A Day at the Park

This morning Mommy and Maya went for a walk down to the park and went to the playground. This was Maya'a first time on a swing and as the picture shows, she thoroughly enjoyed her time. Although a little jealous, Jessie loves the walks and today surprised Tanya by walking right up to Maya and lying down beside her. This was a totally unplanned picture but quite nice. So far the two are getting along quite well.

Happy Birthday Nanny

Here is a picture on Mommy and Maya at Boomerangs. All of Tanya's family got together to have a belated birthday celebration for Eleanor (Nanny) Munden. Maya was more than happy to meet and greet everyone and did not fuss at all.

Photo Shoot

This Thursday we had Maya for her first photo shoot. It went quite well but we had to tickle her to get her to smile. The end results were well worth it. The days of staying up late and sleeping in are now over and Jessie and Maya are getting along well (with a little jealousy by Jessie). Maya now will try and climb over jessie is she is in the way. She is now crawling like crazy. You turn your head and she is gone. She is also standing up and it will probably be only a manner of time where she will be fully mobile.

At first we thought Maya was a little shy but she is turning out to be a social butterfly. It takes her a little while to scope the surroundings but after she has done that, she is good to go and meet and greet everyone.

Week 1

Well the first week is over and things seemed to have got into a routine. I did not know how bad you could get jet lag but all three of us experienced it for the first 3 days. We would all be wide awake between 2am and 3am. After a while we were all running on fumes and a little irritable. On the fifth day mommy and Maya slept better and it took me an extra day. Now we are all on a regular sleep schedule.

Maya has been trying different types of food and so far she likes carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, peas and yougurt. Each day she seems to become more active and vocal and her and the dog seem to be ignoring each other but can be side by side wothout any issues. So far Jessie has been great. A little jealous after first but now she is back to her old ways. It should not be than long before Jessie will, be reaping the rewards of food on the floor. We took Maya to the Doctor and things are very good. Other than a stubborn cold for which the doctor has given us something for her (she fights taking it to Mommy's chagrin) she ot fit as a fiddle.

She seems to be a social person. It is when she is by herself that she is the most discontent. When she is with others, she is the happiest. In sawing that, it takes her a while to warm up to new people. She needs to check you out for a while and when you cheack out, you are allowed in her presence (all hail princess Maya).

We will try and remember to update the site from time to time and add pictures. Thanks to all for your wonderful comments. It was incredible that you could experince this journey with us.

Maya is Home

We finally made it home. The trip home was absoutely horrible. We got to the airport in Beijing and our plane was delayed by over 5 hours. When we did finally get on the plane, they delayed us another hour prior to take off. After a 12+ hour flight we found out that some of out group got bumped off the flight and would have to overnight on Toronto. After some fighting, we got the majority on the flight and a few chose to stay behind. When we were ready to come home, that flight was delayed by over an hour so it was after 2am before our plane landed. We still had a welcoming crew of Nanny and Poopy, Auny Melissa and some of Tanya's school mates. For the time of night, it was very speacial and appreciated.

It is approximately 5 am as I write this and we are tryinto get Maya to Bed. For the 30 hours we sent travelling today, she did incredible. The next couple of days will be trying to get back on N.S. time and get Maya adjusted to here new home

Next Stop Canada

This is our last day in China before we go home and we went for a tour of Bei Hai Park. It was a beautiful day here today and the park was lovely. We were surprised that it was not one of the stops that was arranged for us, but I guess there is just so much to see and do here that they pick the most popular places.

Maya had a good day, although she was a little fussier today than usual, I think she is getting us tired if dragging her all over China. It will be so good to get home and have a routine again. I finally understand why parents are always so concerned with the child’s ‘schedule’, they really do get cranky.

I am feeling a little nostalgic tonight. It has been a really wonderful experience here, a little stressful at times, but an absolutely amazing journey. We came all the way to the other side of the world to become parents and meet Maya, and there are no words for how it feels, not to mention what it was like to be here and experience this country and its culture. It has been the most extraordinary experience of my life. You just never know where life may take you. We came to China, just Paul and I, and now we are leaving a complete, forever family, the family I have always dreamed of and I can’t wait to introduce our beautiful daughter to all of you at home. Love, Tanya, Paul and Maya XOXO.

Hu Tong, Silk Market & Group Dinner

This morning we went to the Hu Tong region for a rickshaw ride and it was amazing. This is part of the old city where there in nothing more than narrow streets and alleyways where people live. The price per square foot to buy in this area is $400 USD. The newer generation prefers to live in large high rises but the older generation like to live here, so it is mostly comprised of retirees. Houses basically consist of a small living room, a bed room small storage area, a kitchen and an out door area where they are usually trying to grow something (i.e. grapes, persimmons, etc). The only downfall about this area is that there are shared bathrooms between 25-35 people.

On the tour we got to visit a day care which was amazing. Children from the age of 2 1/2 to 6 can go here for 500 Yuan ($70 Cdn) per month, which includes 3 meals. The facilities were very nice and we actually went into the classes to meet the children. The boys far out number the girls but when we went into one room two little girls came over to meet Maya so I bent down and then two more came over. There was a set of twins in the group and on came over and started to squeeze Maya’s cheeks and the others started laughing. After that, each girl took turns and squeezed her cheeks. Everyone laughed and enjoyed the experience.

We then went into an individual’s house and had a quick visit. Like I mentioned above, they are quite small but their outdoor area was beautiful. The couple’s houses that we were in were 66 and 67 yrs old respectively. They has pet turtles, dogs and birds. Although we did not hear it, the birds have the ability to speak Chinese and English. During our travels, we drove around this lake which was quite beautiful and after 2 hours of traveling, we were returned to the bus. It was a very worthwhile and enjoyable morning.

When we got back to the hotel, we geared up and went back to the Silk Market. I went back to get my suit, which turned out very nice and we did some more shopping. With the prices so cheap, it is hard not to shop. You go there with saying that you won’t, but when you are only paying $5 for a t-shirt, it is hard not to. Oh well, we will probably coming home with more than what we left with.

Maya has turned out to be an incredible traveler on our journeys (so far, knock on wood) but she fights going to sleep. It is quite the routine that she puts on; first she starts scratching her head, then she rubs her head into your chest and then she will start moving her legs and talking and tries to sit up. She can do this for 10 minutes or 1 hours depending upon how tired or over tired she is. When she falls asleep, she is awesome; We usually have to wake her up.

We had a group dinner at the Dumpling restaurant tonight which was nice. Due to the different schedules of the babies, the group at times seems to be ships passing in the night. Usually 2-3 baby’s will be napping or fussing or whatever, so there may be days where you may not see a particular family. The meal was great but there was total KAOS with all those babies in the same room. I guess that was good prep for the plane ride home. It is amazing how in such a short time your immunity to a baby’s cry goes from feeling like a chalk board to something more like an idle babble.