Nope, Did Not Forget About You

Wow! It has been a long time since I last posted. Sorry!

In the last 2+ months, our family has logged almost 70,000 miles between the US and China. Yikes! Here is a quick run down on what we have been up to:

*The entire Klug Family returned to the US at the end of May, including our favorite furry guy, Truffle. We were so thankful to be "home" after the earthquake in Sizhuan (600 miles away from Shanghai) and the child virus (E71) that was accompanying Hand Foot Mouth Disease in children in China and proving deadly especially to those under 2. Tyler confirmed our decision to return home a few weeks early by splitting his forehead open 3 nights before we left. Thanks to the medical advice we received from Tyna and Barbie, we went to the ER and were thrilled to find Dermabond!!!

*Peter and I returned (separately) to China and coordinated the shipment and check out of the Klug Shangri-La. Thanks to all of our guests. Hope you had a great time and I am certain that our next accomodations will not be anything like that house.

*Peter and I returned to the US late June (together) and were able to celebrate the 4th of July American style. Happy note, I did not go into labor over the Pacific!!

*Sadly, Peter is traveling back and forth between the US and Shanghai until the end of September however he is living us in great hands family wise and medically. While we miss having Daddy around (for a month!!!) he is taking one for the team and keeping the family in the safest situation all around (Shanghai heat and humidity for Truf, yucky illnesses for Ty, and delivery in Shanghai during the Olympics). We are looking forward to his return for the arrival of Baby Klug 2.0. It will be a great relief to have him stateside again as well as be able to delivery this little one in an english speaking hospital.

Here are a few pics from the last few months. Hope you enjoy!

Last days in Shanghai. Thanks for the memories! We are forever changed by our time in China with you!

In the US, Ty brushing his teeth--and drinking tap water

Quality family time

Someone started swim lessons...he actually liked it a lot more after this was shot. Especially the water slide and sucker at the end. Two new experiences :)

Ty's current favorites are: Hortie (Horton Hears a Who), Elmo, Dora, Mickey Mouse, and Nemo. The US has amazing ads. He especially loves "reading" ToysRus ads for 30 min at a time. Perfect for the car!

Pete, we love and miss you!! Counting the minutes until your return next month!
(P.S. You will not be allowed in the country unless you bring a few copies of Hortie! Okay, maybe you will be, but PLEASE save me.)

When Daddy's Away The Boys Will Play

Peter is having a great time reconnecting with lots of our IMD friends and I am enjoying some one on one time with my little men.

The Boys have been quite a handful. Ty is in a very rebellious stage and that coupled with 4 teeth that have recently brokeb through the gum line makes for a, um, treat. Today I tried a new tactic: Tylenol and lots of creative time.

After breakfast Tyler painted

Thankfully these were sent by my Mom from the US so I know they aren't toxic since he loved sucking on the paint.

I swear he has not seen the Batman movie with the Joker in it. Although this might be a good audition photo in about 20 years.

After a 4 hour nap, Tyler and I went to the park and then decided to fill up half of our sandbox with water. Fun, fun, fun!!!!!! Tyler was covered head to toe with sand and water--we went straight to the bath.

Sorry I did not rotate this one. Lack of sleep I guess.

Here is Truf taking it easy. He is always on pookie patrol when Pete's away. He needed some rest as we awoke at 6 am to our security guards telling us we had had 2 alarms during the night and are we having a problem. Yeah, not so much fun particularly considering about a year ago we had an intruder at 2 am and trying to figure out what is going on is definitely hindered if you do not speak Mandarin.

After all of the excitement of the very, very long day I was thrilled when Tyler decided he loved his Mommy again and snuggled for almost a whole DVD, "Chicken Little," without trying to power drive me from the top rope of our sofa. He even gave me his blanket that he seems to now be rather attached to. As I finish up this post, my little guy is snugged up against me and keeping me warm. This is nice because he is the one who turned on the AC because he was hot in his jammies.

