11 years family forever

I must have blinked.....

I must have blinked again because here it is that my baby is now five and a half years old. To say I can't believe it is irrelevant as it won't change the fact. It's almost a state of disbelief, as if I ignore it it won't be true. But then I look at Alexander and realize that Father Time has visited once again.

Wasn't it just yesterday we (Lars mostly) carried him everywhere he needed to go? Fed him with a bottle? Drove him around in his buggy?

When did he go from learning to say one word at a time to speaking in whole sentences, making up stories and sometimes talk around the truth? Alexander is definetely not a baby anymore, but for the constant sucking on his ever so favorite 'blanky' as he falls to sleep each night.

Alexander's perspective on life is refreshing, intelligent, curious and very often so funny. He is no fool for trickery or bribery and he can negotiate with a union leader if you're talking more Tellie time and/or Candy!
He doesn't lie, he "tells a story." Rarely does a day go by that my husband and I don't admit that the days are numbered until he completely will beat us down. :o)

I quite often find myself watching him sleep and hoping that somewhere on the other side of the world someone knows that he is safe, healthy and very, very loved. 

I love you around the world and back!

Big boy!

Hmm, time goes by quite quickly these days. Alexander keeps us busy and very happy (not to mention entertained!)

Alexander is now 5 years old, weighs about 16 kg and is about 104 cm tall. He is still a bundle of joy and energy and is very talented in e.g. balancing on his daddy's shoulders.

He has been going to the CERN kindergarten for nearly 3 years now and is about to start his final month there. After the summer he will start in the Grand of the Ecole Maternelle in Cessy. He is really looking forward to this!

Happy 2nd Family day!!!!

This is Alexander on his way home from a long weekend in Denmark.




And of course this is one of the very first pictures we saw before we met the little rascal.

The year of the dog

People born in the Year of the Dog possess the best traits of human nature. They have a deep sense of loyalty, are honest, and inspire other people's confidence because they know how to keep secrets. But Dog People are somewhat selfish, terribly stubborn, and eccentric. They care little for wealth, yet somehow always seem to have money. They can be cold emotionally and sometimes distant at parties. They can find fault with many things and are noted for their sharp tongues. Dog people make good leaders. They are compatible with those born in the Years of the Horse, Tiger, and Rabbit.

One year ago

This time last year, we were in Shanghai and have received the greatest gift:

Alexander has grown and changed so much in the past year. He has gone from a tiny, skinny, quiet baby to a bouncy, outgoing, chatty and completely amazing toddler.

Happy Family Day, Alexander
We love you more than words can say!!!!

It has been quite a year ... Overall, we have all adjusted really well to family life. Yes, there are moments that are tough and border on unbearable, but those are few and far between ... the laughter and joy Alexander brings us each day is immeasurable to say the least! How he has grown and changed!!! My god, I can hardly believe it myself. Good thing I have taken these thousands of photos to capture all the changes and growth over the past year. Here are fresh, up to date pics of our little rascal:

From September 2008

Testing:

We are back...

Wow, it's been a busy year so far. I know it has been an awful long time since my last post, and now we are already approaching our first anniversary of our FAMILY FOREVER day. I just have had no time to blog! So here's a quick update in bullet style.

- Alexander has finally started talking: His current favorite words are: NO and Ogola (Chocolate!)
- he is currently 87 cm tall and his weight is 11,4 kgs. He is wearing 86 bottoms and 92 on top and size 23 shoes
- he has got 17 teeth so far (The last one just sneaked in on us...no crying etc. Let's keep that up for the rest)
- he loves to eat. He prefers to eat everything with choclate (Ogola) but also loves all kind of different food. He is very easy to please and not fussy at all. He started eating with chopsticks, first try was curly wurlies and he surprised me and my mum with it. No one has taught him that...must be in his genes. - he is very social, and loves to meet other people
- he loves going shopping with mummy and flirting with everyone
- he started kindergarden and LOVES it, sometimes he refuses to go home, the use of his favourite word NO comes on handy here.
- he is noticing the sky - pointing out airplanes and he loves looking for the moon
- he is trying to count to three but calls all numbers two: Two, two, two!
- he started to speak french. First word was 'Pommes', he refuses to use the english word and corrects us everytime we say apple: No, pommes!!
- he loves to sing - and listen to his kiddies cds, impossible for mummy to listen to the radio in the car, as soon he hears some grown up music he keeps saying NO, NO, NO ...until his cd is on
- he knows most of the body parts
- he can put on his shoes (mostly on the correct foot) and can take his clothes off.

Some days I feel like Alexander is still "new" and at the same time I feel like I have known him forever.

