First Solo Flight

The grandparents have all flown the coop and Kate returned to work today. So forget Amelia Earhart or Steve Fossett - the true test for a solo flight is whether you can get three kids to go down for simultaneous naps. And the fact that I'm blogging tells you that I'm basking in the glow of success right now. Not to mention that while the twins were at nursery school, I managed trips to the coffeeshop, grocery store, hardware store and photo development place (to develop the disposable cameras that we sent to the orphanage about a month before we travelled there). So, I'm feeling quite virtuous. It's all almost enough to overcome the sense of bewilderment I'm feeling at the Patriots collapse in last night's game (if Belichick can choke in the last 2 minutes of a football game, what other eternal truths can be called into question?).

Here are some of my mom's photos:
- Molly and grandpapa in their Chinese sweatshirts

- Zoë ready to eat

- opening cards and presents

- Molly and Zoë enjoying the panda puppet

- Zoë and her mama

- Scott and Julia's party for Zoë started at 10:30am - grandpapa teaches the twins a valuable lesson that it's never too early for that first beer

- Zoë watching Sarah at her first party

- sporting her new boots

- reading Peter Rabbit. No such thing as quiet reading time with these three

- Big smile

Places to Sit

We're starting to get into the flow of home life. Zoë might be the best baby of all time. She's happy and smiley and engaging and wonderful.
She also has a very simple troubleshooting guide:
- if crying, feed
- if crying half-way through a bottle, burp and then feed rest of bottle
- if still crying, then feed some more. End of guide.

The twins are really taking to her. They laugh at her antics, give her kisses and are very gentle with her. We took Zoë for a checkup and the twins were in the exam room with us. As soon as Zoë got place on the exam bed, Jacob began to howl and flail on the floor. He didn't want Zoë to suffer (he had his flu shot last week). I thought it was a pretty sweet way of being a protective big brother. No health concerns for Zoë. She has put on half a pound since she was weighed in Beijing a week ago.

Molly and Jacob are definitely not yet back to their old selves though. They're fragile, on edge and much more fractious than usual. I think we left the grandparents with much more of a handful than we had anticipated when we asked them to look after the twins while we were in China. But, hopefully as we settle into a routine and they begin to trust that we're not taking off again, then they'll get back to normal.

Here are some photos of Zoë in her new surroundings. Lots of new places to sit.

- Sitting in the leaves. Molly gives Zoë this look a lot - seems like a lot of joy in having a new sister. And it's definitely mutual. In addition to taking care of the twins while we were away, continuing to entertain them since we returned, picking up a nasty cold, preparing fantastic meals, etc., Kate's mom has also raked and bagged all these leaves

- Sitting in Nicholas's old chair. She really likes playing with the bears on her feet.

- Sitting in a bumbo

- Sitting in her high chair

- Sitting on the floor with her baba and a ball

- And sitting in the exer-saucer

Zoë Sitting Up in Beijing

Here's a video of Zoë sitting up for the first time (at least, for the first time with us). In the hotel room in Beijing. Note that it is "take 5" not because of any fault of Zoë, but rather because Kate repeatedly held the camera sideways and I didn't want any of our loyal followers to get cricks in their necks.


I think that's the end of our China videos. So, tomorrow I'll try to catch up on some back-in-Canada stuff.

Now For Something Less Serious

Jumping fish. Our guide, who lives in Nanchang, had never heard of fish jumping in this lake.

Fengxin Tour

- Here's a quick tour of the room where Zoë spent her first 8 months

Friends from Fengxin

I'll try to finish up the video summary of the China trip tonight. Surprise, surprise, I'm finding that I don't have all that much free time at home to catch up on the blogging.

Here's a video from Fengxin of Zoë sharing a bottle with her best buddies.

Video From Fengxin

Here is our arrival at Fengxin, showing the grounds and buildings of the complex.


- Zoë's nannies - you can see how much they enjoy her