China Day 10: Hannah's Birthday!

Today was a very special day since Hannah turned 2 today!  We went to a Christian church here on the island this morning.  It was in Mandarin and English, so we were able to follow along.  We sang a song a couple of times that went "We are the body of Christ."  It was touching to be halfway across the world worshiping with other believers.  It was similar to our service, with several songs, prayer, and a sermon.  There was also a testimony at the end of the service.  It lasted about an hour, and Hannah did pretty well.  No one seemed to mind her occasional loud noises, so that was good.  The church was completely packed with a mix of both Chinese and foreigners. 

This afternoon we went shopping at the jade, pearl, and silk markets.  We hired a lady to help us and she was able to get great prices for us.  We had so much fun, but I'm sure Jason's exhausted from carrying Liuxia around for 3 hours!  Everywhere we go people comment on how beautiful Liuxia is.  We agree!  We took a taxi a couple of different times, and it only cost between 10 and 13 yuan each time, which is about $1.50-$2!  After we got back, we went out to dinner.  It's too bad we aren't seafood eaters because I'm sure it's delicious here.  It's so fresh that the fish are literally swimming in the tank until you order your food!  They also had frogs, toads, and eels for sale, apparently to eat!  We passed on that and stuck with chicken and beef.  After dinner Hannah had her first ice cream cone.  She wasn't sure about ice cream when we tried it a couple of days ago, but this time she loved it and got really messy eating it!  When we got back we gave her a few presents.  Everything is new to her, so I'm sure it seemed like just another day, but we wanted to try to make it special by giving her some new toys.  We had some people tell her happy birthday in Mandarin, but we don't know if she understands what a birthday is yet. 

We aren't hearing Hannah talk much yet, but she does a lot of baby babble.  The only word we hear her use consistently is "aiyo" which means "gosh" in her local dialect.  She also says "ker" whenever she wants something opened (like a bottle or a window); "ker" sounds close to "kai" which is the Mandarin word for "open" (perhaps in her local dialect is it "ker"... we don't know).  She also says "mama" and "baba" sometimes (especially when mama is out of sight, which she doesn't like).  Right now she communicates through grunting and crying, so we're hoping she can learn some words soon.  We did notice her shake her head no a couple of times today, so she's starting to communicate that way and we think she's beginning to understand some of what we're saying. 

Picture captions:
Hannah being silly wearing a shower cap!
Beautiful birthday girl
Laughing
Pretty girl
With Daddy at the pearl market
Mommy trying on Jade bracelets (this guy was forcing it on my hand-I thought it was going to break!)
Special pineapple drink
Restaurant we ate at-it is a really pretty setting outside with lots of lanterns
Hannah doesn't like to touch her food and is very creative about eating without her hands
Ice cream face
Opening birthday presents
Trying on her new hat (it didn't stay on her head long!)
Happy girl