What a delight it is to have friends from far away!

We met Freeman and Maya in 2006 for the first time. He was our private tour guide in Xian, graciously teaching us about Chinese history, culture, food and everything local. We loved him instantly, Freeman is kind, patient and funny.

Duke Garden, Durham NC

At his university, where he has organized our accommodation, up on the wall was the title sentence, which has became one of my motto in life:
"What a delight it is to have friends from far away!"
 One night we went out, the four of us for a Snack or how in many places in China the signs say for snakes. :-) We laughed a lot and tried different "snakes". :-)

 In 2008, we met up again when we were in Hangzhou, this time he was already a teaching professor at the University of Hangzhou. We were friends and we truly enjoyed each others company, although we only see one other every couple of years.

 Finally, this year they came to visit us before they had back to China. We had an amazing couple of days and Lorent liked them almost instantly and Freeman became the one that was asked to dress, feed, follow Lorent. Maya was impressed with Ocean and I believe as soon as they arrive home they will have a dog. :-)  My conclusion is that we are more alike then different no matter how far we are coming. What a nice couple and how fortunate we are to get to know them. Zai tian---Good bye until the next time!

At Falls Lake

We biked all the 12 miles at Neuse River Trail

Duke Garden

Freeman and Ocean running around

Lets go to Wilmington!

Arriving at Kure Beach

Driving the Backhoe

Our Family

The McCormicks :-) Look out for the Pelican in the background!

Sleeping on the way home

What a handsome boy!

The adored uncle Tom and Lorent

Cousin Christeen and Lorent, CUTE!!!

No more rocks up in the nose!

The actual ROCK compared to a raspberry. When I got to the daycare today I was told that Lorent pushed a rock up into his nose. He was sitting with a teacher separately, he was serious, calm and happy to see me. He went to one of his teachers and told her that he has pushed a rock up into his nose. Sure enough, after they checked, the rock was there. He understood the situation that he caused and was very cooperative about telling me the story and also very willing to get the rock out. I did not know what to think or do but I was very proud of him to go to the teacher and tell about the problem. With the head teacher's help we were trying take it out but the tweezers were not holding the rock and it was too far up. Then, we were trying just to blow his nose, it did not help either. So, Lorent and I headed to the doctor's office and the whole time I kept telling him: "no more pushing anything up into your nose, no more pushing any rocks into your nose." Meanwhile he was listening, repeating and happily playing with his new truck. At the office the nurses were laughing and told us that no worries that happens often enough. We had to wait, two more families were in-front of us. I had time to check on the internet what is the recommended method, what I could do. One article said that the other nostril has to be closed perfectly and try to blow very hard. So, I kept telling Lorent just to blow his nose. The AC was working high, it was cold in the room. Lorent sneezed and with the next blow the rock came out. You should have seen his face, he said very loud: " I did it!" and of course he was very proud of himself. I was relieved and we had a big hug. Of course I was asking Lorent : was this the only rock that you pushed up? How many stones did you push up in your nose? He said : One. Can you really believe a two year old? So, I just wanted the doctor to check us out, to be sure.The doctor was kind, came in, checked on Lorent and he found everything all right. He even got a monster truck sticker. At night, before bed he kept telling me: No more rocks up into the nose! AMEN

Happy Mother's Day!

I will take you for a hay ride!

Soccer!

I have a new Hungarian Soccer jersey, you can see it here as I make
cone towers, a method to help me learn to kick the ball....

27 Months!

This is my first haircut!

Mom almost cried. She saved some locks of hair in a little bag.

Im sittting in a little airplane chair and watching 'The Wiggles' and i did really good!

Rebecca Keller Photography

My neighbor takes great pictures; here are a few of me at an Easter egg hunt!

http://rebeccakellerphotographyblog.com/wordpress/

iDrive

The latest thing for me is to get in the drivers seat and operate all
the switches, buttons, levers and dials.

After watching dad drive 4 hours each way to Easter Camp (more on that
later) I think I know what to do...

Lots of rain!

We have had a lot of rain and our closest sand park filled with water, but that doesn't stop me from having fun!

I am the muffin man!

