Travis's Month O' Pumpkin

Travis and his Baby Girl at our

Family Celebration for Trav's Birthday

Gabby and I made "Pumpkin Pudding"

for the Special Day. She was SO proud of herself!

Travis's Chef Song Birthday Dinner

Russell, Carolyn, Stephen, Velora, Trav, Josh, and Nikki

If you know Travis, you know how much he LOVES pumpkin. Now that I found out pumpkin is good for you (low fat, lots of fiber, and gluten free)- I am now a convert. Since we usually buy ourselves presents back in the States, I decided to do something different so that my man feels special. Every weekend, I've been baking him something pumpkin... pumpkin pie, pumpkin pudding, pumpkin struesal muffins (my favorite) and one last thing this weekend but I can't decide... so many good pumpkin recipes out there! We also made pumpkin pancakes for a brunch we had on Sunday. Nope, still not tired of pumpkin... :)

Gabby's First Parent-Teacher Conference

All in all, our little girl is growing up and is doing really well in school. The teacher, Ms. Sara, said her language skills are good and she's able to have conversations and does a great job using her imagination. She wears this pink, princess dress all the time but doesn't act like one- she just likes to wear the dress! She plays mostly with boys but perhaps because she's that type of girl or maybe it's because she's the only native English speaker that's a girl... She participates in class and is learning lots of cool stuff. I asked about the Celiac thing and if she feels different, etc. Ms. Sara said it's not even an issue with her... so far-so good.

Things to work on... she's still a bit bossy and controlling. I'm sure her future siblings will enjoy that. For instance, the day of the conference she pushed a girl out of the way in the bathroom. When asked why, she said "I had to go pee." Ms. Sara and I both agree that when you make her see through someone else's eyes (empathy) she gets it.

I'm just happy that she likes school and is hitting the appropriate developmental milestones. She is- so YAY!

Dare I Say This Out loud?

I think she is offically "potty-trained"??? I'm sure I just jinxed myself, but we have completed one full week of no diapers during nap and bed time. Last week she literally told Travis and I... "I don't want to wear diapers, I'm a big girl." *arms crossed on her chest* "Hmphh." Oh sure, we heard that before, but I think she meant it this time, as she's getting up in the middle of the night to pee and her bed has been dry. *fingers crossed*

Now that I'm thinking about it, I can share some things that she's been up to... the most obvious from a parental stand-point is her speech. It's becoming more and more clear. The most entertaining thing right now is watching the "imaginative play" take place... she talks to her dolls and animals and has them play with each other. She re-enacts scenes that happen to her in real-life via her Little People toys. It's hilarious! I caught her yesterday telling her doll to be nice and share, afterwards she was humming "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. Too funny! She's recognizing more and more letters and loves to point out shapes. Travis took her swimming and she looked at the pool and said, "That's one big rectangle!" It's so cool watching her grow-up. I told her not to change anymore and she said, "No way!" Oh well... I better enjoy it while I can...

Jazzy Tebo? That's Gabby's new name for her baby sister, as she insists it'll be a girl. She's been stuck on that name for about three weeks now...

Hyatt Resort in Tianjin

Gabby and Kellan, one her main friends from ISB

Tucker, Kieran, Jackson, Gabby, Alice,

Kellan, Eve, and Baia

Gabby and Kellan Fishing

(Guide-Dad Josh would be proud!)

Gabby said she was going to marry either Kellan

or Stuart (first cousin)

October 1st or, "National Day," in China is the equivalent to the Fourth of July in the States and we get a whole week off to celebrate- Woohoo! We were orginally going to Malaysia to visit our friends, but looking at our credit card bill this summer, we decided to be responsible. Instead, a bunch of ISB teacher-families and us went to a resort outside of Beijing to just getaway for a bit. We had a great time! They had stuff to do for kids, such as arts and crafts, pool games, bowling, horseback riding, etc. It's a five star resort so the service was awesome and the food was amazing. The room was really nice and even had a hot-tub outside on the deck. Travis and the other adults went to the natural hotsprings at night-time, which they really liked. Since I'm pregnant, I couldn't enjoy it but did take a nice dip in the huge soaking tub. Travis organized and initiated this trip  and I'm really glad he did- it feels like we had a vacation... For the rest of the days off, we're doing things around the house and hanging out with some friends. Good times with the family. :)

Dino-Dino Dream Park

The name alone should have warned us about the cheese-factor that was going to ensue... but this SUPER lame and expensive experience is what us "lawai" (foreigner) would consider a "China experience." It seems like it would be cool but it ends up being disappointing and it reminds you how stupid things are in China... I have nothing more to say because it was so bad, except that at least it was a nice day. Look at those blue skies!

Mid-Autumn Festival

Today we had a day off because it was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Yay! The day before, I helped Gabby in her classroom and we made GF moon-cakes, which was basically a sugar cookie recipe. I was happy with the recipe but it called for too much nutmeg, so I would change that for next time. In China, you give these special cakes as gifts. They aren't very good (dry and pasty, the Chinese are not known for good desserts) so when I get them as a gift, I usually give them to my ayi. Apparently, Starbucks sells "the best" ones, according to some students. We had some leftover batter, so Travis and I made the rest with her at home. She's really into helping us cook now, which is great.

Below is the story Gabby learned in school about the Mid-Autumn Festival...

STORY: The time of this story is around 2170 B.C. The earth once had ten suns circling over it, each took its turn to illuminate to the earth. But one day all ten suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. The earth was saved by a strong and tyrannical archer Hou Yi. He succeeded in shooting down nine of the suns. One day, Hou Yi stole the elixir of life from a goddess. However his beautiful wife Chang Er drank the elixir of life in order to save the people from her husband's tyrannical rule. After drinking it, she found herself floating and flew to the moon. Hou Yi loved his divinely beautiful wife so much, he didn't shoot down the moon

Dinner w/ Jane Goodall

Travis and I have wanted to attend the annual charity dinner with Jane Goodall, and were so bummed the last two years when she didn't make it... In fact, we thought, since she is getting older, that she wouldn't make the trip out to Asia anymore. Apparently, we were wrong. It took us over an hour in the pouring rain, but we finally got to the hotel. It was nice but the microphone wasn't working so we couldn't hear and food was... eh. So-so. Plus, we had to wait awhile to finally meet her... I INSISTED on getting a picture with her, much to Travis's annoyance. We waited in line and pushed our way to the front (which is not considered rude in China) and finally got our "no flash" picture. Travis told Ms. Goodall how inspirational she was and she could care less, I'm sure she heard it a thousand times before... she did make sure to spell Gabriella correct. She wrote "follow your dreams," in the book she signed which Gabby really liked and still talks about.