April, 2008

Marianne is just a few days away from being 100 days old, and here in China, baby benchmarks like these means lots of quaint customs: eating fish and chicken (according to this site, rubbing a cooked chicken tongue on your baby’s lips will make him a “good talker”); shaving your baby’s hair to make a calligraphy brush; and when she turns a year old, having her grab an object from a selection of different items (i.e. a pen, coins, an official seal and toys) in a ceremony known as zhua zhou (抓周) to help eager parents foresee their child’s future career path.

We’re not sure yet how we will celebrate, but my wife has already booked a photographer, a baby hair calligraphy brush company, and a chop maker who will make a seal out of the shriveled remains of Marianne’s umbilical cord (the latter, is apparently all the rage these days with Chinese parents).

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I know, I know – this blog is a little early, but if you have a house similar to our house, reminders need to start popping up like daisies NOW. It takes weeks before the pop-up reminders are even noticed, so here’s hoping this blog strikes even one wakeful dad on the noggin.

If you’re from Spain, Belarus or the UK, you’ve had your turn. Stand back and make way for the rest of us. Mothers from Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malawi, Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States – unite!

Pounce on the silk frocks, stake your baubles at the jeweller, peg your antique armoire at Panjiayuan. Leave surreptitious notes or luxury ads torn from magazines in easy-to-spot places (through the loops of beer can lids for Dad, in the ice cream section of the freezer for the kids). Flaunt your bare, diamond-less earlobes. Scatter business cards from the best hotels in Beijing, offering the most luscious high teas and overnight packages, and leave the ice bucket conspicuously empty on the kitchen counter. Dream big, girl – BIG!

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Another week, another thing to freak out about... the recent BPA (bisphenol A) health scare which has resulted in calls for the banning of plastic baby bottles containing this potentially cancer causing synthetic hormone that leaches out of certain plastics when heated, is creating angst and anxiety for parents the world over. 

A recent report by the Environmental Health Fund has cited such major retailers as Walmart and Toys ‘R Us selling bottles that leach this chemical, which can cause “damage to reproductive, neurological and immune systems during critical stages of development, such as infancy and in the womb.

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A week's worth of food for the average Chinese family.

I’ve found that since moving to China, one of the things I miss the most about home (the United States, for me) is the food. My best friend is Bulgarian, and she longs for dishes with grape leaves, goat cheese, fresh salads and certain Bulgarian spices. My American male friends crave, among other things, good Mexican food, steaks, cold cuts for making sandwiches, food from Wendy’s and Taco Bell, while my friend from India misses authentic sambar, puri and chaat. Most foreigners in Beijing can find some kind of semblance to their favorite foods from home, but somehow, it just doesn’t taste the same. 

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Photo taken from The Sun

At three-months-old, Marianne is already becoming garrulous. For weeks, she’s been getting well-versed in the art of baby babbling (which is a bit early– most babies start at about four months). Crying, of course, remains her primary mode of expression, but over the past few weeks she’s been throwing a lot more “woooaaaaaa”-s and “haiiiiiii”-s into the mix. Watching and listening to her try to verbally communicate with us is as fascinating as it is cute; and as our baby becomes progressively more alert, I like to envision how quickly her brain, with its infinitesimal network of neurons and synapses, is developing.

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Forget about all the reasons you and your family visit Chaoyang Park — the laidback environment, convenient facilities for people of all ages and the annual music events. Chaoyang Park’s coolest attraction, the CoolBaby Pet Leisure Center, is for dogs.

This is a haven for dogs and their people – its large and open fields make a perfect playground for dogs of all breeds to run around and interact with each other. Exercise outdoors with your dog by playing fetch or Frisbee. The center provides all kinds of training equipment to help dogs develop and improve their jumping, climbing and balancing abilities. A clean and safe dog pool has shallow depths for the timid dogs to get their feet wet and deeper waters so the natural swimmers can show off their skills.

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Hello sunshine!