He has changed our life in so many ways. It has been a time of wonder and milestones. He has changed so much - from a 22 month old baby to a 32 month old little toddler with a big personality who runs and jumps and talks and sings. I can't imagine what the next year will bring. He is constantly amazing me with the things he learns. I can't help but to be a bit sad that my baby is growing up so fast! On the one hand I'd love to keep him at this age forever but on the other I just love to watch his accomplishments - the way he takes on the world with his wonderful bright smile!

Sorry...

for not posting.

Unfortunately we still have no internet access at the new house. We have been promised to get connected end of next week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Alexander has settled in very, very well. We have taken tons of photos which I will post asap.

Thank you all for all your well-wishes and all the presents.

Big hugs to ya all.

GOODBYE SHANGHAI

This afternoon after his nap Alexander was a bit beside himself...he probably could feel that something was going on as Mummy and Daddy where huzzlin'' and buzzlin around....packing suitcases. He spent most of the time sitting on this tiny windowsill looking down at Shanghai as if he knew....it made me quite sentimental.

This is his last night in China, in Shanghai for quite a while!

We will come back, I promise, this is such a great country.


But for now we are looking forward to bring him home.

I see you all in just about less than 24 hours.
Tic, tic, tic.....

Shanghai: check!

Last post from Shanghai

I am running out of time now...It's 11:40pm now and I am supposed to be sleeping (Lars and Alexande are already sleeping).

We had a lovely day today and an extremely nice evening together with all the other parents and their children....a bit noisy but lovely, and after the muppets where asleep we had a nice time sitting in the corridor, drinking beers and havin a laugh. What a nice group we were.. we are all looking forward to go home now, meet friends and families, but i also feel like a few more days would have been nice to get to know these people a bit closer. We hopefully meet again soon. Without these kind and friendly group this last week would have been so much more difficult for us. It was an incredible week. We all shared time of extreme emotions and joy. It was an unforgetable experience in my life and I am happy that I had the opportunity to share it with such lovely people and their extra ordinary personalities and stories.

OK, that's it for now. I don't know when I will be able to update this blog as we won't have phone and internet connection before Christmas.

God bless and see you all vey soon.

Today, Monday, 10 December, we are together with Alexander one week. It seems like way much longer. He is bonding with us extremely well (he is all smiles when he wakes up and all smiles when he goes to bed, and so are we!!!).
The passports of all the babies have been brought over to the Danish Consulate this morning and surprisingly we can get them this afternoon togther with the visas. WOOHOO !!!! That's it: All paperwork is done here in China.

We are ready to go home.

We also have heard that we finally have gas, electricity and water working in the new house. That's great! Finally! We still have to wait for the telephone conncetion, but we are hoping this will be done before christmas.

You may have noticed that my blogs are getting shorter and shorter...I need to get into a routine with the baby and most of the day we spend at the moment with : feeding the baby, changing the baby, playin with the baby and start all over again and when baby sleeps we clear up the place or we are still walking ...he loves to sleep in his buggy.

That's it for now.

And here are some pictures of us eing at the Aquarium in Shanghai:

One week in Shanghai

Time is flying...we are already one week here in Shanghai. Unfortunately still haven't seen that much of the city...We went to the Shanghai zoo which was nice (besides the one or the other upsetting animal presentation, but I guess that you will find similar thigs in many other zoos in this world) afterwards we went for a bit a walk everyday around the area though. We had a walk in the drizzling rain Thursday down to one of the main shopping streets: Nanjing Road. Very nice, but very difficult if you are looking for a specific shop as there are no english names on the shop signs. We had to go and search for new pants for Alexander as all the clothes I brought and even the pants I bought a few days ago are still WAY too big. He is wearing now a size 73, still a bit long but waitwise fine. So, we had another shopping ferenzy.

We have received Alexanders chinese passport, his vaccination pass and his last medical report ( from 29 Nov) yesterday. So, the only thing which is missing now is the Schengen Visa and then we are ready to go home. We will get the visa on Tuesday next week, airport pick up will be 6:45am Shanghai time. It is going to be a very very long day on Wednesday and then we are finally home...and all is working now in the new house ... WOOHOO!!!! We can't wait!!!! Only a few more days.

This morning we took a taxi to go and find the place where Alexander was found in February 2006. According to his finding add and his papers he was found on the landing of the Xu Hang hospital in the Jia Ding district. We have been told by the concierge here in the hotel, that it is approx. 1 hour car ride. I took the taxi drive another 20 mins to find the hospital, we were real excited when we got out of the car, took lots of photos. After we showed the finding ad to one old man working there he apparently told our driver that this was the wrong hospital and he explained where the one mentioned in the papers was to be found. Well, what a disappointment. So off we went for another drive, lots of stops in between, as taxidriver got lost. That didn't bother us a lot as we had a chance to see the 'hometown' of Alexander. It looked very, very nice, no skyscrapers, lots of very nice townhouses, little shops and very clean. Of course there were some poorer streets but even they looked so much nicer than here in Shanghai. Apparently Xu Hang is one of the nicer areas around Shanghai.

