We're not wearing rose-colored glasses...

This year we have more blooms on our rose bush than we ever had before we brought Louis home. When we moved into our house, my 96-year-old grandmother, whose name is Rose, generously sent us a gift to buy a rose bush for our yard. We thought this winter's horrible snows might have destroyed it. Instead we have had more roses, and more beautiful roses, than ever. I'm giving credit to my master gardeners who take care of all the watering, though I realize there is a greater power responsible for our bush's success.

Want to see our son's green thumb in action?

Surprisingly, only a few petals fell off during this watering. I do love this photo because it shows how seriously Louis takes his watering responsibilities.

That's Louis. If we don't assign him tasks, he assigns them to himself.

When his father fell asleep on the couch this afternoon, Louis whispered, "Baba, nap," and tiptoed around the room. When he came across his "B" name-train car, he carried it carefully over to the couch and placed it on top of Baba. B is for Baba, after all. He loves making connections between things in books and toys and life. (Forgive me if this is typical 2 1/2-year-old behavior. I don't read any of the books about child development, and everything Louis does is completely new and exciting to us.)

Louis also enjoys putting his stuffed animals to work. Here his stuffed panda (purchased in Guangzhou) is pushing his train.

Although Louis loves taking long naps during the week, on weekends he tends to make an exception and wakes up earlier so he can play with us. His nap today was short enough that we decided to walk to our local downtown to visit the train museum and caboose Louis asks for frequently.

We sat in the caboose...

...paused in front of the train station to ring the bell and rest for a very brief moment...

...and we were lucky enough to see a real, live train go by! Louis was enthralled.

Then we stopped for refreshment at a local shop owned by our friends before walking home.


This week Louis had the courtesy not to point out to the owner that a picture on the wall was crooked. His loud "uh-oh!" and pointed finger were a bit embarrassing on our last visit. ;)

Before his out-of-town cousins Paul, Mary, Gregory, and Julia headed home, we enjoyed a dinnertime picnic with them to celebrate their mom's/Aunt Maureen's birthday. When she asked me whether this was Louis's first picnic, I started to say yes, and then remembered two fabulous indoor picnics in China with our friends Cherie and Scott and their daughter, Melanie. We were so fortunate to meet such wonderful, lifelong friends on our trip to bring Louis home.

This picnic was a bit different from our picnics in Changsha and Guangzhou. For starters, Baba packed this one so we didn't have to tip any concierge to order Pizza Hut for us. But it was lots of fun and the children had a great time running around before and after the meal.

Here Louis has taken possession of the juice boxes his cousins brought.

Here he is hanging out with his cousin Mary, who is about eight months older than he is.

Here he is enjoying his Aunt Shai and Mary.

And here he and Mary are holding hands. They are really cute together and particularly sweet when there are no toys to worry about sharing.

The cousins have returned home, but they'll be back in a few weeks. Louis can hardly wait!