If you are asking me, "Who is the muffin man?" ...I will say, "Lorent if [sic] the muffin man!" We baked muffins again and I put the Christmas coloring on the top of them. I like the green, red, blue and yellow colored muffins. in the second image, I am ready to take them out...

Animal project

The last two years we went to lots of farms, zoos, aquariums, parks even visited the Tiger Rescue place where we were able to observe, pet and sometimes chase the animals. (I am sure the squirrels in Boston and the piglets in Wake Forest remember me vividly!) So, we printed their pictures and hung them onto the corridor wall, so every morning and evening I can greet them and talk to them. Some of my favorites are the rooster-I am one of myself-the piglet, the elephant and the horses.
I am sure more are coming!

Happy St. Patty Day!

My Grandma McCormick always sends me the best cards ever. She makes the cards herself, comes up with the little poems and makes it always special for me. Thanks Grandma, I love YOU for it!

The family story is that when Grandma and Grandpa McCormick went to Ireland, tracking back to the origins of the McCormick family they went into a bar and there the bar tender told them......we have to ask Grandma for the full story!!!!!

Magyar Ovi-Suli ---CLICK on the photo for more pictures

The Hungarian children program is new in our life. Mom is one of the organizers and we started it this year. I get to meet many Hungarian children, their parents and we have a professional kindergarten teacher. We always sing lots of the songs that mom is trying to teach me since I was born, there is puppet theater, of course some eating and drinking--we are Hungarians. ;-)
We had egg hunt and HIP-HOP bunnies to celebrate Easter. See You next month!

Third visit to Winterpast Farm---Click on the photo for more pictures

The weather was great, we had nice company and finally for the first time I was also willing to hold a bunny. I enjoyed feeding the animals and running around, how my mom says get some energy out. Also, where else do you get to pet a baby lamb, chaise little pigs (watch out for the angry mama pig!), hold lots of baby bunnies, see emus with their eggs, hear roosters, tell the llama and pony to go away and so much more. This is a kid paradise! I am so happy that my friends were able to come along. See you the next time!

Shelly Lake

The weather being so nice, we went to Shelly Lake yesterday. Sandy has a new camera and she is learning to use it. She took these great pictures about us and the geese and the play ground. Unfortunately, I wanted Alex's cement mixer truck and I was not allowed to get it, I could not help my crying so we had to come home early. It was still nice to see Alex and Sandy!

Dinner with new toys

Mom visited some good sales this month and every day I got some new, (used) toys. When I come home from school there is one on the island , waiting for me to play with. I have build an entire area around me and when I leave the room they are coming with me. Thank you mom and dad for buying me lots of toys!

Muffin man

My favorite song, recently, is the Muffin man. Do you know the muffin man? He does not live in Druly Lane, he lives on Hortbeck Ct. :-) We make now fresh muffins almost daily. Mom, just got a good tip from her book club friend , this weekend we will make that one. Yumm!

Starbucks coffee cup

Christmas time my parents took me to Starbucks. Mom started to drink a cappuccino again and dad a cup of coffee. I guess, it has something to do me being a rooster and waking up before sun rise. :-) By the second time around I already knew where we are heading and told them laud Starbucks...cookie. Now, to raise my first brand consciousness they got me this super cute little espresso cup and when they are having coffee in the morning, I am drinking my juice. I think, my parents should buy some shares in the company.

Puddle, puddle...

This whole week the temperature is above 70F or even some days above 80 F. How did I find the one and only puddle ???

Sunday afternoon at the lake ---CLICK on the photo for more pictures

More swimming pictures about me!

March is a good month for swimming, right!?

We went to the lake this weekend and at first I stayed out of the
lake, but then I realized the sun warmed it up enough to play in...
Much to the dismay of my parents. "It's only water" I told them. I
also knew they had replacement socks, shoes and pants. After this I
was dried off and changed and it was on to the park playground. After
playing in the slides for 30 minutes, we went to Golden Corrall, where
I ate only desserts!

