5 months in

This morning Dean woke at 5:30 a.m. ready to play. After trying a few unsuccessful techniques to coax him back to sleep, we decided instead to head to the roof of our building to watch the sun rise over Hong Kong island. Check it out!

Thank goodness for timers on cameras so we could catch this rare family shot.

The little guy is officially 14 months old now and looking much less like a baby every day. Last night I put shoes on him (another rare occasion) and we went out for a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant called Grisinis. He stuffed his cheeks with bread sticks and cheese gnocchi, my new favorite dish to eat there.

Today marks five months since we departed Atlanta bound for Shenzhen. We’ve come a long way, baby, in so many ways. I’m excited I can now post pictures to this blog, and I’ve got to get some of it out of my system. Here are several fun photos representing a few highlights we’ve experienced in China since moving here in April of this year:

4/14/10 Arriving at the Kempinski Hotel exhausted and ready for bed, Dean was immediately snatched into the arms of the woman who checked us in. She was giddy with excitement to hold him.

A few days later visiting Hung Fa Temple, we felt like celebrities when swarmed by Asians eager to have their photo taken with a foreigner baby. I reported previously that Dean received his first kiss from Tamar, an adorable Columbian baby girl who lives in our complex, but I forgot about the complete stranger in this photo that kissed him on the lips! We're really stockpiling juicy stories to tell future girlfriends.

In May, Brian and Will visited us and helped Matt tackle full-time dad duty while I was on a business trip. They were our first visitors, and since we didn't know much yet about the area where we lived, they explored a ton of new places on foot. Here they are taking in the view from our balcony.

On the aforementioned business trip I attempted to eat a duck foot. I consider myself very adventurous when it comes to food, but this was over the top. I turned the photo to black and white so you can’t see how green I am. I managed to chew it, but it refused to go down my throat and instead ended up in my napkin.

Also in May, we hired Ms. Yiao, Dean’s Ayi, with help from my coworkers since she doesn’t speak any English, only Mandarin Chinese. We discovered new ways to communicate, like Google Translator and a constant game of charades. She's working out great.

In June, Matt bought a scooter and became a little more mobile around the city.
And Mom and Dad Adgate visited for 2 weeks.

In July, we took a wonderful but quick trip to Atlanta for 2 weeks. We celebrated Dean’s 1^st birthday...

and then it was on a plane again, and we settled back into life in Shenzhen.

August was all about work for Emily, but towards the end there was some relief. Diana traveled to Shenzhen for work and stayed with us for a few entertaining days afterwards. Here we are posing with a candy maker in Splendid China, a fun place Matt and I discovered on our first trip to China together in 2009.

Two days after Diana left, Kim arrived in Hong Kong for work and stayed with us for a week afterwards. This is a shot of Kim and Matt in a cable car on their way to see the world's largest outdoor statue of Buddha.
Here we are in Kim’s hotel lobby, the amazing Kowloon Shangri-La.

And that pretty much brings us up to speed, since Kim headed home last Monday. I can’t wait to find out what adventures the next 5 months will bring us.