The Beijing Shegs: April 2013

Today is Will's first birthday! Just before I started writing this post, Joel and I were browsing through some photos from our very first days in China and I can't believe how much little Will has grown since we've been here!

This is the very first picture we took in China! We were SO tired after our long trip. But Will still looked happy and chipper. He's changed so much since then!

This is a more current picture.:)

So happy birthday my little boy! He is learning so much everyday. He loves to wave good-bye and to hand me anything he finds. He can take steps on his own but still prefers scooting to walking or crawling. He is an awesome napper and sleeper. I just lay him in his crib and leave the room and he falls asleep. He's been saying "Dada" for a while but I'm pretty sure he's just barely figured out what it means. Will and I walked past our spare bedroom where Joel was grading some papers and Will stopped and looked at Joel and clearly said "Dada." He seemed pretty pleased with himself!

Will has recently figured out that he doesn't have to open his mouth every time I try to feed him with a spoon. This boy used to eat anything I would put in front of him! Not anymore. He gets this mischievous look on his face and drops food onto the floor and waits for my reaction.

Will also loves to drum on things. Joel bought a set of drum sticks for himself but they have since been taken over as toys by Will. He just scoots around with those drum sticks all day and hits anything he can reach. Sorry Joel, but I don't think you're getting those back anytime soon!

I can hardly believe the love and joy this little guy has brought to our lives. One year ago today, we met him for the first time. When the nurse laid him in my arms, I was smitten. He's been charming me (and everyone around him!) ever since!

We have a friend of a friend who used to work at the front desk of our building who now works booking models for photographers and we ran into her a couple of weeks ago and she told us that she had a photographer who was looking for a couple of baby models for a photo shoot. She asked if she could take a few pictures of Will and send them to the photographer. I told her that would be fine and she got back with me a few days later and told me that photographer loved him. So we met with the photographer and he wants Will to model a split bottomed pants outfit! Pretty funny. I think we're going to do it just to say we tried it. I think it could be fun or it could be a disaster. I guess we'll find out which.

Today for Will's birthday we went to Beihai park. It was so nice to see green leaves & grass! Such a refreshing change from the gray concrete. Will loves to be outside, as soon as he sees that we're going inside, he'll just sit down and refuse to stand back up.

This is the first time Will has walked on grass. Ever.

This is Will's "I just tried to eat a blossom and it didn't taste very good" face.

Let's see..... other things that have happened since my last post.... Joel turned 30 and we had a lot of fun with that! I asked a few people to send me video clips wishing him a happy 30th and I put them together to make a video. It was fun to see friends and family even though we were so far away. I also did a little surprise party for him with a few of his colleagues. I'd say it was a success! We got him some tailored shirts made as a gift and only in China would a tailored, custom shirt be half the price of a pre-made department store dress shirt. I told him he looked like James Bond. I don't know how we'll go back to the pre-made ones!

Never can get a serious photo! But he looks good in that shirt, even with the robot pose.

I have already started my summer vacation countdown.... Eight weeks until we're back in the USA! I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. I already have a list of all the things I want to do while we're there and all the things I want to bring back to China from the States. :) I'm already picturing the moment when I see our families again and it makes me teary just to think about it. Joel and I can't wait to watch our parents play with Will and interact with him! I can't wait to hug my Mom and Dad. And go grocery shopping at Costco!

We had a "small world" moment about a month ago: Joel's Chinese teaching assistant told us that she was moving to Utah of all places! We loved her and were really sad to see her go but so excited for her. It was really fun to email back and forth and to see our home state through her eyes. We couldn't believe the coincidence; what are the odds?

I'm having a little mom guilt over the fact that Will has not been to the doctor once since we've been here.... yes, that is 8 months without a checkup. We have insurance through Joel's job but it's only good in mainland China and I don't really understand how our plan works. Whenever I call to try and talk to someone, they can't ever explain anything very well so I'm a little nervous to use it because I have no idea what to expect. I've also been thinking about vaccinations; if we wait until we come home to get all of his vaccinations done, we'll have to pay out of pocket. If we get them done here, China does not allow the importing of some vaccines anymore, so you get the made in China shots that have higher risks of fevers and rashes. Ugh.

That's about it, I'll leave you with a photo record of a few other things we've been up to. Thanks for reading!