Quarantine!

Today (Thursday) marks our 4th day in seclusion. I have concluded that Josh probably does have chicken pox. Yesterday his red spots became little blisters (and I do mean little) and are now in the process of scabbing over. But this has got to be the mildest case of chicken pox EVER! Everyone keeps telling me, "Oh, I hope Josh feels better!" Well, watch out people if he starts feeling any better! Last night, the kids had turned on music and were having a dance party and you tell me, does Josh look sick? :-D

This has been a LONG week and I look forward to getting out of the house. Next week is a holiday week and I hope that everyone is well, because we are taking a family trip to Hangzhou and Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain). More details to follow....

Chicken Pox?

About lunchtime today, Josh's school called and wanted me to pick him up because they thought he might have chicken pox. They told me that he could not come back until cleared by the doctor. So, off we went downtown to the VIP clinic at the local hospital. The VIP clinic is staffed with people who speak English and have been trained in Western medicine. I explained that Josh might have chicken pox and needed to be checked. The nurse had great English and I was confident that she understood me. She took me back to an area to see the doctor and explained the situation to him. He inspected Josh and then said to me, "Yes." I am sure confusion must have shown on my face. "Yes, he has chicken pox?" "Yes, he has lots of bites?" I asked these questions of the doctor and again he just said "Yes." The nurse came back and told me that Josh did indeed have chicken pox. I remain unsure. Not just because the doctor couldn't understand me (and vice versa), but also because Josh has been vaccinated for chicken pox. I know that there is still a chance that he could get it, but the other factor is that he got a TON of bites last night. I have mentioned in the past about our great battle against the ever-persistent mosquitoes. This morning there were 4 mosquitoes in Josh's bed (inside his mosquito netting) with him! I try so hard to check their beds before we go to bed, but Josh is a crazy sleeper and often moves all over his bed during the night. This AM he had a leg sticking out (and created quite a space for the pests to infiltrate). Anyway, all this to say that he had quite a few bites this morning and the beginning stage of chicken pox looks very similar to insect bites. Time will tell....

Tori is 3!

Yesterday was Tori's birthday and my little girl is 3. So unbelievable! Andy and I were talking about how much she is going to change and grow in the upcoming year (not necessarily because we are in China, but there is such a difference between 3 and 4). I fixed one of her favorites dinners (tacos) and made a cake. Of course, no Wilcox birthday in China would be complete without the fire flower candle. Especially since ALL that Tori wanted for her birthday was FIRE! I know that you might have already seen the video of the spectacular candle, but Tori's reaction is worth watching. Doesn't she look a bit concerned? Then she was adorable blowing out the candles. The video stops, but she kept at it with her little puffs of air (as we turned the cake around) and blew all the fire out. 

Tori was excited for the presents. She kept saying "Is this for me? I love presents!"

Buying Tori's gift was the first time I had shopped for a gift for one of the kids in China. I was on the hunt for a pretend dish set (because we sold our toy kitchen and dishes before the move), but couldn't find one. I ended up with a doctor's kit (something else we sold). Some of the things in it are really funny. Just some examples:  the pretend bottles of alcohol, the water pillow (a hot water bottle?), and the cloth to clean a cut complete with tweezers to pick up the cloth (this one for some reason really reminds me of the medical examination here). 

Here Tori tries on the glasses:

Tori speaks Zhongwen!

When Andy and I first started learning Chinese, we often would (and still do) teach the kids new Chinese words for things. For the longest time, Tori would tell us that she couldn't speak Chinese and would refuse to even try. Recently though, she has been picking up new words left and right. Now there are many words that she rarely says in English. The other day Tori and I were walking and she pointed to a canal and asked me, "Mommy is that shui (water)?" And she never says apple, but almost always calls them ping guo. Last Friday I was having lunch with a friend at a Chinese restaurant. Tori was trying all kinds of things, but the standard end of the meal at every Chinese restaurant is fruit (usually watermelon). The waiter brought out a plate of watermelon and Tori was SO excited! She kept telling us, "They have xi gua here!" The other woman and I each had one slice and Tori ate the rest (about 6 or 7 slices). There were 5 or so waiters hovering around our table (of course watching that cute little girlie) and because she so enjoyed the first batch of watermelon one of them brought another plate. Tori excitedly exclaimed in a very loud voice: XI GUA (watermelon)! All the people watching laughed. When the Chinese hear our little blondies break out in Chinese, they find it quite humorous. We are just excited that she is choosing to speak ANY Chinese. ;-)

Crazy bus man

There are sometimes moments here when you stop, pause and ask yourself, "did that REALLY just happen?!" We call these TIC (This Is China) moments. The other day we were driving back from the other side of the city when we saw a man running after a bus. The bus stopped at a light and the man caught up (and incidentally so did we). He then proceeded to pound on the bus door. But the bus was extremely full (I mean so full that seriously no one else can fit in), and the bus driver refused to open the door. Now instead of just waiting for the next bus, the man started yelling at the driver and then moved IN FRONT OF THE BUS. Yes, that is right, he stood in front of the bus! This particularly impressed me because I live in mortal fear of the buses here - they often stop for nobody or nothing. One time I was riding to Tesco on my bike and a bus was turning right on red (and no stopping is required for that) and I am convinced that he saw me crossing in front of him and picked up speed. Anyway, I digress . . . We were so distracted by the crazy man going head-to-head with the bus that we missed our turn and had to circle around. We got back to the intersection a couple minutes later and they were still there . . . 

My question is, who finally moved? (We didn't stick around to see)

School update

Becca and Josh have been in school for 2 weeks and they are loving it! Josh is still tired at the end of the day as he adjusts to going all day every day. He has made some friends and looks forward to going. Becca just loves her school. At the beginning of this week, she got homework and that night she thanked God that she had homework. Isn't she funny? Her latest excitement is that Years 1-3 will be be putting on a play in December. She is particularly excited because year 3 -her class- will be doing the acting. (In case you are wondering, year 3 is actually 2nd grade - they count kindergarten as year 1 here.) Andy and I are so glad to see the kids adjusting to their schools. One thing that has surprised us is that Becca (our outgoing girl) has shown a more shy side. As she feels more confident in different situations, she is becoming more outgoing. Though she often still prefers to come home from school and have some time alone. With all the changes, the shyness is understandable. We have noticed Josh becoming increasingly independent. Whether it was the move or just he is getting bigger, we have seen him gaining confidence and doing so much more by himself. Who knows how else our move will continue shaping our kiddos?! They are all doing well and continue to love living in China! :-D

Sichuan food and riding the bus

Today after church, we went out to lunch with some friends at a different kind of Chinese restaurant - Sichuan. The Sichuan province is known for spicy food (people in the States call it Szechwan). Remember back to our first Chinese restaurant experience? When the kids refused to eat much at all? That is not the case now! They tried all kinds of things. All of the kids really like a lot more vegetables than they used to eat in the States. I have been SO impressed with how they have branched out in what they will eat and after only 3 months of living in China! Josh, our formerly picky guy, has found that he really likes the meat in China. 

Josh kept calling these "meat lollipops" (He ate 2 of them!)

After lunch, we decided to try taking the bus back from the other side of the city. The kids were particularly excited because we got to ride in the top of a double-decker bus. They were troupers for the 50+ minute bus ride. Towards the end of the ride Tori was getting restless so we read a book together. I ended up reading to more than just Tori . . .

Waiting for the bus