Adventures By Design

Hi everyone! It’s that time of year again when we come to Canada and have a mad month or so of intense visiting. This year we’re planning on going to Ontario to introduce Aria to Gin’s clan. Other than that, we’ll be in Vancouver, Kamloops, and Calgary. Unfortunately, this year we have to be back at school in early August (!?), so it will be a shorter visit than we’d like.

Here are our (tentative) plans for this summer. (You might have to click on the arrows to find the month you want.)

On Sunday October 25, 2009 at 9:46pm Aria Marie LaMonte-Bird was born (pronounced AH-ria, not AIR-ria). She came into the world weighing 3.3 kg (7 lb 4 oz) and measuring 52 cm (20.5 inches). She’s healthy, hungry, and seems have inherited her father’s curly hair (although hers is black), and her mother’s Cupid’s bow lips. Gin’s exhausted, contemplative, and tranquil. So far we’ve just been resting, learning more about each other, and getting used to the idea that our family has grown.

Dr. Jia and the staff at the hospital here in Shanghai have been very kind and supportive. We feel especially grateful to our midwife Anne for her knowledge, compassion, and caring support. Thank you also to Ryan and Maggie, Zhou ayi, and Anne’s husband for their help getting our clothes and baby supplies from Suzhou to Shanghai, as well as to Mark and Lyndal, and Eileen and Andrew for taking care of our dog Inca while we’re away.

We’ll add more details to our blog, including photos, as soon as we can.

Ric, Gin, and Aria
http://lamonte-bird.com/tag/aria/

This is an atlas of all the places I’ve lived, worked, and gone to school.

(still a work in progress)

View Homes in a larger map

… and Quynne and Madoc too!

It’s been a busy couple of days. We’ve been trying to get our apartment marginally organized before the painters come, and packing and preparing for our trip to Canada.

Inca isn’t coming with us to Canada this time.

Inspired by Janet’s month of blogging, we thought we’d try it too. We’ve been thinking about how we will keep in touch with friends and family around the world, especially as our family grows. We see using our blog as one way of communicating, and a more frequent (and scheduled?) use of Skype as another.

So, welcome to a month of blogging.