Halloween Trick-or-treating

今年的万圣节完全可以用这两张照片总结。左边的照片是出发之前照的， 右边那张是晚上回来要到的糖果。安娜一边要糖一边吃，到家时我发现她的脸上都是巧克力， 两只手都粘糊糊的。Our Halloween can be summarized by these two pictures。The left picture was taken right before we went out and the picure on the right shows all the candies we got. Anna was eating her candies while trick-or-treating. I noticed that her face was covered with chocolates when we got home and her hands were sticky.

Halloween parade

安娜今天在学校里参加了第一次万圣节游行。她打扮成中国公主。她特别喜欢这套裙子，不愿意脱下来。游行后，他们学校又举行了各种游戏，她带了好多小东西回来。姐姐今天上学时装扮成海盗。Anna had her first Halloween parade at her preschool this morning. She was a Chinese princess and she loved her dress so much that she didn't want to take it off. Her preschool also had a carnival after the parade and she got a bunch of Halloween goodies from all kinds of games. Leah went to school as a pirate today.

Pumpkin patch

安娜的幼儿园今天去南瓜园玩儿了。爸爸请了半天假义务开车和照看孩子们。安娜玩儿得很开心，在南瓜堆里跑来跑去，坐了各种各样的游乐设施，一直玩不够。 这是我们第一次看见她跟所有的同班小朋友在一起， 她大部分时候都讲英语，可有时也说中文。爸爸听见她大声地跟老师说中文“我们下面去哪？”， 把爸爸笑得够呛。今天下班去接她时，老师说她下午睡了一大觉， 大概是玩得太累了。

Anna's preschool went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch today. Daddy took the morning off from work and volunteered to drive the kids there. Anna had so much fun playing with the pumpkins and enjoyed all kinds of rides. It was our first time to really see her with all of her classmates. She was talking in English most of the time. But sometimes, she also speaks Chinese. Daddy heard her asking the teacher in Chinese loudly"What are we doing next?". Her teacher smiled at her and asked "Are you speaking Chinese?". It was pretty funny. When we picked her up after work, the teacher told us that she took a very long nap. I guess she must be exhausted.

Daddy's girl

安娜特别喜欢吃海产品， 这一点她跟爸爸一样。爸爸太爱吃海鲜了，以至于吃出了高胆固醇。安娜知道如何吃整螃蟹。看着她高超的吃螃蟹技术，令人惊叹。

Anna likes sea food very much, just like her daddy. She knows the tricks how to eat a whole crab. It is amazing to see how skillful she is.

Happy 60th anniversery, China!

今天是10月1日，是祖国60周年大庆。我们在网上观看了盛大的游行，我们感到如此自豪。安娜特别喜欢看扛枪的战士。 Today is October 1 and it is the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. We watched the amazing parade and feel so proud. Anna especially enjoyed watching the parade by the fully armed soldiers.

Gotcha for six months

六个月前的今天，我们在浙江民政部第一次见到了安娜。我还清楚的记得那天一大早三点我就醒了，当然也有时差的关系，既兴奋又紧张。见到安娜并把她抱在怀里的时刻，永远在我心中成了定格。 第一眼见到她就是爱的喜悦，爱的泪水。

这六个月，小家伙变化好大。刚开始时，在出门之前，她都会把玩具藏在沙发缝里。 她饭量惊人，而且什么都爱吃，吃得都吃不下了，最后一口饭就含在嘴里，可以含一两个小时。记得有一天，我们一起吃晚饭，她突然看着我们说“我撑着了！”，然后就一口把喝的牛奶都吐了出来。 那时她也很任性，如果不满足她的要求， 她会大叫，偶尔还会咬人，爸爸和姐姐都被她咬过。 今天，还是这个小丫头，她不再在乎玩具了，谁玩都行，她也不像以前那么热衷于食品了，现在吃东西有选择性了。每次吃的差不多时，就会指着自己的肚子说“我吃饱了”。 现在时不时还会发脾气，但是只要跟她讲清道理，一会儿就好了。这小家伙嘴甜，认错快，而且总是高高兴兴的。能得到这么个宝贝女儿真是我们的福气。
Six months ago today on March 23, we met Anna at the Zhejiang Civil Affairs Office. I was nervous and excited that morning that I woke up at 3’oclock. Everything became history when we met her and held her in our arms. It was love and joy at first sight.

