We've noticed that our kids have gotten increasingly "bouncy" each evening before dinner time. We're definitely indoors more than we used to be. Back in Dallas, the kids would go out to the back yard several times a day just to run and "get the wiggles out", as we like to say. In addition to brief outings, we also were used to almost daily play dates at parks or mall play areas. Since we don't really have those options as readily available here in China, and because we are on the 10th floor of an apartment building, getting out still happens daily, but it looks a little different than what we are used to. And then there is the language barrier. We have met and played with a few other families who have little ones close in age to our 4, but the vast majority of the kids in China are still Chinese--and speak Mandarin rather than English! All this to say, our kids have not had the social interaction or the venue to play that they are accustomed to.
So today we had a little breakthrough. Kevin and I took the kids out into one of the apartment courtyards (of which there are several, since there are about 10 buildings in our community). We found a group of kids a little older than ours and just kind of hung around. Slowly but surely, Karis, Eli, and eventually Hudson greeted the other kids with a "ni hao" (hello) and communicated in ways that go beyond verbal barriers--play! All the kids were running in circles and jumping off of whatever they could find, and they were having a blast! Kevin and I were thrilled to see the kids genuinely enjoying one another and seeming to get along really well.
After about half of hour of play (and attempts on Kevin's and my behalf at broken conversation with the other moms and grandmothers who were out supervising the kids), we were surprised to look up and see a lone chicken high step it out of the bushes in the courtyard! Now, mind you, we are smack dab in a huge city of 11 million people, and an apartment community of either 3,000 or 30,000 (we've gotten different numbe
rs from different people, and we're assuming that the miscommunication is probably a translation issue on our part!!)--but either way, a really busy city with nothing "rural" about it! So a chicken running through the courtyard of an apartment building was a little bit of a shock. We're hoping the poor creature survived, because of course as soon as it was discovered by the group of frolicking kiddos, it became the object of a game of chase! I'm pretty sure that the chicken made her escape, only to end up in some Chinese wok, no doubt, but it sure did us good to see our kids be blessed by once again having their social and physical needs met, and to enjoy a good laugh at the surprise of the scampering chicken!Oh, and I thought I'd include Noah showing off his cute smile since he seems to miss out on being in a lot of the other shots (since he is normally in the Baby Bjorn on the photographer!!). He's growing and changing daily, and we're having a blast with hhis sweet and laid back personality! The other kids just can't keep their hands off of him, and their favorite thing is to try to get him to laugh and smile!
