Thomas and I spent a couple of hours working on pumpkins tonight... I think these are our best efforts yet. :-)
Sometimes, when you have a new camera and don't exactly know how to use it, you get some cool pictures!lol
Monday, October 30, 2006
Pumpkins!
Sometimes, when you have a new camera and don't exactly know how to use it, you get some cool pictures!lol
Retrospect - Year One
So on this day last year, we met our wonderful daughter and completed our little family of four. What's the last year been like for our family? Overall, it's been wonderful. And no, this is not an attempt to blow sunshine. Yes, there certainly are many things that we don't discuss on this blog, but so far, Emma's transition with our family has been about as smooth as we could have dreamed. Have there been issues - yes, but they've been pretty minor so far. What have the issues been?
1. Emma tested positive on her TB (tuberculosis) test. This does not mean she has TB, it means she may carry the virus. Many kids will test positive because of a shot given in China (BCG); however, all the children in Emma's group got the shot and I think she was the only one who got a positive result which leads us to think she MAY have been exposed to TB. After loads of research, we decided to go ahead with the 9 month treatment. This entailed giving her an oral dose of medicine before bed every evening and going in for 2 blood tests to make sure the medicine had no impact on her kidneys, a rare side effect of the TB medicine.
2. We arranged for Emma to be evaluated in our home by a teacher from a center for children with special needs. The teacher who evaluated Emma came once a week for a couple of months. She mainly came to see that Emma's development was progressing as expected and to deal with some minor oral issues. We (us and the teacher) think that Emma had so little tactile and oral experience in the SWI, that she needed to use all her senses to identify objects. She used to touch things and then lick them - you could tell she was just trying to get more information. We worked on introducing all kinds of textures to Emma and the teacher gave us this little nubby brush to rub in Emma's mouth and her oral fixation pretty much went away within 2-3 months. It seems it was really just a question of catching up by being exposed to things. In many ways, we treated her as a newborn given that in her 10 months in the SWI, she hadn't been exposed to many of the things we take for granted here. We bottle fed for as long as she'd let us, held and rocked her as much as she'd allow, etc. Since she's a fierce and independent little thing, we went through the "infant" stage pretty quickly!
3. A few weeks after arriving home with Emma, I met with a local attachment therapist. Emma seems to be adjusting well, but honestly, neither Gary nor I are particularly perceptive and appreciate an outside opinion. The therapist gave me some good ideas on how to promote bonding. The best piece of advice she gave me was that in order to have Emma make eye contact, just gently take her hand and put it on my cheek - children will usually look where their hands go - this worked like a charm. Six months after our arrival home, I brought Emma to meet the attachment therapist (she didn't want to evaluate Emma until she'd been home for at least 6 months) and she was happy with her progress thus far, saying that she's moving well through the attachment process. The main part of the evaluation, other than watching us interact, was to have me leave the room and see how Emma would react. I stepped out and stood by the door for a minute or two (seemed like 2 days!!). Emma started crying and the therapist tried to soothe her. She did distract her and get her to stop sobbing momentarily but then it started again. She then called me back in. She said that she saw what she was looking for - Emma got upset when I left, tried to calm herself and allow the therapist to calm her, and then ran to me and clung when I came back. Apparently, for this stage of our relationship, this is what she'd hoped to see. We go back for our 12 month appointment in a few weeks and will continue to check in every 6 months until either the therapist tells us she's satisfied that Emma is securely attached and doesn't need to see us again, or tells us she wants to see us more often. Other behaviours she exhibits which could be termed "institutional" are scratching her chest/shoulders and pinching herself when she's anxious - again, minor at this point, but keeping an eye on the behaviour. She'd pretty much stopped doing it but has started up again the last few weeks... perhaps something is making her more anxious these days, we're not sure what. She's also turning into quite the little Miss Independent and Miss Bossypants - keeping an eye on that too - is it just your usual almost 2 year old behaviour or is it a control issue, a common issue with institutionalized children. All and all, she seems to have adjusted marvelously well and we're just keeping an eye on her to make sure she/we stay on track and deal with any potential issues as soon as they appear.