The last few days have certainly been a rollercoaster. Snugging with the mini version of Peter --well except for the adorable curls-- made it worth it and also reminded me how much we miss the Daddy of the family. Can't wait to have you back!! In the meantime, you never know what crazy things I am going to resort to in order keep these boys happy :) WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Happy May Day---We Miss You Pete!!

Happy May Day!! I hope you are all starting to feel a bit of spring weather in your part of the world.

Tyler, Truffle and I have been hanging out since Peter left last night for IMD Reunions in Belgrade, Serbia. It will take him about 18 hours+ to get there and he is currently in Munich. Even though he is still in the Munich Airport he is loving life: "the creamiest cappuccinos," pain au chocolat, beer, clean air...lucky guy!

We started our day with some finger paint and bubble blowing outside. The guys definitely know their daddy is away and are putting me through my paces. I figure this will be great practice for when I am home alone with them back in WI while Peter travels between China 2-3 weeks at a time. Having done this before we moved to Shanghai, it certainly is different now with a very mobile and opinionated toddler. I am hoping we will not have any rain as our yard is very helpful in getting Tyler's squirreliness out.

Since I am the keeper the all of our family photos I thought it would be nice for you and Peter to see what we have been up to. I have also uploaded over 125 pictures from spring in Shanghai and vacation in Malaysia.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/heather.klug/Spring200802

**You can also access all of my Picasa photo albums by clicking on the link on main page of my blog

Enjoy!

Heather

Pete, Missing you love! Have a fantastic time and say hi to our IMD Family for us. We will be counting the minutes until you are back home with us.

Spring Break

At last! Peter was able to break away for some much needed vacation. After trying to book numerous locations and being unable due to security risks or attacks (seriously) we set out for Langkawi, Malaysia.

A relatively short 6 hours away from Shanghai felt like a million miles. We arrived to find a jungle of lush, green trees and plants and tons of clean, clear water. The weather was in the 90s and very, very humid.

It was wonderful to eat all of the fresh fruit and food, drink the water and not be concerned about the safety of doing so. Tyler LOVED the water and could be found playing in it or drink it all the time. I am certain he enjoyed not hearing Peter and I gasp and redirect his attention when he tried to drink pool or bath water. There was no random green or brown "stuff" to be found in the water. Ty even took a few swigs of the sea water, although I think he was not to found of it. He quickly learned how to spit streams of water as well as blow bubbles. We will definitely be enrolling him in swim lessons as soon as we return to the US.

We had a few days of great wind so Peter took out a Hobie twice

Ty is definitely proved that he is related to me, my little man is a water baby! I could not be happier!

Peter and I ditched Ty with a babysitter a few times and enjoyed some kid less moments at the spa as well as a romantic tent dinner on the beach. We timed it just as the sun was setting. Peter's favorite time of day. There were slight sprinkles which cooled the air a bit to make it a perfect night. Peter said many times that Langkawi "Rejuvenated my soul."

Our Crazy Man!

Tyler is feeling much more like himself.

Loves to spin and it is a whole body spin

Some Tylerisms/Updates:

~"Lellow" is the first color he learned (must have been all the Coldplay I listened to while he was developing)

~"Meeno" can either mean DVD, kid's show, or his favorite movie, "Finding Nemo." (Hey, we had a 15 hour flight. Nemo was a lifesaver!!!!)

~Loves to make blowing up sounds...must be a boy

~With a little prompting he can put 3 words together. Favorite phrase: "More please, MOMMY!"

~Lately he has started to tell us he is ready for a nap or bed by crawling up the stairs to put himself to sleep. (Read: Bad parents...don't you know I need to recharge?)

~Loves to paint, color, blow bubbles after taste testing all of the supplies

~"Jigga" was his first Chinese word. It took Peter and I a few weeks to figure out what he was saying. He now knows a few more than we do.

~Kid has no fear and can be found doing sommersaults off the couch arm rests onto the floor below. I have wisely padded the marble as much as possible to cushion his fall.

