Bathroom News

With her determination to do more and more things on her own Mia has also started to wash herself in the bath tub. She is also a big fan of the potty we got about 10 days ago and uses it a few times a day. Already two months back in Shanghai she was setting up the changing pad and getting the fresh diaper ready when she thought she needed a change. This might have been a good time to start the potty training but we decided to wait until we are back from trips to China and Europe.

Christmas Day

Since it had gotten a bit late the evening before when we went out for dinner with Howie and his family, we decided to give Mia her presents on Christmas day. When possible she would help with the unwrapping

One of her favorites was a set of pots and kitchen utensils:

Now she can "cook"the vegetables she got a bit earlier

She also liked a new bag from her Oma in Cologne

Uncle Andreas picked a little drum:

The day before Christmas

The day before Christmas Howie - an old friend from LSU, who just moved to the area - came for a visit with his wife and 14 month old daughter Ida. In the beginning Mia was a it shy - like usually - but then she ended up playing with Ida

She showed her her farm with little animals

And climbed around on our bed
When she is playing by herself she sometimes likes to try on Mama's shoes with one of her gloved

The advent calendar

One thing we brought back from Germany for Mia was an Advent calendar. Now she is ready every morning after breakfast to have a new door opened. Her main interest is of course the chocolate and not so much what kind of object is shown behind each door.
During breakfast and other meals she also insists more and more to eat by herself. Sometimes this gets a bit messy but in general she is doing pretty well

Because of the cold weather and the snow this week she hardly got out. So a lot of playing was done indoors.

Two years old

On her second birthday Mia woke up early. Maybe it was the jet lag. Maybe it was her excitement about her birthday presents. One was a doll from Oma in Cologne:

Since it was another cold and windy day she had to stay and play mostly inside

Which didn't mean she could not try out some winter accessories

In the evening it was then time for the birthday cake

Back from Germany

After Switzerland we stopped in Cologne to see some family and friends. It was also a good opportunity to check out a Christmas market. Mia not only enjoyed the food - Potato pancakes (Reibekuchen ) and Sausages - but also the ride for kids


Because of the cold and the snow we couldn't spend much time outside but fortunately we could let Mia play at the large Porta furniture store in Lind. They had plenty of children beds with a slide for her to check out.

She also had fun playing with her cusins Ellis and Malin

After Cologne we went to see Ji's friend Andrea in Spellen. There we also had lots of snow but one afternoon we went out so that Mia could see a real horse nearby

She also played a lot inside


Very popular was the toy kitchen
Mia also liked the baby doll
On the evening of December 5 St. Claus made an early appearance so that Mia could meet him as well


Back home after a long flight Mia was happy to see Mr Mimi again

Riding the tiger

On her first full day in Schaffhausen Mia explored some fresh snow and the toy department of a nearby department store. They had not onlt a big assortment of stuffed cats but also horses and tigers:

In the afternoon we mad a quick trip to the Christmas marked nearby Konstanz.

Schaffhausen. Switzerland

After a smooth flight from Washington, DC to Zurich, Switzerland we made it to Schaffhausen where we are staying with Antje. She showed us arround town in the afternoon and Mia was happy to discover a childrens's ride like the ones she enjoyed in Shanghai.


She also enjoyed the cake at an nice old café:

There were also some nice toy stores in the old town - just a few steps from Antje's place


In the evening it started to snow and we took Mia for a little walk

Off to Switzerland and Germany

For a Thanksgiving get together with some old friends we are leaving from Schaffhausen, Switzerland this evening. After that we add a week in Cologne, Germany to see family and friends. Since the weather forecast calls for snow and temperatures below the freezing point Mia got some snow pants and winter boots. She is still also interested in other shoes and doesn't restrict herself just Mama's shoes.

Playing

After sitting in a corner for a few months now Mia has re-discovered her building blocks and sometimes put them together for a little tower. She then makes sure her work receives the proper attention. On a sunny and mild weekend we also spend a lot of time outside and went to a farmers market and the playground.

We are also getting ready for our trip to Schaffhausen, Switzerland and Cologne, Germany this coming Wednesday. Since the forecast for Zurich for Thursday says snow we got Mia some snow pants and boots today.

New old toys

This weekend Mia finally got her own tricycle. She always liked to play with the ones that are available at one of the playgrounds so when we saw one at a yard sale we picked it up for her. At the same yard sale Mia was also very interested in a pink toy stroller and since she liked it so much the very nice owner offered if for free when we got the tricycle.
Now Mia has two and since she couldn't decide this morning which one to push around she pushed both

Another old toy Mia sometimes plays with is papa's more than 40 years old teddy bear: Last week he was wrapped up and but down for a nap in an old chair of Mia


Here also a picture of Mia right after her afternoon nap where she is relaxing a bit with mama on the bed

Mia and Mr. Mimi

After being apart for more than four weeks Mia and Mr. Mimi are best friends now. Mia has become very good at petting him and Mr. Mimi is very nice to her as well.

Back from Shanghai

Here some pictures from our trip to Shanghai


Mia loved to look for cats around the building where Ji parents live - and she found quite a few.

First visit to the World Expo: Artwork at the South African pavilion

At the South African pavilion: Moments before the South African president came for a quick visit

Mia's first ferry ride to another part of the Expo

Ferry ride
Artwork at the Latvian pavilion

Relaxing at a park
At a park
Selling pets at Qiboa village

Qibao village
Uncle Zhongwei and Mia's cousin

At a children's park
Mia and her cousin
At the second visit at Expo it was much colder

Mia posing in front at Lupu bridge - teh longest steel arch bridge in the world