Alexander was in great form, he was enjoying himself in the car and was smiling and laughing when Lars talked to one of the doctors who passed by whilst we were standing outside the hospital, we showed her and an old woman who was sitting outside having a break the copy of the finding ad but they couldn't remember...that would have been too much to ask for though, but they very extremely friendly and from their expression we think that they really appreciated the fact that we made the effort and come back to this place and took lots of photos. It was a very emotional moment, one of many on this trip.

On the way back (another 1, 5 hours!) Alexander had his first screaming fit. Oh dear, can he cry and scream...suprisingly Lars and I stayed very calm and after a few mins the screaming was over and the little muppet was sleeping.
After a short while in the hotel we headed towards the People's park in the middle of Shanghai. It wasn't very easy to get there, especially on a Saturday....we had to cross a few streets which were overcrowded with cars and people. ..and the chinese people are not in the least good in queing or taking care about others than themselves when crossing streets..it was quite a struggle to handle the buggy but we made it. Found the park which is like an island of piece in between the hussing and buzzing of this busy street.
It is a rather huge park with different sections: We found the children area, had some fun on the playground and watch some kiddos making some art projects. We were strolling around and found ourselves in the 'match-making' area. This is a corner where parents go on the weekends and try to get their children married, quite fun to see that some people are just standing there holding up a piece of paper with the details of their son or daughter in their hands whilst others in a huge group showing pictures around and it seemed that they were haggeling about money... needless to say that we drew quite a lot of attention there, at first people were only staring at us and talking behind our backs but then after one woman asked us in very broken english if Alexander is a chinese baby there was suddenly a crowd of at least 15 people around us. We showed them the piece of paper with the explaination about the adoption in chinese writing and there was a big AAAHHH and OOHH and Thank you very much! from all these people. There was an even bigger response when we told them that Alexander is a baby boy!!!

I don't feel uncomfortable when people stare at us (we are used to this phenomena as Lars is always one of the tallest people, especially in Asia). We are happy to try to talk to the people if they try to start a conversation. I sometimes feel uncomfortable when they say 'Thank you' for adopting a chinese baby.

This was not the only time today we met people because of Alexander: While we were back on the main shopping street, a group of younger people looked at the buggy and started talking to us in english, asking us where we are from and where Alexander is from etc. when they heard the story they were very excited...the younger men even more than the women. it turned out that they where a group of art students from Beijing, just finishing an art exhibition. They invited us over and showed us all their pictures, we met their professor and had a crash course in chinese art. Wonderful. They had some very beautiful pictures there, some of them were drawn with Fingernails!!! I have never heard about that before. Very nice people. We exchanged email addresses and YES, of course we bought some pictures...which you will see if you come and visit us (hopefully soon).

I guess, that was it in a short version :o)))
Here are only a few pictures from yesterday and today:

Day 4

Today Alexander called Lars Papa and me Mama while he was looking at each of us.

That says it all.

.....ready to explore Shanghai

Lars enjoys shopping now!!!

















...guess what all these women are looking at??




He LOVES cake















ready to go and have a bath.

Wonder how they taste like, they sure sound nice.

I have been told that the video transmission worked last night.

So, here's another one. Sorry for the quality but these are the one made with my photo camera, the video one's are just tooo long.

Enjoy it.

Another lovely day...

My favourite photo of today!

I am happy to say that it loooks like Little Alexander likes to sleep!!!!!!!

We had nothing on our schedule today, so we decided to take it easy and try to sleep in....the little fella woke up at 7:40 this morning, we then took him into our bed in between us, schmused a bit and then we all fell asleep again: TIL 9:oo am!! How great is that. We then had breakfast, played a bit and then went to a shopping mall. The first time we used the new stroller we bought for him here in Shanghai. It is not so easy ( as you parents know) just going out for a short time, my god we do look like we are going away for a weekend. All this stuff needs to be loaded to a taxi and then of course unloaded...and we haven't even started the shopping.

We bought two pair of shoes (one pair was 4,90 Euros and they are extremely good quality, the other Euros, just to give you an idea of the prices down here). I bought also quite a few clothes for him and a huge bag of Pampers, which we definetely need. Since last night we have number 2s...and plenty of them ( I know: OVERSHARING!). It's a good thing, considering that quite often children coming from orphanages have serious problems with digestion. So, all is cool and groovy....and a bit smelly.