~New trick yesterday, sneaking up to Truffle, petting him, and then trying to ride him!! Oh my!

Tyler and Daddy took a break from building his police car. Yup, he can climb pretty much anything he would like to. Crazy, little monkey! Thankfully, he has my balance.

A special shout out to Granddaddy. Who knew Tyler liked golf icons? Just need the bridge.

I have a secret.....

"Hi, I am Baby Klug 2.0, Shanghai Edition. Can you guess if I am boy or a girl? I won't tell...well, that is not true. I was very cooperative last week but my Mommy and Daddy want a "surprise." I know! Crazy people! Don't they know, you want to know! See you in a few months."

**We were thrilled to hear and see that all is well with our Shanghai Edition. All of the parts are accounted for and in working order. I am hopeful that this one will not begin to trend large like their big brother. Peter was blown away at the detail they can provide since he was not able to be there at Tyler's big scan. He caught it all on video. If we can figure out how to get it to the US, perhaps you can guess the gender.

Happy Easter!

We had a great, sunny Easter Day in Shanghai. The wind was blowing and about 60 degrees. Enjoyed a nice brunch at Jean Georges with Tyler. Actually, it was too nice.

Ty was really mellow and would not eat much nor drink his OJ. As we found out later in the afternoon, Ty was fighting a fever of 103.4! Since he had not eaten anything in 24 hours and was not racing around like a tornado as usual we decided to ensure that our thermometer was correct and take him to the ER. The DR was very unimpressive, not that we expected them to do anything. Best news of all, the Tylenol drops, that I imported tons of, worked like a charm!! The fever dropped about 3.5 degrees in 2 hours. Nice to know that Tylenol is good for more than just teething pain. Up until now that is about all we have used it for since Ty (Thankfully!) has been unbelievably healthy.

Truffle had his coat trimmed up about a week ago in preparation for his return to the US (do I hear applause 7,000 miles away?). The groomer took off about 4 inches all around leaving him with 3 inches or so. He loves his new 'do, feels like a younger version of himself. I LOVE the softness of his coat. Cannot pet the guy enough, which he soaks up like a champ.

Missing you all! Don't miss the snow though :)

Winter Wonderland --In China!

Winter has definitely hit Shanghai. Last week we had snow all weekend and it is starting again today and will continue all of this weekend. Granted we are only talking a few inches (nothing like WI has had) yet people here have not had this much snow in 50+ years.

On a happy note, we have enjoyed playing in the snow. Having not expected snow here, poor Ty gets to wear a mix of anything we can find to keep him dry and warm. He loves it which bodes well for all the snow back home! Here are some pics from our snowy neighborhood. I did not capture it at the height of the accumulation but maybe I will get more of a chance this weekend.

You may have seen the pictures on the news of 500,000+ people stranded at one train station while trying to make it home for Chinese New Year on Feb. 6-8. For China's massive migrant population this is the one time of the year parents see their child or families. It is heartbreaking to see their hopes dashed by the weather. The country is really taking a huge blow with the transportation systems being shut down. People are stranded on the highways and in train & bus stations, food supply lines are cut and prices are skyrocketing, crops are frozen, and many people who live in shacks are freezing cold. International companies are unable to get supplies in and their products out so the rest of the world will soon feel the affects of the storms with delayed shipments and higher prices.

Some of the train lines are up and running again but the mass of people are facing stampedes for the buses and trains to get out. Shovels are hard to come by so workers are sweeping the streets and bikes are pushing flat blades to try to move the snow. When you figure in the fact that people here rarely see snow, much less drive in it, and add in the number of cars on the roads in Shanghai it is almost impossible to go places during the snow. In fact, Tyler and I were home bound for most of the week out concern of getting into an accident. The concerns were validated when I read the paper on Wednesday. On a four lane "highway" a mile or so away from our house, 2 men were killed when the company bus they were riding on flipped over. Twenty more were injured.