That's basically been it - all pretty much non-issues. Our bio child has had more therapy and intervention that she has! The SWI (Social Welfare Institute) where Emma spent her first 10 months seems to be one of the better ones as far as these things go - they allow both interior photos and video to be taken so we assume that in so allowing, it indicates that this is considered to be a "good" SWI by Chinese standards. Emma and the other 14 babies adopted in our group from this SWI were all in good health and pretty much within developmental expectations for their age group. It's of course harder to determine the emotional impact of their experience, but overall, the children did seem well cared for given the circumstances. Emma has a very strong little personality, but we have to assume that she was provided some attention/ interaction as it's hard to imagine that she would have been so on track developmentally without it. Her emotional development seemed pretty good as well. When we first met her, we thought perhaps her gross and fine motor skills were more on par with an 8 month old (she was 10 months), but within days of joining us, I'd say she was just where she should have been. By the time she met our pediatrician, a few days after our arrival home, he saw no delays.
Now, at 22 months, she probably exceeds most developmental milestones. She's a total ham and a real daredevil. She has amazing strength, balance and agility - she's born the year of the monkey and she takes that seriously - she hangs off EVERYTHING!!lol She speaks quite clearly and in short sentences. She's totally hilarious, cracks herself up like nobody else can and she loves her big brother. She's such a little character, we can't wait to see what she's got in store for us!
Emma took to us all pretty quickly and I'd say Gary and Thomas attached immediately. I'd honestly say it took me a couple of months. For Gary, it was instantaneous, for me it was more of a process. Neither is right or wrong, just different. I have to also say that it probably took me a good 4-6 months to get used to our new routine. The fact that we got home just in time to settle in for winter didn't help - winter is hard with kids...summer is so much nicer and easier! Because Thomas was 7 when we adopted Emma, I'd forgotten how much time and attention little ones need... I knew it, I just didn't KNOW it, kwim? I'd forgotten how you literally never get a moment to yourself. I still can't use the washroom without Emma accompanying me!! As for Thomas, we were concerned as to how he'd adjust to sharing mommy and daddy since he'd had us to himself for 7 years, but he's been an amazing big brother. There are times he thinks his little sister is a total pest, but that's what little sisters do!!lol As for Emma, she adores her big brother.
The one thing I would mention though is that the first month home was hell - sorry, no other way to describe it. Emma did really well with us in China but totally fell apart once we got back home. It was just one too many changes for her which is of course totally understandable. She became extremely clingy, anxious, etc. etc. She wouldn't so much as sleep beside us, she had to be ON us and pretty much had to be in our arms at all times. And let's face it, for the first couple of weeks, with jetlag and all, nobody slept. Honestly folks, it's so HARD!!!! But, it's only a few weeks and somehow you make it through. I found the first month at home with Emma harder than my first month at home after giving birth to Thomas...didn't think it would be the case, but it was. But week by week, things go easier. We all got to know each other, all settled into a routine of some sort. For the first few weeks after meeting Emma, I felt like I'd walked into a movie theater half way through a movie. I'd missed the beginning and wasn't sure what was going on!lol When you have a child from day one, you learn together and there's time for a good learning curve as let's face it, newborns aren't overly active!lol When someone hands you a child who is ready to take off and into everything already, all bets are off!lol
And now, 12 months after meeting Emma, it's fair to say that none of us can imagine life without her. She's an absolutely amazing little girl and she fits in with our family as if she's always been part of it. I can't even imagine what this child has been through in less than 2 years... it really speaks to the resilience and adaptability of children and the absolute strength of the human spirit. Year One has had its ups and downs, but it's never been boring! We love you Emma!
1. Emma tested positive on her TB (tuberculosis) test. This does not mean she has TB, it means she may carry the virus. Many kids will test positive because of a shot given in China (BCG); however, all the children in Emma's group got the shot and I think she was the only one who got a positive result which leads us to think she MAY have been exposed to TB. After loads of research, we decided to go ahead with the 9 month treatment. This entailed giving her an oral dose of medicine before bed every evening and going in for 2 blood tests to make sure the medicine had no impact on her kidneys, a rare side effect of the TB medicine.
2. We arranged for Emma to be evaluated in our home by a teacher from a center for children with special needs. The teacher who evaluated Emma came once a week for a couple of months. She mainly came to see that Emma's development was progressing as expected and to deal with some minor oral issues. We (us and the teacher) think that Emma had so little tactile and oral experience in the SWI, that she needed to use all her senses to identify objects. She used to touch things and then lick them - you could tell she was just trying to get more information. We worked on introducing all kinds of textures to Emma and the teacher gave us this little nubby brush to rub in Emma's mouth and her oral fixation pretty much went away within 2-3 months. It seems it was really just a question of catching up by being exposed to things. In many ways, we treated her as a newborn given that in her 10 months in the SWI, she hadn't been exposed to many of the things we take for granted here. We bottle fed for as long as she'd let us, held and rocked her as much as she'd allow, etc. Since she's a fierce and independent little thing, we went through the "infant" stage pretty quickly!
