Dec. 28th - From Portland

Kaeli has now adapted to her new car seat and she loves it. The trip from the airport to home was the first time she had ridden in a vehicle of any kind and NOT been on Mama's lap, so she wasn't too happy about it. But now the car seat is fine, whether Mama is in the seat next to her or in the front seat.

We went grocery shopping and Kaeli rode in Ye-Ye's grocery cart, and he showed her off to all the "regulars" at the market. We stocked up on all sorts of kid-friendly foods. Then it was home for lunch and a nap for Kaeli. Kaeli spent the afternoon playing and reading and trying to help Jio-Jio Doug put together his Darth Vader Lego kit. We also opened a few more presents, including a wonderful Chinese Little Red-Riding Hood story called Lon Po Po and two beautiful framed art prints by Paul Nzalamba showing Love and At Play, from Nancy, a very good friend of my parents.

After dinner (Kaeli doesn't like "American" noodles as much as Chinese noodles, we've discovered, as the dining room floor showed quite well!), we put a video CD in the DVD player that Mama had given Ye-Ye for Christmas. Kaeli sang and danced and bobbed her head in time to the music, until it was bath time and Ye-Ye put in a DVD on Columbia River Water Fisheries, which Kaeli didn't find quite so interesting.

Bath time is always a highlight. Last night she learned to lay on her back and kick her feet (which helps Mama rinse off her shampooed hair) and also learned that it's fun to put her face down in the water, but NOT fun to drink it.

Kaeli went to sleep after only a few minutes of wailing last night, and Mama was prepared with a radio for the night's events. Each time Kaeli tossed and fussed, we turned on the radio and listened to NPR and BBC World News, which held Kaeli's interest until she fell asleep again. We learned all about tsunamis and events in Irag and about Lionel trains declaring bankruptcy and how a hiker amputated his arm at the wrist earlier this year, and learned that NPR has NO music during the night time hours. The radio enthralled Kaeli enough that Jio-Jio Doug got a good night's sleep, until she started wailing at 6am and Mama wasn't playing the radio any more. So Jio-Jio Doug came upstairs and released Kaeli from her cell/crib and took her downstairs to play.

Breakfast time now - it's a beautiful gray wet day outside - perfect Oregon!! Have a good day, everyone!