Minnesota - 1st week

Can't believe I have not posted a blog since Halloween. Slack Mama! It just underscores how incredibly busy we have been with this "holiday season". November was a bumper social month starting with two book clubs and ending with Thanksgiving Dinner with three special guests from a US Naval Ship. Then December was all about getting to Minnesota. And now we're here!

Katy was a total star on the trip. She travelled really well, especially considering that she does not find it easy to sleep sometimes.

We even found an eager babysitter in Johanna, aged 6, who was returning to live in Minnesota after several years in Guangzhou. Katy loved her!

The only issue is that although still young enough not to require a separate seat, she is a little too big to find a comfortable spot to sleep on Mama or Dada. Definitely Mama was totally inadequate as a mattress so poor Dada had to do the heavy lifting literally in terms of holding Katy in a comfortable position.

Highlights of our first week were:

* seeing Nana and Grandpa again and exploring their house, including all the awesome Christmas decorations (added Baby G (Baby Jesus), Man (Snowman), San (Santa), Merry Christmas and Ho Ho Ho to her vocabulary, and now knows what an angel and Christmas tree are)

* playing with cousins Sam, Kevin and Ella, and Uncle Chad and Auntie Susie again (Katy's face just lights up when she sees her cousins and she giggles and cavorts so happily with them)

Here is Katy with Cousin Sam (Katy declares that "San Nice")

with Grandpa and Cousins Sam and Kevin
with Uncle Chad and Cousin Kevin

* first neighbourhood Christmas party (at the Weinzirls'), where Katy stole the show and charmed the locals, and tasted her first Gingerbread and hot buttered rum...

* first sled ride

* first time choosing and cutting a real live Christmas tree

* first sled ride out downhill (out the back of the house)and first snow angel (with Nana!)

* discovering high salt and high sugar American food...it's been really difficult finding low salt and low sugar healthy snacks for Katy and she has already had one sugar coma after we accidentally gave her a really sweet breakfast cereal as a snack thinking it was not too bad...and she LOVES saltines, which are a lot saltier here than they are in Hong Kong!!!

Here is Katy in a sugar coma, shovelling Golden Puffs into her mouth while sleeping in the car seat...truly hilarious (and frightening!)...Mommy and Daddy misread the labels and thought this was healthy cereal...