This week in China...

So call me a slacker, i haven't posted anything in a week but I am trying to spend time with my little man before he starts preschool in a week and a half, three days a week!  I am so excited for him to be around children his own age, in China there really aren't day cares and it can be difficult, especially in summer to get out and find play areas for him to interact with other kids! After going to daycare since 3 months old when i returned to work, Blake thrived being around the other kids and learning from them.  I think with a new baby coming into our home soon this will give him some friends and his routine of learning outside of the house! So I will snap a few photos of him and his Thomas the Tank back pack his daddy bought him when i send him off to his first day!

We started Potty Training, he is very interested in the potty so we thought it was time to try.  I was reading a book, "Potty Train in a Weekend" and i found this interesting section on the potty training in China, I am pulling this directly from the book, but thought some of you might find it interesting.  If you Google "Chinese Split Pants" you will see what this is talking about.

"The same thing is true in China. A baby is trained at just a few months of age and they stay dry all day, with frequent opportunities to go, by 6 months of age. To train their babies, the babies are held over the potty or over the ground. Instead of hissing, as they do in India, the parents in China make a whistle sound, like the sound of urine. This signals the babies to go. When the children of China are a year old, they wear split-bottom training pants allowing the children to simply squat and urinate throughout the day. It is accepted that toddlers will relieve themselves wherever they are, even on sidewalks."

Until then we have been hanging out, staying inside to avoid the heat and the rain of Changzhou, and watching some of our new movies!  As I have mentioned before we have taobao.com and I am able to open it through Google Chrome and it translates for me in English and I cna search and purchase things.  So I have purchased for under $5 each many Disney/Pixar movies for Blake and he is loving them.  This week we watched Cars (his favorite!), Toy Story, Bolt and Planes (recommendation for Tanman).  It amazes me I can buy a dvd for $2-$5USD when at home they would be $20-$30 each!  What a deal!  

So I have one new complain about China...I think it ruined my son's willingness for me to take photos of him whenever i like!  He is a HUGE fan of dad's super duper camera and whenever it comes out he is jumping into the picture and then wants to see the photo on the screen after, hense him being in most of my belly photos!  However, having a cute little white baby in China everyone wants to take photos of him with their phones.  I don't mind those that ask, or when we went to the Dinosaur Park there were teenage girls that each wanted their picture of him, he will be famous one day!  LOL  But those that don't ask i get annoyed with, sometimes they even try to get right in his face for a close photos and i have to tell them NO!  Its very frustrating for me they are invading his space, and now he doesn't even want me to take his picture when he is being cute!  BUT, i did snap a photo of him in the car this week, one of our drivers has a Chinese Rock CD he plays to entertain Blake while in the car and when he put it on Blake was holding my phone in the other hand, so it turned into fist pumping to the music, super funny!

Saturday August 2nd was Valentines Day in China, and Brian had to work so he came home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me.  

This week I ventured away from Metro my usual store for grocery shopping and went to Auchan which is a French chain that was brought here.  They had a pretty good selection of everything except things for baking and the import section for beverages and snacks was lacking but it was a new place to check out.  This store was similar to Carrefour which is also French and I believe i have talked about before...there is a Target like store on the main floor with clothes, personal hygiene items, toys, electronics and then the top floor is the grocery area.  Here are some photos of the store.  I think i still have the American mindset where i like to go once a week to the store, while most Chinese go daily for fresh meats, and produce.  I have found when its not too hot a walk to the wet market or local fruit stand is nice for fresh items but i still do the bulk of my shopping once a week and fill up the back of a minivan :)

Some things I pulled from my refrigerator I thought you might find interesting, Brian enjoys laughing at the packaging on what would be American Cheese at home, we use for grilled cheese sandwiches...."processed cheese".  Then you have the sour cream which is a very liquid consistency, similar to the one you would get at Chipotle but not from the grocery store.  The pancake mix from home or imported from other places is about $8-$10 usd for one box, so i looked up a recipe to make the mix and put together a jar, it made enough pancakes for the three of us plus a few extra so we were very happy with the turnout last weekend!  Then the fruit, amazing fresh fruit and super cheap...at home when i buy cut fruit it's always expensive so I avoid it and buy and cut my own, but i got a full tray of sliced pineapple for 9.35 rmb = $1.50 usd and Blake loves pineapple!  The last photo, I can't find coffee creamer here that isn't powdered and to find vanilla powdered is difficult so i used this recipe DIY Coffee Creamer of condensed milk, milk and vanilla extract to make my own! 

Blake and I attended a First Monday expat (expatriate= a person who lives outside their native country.) to meet some new people and eat some pizza.  It is nice to meet people that are living here from all over the world and learn what brought them to Changzhou.  Here are some photos of the restaurant, menu and folks that attended.  

After gymnastics this week we also went to the First Sunday Brunch.  I wasn't able to snap any photos, too busy eating but there is a Bakery in town that is hosting a western style brunch and it was good!  We had omlets, pizza english muffins, fresh fruit, juice, coffee, fresh apple bread, toast, bacon and sausage....yum!  Here are some pictures from Blake at gymnastics, just because i think he is so cute!

Balance Beam Walking!