It has been a long long time...

Hello, everybody, it has been a long long time since we last saw each other, right here, on the Blogspot. The Orton family (Jonathan, Jenny and Kai) didn't mean to do that, but we couldn't help - Either Blogspot or Facebook "happened" not to function in China. But you know for sure, we have been missing you a lot. You see, as soon as we've got a chance, we tried to catch up.

From the photo below you may notice how much Kai has changed since April, when I last updated Kai's blog.



Kai hasn't only got the appearance of a proper young boy, he's also got the attitude.

Below is an extract from our 2009 Report to the family in the UK.

"Kai began walking unaided just before his first birthday and quickly found that was far too slow so moved on to running. He is very active and insists on going out and about every day.

Since August Kai has been attending a local nursery for 2 hours per day, 5 days a week, which he enjoys very much. We think he will start full-time from next summer.

The swimming pool of our estate is open from spring to autumn and Kai enjoyed splashing and wading around in the children's pool. He's not yet ready to learn to swim but hopefully in the next couple of years.

He seems to be a bright boy (he even had an IQ test at his nursery to prove it!) and is learning to speak both Chinese and English, with very good pronunciation for most words. Chinese is dominant since that is what he hears for the majority of the time, but quite a lot of words he knows in both languages.

Kai's favourite activities
Drawing (or scribbling, more precisely)

Galloping around like a horse
Looking at books
Riding up and down escalators(and making impression of others, especially his Daddy)

Watching DVDs
Climbing
Wearing other people's shoes
Singing and dancing("Twinkle twinkle little star" is Kai's favorite song. He can sing in both languages, but strangely he is only willing to dance to the Chinese version)

Playing on slides
Making himself dizzy

Kai's favourite food and drink
Formula milk
Cow's milk
Soya milk
Yoghurt
Ice cold beer (Yes, I am serious. Pretty much like a typical English man, right?)

Raisins
Most fruits
Cereals
Rice
Bread
Noodles
Dumplings
Fish
Most meats
And of course anything sweet
(Unfortunately he doesn't like most of the green veg at the moment, he may decide to like it again later though.)

Misshaps of the year
1. Fell off the bridge and into the pond in our communal gardens
2. Pushed the glass cover of a tabletop off and smashed it
3. Broke a Ming Dynasty flower pot in a restaurant (pretty sure it was fake though)"

PS: I did miss writing Kai's blog. It's nice to keep track of his growth. I think I will find somewhere else to accommodate Kai's World. Hopefully we will see you again soon.

professional photos again

Kai had some professional photos taken (AGAIN, Mum) when he was around one year old. I thought it was quite nice to have some nice photos, but Jonathan didn't quite agree on it, when it came to the cost of it.

The photos were taken in the park near our home.



















I think that's the end of spending money on Kai's professional photos, so the next, Mum needs to continue learning taking good photos.

P.S. It's a quite big market of kids' photography in China. The parents are willing to pay money to have professional photos done when their children are 3 months old, 1 year old, and when they are a bit older. Some parents even take the children to photo studio every year.

Earth hour 2009

During Earth Hour 2009 Kai was playing basketball with a 4-year-old boy in the lobby of our block.

We planned to go out, but it was raining, so we decided to stay in the lobby. Kai was lucky enough to meet a boy playing basketball there and he was very happy to join the boy.







The boy's father was so kind to lower the basketball stand for Kai, so Kai scored several goals on his own.



We didn't completely avoid using electricity, but trying to use less energy was the aim of the campaign, and most importly, Kai had a lot of fun during the hour!

a fun day in the countryside

Kai, Jonathan and I, and hundreds of Jonathan's colleagues, had a fun day in the countryside.



It's a peaceful natural park with some activities. We started with planting trees in groups. On the way to the site, Kai had a lot of fun walking with his new friends - Kai was popular among Jonathan's young female colleagues.



We were among the first groups who arrived the site - half way up the hillside. The hole to put trees in were pre-digged, and the only things we needed to do were: putting the young tree in, covering it with soil, and watering it, that's all done!



When our group finished, there were still loads of people getting onto the hillside to plant their trees.



Everyone seemed to enjoy planting trees - they don't normally get the chance in the city. After about 2 hours all the people were ready to leave the planted trees behind and marsh to the restaurant, which was several mountains away. It was really tricky to get there with all these obstacles:









The last obstacle was a very long, completely dark tunnel. It was so dark inside that we had to use mobile light to see a bit better, not really very child friendly though. But Kai was brave enough to go through it in mum's arms, without crying.



When we got out, the scenery was spectacular, although a bit foggy.





But that was not the end of the journey, we still needed to walk up and down, up and down hills, before we could sit down and eat. Look, what Kai has found on the top of a hill: a neglected swing!



Finally we arrived at the restaurant,



it is an open restaurant beside a lovely field.




The food was in countryside style, but very delicious. We all enjoyed the lunch after the adventure.

The after-lunch was exciting too! The tug of war was the highlight of all activities for adults,



while the little ones found a special train ride more appealing.



That was the day full of fun and adventure.

P.S. The colleagues in China have more private contact than UK ones. They sometimes go on day trips or even short holidays together, and most of the trips are organized by companies. That's part of the benefits they get from the company.

The little model

I am trying to run an online business instead of going to a normal job.

Working from home is always something I would like to try. At the time when Jonathan's wage is enough for the whole family, I am tempted to give it a go. I started with selling Japanese style children's clothes on Taobao (a similar website to Ebay in China), and Kai is my model. I thought those funky clothes wouldn't suit Kai, but the result was to my surprise.













Kai was quite cooperative with his modelling job. He played happily in the park near our home while his mum was taking photos from some distance. The only thing which bothered him was that he had to constantly change clothes.

The online shop is open to the public, although it's not well decorated or not much selection yet. The first week of the opening wasn't bad at all - I sold 16 items, including 3 to the neighbours. The money I earned was not to mention, but I know the tiny business is going to grow.

P.S. If you have interest, here is my shop address to look into: http://shop57556011.taobao.com, and any suggestions are welcome! I will keep you informed with my little business.

the naughty toddler

Hide and seek, isn't unfamiliar to Kai. His favorate place is behind the wardrobe door, with his hands busily sorting Mum's clothes.



Kai thinks he is a big boy now, so he volunteerly took the responsiblity of sorting everyone's shoes as well, but he often forgot to put them all back into the cupboard.

Mum, look, I did a good job!

The wall paper under the window is off. Not Mum, not Dad, it must be Kai!

Push, push, push

Even before Kai could walk independently, he showed much interest in pushing things along the floor. The things can be a stool, a dust bin, a small chair, or even a big cot...









Even his own big heavy pushchair, he was trying to push, in different ways...





Those pushing activities built up his strong legs and arms, so as soon as Kai could walk on his own, he tried to push things even heavier, like pushing a doll, or a real baby, for example.