3. A few weeks after arriving home with Emma, I met with a local attachment therapist. Emma seems to be adjusting well, but honestly, neither Gary nor I are particularly perceptive and appreciate an outside opinion. The therapist gave me some good ideas on how to promote bonding. The best piece of advice she gave me was that in order to have Emma make eye contact, just gently take her hand and put it on my cheek - children will usually look where their hands go - this worked like a charm. Six months after our arrival home, I brought Emma to meet the attachment therapist (she didn't want to evaluate Emma until she'd been home for at least 6 months) and she was happy with her progress thus far, saying that she's moving well through the attachment process. The main part of the evaluation, other than watching us interact, was to have me leave the room and see how Emma would react. I stepped out and stood by the door for a minute or two (seemed like 2 days!!). Emma started crying and the therapist tried to soothe her. She did distract her and get her to stop sobbing momentarily but then it started again. She then called me back in. She said that she saw what she was looking for - Emma got upset when I left, tried to calm herself and allow the therapist to calm her, and then ran to me and clung when I came back. Apparently, for this stage of our relationship, this is what she'd hoped to see. We go back for our 12 month appointment in a few weeks and will continue to check in every 6 months until either the therapist tells us she's satisfied that Emma is securely attached and doesn't need to see us again, or tells us she wants to see us more often. Other behaviours she exhibits which could be termed "institutional" are scratching her chest/shoulders and pinching herself when she's anxious - again, minor at this point, but keeping an eye on the behaviour. She'd pretty much stopped doing it but has started up again the last few weeks... perhaps something is making her more anxious these days, we're not sure what. She's also turning into quite the little Miss Independent and Miss Bossypants - keeping an eye on that too - is it just your usual almost 2 year old behaviour or is it a control issue, a common issue with institutionalized children. All and all, she seems to have adjusted marvelously well and we're just keeping an eye on her to make sure she/we stay on track and deal with any potential issues as soon as they appear.
That's basically been it - all pretty much non-issues. Our bio child has had more therapy and intervention that she has! The SWI (Social Welfare Institute) where Emma spent her first 10 months seems to be one of the better ones as far as these things go - they allow both interior photos and video to be taken so we assume that in so allowing, it indicates that this is considered to be a "good" SWI by Chinese standards. Emma and the other 14 babies adopted in our group from this SWI were all in good health and pretty much within developmental expectations for their age group. It's of course harder to determine the emotional impact of their experience, but overall, the children did seem well cared for given the circumstances. Emma has a very strong little personality, but we have to assume that she was provided some attention/ interaction as it's hard to imagine that she would have been so on track developmentally without it. Her emotional development seemed pretty good as well. When we first met her, we thought perhaps her gross and fine motor skills were more on par with an 8 month old (she was 10 months), but within days of joining us, I'd say she was just where she should have been. By the time she met our pediatrician, a few days after our arrival home, he saw no delays.
Now, at 22 months, she probably exceeds most developmental milestones. She's a total ham and a real daredevil. She has amazing strength, balance and agility - she's born the year of the monkey and she takes that seriously - she hangs off EVERYTHING!!lol She speaks quite clearly and in short sentences. She's totally hilarious, cracks herself up like nobody else can and she loves her big brother. She's such a little character, we can't wait to see what she's got in store for us!
Emma took to us all pretty quickly and I'd say Gary and Thomas attached immediately. I'd honestly say it took me a couple of months. For Gary, it was instantaneous, for me it was more of a process. Neither is right or wrong, just different. I have to also say that it probably took me a good 4-6 months to get used to our new routine. The fact that we got home just in time to settle in for winter didn't help - winter is hard with kids...summer is so much nicer and easier! Because Thomas was 7 when we adopted Emma, I'd forgotten how much time and attention little ones need... I knew it, I just didn't KNOW it, kwim? I'd forgotten how you literally never get a moment to yourself. I still can't use the washroom without Emma accompanying me!! As for Thomas, we were concerned as to how he'd adjust to sharing mommy and daddy since he'd had us to himself for 7 years, but he's been an amazing big brother. There are times he thinks his little sister is a total pest, but that's what little sisters do!!lol As for Emma, she adores her big brother.
