home and stuff

on the plane, he slept for almost 11 hours!

So currently I have been awake since 5 in the morning on the second full day back in the USA. My adorable little monster is still sleeping after another night of playing trains, eating pizza and watching horrible children's TV at 2 in the morning. Sounds un-fun, but I am so thankful to be home. I have found that I have infinitely more patience for just about everything (from tantrums to traffic) now that we are back home. I don't know what it is, I guess I had just had it with the frustrations of China. I didn't realize how irritable I had become most of the time. Anyway, we're home, safe and happy.

One of the last days in our neighborhood in Shanghai. The leaves just started changing in December.

Decorating the tree with Grandma on our first day back in town.

Top 5s

5 things I will miss about living in Shanghai:

5. Beard Papa Cream Puffs

4. Trying crazy fruits and veggies that I have never seen before

3. Traveling in Asia

2. So many photo opportunities everywhere

1. Having ridiculous things happen almost every day

5 things I will NOT miss about living in Shanghai:

5. Hunting all over the city for western style food ingredients

4. The smells (sewer, stinky tofu, 1000 year eggs, etc)

3. The heaters & air conditioners

2. Being a rock star

1. Taking taxis

Temporary Christmas

So in light of our impending move across the globe, traditional Christmas decorations are not happening while in China. Instead, we made a temporary, disposable Christmas tree. We managed to only color on the wall with crayons twice, not bad. I think Timmy had fun coloring, but mostly he just like taping stuff.