Halloween in Beijing

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There is quite a bit to do in Beijing for us Americans... The first set of pictures are of Gabby at a Halloween party at the local bilingiual pre-school. The second set was when we went trick-or-treating in one of the local compounds, Gahood. The last couple of pictures were of Gabby in her purple butterfly costume. As always, she had a ball...

Beijing Tebo's Blog Up and Running

Hello to all family and friends around the world. In the ever shrinking world there are more and more ways to keep in touch. We hope that this blog will become a space where we can share our lives with you. Stay tuned for stories, pictures and video from the Far East.

May 2008 Gabby Update

One word this month- PERSONALITY. Gabby is 11 months old now and is definitely becoming her own little person. She’ll discover new noises that she can make with her tongue or mouth and then she’ll start laughing hysterically. Of course, this makes us laugh and reinforces the behavior. I think she’s getting a kick out of being a little comedian. She’s starting to understand Chinese, especially when we say “Zijian” (goodbye) because then she’ll start waving bye-bye. Although pointing at things seems to be the preferred way of communicating, she does the sign for “more and “cheese” now. Another thing she’s been doing… She’ll point at something, like an ant on the ground, and go “Ooooh,” which cracks me up. Of course we think she’s perfect in every way, but I still think we have our work cut out for us as parents. Travis and I have seen a bit of a temper in our little girl. She actually stamped her feet when we wouldn’t let her play with something she wasn’t supposed to. I have no idea where she learned that. Is that an innate thing in toddlers? So far redirecting her works well, but I know the day will come when she says, “no!” Gabby continues to grow and amaze us… She loves to climb on everything and has long arms that grab things off of the kitchen counter, so we’re constantly on the lookout for safety hazards. Our ayi always says that Gabby is very busy, which is so true. She’s that kid that runs around and tries to get into everything and explore. As most babies are, she’s curious. She also went to her first concert, called “Rynostock,” where all the local Beijing bands get to play. She had a good time bouncing up and down and we had a blast with her too. Our ayi also says that, “everybody likes Gabby,” in our compound- which makes me feel good. It’s nice to know people like your kid. All in all, May has been a busy month with lots of play dates and things going on. Now that the weather is nicer, we’ve been going outside a lot. We have a fountain and an area with fish in our compound. She LOVES watching the fountain and gets so excited when we walk up to it. She also likes to stare at the fish and point at them, so walks now have been more and more fun as she is so interested in the world around her. Oh! And one last thing… she squeezes you back when she gives a hug.

April 2008 Gabby Update

Gabriella is 10 months old and things are going smoothly. April was a big month for us in the Tebo household- walking, running, climbing (really fast up the stairs!), more dancing, giving high fives, pointing at everything and saying “dada,” and being little miss curious. She loves opening up drawers and cupboards and getting into stuff. I know this is nothing new for a baby her age, but it’s nice to know she’s hitting all the milestones… Her attention is a little better and she can sit still longer. She can actually sit in your lap and let you read to her without getting too antsy or without trying to tear-up the whole book. Travis reads her “Click-Clack Moo” which is her favorite book at the moment. Oh yes- that book and “Bard’s Rhyme Time” because it’s a flap-book and she enjoys opening and closing the flaps. Right now, she enjoys playing with her toy cars and Buzzy Bee (which is a New Zealand toy that a Kiwi buddy got us). This month we went to Tianjin to a Hyatt Regency Resort and spent two nights there. We got a coupon for two free nights because Travis teaches the General Manager’s daughter. It sounds really great, but nothing was open yet, such as a swimming pool or workout facility, which was disappointing so we drove into to Tianjin. We went to Food Street and ate some dumplings and then culture street to check out the shops. Gabby enjoyed all the attention and was flashing her smile every chance she got. It wasn’t a super-exciting trip but we had fun as a family and it was good to get out of Beijing.

March 2008 Gabby Update

Gabby is 9 months old now and changing everyday (Duh. She’s a baby, I know)… She’s still not officially walking but has taken five steps. She continues to cruise and is even trying to climb things. AAH! She’s showing more affection now and even initiates kisses (which hurt because she wants to bite my lip) but they’re sweet and sloppy and oh so awesome. She’ll also come up to one of us and cuddle, which just makes me melt every time. She loves being tickled under her arm, holding hands, and she loves Earth’s Best brand of prunes and oatmeal. Thank goodness she’s learned to like bananas because they’re so easy to eat and good for you. Now we’re on to finger foods which is going okay, although I still need to coax her to stick the food in her mouth, but we’re getting there. Go figure. She’ll stick everything else in her mouth. Her new thing now is dancing. It totally cracks me up! She gets a big grin on her face and moves up and down. She also plays peek-a-boo with us. She’ll pull a blanket, bib, or anything else over her face and pull it down really fast to reveal a delighted grin and a little squeal. Love it! Vocalizing is becoming better and better too. Whenever she says “nay, nay, nay” that’s bad. I’m not sure of she’s trying to say no or what, but it does mean she’s ticked off about something. In addition to being a busy month, my mother and father came for a visit which was great and I know she loved the extra attention and cuddles. We did some touring and took Gabby to the Temple of Heaven where she got her first experience with being mobbed by Asian people wanting to take a picture of the Western baby. She did good, but looked a little confused. We also saw the very first major league baseball game ever played in China (Padres vs. L.A. Dodgers), which was also Gabby’s first one. We had fun, although it was a bit too windy and there were no proper toilets. Just imagine port-o-lets Chinese style where you have to squat. Not very convenient for changing a diaper but we survived.