The one thing I would mention though is that the first month home was hell - sorry, no other way to describe it. Emma did really well with us in China but totally fell apart once we got back home. It was just one too many changes for her which is of course totally understandable. She became extremely clingy, anxious, etc. etc. She wouldn't so much as sleep beside us, she had to be ON us and pretty much had to be in our arms at all times. And let's face it, for the first couple of weeks, with jetlag and all, nobody slept. Honestly folks, it's so HARD!!!! But, it's only a few weeks and somehow you make it through. I found the first month at home with Emma harder than my first month at home after giving birth to Thomas...didn't think it would be the case, but it was. But week by week, things go easier. We all got to know each other, all settled into a routine of some sort. For the first few weeks after meeting Emma, I felt like I'd walked into a movie theater half way through a movie. I'd missed the beginning and wasn't sure what was going on!lol When you have a child from day one, you learn together and there's time for a good learning curve as let's face it, newborns aren't overly active!lol When someone hands you a child who is ready to take off and into everything already, all bets are off!lol
And now, 12 months after meeting Emma, it's fair to say that none of us can imagine life without her. She's an absolutely amazing little girl and she fits in with our family as if she's always been part of it. I can't even imagine what this child has been through in less than 2 years... it really speaks to the resilience and adaptability of children and the absolute strength of the human spirit. Year One has had its ups and downs, but it's never been boring! We love you Emma!
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Hallowe'en Party
A friend had a Hallowe'en party today and costumes were mandatory. Since Thomas had decided to be Robin, I got Gary a Batman costume... here's the Dynamic Duo - The Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder. Emma was a bit under the weather so she and I had to stay at home...you'll see her in her costume in a couple of days.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Words of wisdom from the peanut gallery!
I know that a lot of the folks who read this Blog are people who are soon-to-be adoptive parents. So, having been there and done that, here are a few things I think we did right and a few we'd do differently. Obviously, every trip is filled with too many unknowns to be able to plan precisely, but take this for what it's worth. :-)
1. We met with a naturopath/homeopath a few weeks before our departure date. She gave us a bunch of pills to take before/during/after our trip, mainly concoctions that she had put together for us. Because some of these weren't recomended for kids, she had us give Thomas a special type of yogurt we got at a health food store to strengthen his stomach for a few weeks before we traveled. He loved it so it wasn't an issue. None of us were sick in China. She also gave me things to help deal with issues like lice and scabies should they come up, thankfully, neither did.
2. We had our Twinrix series of shots - 2 before our trip, one upon our return, although ideally, you'd start early enough to get all 3 shots before travel. I think there's now an "accelerated" version of Twinrix out there.
3. Bring a backpack style diaper bag with a cup holder type side pocket and get a bullet style thermos that fits in there. Our baby insisted upon hot formula, you won't know what yours will want until you meet him/her. Worse case scenario, ditch the thermos in China. It could either be a lifesaver or totally useless, for us, lifesaver it was! And the backpack diaper bag worked well because sometimes you feel like you need 4 hands as it is, wouldn't want to need one for a diaper bag as well.
4. Try to make a list of things you'd particularly like to purchase while in China... either work hard at getting all the stuff or if you're traveling with some extra people like parents, siblings or friends, give them some money and your list. We ended up buying so little in China, I really regret it now. My sister was with us and she loves to shop so if we'd been smart, we would have given her money and told her to have fun and now whe'd have a whole lot more souvenirs of our trip.
5. Bring a box or two of Zone bars or any such things that you can stomach. There were days when Emma was having a hard time and eating didn't make the priority list for mom or dad so at least there was always something quick and somewhat edible on hand. Also, because our son came along, we brought along a jar of peanut butter and a ton of other snacks which were really needed as he's a pretty picky eater at the best of times! Thomas brought along his own little carryon suitcase and it was filled with toys and snacks. BTW, so thrilled we brought Thomas with us... we kept going back and forth on that point, but it was wonderful to have him along and Emma adored him from moment one!
6. We kept in touch via computer (we brought along a laptop, it was a tiny one and I'd definitely do it again) and while we never did get a phone card that we could figure out, it was much cheaper for people to call us than the other way around. For instance, MIL called us almost every day when she'd get up and we'd be winding down our day in Asia and it was nice to get a little taste of home. Also, having the computer allowed us to easily download our pics every day while Emma was napping or when we had some downtime in the evening or all those times when I was up for the day at 4:00am!!lol It also allowed us to Blog and keep everyone up to date on our trip. Also, one of the families in our group had their camera stolen - they lost all their pics up to that date - having somewhere to download the pics, even if it's a USB stick thingy, is important. We also brought a video camera. We didn't use it much but did have it to videotape the moment when we met Emma and that's really priceless.
