One Year

Oh goodness sakes - what our lives looked like one year ago!

We lived in a charming little lane house in the French Concession of Shanghai. Our neighbors were entirely Chinese, and very few of them spoke any English at all. We could walk to some of the best restaurants in a restaurant city, as well as to the Metro, a little import grocery, and a fantastic vegetable lady. We went for walks through the lanes and under the plane trees. We spent a lot of time on our rooftop terrace. Dave and I shared a small bedroom across the house and up a spiral staircase from the girl's bedroom. They went to preschool right across the street, and came home right after lunch every day. Dave worked long hours, but his office was a simple 15 minute bike ride from the house so it all felt manageable. The old house was falling apart, with chunks of plaster sometimes dropping from the ceiling and onto the dinner table. But it was lovely. And it felt like home immediately.

The day that Annika was born, Lilly and Sophia spent with Erin and her daughter Jill. They went home from school the next day with Miriam and her daughter Amelie. Amelie and Jill were some of Lilly's favorite friends, and she still talks about them regularly. The girls loved baby Annika immediately. She was the peaceful baby we had all prayed for, and she fit into our family perfectly. She spent her first weeks walking around in the lovely Shanghai spring, and rarely leaving the baby carrier. We vacationed on the beaches of Sanya, and otherwise spent the summer at the pool a block away and enjoyed a simple life.

When she was about 10 weeks old, we learned of the possibility of moving to Shenzhen in south China. Only a few weeks later, we did move. She handled the transition gracefully - we wrapped her bassinet in old plastic bags and checked it as luggage so she could bring her bed with us to the hotel where we spent our first month. A flexible and happy girl, she walked her sisters to school and then napped in the gym while I burned off that extra weight.

Soon we moved into our house. Only a few minutes away from the school and now with an ayi who loved our little baby, little Annika fell into a routine and spent her mornings at home. She didn't have to wake up for the walk to school and she could eat and sleep when she liked, because an adult was always at home. Lilly and I found friends quickly and Annika's fan club grew

She came to the states for Christmas, and landed on American soil for the first time at 7 months old. Only 6 weeks later, spending the day at Disneyland in Hong Kong, we learned that we'd be coming back to the US with Daddy as a diplomat. She spent the next few weeks with ayi a lot - and ayi cried when she finally had to say good-bye. At 10 months old, our baby left her 2nd home and spent the next few months in transition.

One her 1st birthday today, she's living in a hotel in her 6th city. She's spending a lot of time in the car, ferrying her sister to preschool. She's loving playing in the grass and eating with her fingers. She's starting to walk, but has no need for talking. She's still that peaceful baby we prayed for, and she still fits perfectly into our family.