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The editorial staff has been occupied with little baby David Anthony this week. You can follow along in our Baby Pics section, which is updated daily and can always be found at the link below.
Less than one week old, tiny David Anthony has had a life full of little adventures! And happy new parents Heidi and David are getting a little bit worn out.
Little David Anthony has a penchant for crying whenever he's bored or unhappy, and Mommy and Daddy have been trying to find tricks to comfort him and keep him occupied. On Friday, Daddy brought home a truckful of colorful toys for baby to discover. On Saturday, the family took a little outing to the city piano store. And all week, visitors have come to entertain, and be entertained by, the little guy.
Baby has a healthy appetite now, eating every couple hours and pooping up a storm. "Yow! That shook up my whole arm," said David Sr., when innocent-looking cuddly David Jr. noisily passed a stool into his diaper. Mommy and Daddy are learning to change diapers quickly before baby starts crying too much.
While Heidi and David have been spending all their time taking care of baby, grandma Ivy has been helping by cooking and cleaning around the house, as well as by lending an extra hand to comfort baby. "I don't know how I'm going to do it when I'm alone," said Heidi.
David Sr. has been posting new baby pictures daily on this site. Click on the Baby Pics link in the blue column on the left to see the latest pictures. And read about the delivery in last week's issue.
China Travels
This month Myrna and Michael and Roy and Margie will make a journey along the ancient Silk Road, from Xian all the way west to Kashgar (the border of Persia). They will also visit relatives in Beijing, Shanghai, Ning Po, and Xian.
Myrna wants to take Roy to his father's home village across the river from Su-zhou. They will also visit the Bau family village outside the seaport city of Ning Po which is in the eastern province of Zhejiang.
They will see the old religious center about a hundred miles from the Imperial City, Cheng-te, where the Emperor had each of the five major religions of China have their headquarters. It's going to be a long tough adventure, but a vacation that will leave memories for a lifetime. Bon Voyage!
Chinese Names
Most Chinese that we know have a three-character name. The middle character denotes the generation to which the individual belongs in his family. For example, in the Bau family, David and Kevin and all their Bau cousins, have the identical middle name. How does everyone around the world know how to pick a new middle name when a new generation is born?
Take little David Anthony Bau of Philadephia. David Anthony has 2nd cousins of the same generation as himself in China, the USA and perhaps other parts of the world. Among everybody in the Bau family, there is a shared Bau family poem that dictates the middle, generational name.
As a wedding gift to David and Heidi, Tom Yu of Rochester has copied the poem with his practiced calligraphy. This gift is now ready and Rachel is shopping to get it mounted so that it will last several more generations. Being out of China does not mean can ever forget ones Chinese roots.
Hunter-Killer Report
Happy News for members of the ASPCA: the results of the 2nd week of trapping chipmunks in Weston are down considerably. (Read about the first week.) Only one chipmunk and three other little critters were caught. "I think we've over-hunted the neighborhood for chipmunks" apologizes Chipmunk control officer, the Weston Hunter-Killer.
Bait and Switch At Circuit City
Are you familiar with the retailing term "bait and switch?" In May, we answered Circuit City's newspaper ad for a 25" GE Color TV with remote for a price of $229. They were out of stock, but "wouldn't I like to buy one that was in stock for just a little bit more?" No thanks! We put a deposit down on the "On Sale" TV. Twelve telephone calls (all initiated by the customer), three visits to the Framingham, MA store, and a three months later, finally ended in satistfactory results.
"GE does not make that particular model anymore. Do you still want a TV with similar features?" we were asked. At the same price? O.K. with us if they had it in stock this time. Man, oh man, it sure was a lot of hassle to get a simple purchase from Circuit City. We were not impressed.