7. If you're bringing children along on the trip, if there's any way at all, bring along another adult. My sister came with us and her help was invaluable! Our time in China was so much easier because she was with us. I was always so nervous about losing sight of Thomas when we were out and about in crowded places and it was nice to know that on top of Gary and I keeping an eye on him, Susan, who didn't have Emma to distract her, focused all her attention on keeping Thomas safe and happy. It was also nice when we had to go to some appointments for Emma that he got to stay with Susan and do something fun rather than come wait around with us for hours while we got paperwork done.
8. Gary speaks Mandarin so he could get himself where he was going, but the rest of us wore lanyards with a little card in a plastic sleeve. One side had a little picture of Emma and explained that we were North American and in China to adopt our daughter. When people approached us and we couldn't communicate, we could always show them the card. The other side of the card said something to the effect that we were lost and needed to get back to our hotel or have someone contact such and such a person and in the plastic sleeve that this card was stored, we always had our hotel's business card as well as our guide's name and cell phone number.
9. We regret not visiting the orphanage. A few things out of our control made the trip more difficult than orginally planned. Most of the families in our group had expressed an interest in visiting the kids' orphanage which was about a 3-4 hour drive away. When it came down to it, everyone was too exhausted and the planning got too complicated and plans to visit got cancelled. We wish now we'd perhaps hired a driver to take Gary there and have him visit the SWI and surrounding area, speak to some nannies and take some pics, hopefully including Emma's finding spot. We hope one day to go back to Guangdong Provine and visit the area where Emma lived for the first 10 months of her life.
10. We brought way too much clothes for Gary and I. The fact is, every hotel room has a clothes line over the tub and getting laundry done is cheap, not to mention that you'll look like hell and you won't care. One mom who was on her 2nd adoption trip brought TWO pairs of pants... I think I had five or six which was about 3 too many... total waste of luggage space!! I did go to Tilley's and get a few pieces of travel wear which were wonderful. I got quick dry pants that had zips so they could turn into shorts (yeah, very stylish!!lol), quick dry socks, underwear and quick dry/wrinkle resistant shirts. Because we were going to 2 very different climates (Guangzhou and Beijing), we tried to bring as many clothes that could do double duty, such as the turn into shorts pants and jackets with zip out linings! We should have brought more clothes for Emma - we forgot how many times babies have to be changed in one day!lol We did use the laundry service and it was quick, efficient and cheap.
11. I brought a cheap pair of slippers to wear in the hotel room and on the flights. Let me tell you that by the end of a 16 or so hour flight, you will NOT want to use the washroom in your sock feet and you will have kicked off those shoes hours before and you'll be lucky if you can get your feet back in them!!lol
12. We had a shoulder style carry on FULL of medicine. Name it, we had it. We had enough antibiotics on us to cover the whole group!!lol We did see a naturopath and hoped we could handle whatever came along naturally, but we brought along every medicine known to man and I would again, although we didn't need any of it. We also brought along tons of stuff for Emma, everything from antibiotics to cough syrup, Tylenol, Nix, etc. etc. We didn't need anything, but some people did and they didn't have... we all felt much better knowing that if we did need some meds, we had them on hand. The last thing I'd want to do is have to go to the market and try to figure out what a bottle of Tylenol should look like in China!!lol Let me add that when we brought Emma to the hotel clinic to have her ears checked since she kept pulling at them and seemed uncomfortable, the doctor left the room and the guide told us she was going to get her special tool to check ears - well, we've all seen that little light thingy the pediatrician uses right - wrong... I swear to you she came back with a huge Eveready flashlight and used it to look in Emma's ears... gee, wonder why she saw nothing unusual!!lolol If I'd known, I could have done that with the flashlight in my luggage, didn't have to wait around for a doctor!!lol
13. I printed up the name of every international medical emergency clinic in each of the cities we stayed. Yeah, I know I sound paranoid... I prefer to think of it as better safe than sorry!!lol Again, didn't need them, but glad to have them on hand. We also got travel insurance above and beyond what was provided by our credit card company.
14. I worried and worried and spent hours figuring out what gifts to get the nannies. We never handed a gift directly to anyone and no gifts were ever acknowledged. It was such a "non" event during the process, if I were to do it again, I'd pick up a few nice little things but in no way would I fret about it.
