I thought that she was OK, and by the time I saw her passport photo, I was in love. My sweet little girl, looking so lost and pensive. I was just dying to hold her and kiss her and tell her that everything would be OK. I had to wait another 6 weeks for that, but the day I saw her sweet face for the first time will always be a special memory for me. Enjoy the comparison shots!

My First Head Injury

Sounds like a catchy new toy, huh?? Not so I'm afraid. Alice and I were having a lovely time yesterday at an indoor play centre, catching up with her little mates Olivia and Allysa, who were adopted from Jiangxi at the same time. The girls were having an absolute blast, when, just before it was time to leave, Alice made the fatal mistake of hooning past a table whilst pushing a trolley laden with fake fruit. She collected the corner of the table with her head and it was MESSY!!! So much blood from such a small hole. She was utterly hysterical and inconsolable, as was I. She probably should have had a stitch or two, but the distress she was in from me trying to apply an ice pack would have increased about a million times if I had taken her to the ER for stitches. So, she is sporting a lovely oozing wound on her temple, and lots of good memories from a day of playing with 'Ibby' and "Issa'. Just as well kids are resilient!

Getting up to Mischief

I was in the kitchen making up the pre-nap 'bot bot' and Alice was quiet, which should have alerted me to trouble brewing. Here's where I found her, looking very proud of herself!! Perhaps she is trying to be like her Mum and spend far too much time on the computer???

My Three Girls

Aren't they cute???

More on the Olympics

Today at Church I was approached by one of the elders, asking if I would like to buy a pin to support the boycott of the Beijing Games. I of course was more than willing to do this, and she also gave me some information about China and it's recent human rights abuses. VERY scary stuff:

-6000 families were displaced by the preparation for the games. Many were not given alternative housing.
-China executes more people than any other nation.
-50 000 people are employed in China to monitor and censor the Internet.
More information about these human rights abuses can be found here

I know that the athletes who attend these games are superbly fit people, the top of their respective sports and to be admired. And I DO admire them. My issue is with China the country - it's government and it's leaders. If they want to be considered to be a power in the first world, they need to start acting like one and to stop the oppression and subjugation of their people. Okay, I will hop off my soapbox now :) BTW Louanne - I COMPLETELY respect your opinion. After all, if we all thought the same, the world would be a very boring place!!!

The Elephant in The Corner (alternative title-'Why I can't get excited about the Olympics')

Olympic fever is well and truly upon us. Here in Oz, the adoption support email groups have been going crazy with people being excited about Beijing, and the pomp and ceremony of the 2008 games. I'm afraid I am most definitely NOT sharing in the excitement. To me the Games represents the worst of China - the desire to be bigger, better and more impressive than any other country, regardless of the cost. And the cost has been massive, not just with respect to the billions of yuan spent on the over bloated corpse that is the Olympic Games, but the human cost. The countless hundreds of migrant workers who have lost their lives on shoddy building sites, preparing for the Games. The millions of poor rural battlers in China who have to watch their country spend hand over fist on a 17 day event, rather than investing in the livelihoods of their own people. When we were in China last year we saw this poverty up close, and it saddened me deeply. The pollution, the sub-standard working conditions of many millions, the countless people eking out an existence, day to day, and barley surviving. How can China possibly justify spending such obscene amounts of money on a sporting event whilst many of it's citizens starve???? Other reasons for my ambivalence include China's poor human rights record and it's unwillingness to acknowledge these abuses, the Tibet situation and the Chinese attitude towards Taiwan. So, for these reasons I will not be watching any of the Games. Don't get me wrong - I love China and the fact that it has given me the blessing of my daughter, but it's desire to always save face, and to be seen as a world power at the expense of it's own citizens deeply grieves me.

Losing the Plot

This is our couch:


















Not particularly scary looking, you would have to agree, although rather grubby in places due to small Chinese baby fingers covered in food. So today I decided that said couch needed a bit of a clean, so set about taking the cushions off to sponge the dirty spots. BIG MISTAKE. Alice completely drooped her bundle. She went into utter hysterics as soon as the cushions came off the couch, and clung to me as if she were drowning. The screaming lasted for well over 20 minutes, and nothing I did could console her. I put all the cushions back, thinking that this would help, but nada - the hysterics continued unabated. She was in the grips of sheer terror, and I felt completely helpless at not being able to calm her. Eventually I took her for a nappy change and although she screamed her way through the change, she calmed down once she was dressed and settled down happily for a bottle before her nap. It makes me sad to think that she obviously has had some kind of trauma in her past that has triggered such a powerful, emotional reaction. Why the couch, I will probably never know. Mind you, this is the same couch that she thoroughly enjoys clambering over and jumping off day after day. For some reason, the cushions coming off was the reason for the meltdown and I am at a loss to explain why. Oh well, I have learned an important lesson today - couch cleaning MUST be done when Miss A is asleep.....

My Poor Little Man

DS had a BIG accident yesterday which really shook him up. He was hooning around on his go-cart, doing laps of our neighbour's house, when he went round a corner too fast and smashed into the glass sliding door. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, but the door came off second best, with broken glass flying everywhere. I am SO thankful that he is OK, but a bit mortified about the poor neighbour having to replace his door!! Luckily he is a very nice person, who loves DS as his own (the feeling is pretty mutual!!) and was very relaxed about it all. The insurance company has agreed to cover it, so we are $100 out of pocket for the excess, but I am just so grateful that there was no trip to the ER required. It really shook him up, poor little man, and he sobbed in my arms for quite some time. I think he was not only in shock (apparently his crash was VERY loud!)but also worried that his mate Tony would be cross with him. Lucky for DS, Tony is very forgiving and still wants to be mates!!!

Ten Things I Love About Alice

1. When I leave the room and then return, she squeals with excitement, as if I had been gone for hours.
2. The way that she comes to me and asks for 'ca' (cuddles).
3. That she loves her big sister and big brother so very much.
4. The way that she shrugs her shoulders up and down really quickly when I catch her doing something she isn't meant to.
5. Her incredibly cheeky and bubbly personality.
6. The way she covers her face with her 'ba' (blankie) when she sleeps, gently stroking it on her cheek.
7. Her incredibly inquisitive nature and curious mind.
8. The way she says ''love ya' when I tell her how much I love her.
9. Her strength, resilience and bravery.
10. Her gorgeous smile!

Oh, just in case you were wondering, Alice doesn't spend all her life in the high chair. It's just the easiest place to take photos of her as she won't stay still otherwise!!