One month since we left

Yesterday was June 2 and that was exactly one month after the day we left for China.  We left on May 2, but we didn't actually arrive in China until May 4 because of the time change and our overnight layover in Hong Kong.  It's kind of hard to believe that it's only been one month since we left, because it seems like it's been MUCH longer than that - probably because so much has happened between then and now!  Someone told me today that she was surprised how quickly we got back from China, but to us it didn't seem quick at all.  By our last few days there, it felt like we'd been there for months, even though it wasn't even quite two weeks!

Yesterday I didn't post anything on the blog, mostly because I didn't take any pictures.  But also because I was tired and wanted to go to bed early, which I successfully did.  We're still sleeping in TongJie's room, and will probably continue to do so for awhile, at least one of us anyway.  It's nice to be right there when he cries in the middle of the night.  I think it's comforting for him to know we're there, and it's also helpful for him to go right back to sleep since we can comfort him right away instead of having to stumble all the way in there from our bedroom.  Once we put him in his crib, we stay in his room until he's asleep, usually reading him stories out loud or quietly doing our own reading, or sometimes just laying down and pretending to sleep.  Once he's asleep (lately it's been around 8:30 or 8:45), we get up and come out into the living room or kitchen to accomplish our own things.  Then we go back into his room to sleep when we're ready for bed later on.  I've been fairly successful at getting up early and not waking him up in the mornings, which is nice for me because I like to get stuff done in the mornings.

After TongJie's nap, we've been going for a walk.  Today we went to the loop trail again.  TongJie has been enjoying getting out of his stroller and walking around.  He did a lot of walking today!  He loves to be outside, and after dinner we all went out in the backyard for quite awhile.  We had our first ripe strawberry today.  This is the first year we've grown strawberries, so we're pretty excited about that.  We got starts from Melonie last summer and some of the plants came back and are doing really well.  However, there were two other strawberries that weren't quite ripe that we decided to leave until tomorrow, and Albert (the dog) helped himself to one of them.  He picked it right off the plant and chewed on it until it got all slobbery and then he decided he didn't like it so he left it laying in the yard.  We weren't happy about that, and we're hoping his picking strawberries is not a trend that will continue.  It was sort of funny though.  Here's a picture of TongJie standing at the door to the backyard - he does that a lot, especially when Albert is out there looking in.

We gave TongJie a bath before bed tonight, and he's not fond of baths.  Tonight, though, he did so much better than he's ever done.  He didn't cry at all until it was time to wash his hair, and even then he only cried a little bit.  He's been seeming a lot happier lately, and we love to see that.  Here are some photos of us at the loop trail.  Jeff had the camera, so there are a lot more photos with me in them this time.

We went close to the water and TongJie really wanted to touch the water, but he just couldn't quite bring himself to do it.  Maybe next time!

Finally, here's a picture of TongJie with Jeff's hat - he thinks hats are so funny, and usually when he tries to put them on himself he puts the hat right over his face instead of on his head.  He must think that's how it's supposed to go.  He had some help placing the hat correctly for this picture.