Even Lars enjoys going shopping now...no complaints about some weird and sudden backpains (this used to happen, and mostly very close to a pub). When he got bored, he just went outside and had stroller-trolley race with the other Lars, the father of Bertram.
We than a lunch at BURGER KING, hmmm, how nice, after all this chinese food, even junk food tastes wonderful. This was also the very first time our son had french fries...and he loved it. Btw, doesn't Lars looks good behind the buggy?

After our return to the hotel we had an one hour (!) afternoon nap, but then it was time for another corridor-marathon. It is just so funny to see the kiddos runing the corridors. They are probably so used to do that whilst they where in the orphanage and being in the baby walkers all the time. Back and forth, make a turn in a half circle and off again, and no collisions only the occasionally fall. It is weird to see the kids falling: No reflex in protecting the head, they just fall over on their forehead...and not a single time we saw them crying, they just get up and run again.

Alexander got really upset when Lars picked him up and brought him back into our room. The little munchkin was sweating from all this running, but didn't want to stop. He really has his own mind, and a very strong one it seems. But after a few minutes and a few crackers he was fine again. We decided to spent the evening here in our hotel room, just the three of us. How nice, we played and heard quite a few giggles. He has such a sweet little voice, and his smile is just winning. He also started to enjoy having a bath, he spent about 20 mins in the tub, playing with his toys.

Now he is asleep, and we finished our daily corridor meeting with all the other parents. What a nice group we are. A really nice atmosphere. Tomorrow we have a birthday party: Marius, one of the little boys will turn 2 tomorrow.

Despite the very nice place here, I must admit though, that we can't wait to come home.

That's it for today. Nighty night!

I am trying to upload a short video, please let me know over gmail account if it works, as the chinese firewall blocks google.

One wonderful day with Alexander

After last nights meal here at the local chinese restaurant in the hotel, we went back to our room and gave Alexander his first bath. After undressing him we found that he had a quite a big bluemark on his right lower back....but at our corridor meeting we found out that this is quite normal for an asian child and that it will grow out with age.
We were a bit concerned about Alexanders development, he was very passiv, just sitting and not even moving his arms or even his head...just his eyes were moving, watching every little bit. We even had to test his hearing as he was not reacting on anything. He was eating very good though, and sleeping was not a problem at all, after his bath last night he had a bottle of milk and went to sleep at 8pm and slept through the night until 7:10am when we had to wake him up. Let's hope he will stick to that routine :o))

This morning we had to go to the office of civil affairs again and to declare the name we will give him, after that the whole group went to the Registry and Notaire office. After very long hours there we finally signed all the necessary papers and had a short interview with the notaire and then we received the most important document: The official adoption certificate!!!

We are a family now and forever!

It was quite a moving moment. During the waiting hours Alexander became more and more livelier whilst playing with his other buddies. We even heard him the first time laughing...and what a beautiful sound that is (He still is very very quiet, but most of the kids are as well) He even made a few steps holding on to my hand, after a few minutes he just let himself fall down and didn't want to get up again (I did see a glimps of a strong mind there).
After the return to the hotel we were all very tired and took an hour afternoon nap, very nice feeling falling asleep with your son in your arms.

After spending some time playing we decided to celebrate the BIG day: We invited Bertram and August together with their parents over for drinks and nibbles. (Yes, this was Alexanders first party). All the little munchkins had a great time playing or hunting for food (Sweet little Bertram has an eye for everything which looks like its eatable). All over sudden, little Alexander moved (I have noticed that most of the children don't crawl) towards the couch where Lars (Bertram dad) was sitting and he really struggeled to get up. He finally made it and stood up, he then moved along the couch holding on with at least one hand. Of course every one was very pleased to see that. We were even more surprised when he suddenly let go and started walking by himself....and he hasn't stoppped since then. First only around our two rooms and then he discovered the long hotel corridors...oh my, can he walk!!! And his face is one big smile, somtimes he falls because he just wants to go to fast, but no problem at all, he just stands up and starts running again. He probably ran a few kilometers today and was very upset when we had to stop him, first when we went to the restaurant and then after another long run, for his second bath. He is such a lovely littly boy and we are just ever so delighted that we got him. It was such a beautiful, important and also very relieving day for all of us.

Lars and I are overjoyed, words cannot express how happy we are. We both can't wait to wake up tomorrow and spend another beautiful day with our lovely little son.

Good night all and big hugs.
Thank you for all your nice message during the last few days.


And here is the reason why we HAVE to go shopping tomorrow:


On your right you see Alexanders shoe, in the middle you see the two pairs I brought from home ( size 22 and then because I thought they might be too small, I bought a size 24..)
haha, little did I know. His weight was according to his files in June 8.5 kg and his height 72 cm. Well, he weighs now 9.2 kg which is not very much for his age...and he hasn't grown much, a size 84 is WAY too big, which means almost all the clothes I brought are too small....so, shopping it is. WOOHOO!!!