Pullen Park last year

We have visited the beautiful Pullen Park last year November.There is a reason why you only hear about this visit now. The weather was warm and sunny, Alex and I had a nice time with our parents going around on the train, riding the boats and the carousel. But, before we left, I ran away, almost out to the street, almost under a car. It left Mom shaken. Surviving that, the traffic on the way back was horrible and I must have been hungry and tired and mom just could not figure out when I said : blabalalala -- it meant that I wanted Elmo with the fireman show on, so I screamed the entire 45 minutes on the way home. It took mom a good three months to forget about it, now she is ready to go back and take me with her too. :-)

Second Visit on Winterpast Farm--Click on the photo for more

We love this farm! Farmer Mary is very kind, loves animals and children. The farm constantly offers new baby animals and stuff to do, just make sure you are wearing your dirtiest clothes and shoes, so you can freely run around - even if it is dry or a bit wet and muddy. I loved holding the real eggs and see the differences. The ducks and chickens are funny, they don't care where they lay an egg, it can even be on the top of the shelves in the garage. :-)

The funniest was, when the baby pig came out finally and Matyi and I started chasing him. He has surprised me how quick he was able to run even though he is quite puffy. :-) We were running after him all around, he got fed up with us and run back to his mom. Matyi was imitating snorting sounds, Mama pig did not like it but then Matyi was telling them: "I am just kidding" and they all went back to sleep. Mom was laughing out laud.

If you want to rent baby bunnies for a week with the whole cage and water+ food, you can do it on the farm for $20. Mom is thinking about it.

Thank YOU Farmer Mary for the fun afternoon!

A walk together---Click on the photo for more

The weather was silly this weekend. They were moments that it was warm-ish but most of the times it was cold. We went to a new park where we tried Tatiana's new camera because we are looking for a new one too. Many of the pictures turned out to be very good and it was on auto setting. :-) We had a nice, relaxing afternoon and even Ocean got tired. Look at her huge tounge!

Visiting the Fire Station

It was in the plans for a while to visit a fire station. Our friend, Jessica made an appointment and we got to go with a bunch of our friends to see where the firemen prepare and get ready before they head out to help with fires. We learned that their equipment with the special shoes and Oxygen is about 60 pounds, so I just know how strong they have to be to carry all that.
They were very nice to us, we got hats and stickers and let us go into the fire truck. Of course, get to know Sparky, the special fire fighting dog was great too.
Please, note that me crying on the picture has nothing to do with my mood, I just don't like my pictures taken prompted. I truly enjoyed spending time with our local service men!

The first parent -teacher conference and first ER visit

Written by mom:
This Monday we had our very first parent teacher conference, PTR. We were very excited and ready to hear what is going on with our Lorent at the day care. Lorent has recently started to big boy group, the Waddler 3. Both teachers are very happy and satisfied how Lorent is doing in the class. He is very active, likes to be engaged in everything, he loves dancing and singing, likes cleaning up and eats and sleeps well. How great to hear this about your own child. We received some useful information on potty training and stop using the binkie at home. We felt great and had a nice conversation!

Little did we know that just couple of hours in the afternoon we will have our scare. I was getting ready to pick Lorent up, when the phone was ringing with his teacher on the line.When, they called in the past, there was always something wrong, so the little hairs on my neck stand up right away. Lorent fell in the class, hit his chin and was bleeding, we have to come right away and take him to the hospital. Of course, both of us were jumping and got ready instantly.

When I have seen Lorent, he was telling me that "I have cried",but otherwise was happy to see me and seemingly was not bothered by his bobo too much. At the hospital everybody was very kind and nice to us, and Lorent actually was interested in everything from the nurses,the doctor, sink, lamp, switches, so we kept going after him and just explaining all the things he has seen. It went on to the last second until the doctor told us the tear has to be glued and we have to keep Lorent down. Dad was holding him, I was singing into his ears and two other nurses were helping. I can say honestly that my son, you are a fighter. To hear you to scream : "it hurts" "Mommy" ripped my heart apart, but we had to be strong for you.
After that he instantly told dr. David Bye-bye, and wanted to leave.

Lorent is fine and other then pointing sometimes to his chin, saying bo-bo, he is completely ok. He did amazingly well and we are very proud of him. He is unstoppable!

The next day I was thinking to keep him at home, but he did not needed it,he wanted to play and go, go, go. So, I went to get a repair on my phone and at the mall I have met a friend of hours from Gymboree. They were with an other family, so just briefly updated each other about the children. It turned out that her friend's husband was our er doctor the previous day. What a small world!