Our dear friend and driver's wife was stranded with their son at the airport for over 24 hours. Much of the time was spent in the plane. Yikes! They made it to their destination but are heading back Saturday when it is supposed to snow.

Luckily, one of Peter's coworkers made it back to WI so we now know they have the capability to de-ice planes at Pudong airport. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather here and in Chicago next Tuesday will enable us to return home for a quick visit!

The snow certainly reminds us of home, yet it is bittersweet in China.

See many of you soon!

Christmas In Shanghai

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!

We were very fortunate to have my mother staying with us over the holidays. We started our day with some presents around our small tree. Peter made Poffertjes (Dutch quarter-sized pancakes), YUM! Late in the afternoon our Dutch friends Reink and Susan along with their daughter, Rosalie, and Reink's parents joined us for Christmas Dinner. Ahh the TURKEY!!!!!!!! Delicious! We were taking no chances on missing out on mashed potatoes again so we made garlic mashers and butter ones for the little people. Great food, friends, and family made the day extra special.

Even though we are far away from many of you that we love, you were thought of often today, and every day. We wish you a very merry Christmas and hope that you have the chance to enjoy the time with family and friends. We miss you!

With love,

Peter, Heather, Tyler & Truffle

PS. We head off to Tokyo tomorrow for a great visit with my Mom's AFS Exhange Student from high school, Keiko and Peter's IMD classmate, Satoshi. We will update the blog with more pictures on New Years.

Playoff Bound!!

What a game! We were lucky enough to watch Sunday's game against the Raiders where the Packers secured a Playoff spot. Peter's parents are nearing the end of their trip so it was great to celebrate a win after last weeks loss. We were all decked out in our Green and Gold finery Peter insists that wearing our support helps.

Here are a few shots of Ty in some of his Packer gear.

Ty's Grammy and Granddaddy brought 2 suitcases full of treats for us...thank you! Ty was quick to find the Packer Santa hat for his Daddy.

One of my favorite "rituals" during the game is grooming Truffle. Clearly, I need to find a new hiding spot for the brushes as Tyler brushing Truffle would not be a good thing.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is the second Thanksgiving in a row that we have been outside the US. While we miss our family tremendously, we have enjoyed experiencing Thanksgiving with our new family and friends. One of our favorite memories from the craziness that was IMD last year was the wonderful Thanksgiving we shared with our American IMD family.

This year, Peter worked again while I had my Dutch friend Susan and her daughter Rosalie over during the day. At night, we had the good fortune to share dinner with our good friends Grace (from MI) and her husband Jean Pierre (French). Times such as holidays make one miss ones' family and greatly appreciate the relationships and friendships you have be fortunate enough to establish. Ty was in a crazy active mood tonight so I did not get a picture of the 5 of us, however taking a note from Peter's Mom, I was smart enough to capture our family dressed (yes, I wore a dress) for Thanksgiving.

We miss you all and hope you have a wonderful and enriching holiday season. Enjoy each other's company ---and the fantastic food. We are thinking of you all! A special shout out to Heidi & Ken, hope you found some turkey! Wish we were sharing Heidi's great Southern cooking with you again this year!! Ty is sharing some hugs...

~Hugs and kisses from Shanghai,

Peter, Heather, Tyler & Truffle

New Web Album Added

Finally had a chance to upload a Fall web album to Picasa. Tons of pictures of Tyler, and some of the rest of us, from the last 2 months.

Halloween
Trips to Beijing and Xian
Shanghai Sights
Grandma and Grandpa Hansen Visit

Hope you enjoy!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/heather.klug/Fall2007

Wishing We Were There!

The Portland crew (my brother Bob, his lovely wife Julie, and their 5 energetic and fun boys) are making the trek back to WI this week for a jammed pack week of fun with all of the family back home. We are hoping for a safe trip and a fantastic time for you all. Please send pics!

Ty dreaming of hanging with all those cousins!

Hugs & Kisses XOXOXO

Fall Fun with T2!