December-February 2008 Gabby Update

Gabriella is 8 months old now and full of so much life and personality! We went to the doctor this week and she’s 19.5 pounds (75th percentile) and 29.5 inches (97th percentile). As with all babies, lots of “firsts” have been happening… A week after she turned 6 months she was crawling, which quickly became standing-up, and then cruising all over the place. Just two days shy of turning 8 months she took her first steps. Although not officially walking, I’d say we’re well on our way but who knows. She’s been standing by herself for longer and longer periods and every day she does something new or looks different. Her speech is sounding more like words as well. The day she turned 8 months (February 28th) was when she reached out to Travis and said, “Daddy!” Travis and I both agreed we’d consider that her first word and it’s now officially in the baby book. However, she did say “Hi!” to a real estate lady back in December but Travis won’t count that. The teeth are coming in, which I felt first before I saw them. I like to kiss her on the lips (Oooh, those sweet kisses!) but just last week she bit down on my lip really hard and there was no mistaking that two little teeth are starting to poke out. Eating is going well, except she really doesn’t like bananas, which I find strange. She’ll eat these nasty pees but not mashed-up bananas. What? I haven’t given up yet, though. My mom said I didn’t eat bananas either so maybe it’s genetic. She has such a wonderful laugh! I’ll get up close to her face and say “hi!” and she busts out laughing. I think she’s going to be a really fun kid. We celebrated Chinese New Year in February and stayed at a hotel down the street from Tiananmen Square- but too bad we all were sick… I took Gabby for a walk and she got a tiny bit of wind burn on her cheeks because it was so windy. Oh well, the weather is getting better here so there’ll be time for more walks.

Holiday Letter 2007

Ni hao friends and family,

As always, Travis and I hope this letter finds you and your family happy and healthy this holiday season…

I’m sure most of you know already, we had a little girl on June 28th, 2007. Her name is Gabriella Sophia Tebo and she’s awesome. At the risk of sounding cheesy- I have to say that creating life has been the best thing Travis and I have ever done. Parenthood has brought a lot of joy and challenges, but we wouldn’t take it back for the world. We love being parents and have a good routine worked out and feel like things are pretty balanced between work, home, and our social life. Gabby is hitting all the developmental milestones, and as healthy as can be. She was diagnosed with acid reflux in September but we got her some medication and all is well. As of right now, she’s 5 ½ months old. She’s laughing, smiling, scooting around on the floor, and grabbing at everything and promptly sticking it in her mouth. It’s been especially fun watching her personality unfold… so far she seems to be rather social and likes to be active- when we introduce to other babies she pumps her arms and legs and gets all excited. We’ve also learned that she doesn’t like to be bored and can be a drama queen. When she gets tired of whatever she’s doing, she’ll start to cry and push away whatever toy she’s playing with. People ask me if she’s a good baby and I have nothing to compare it to because this is my first one but I’ve been told by other people that she’s a “happy baby,” so I’ll take that. Everyday she does something new and we look forward to watching her grow and learn.

Check out the most recent pictures of Gabby: www.joyshare.com/sites/Gabriella

I had ten weeks off for maternity leave, so Gabby and I flew to Washington when she was seven weeks old to visit friends and family for a month and a half from the end of August to October. It was sort of a last minute decision but was needed after a long, humid summer in Beijing. The time went by really fast, but we got to see a lot of people including my brother and his wife who live in Boston. Gabby got to meet her cousins for the first time, Stuart (19 ½ months) and Emerson (4), which was fun to watch. Travis came down for two weeks and all three of us flew home together. Gabby did a pretty good job traveling, which is important because she will be doing a lot of it during her lifetime!

Travis and I are still living and working in Beijing, China. We decided to stay again next year and have no plans on moving back to the United States any time soon. Travis is completing his school administration internship through Western Washington University and will be done with everything in June. He’s been incredibly busy putting in hours to make this experience rewarding. He’s finding the challenges of running a school enjoyable and we’re both looking forward to him finding an assistant principal job overseas in the near future. As for me, I went back to work at the end of October but I can’t complain because I had four months off. Leaving Gabby as I went back to work was tough, but I was prepared for that. We have a caregiver (or ayi), named Chen, who loves Gabby as if she were her own child. I totally trust her and I know she’ll be well taken care of, so that relieves a lot of the worry. I’m still plugging away at my college counseling certificate through UCLA and should be done after I complete my internship next fall. The classes aren’t difficult, it’s just time consuming.

China continues to develop rapidly as the Olympic Games approach this summer. We ended-up getting tickets and will be attending the Final Team Gymnastics Ceremony (my choice) and a Beach Volleyball game (Trav’s choice). Although we have the cheapest tickets you can buy, it should still be a good time. However, I’ll be amazed if China actually pulls this off because there’s so much work left to do. Our school is postponing the start of the first day for two weeks so that the staff can attend the events, which means a longer summer- hooray! But a shorter winter break- boo! We will travel somewhere during that time or maybe just tour around in China. Oh yah! I can finally drive legally in China because I got my driver’s license.

Here are a some questions from the driving test that you may find humorous:
1. For an abdominal wound, such as the protrusion of the small intestine tube, we should:
A) put it back
B) no treatment
C) not put it back, but cover it with a bowl or jar, and bind the bowl or jar with a cloth belt.

ANSWER- C. Apparently, this has been a significant problem for the Chinese culture in the past. I guess we should keep a bowl in our car, just in case.

2. In summer, when a driver drives a vehicle he can _______
A) wear a pair of slippers
B) not wear slippers since it’s unsafe and impolite to wear them
C) wear any shoes, including slippers

ANSWER-B. Good to know, I guess.

For this winter break, we’re off again to Washington to spend it with family and friends. We wish everyone a safe and FUN holiday season and have a Happy New Year!

Warm Wishes,

Travis, Cara, and Gabriella Tebo