Well we are officially parents and it is pretty cool. The first night was pretty hard for Isabel. She was despondent and cried so hard that she cried herself to sleep, but even when she was asleep, she would sob once in awhile. But the beauty of children is their resiliency, by day three she is smiling and giggling and charming everyone she meets. She is a morning girl and wakes up happy. She is the biggest baby in the group, even though she is one of the youngest. Almost none of the clothes we brought for her fit. We are borrowing from people who have a smaller baby. We will need to go shopping for 18 month size clothes when we get back. She is fitting into 12 month size, but that won't last very long. She is so beautiful and a happy joyful child. We can't wait for you all to meet her.

We have heard from travel mates how cold the weather is in Minneapolis. We can't help but worry. I hope everything is ok with the house and the dogs. If anyone needed to get a message to us, you can post a message to this list; it won't be confidential, as everyone who is on this list would receive a copy of any e-mail sent to this address.

We are enjoying China, but we will be glad to be home too. It is hard to parent in a hotel, we bought formula and the instructions are in Chinese so I am not sure if we are mixing it right. Isabel isn't eating much and we are getting more creative in what we try to feed her. We have ventured out a little, but Changsha is not as western as Beijing and it is a free for all on the roads and walkways. There are no rules for traffic and it is almost impossible for a westerner to figure out when or how to cross the street. Well we gotta go, Isabel is getting a bit antsy. We will write again. Merry Christmas everyone.

Michelle and Brian and Isabel.


Back to stories page
Back to the main page

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.