We have been taking advantage of the beautiful autumnal weather we have had...high 60s. The skies have been blue, filled with billowy clouds.

The boys and I have been enjoying some time running in the yard. A few days ago, Ty and Truffle discovered a sprinkler in our yard and squeeled and ran for cover when sprayed. Tyler is getting great at going up and down the steps of our patio as well as opening the folding screen door AND the gate to our yard. Oh joy! Time to teach Truf to herd his little lamb back inside.

It truly is a joy to see the love and friendship they have from one another. Truffle is so kind and tolerant of Tyler when he takes his toys or bones away. Ty often falls over when Truf bursts by. They love to share balls, snuggle and "wrestle" on the rug, and play tug of war with plastic bottles. The lonely days come a little more often here yet with these guys it is hard not to smile.

Soapbox: Protect Our Basic Freedoms; Support Our Troops

***There is an extended version of this available via e-mail with more details of what restrictions we face or have noticed personally. Let me know if you'd like it sent to you. The fact that I do not feel comfortable posting it should reinforce the fact that we do not enjoy the freedoms many of you have.

In our house, we are definitely divided on why/where our troops are deployed currently. One thing that is safe to say is that we full heartedly support the individual people and appreciate their commitment to our country and safe guarding of our freedoms as a whole.

Living in a place where our "basic" freedoms of speech are impeded upon daily truly makes one reflect on those freedoms we have taken for granted for many years. Case in point, I just tried to access a US.gov site on the Bill of Rights and it is blocked. I did find it here (thank you Google!): http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html

Recently, I was watching "The View" and the widow of Peter Jennings was on to promote a book about her late husband. She mentioned that Peter always carried a copy of the US Constitution with him. Interesting as Peter was Canadian until the early 2000s. When was the last time you reviewed our Constitution or Bill of Rights?

I received an e-mail with a link to send a free postcard to our troops. The effort is sponsored by Xerox, Manpower, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and many others. Kids created beautiful drawings to show their support. Please take a moment to send a card. Regardless of your view point of our current situation, our troops protect us, and our basic freedoms daily and have done so for centuries.

Rights do not come for free, it is our responsibility to support those who lay their lives, and those of the families that love them, on the line. Let's show them our respect and appreciation this holiday season!

Beijing and Beyond!

We have been enjoying having my dad and his wife visit us from Madison. This past weekend we left Shanghai for the city of Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors and Cave Dwellers and then to Beijing to tour Tian'an Men Square, the Forbidden City (home of the Chinese emperors), Summer Palace, Hutongs (courtyard housing for multiple families), and the Great Wall. All were a site to see!

Xi'an was very impressive with 1000s of soldiers found in a number of underground tombs. The scale was amazing, almost as much as the detail on the individual warriors. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate too much for us as we were met with heavy rain and weather in the 40s to 50s. The Cave Dwellers were a rare treat as there is only one man who is granted access to this neat world. The caves are dug out of clay rather than in the sides of mountains. You will have to see the pictures...which I promise to post in the coming days.

Ty catching a snooze while visiting the Terracotta Warriors


Our trip to Beijing started with a visit to the Great Wall. The weather again hampered us a bit with its howling winds and cold temps, but we enjoyed the overwhelming beauty. In order to easy scale the mountain, we rode in plastic "bob sleds" up and then down for the return trip. Once up we were able to climb, and I mean climb, the wall. I am really pleased we went on an off day as there were still thousands of people there. The view is amazing and definitely a must do. As Peter commented numerous times, "I have waited 9 months for natural beauty in China." Well the Wall is not natural, but the surrounding rolling mountains, and trees and hills did not disappoint. This is now a must see on the Klug tour and we are excited to take Peter's parents there when they visit us this month.


We were further impressed by the hutongs and the great palaces and imperial cities that Beijing offers. These great treasures are astounding and take excess to a new level.

We are now back in Shanghai and will explore a few more places with our guests. Our trip to Beijing is definitely a highlight. One we hope to share with many more visitors...hint, hint.