Whatever. I tried.

But then I decided that there could have been other variables at play. And that to blame coffee for a few skipped heartbeats was irrational and, well, unfair. After all, there was the altitude, the smog, the inescapable cigarette smoke, the stress of becoming a parent and flying for 17 hours with an unfamiliar two-year-old.

Plus it's really kinda hard to give up coffee.

Then I was having breakfast with some coffee drinking friends last weekend and that was hard. I don't really want to give up these friends, but if I'm going to give up coffee, it occurred to me that I'm going to have to stop seeing all coffee drinkers and stop spending time around coffee (for that matter, I'm going to have to avoid the really great smelling aisle at the grocery store). During breakfast, the waitress came around several times with a steaming hot, fresh, dark pot of the good stuff, offering a top-off, and I just sat there quietly with my tepid, pale cup of green ginger tea. It's the coffee culture I miss. Desperately.

Enough about me. I'm pathetic and weak. Right now I'm looking forward to falling asleep so that I can kill the next 7 or 8 hours until I can make myself some Tony's Fairhaven Dark Roast. Sad.

Nora Chun Lian is doing great. She's starting to give John and me unsolicited hugs and she always looks for us in new situations. She will often sit on my lap and hold my hand until she is comfortable about her environment. This bonding process has been so interesting for all of us; we are loving each other more and more every day. Nora's language is coming along really nicely and now, if I say "use your words," she always tries ("up" is perfect)! She says to me "one" and holds up her finger for "one minute" and then usually walks off into another room. She has taken to calling John by his first name--"Nahn!" she yells. It's hilarious. We are still asking friends and family not to hold her yet, although she rarely asks others to pick her up anymore. Oh, and I made congee for the first time. The first attempt was a big exploding disaster, but the second pot came out great (FYI, all you have to do is boil, then simmer 3/4 cup of rice and 9 cups of water for one hour. i.e. congee is NOT HARD to make--unless you go upstairs to check on your daughter and get sidetracked reading books for 40 minutes during the "boil" phase of the congee...bad, bad, bad).

Here are some cute kid shots:

She can play the harmonica!


She is very confused by playdoh, but likes the way it feels. The cornstarch and water mixture (not shown here) was a HUGE mess, but lots of fun.