Well. Sort of. It seems that the warmer days are not necessarily heralding the appearance of a large shiny ball in the sky (remember that thing?). Nonetheless, it is with daily exuberance that I cast open the curtains each morning, living in hope. Sure, more often than not, my heart sinks down to my slippers while the kids tug at my pyjamas, begging to go to the beach.

Hmmm. There is a sandpit full of goodness-know-what at the base of our building… not quite the same. How depressing. And my depression is probably due to my lack of sun-exposure and not the fact that I can no longer fit into my bikini.

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Have you and your family witnessed the incredible while traveling within China? Want to share your vacation experience with others in Beijing? If so, let us know! tbjkids is looking for families who have traveled to amazing places in China to be featured in an upcoming issue.

See pictures of your awesome family vacation in the next tbjkids! Revisit your extraordinary memories on the pages of a magazine! Help out your fellow city-mates and neighbors by passing on useful travel tips to those who want to follow your lead.

If you have been to an amazing city in China and want to suggest it to other readers, e-mail editor@tbjkids.com by May 1 for a chance to be featured.

After three years of searching and four offers that didn’t pan out, I’m happy to announce that we have finally bought a home of our own. Unfortunately, we have purchased this home in presumably the worst time to buy property in Beijing – a time when CBD apartment prices are at an all-time high, and real estate agents are so desperate, they’re hanging out in droves outside of properties trying to hawk homes to just about any one who passes by.

Despite our bad timing, we’re taking consolation in assuming that real estate prices will continue to rise (even after the Olympics) and feel slightly vindicated that we will no longer deal with unpredictable landlords and broken-down furnishings—we can finally assume full control (more or less) of our living environment.

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When my older brother and his wife considered the possibility of having children, they faced the inevitable question: Would they be good parents? They took the standard experimental approach and decided to have a practice run –they purchased an Alaskan malamute puppy first. My parents encouraged this behavior as well. Before having children, they raised a Rottweiler and went on to have three wonderful children, (objectively speaking, of course).

For those of you unfamiliar with the Alaskan malamute dog breed, they are a larger, fluffier version of huskies. While they appear to be cuddly, this dog, despite my brother and sister-in-law’s best efforts, is quite temperamental and headstrong. Fiercely loyal, their dog will bite anyone she perceives as a threat to her owners (including my mother and my sister-in-law’s mother!).  She has also exhibited a jealous streak and reacts negatively when her owners are preoccupied.

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I’ve been away from this blog for awhile but busy as ever with our baby. In the month or so since my last post, Marianne has continued to grow, so much so that the doctor warned us to watch her weight during our last visit.

It’s not to say that she’s fat, but our daughter is now pleasantly plump in a Michelin Tire Man sort of way (we can now count three little rolls of baby blubber on her legs as opposed to the two from just a few weeks ago). Her growth is quite normal, of course, but we can’t help but wonder if her now nearly exclusive diet of Similac baby formula is a little too nourishing (my wife’s breast milk supply has, alas, gone almost completely dry).

Nevertheless, we have been stockpiling baby powder over the past few weeks – mainly because like many parents in China, the recent news that formula powder is going up due to rising milk prices around the world has compelled us to buy in bulk. 

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I love learning Chinese. Well, actually, that’s a total lie. I like learning obscure words much more than important ones. I don’t know how to say “bed” in Chinese but I do know how to say “bumper car” (碰碰车).

Anyway, I was in Beijing for about three months when one of the students I was teaching introduced me to a Chinese proverb that really hit home with me. The student was going to be leaving my class, and I was sad to see him go.

天下没有不散的筵席
tian xia mei you bu san de yan xi

“There isn’t a banquet in the world that doesn't come to an end.”

My time at tbjkids has come to an end today; I’ve eaten my fill, I’ve had an amazing time meeting so many great families and hearing their stories, but my taxi has arrived and it’s really time for me to make a move. Thanks so much to everyone who has helped out with the magazine for the past 18 months and I hope to see it grow and mature a lot more in the future.