Play, Park and Parenthood 101!

I am getting behind on my blogging but will attempt an update while Sean tries to get Miss Cadence down for her nap! This may take more than one entry as I have quite a few pics I'd like to share. I have to say, I am getting extremely frustrated with my camera ... there is such a delay in the shot that I am missing her most cutest expressions ... guess you'll just have to meet her in person! Anyway as I was saying ....

Yesterday started like any other ... Cadence slept almost until 8:00. She had playtime with us on the bed, a bottle and some cereal and then Sean and I took her for a play date with a few of the other girls ...

We then settled her in for her daily 11-1 nap ... like clock work ...

Although her sleep routine seems to be great from the outside there are some ... issues! Our girl sleeps well ... once you actually GET her to sleep! She must spend 15 to 20 minutes being absolutely silly ... she rolls from side to side and shimmies all over the bed, squeals and giggles, throws herself around ... I tell you, it is bloody exhausting! No wonder Sean and I are in bed with her at 8:00!
After nap time, our group headed to a park located at the highest point in Chongqing and climbed the stairs to the top of the pagoda.

Following that we toured a little museum about the Yangtze River and the 3 gorges ... very interesting ... REALLY! A dam is almost at its completion which will cause the river to rise substantially, thus submerging hundreds of thousands of homes, forcing local people to emmigrate. This is set to occur in 2009. To end our excursion we visited an authentic tea house where we learned how to prepare the perfect cup of chinese tea and enjoyed sampling 3 different types of tea.

One would think our little sichuan peanut would be tired after a day out ... not our girl ... she insisted on taking a little walk ...

Now to tell you about meal time ... oh how I wish I had captured this on video! Truly it was a sight to behold! Sean had Cadence on her lap while I 'attempted' to feed her some cereal and a jar of chicken. Sounds easy ... and it has been ... up until this point! I would put a spoonful in her mouth, she would grab the spoon (holding on for dear life) until I let go, then wait until I got the second spoon and proceed to throw her spoon. This pattern repeated itself over and over and over. There was chicken and cereal EVERYWHERE!!! Sean actually had to take a shower afterward. And then, my dear sweet happy girl became absolutely miserable!!! Nothing soothed her and I figured this was it ... the delayed grieving. Well, after a short bout tears ('cause I do hate to see her so upset!) I decided I'd try a bottle ... well, that did the trick ... I was starving the poor little soul!!! She is good in that she stops eating when she is full, even if there is still formula in her bottle so I guess I'll be sure to always have one on deck ... that AND cheerios!