Six months later, this same little girl has come a long way. At the beginning, she would hide all her toys in the cracks when she left the hotel or the house, she would eat anything and eat so much, and stuff the last bite in her mouth and kept it there for a long time. One day, when we were having dinner and all in a sudden, she stared at us and said:” I am too stuffed” and then she vomited all the milk she drank. She would scream if she didn’t get her way of doing things and occasionally she would hit or bite. Today, this same little girl doesn’t care much about the toys, anyone can play with them. She is no longer addicted to food, actually she is getting pickier about food, and she will point to her tummy and tell us that she is full. She still occasionally throws tantrums, but only for very short moments. Despite all these things, she is such a happy and sweet girl. She is just perfect for our family!

Sisters (姐俩好）

每当看到安娜和姐姐在一起， 我心里就暖洋洋的，这姐俩真是好啊！姐姐宠爱妹妹，妹妹崇拜姐姐。很多时候姐姐都是无微不至的照看妹妹。姐姐经常给妹妹做饭，洗澡，讲故事，并领着她睡觉。安娜非常保护姐姐，有时爸爸故意对姐姐不好，她就会大声说，“不行，这是我的姐姐！”。当然了，有的时候姐姐也会嫌妹妹烦，但是都很短暂。It has been amazing how well Anna gets along with her big sister Leah. Leah simply adores Anna and Anna just loves Leah. It is very heartwarming to see how Leah treats Anna. A lot of the time, Leah takes cares of Anna. She cooks for her, takes a bath for her, reads her stories, and puts her into bed. Anna is also very protective of Leah. If we do something “mean” to Leah, she will say very loudly “No, it is my Leah”. Of course, there are times that Leah gets annoyed by Anna, but those are very short moments.

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

A year ago today

一年前的今天，我们收到了安娜的材料， 那一天，是我长这么大以来最动情，最动容的一天。那一天，我们心中充满了疑问，爱， 怕， 及最终的欣喜。今天，安娜和我们在一起快六个月了。小丫头，我们爱你！你给我们的生活带来了太多的欢声和笑语。

A year ago today, we received Anna's referral. It was one of the most emotional days in my life. It was a day full of uncertainty, love, fear and joy. Today, Anna has been with us for almost 6 months. We love you, little monkey! You bring so much fun and joy into our lives.

Summer party

这个周末，爸爸的公司举行了每年一次的夏日聚会。安娜画了脸，做了气球，跳了充气蹦蹦床，玩得开心极了。

We went to daddy's company for an annual summer family party. Anna had an American flag painted on her face, enjoyed the balloons, and played in the inflatable bouncer. She had a lot of fun.

A funny girl

今天早上，我做了蓝起司（blue cheese) 烤面包，安娜显然觉得味道不好闻，她看着我盘子里的烤面包，很认真地说：“妈妈，你怎么这么恶心啊！”。

安娜是个很爱干净的孩子， 每天早上起床后都把自己的小床叠得整整齐齐。有时我们帮她弄，如果不合她的标准，她还要重叠。

I cooked some blue cheese toasts this morning and they didn't seem to smell right for Anna. She looked at the toast on my plate and said very seriously "mommy, it looks very disgusting."

Anna is a very tidy girl. She always makes her bed very neatly every morning. If someone does it for her and if it is not done her way, she will redo it.

A "relaxing" weekend before school starts

明天就要开学了， 我们昨天邀请了两家好友来吃晚饭。大人孩子都玩得很高兴。安娜很喜欢朋友给的餐具玩具，玩了好长时间。
School is going to start on Monday and we invited a few friends over to have dinner on Saturday night. Anna enjoyed the toy cookware set our friend gave her and had a good time playing with it.

Sea World night

现在还是夏天，海洋世界每周六都开到夜里11点。昨天晚上，我们总算找到时间去了。 晚间的各种表演真是好看， 跟白天的大不一样。以前都是白天去去海洋世界，从来没见过这么多人。安娜最喜欢的还是在小孩游乐场玩儿。到晚上10点，我们在看杂技表演时，她实在坚持不住睡着了。我们一直玩到11点关门时，才离开。

Sea World has been having summer nights and it opens until 11pm on Saturdays. We were finally able to go last night. The night shows were fantatic and we all enjoyed our time there. I had never seen so many people there before. Anna had fun at the playground doing the kiddy rides. She fell asleep at about 10pm while we were watching a stage acrobat show. We didn't leave until it closed at 11.