15. We sent a camera to the orphanage. I know there are mixed thoughts as to whether or not this should be done but we decided to try it as our research seemed to indicate that this particular SWI was open to receiving packages for the kids. We only sent a disposable camera, an album with photos of us, our home, our neighbourhood (mainly so the nannies would know where Emma was going, but hoping they might show her and discuss her new family) and goodies for the nannies. We did not include anything for Emma that might require any extra work for the nannies - no toys, blankets, stuffed animals, etc. Every family in our group who sent a camera got pictures back.. pictures of our baby from before we met her are of course priceless. Also, when it came to donating things to the orphanage, we brought a bunch of cotton t-shirts. We saw in the pics that our babies only seemed to wear t-shirts and some sort of Chinese undergarment which we can't quite distinguish in the photos so we didn't send anything we thought they wouldn't use like onesies, dresses, etc.
16. GET A SEAT FOR BABY!! You might get lucky and have an empty seat in your row, but it's not a chance we were willing to take. Our flight home was LONG and no way we could have just sat there, stuffed in like sardines and with a baby on our lap. I know some people do it and bless them, but if you can afford it, get the extra seat for baby. We actually ended up getting 2 extra seats so we'd have some legroom - DH is 6 foot 5 - it was nice to have a little extra legroom. And if it's possible, get a DIRECT flight!! Most families in our group took a connecting flight. It was easier to fly direct, especially when coming home with baby in tow.
17. Try the best you can to find the baby carrier that's right for you. We thankfully had 2 at our disposal because one was just awful and there's no way I could have used it for more than about 5 minutes! Also, I remember someone telling me to use some of my wait time strengthening my arms - lifting weights and such... yeah right. Well, I swear after carrying a baby around for a couple of days and thinking my poor arms were going to fall right off, I sure wished I had listened!lol At the very least, bring some Motrin!lol As for should you buy a stroller there, bring one or skip it altogether, it's a tough call. We bought one there and really never used it other than in the airport, but it was convenient for that. Because we couldn't find a 5 point harness stroller in China, we couldn't really do much with the stroller since Emma stood right up it in, so if we'd brought a 5 point stroller with us, it might have been different. All this being said though, it really was nice to just hold her and carry her close to us. :-)
Well, longer than I thought to begin with, but if anything else comes to mind, I'll update. :-) All and all, this was the experience of a lifetime!!! These are just observations based on our experience. I'm sure there's another blog out there where someone is telling you the best thing to do is ditch the thermos, bring a shoulder style diaper bag, skip the extra seat for baby, leave any kids at home, bring as many clothes as you can possibly fit into your suitcase and leave the laptop at home!!lol
1. We met with a naturopath/homeopath a few weeks before our departure date. She gave us a bunch of pills to take before/during/after our trip, mainly concoctions that she had put together for us. Because some of these weren't recomended for kids, she had us give Thomas a special type of yogurt we got at a health food store to strengthen his stomach for a few weeks before we traveled. He loved it so it wasn't an issue. None of us were sick in China. She also gave me things to help deal with issues like lice and scabies should they come up, thankfully, neither did.
2. We had our Twinrix series of shots - 2 before our trip, one upon our return, although ideally, you'd start early enough to get all 3 shots before travel. I think there's now an "accelerated" version of Twinrix out there.
3. Bring a backpack style diaper bag with a cup holder type side pocket and get a bullet style thermos that fits in there. Our baby insisted upon hot formula, you won't know what yours will want until you meet him/her. Worse case scenario, ditch the thermos in China. It could either be a lifesaver or totally useless, for us, lifesaver it was! And the backpack diaper bag worked well because sometimes you feel like you need 4 hands as it is, wouldn't want to need one for a diaper bag as well.
4. Try to make a list of things you'd particularly like to purchase while in China... either work hard at getting all the stuff or if you're traveling with some extra people like parents, siblings or friends, give them some money and your list. We ended up buying so little in China, I really regret it now. My sister was with us and she loves to shop so if we'd been smart, we would have given her money and told her to have fun and now whe'd have a whole lot more souvenirs of our trip.
5. Bring a box or two of Zone bars or any such things that you can stomach. There were days when Emma was having a hard time and eating didn't make the priority list for mom or dad so at least there was always something quick and somewhat edible on hand. Also, because our son came along, we brought along a jar of peanut butter and a ton of other snacks which were really needed as he's a pretty picky eater at the best of times! Thomas brought along his own little carryon suitcase and it was filled with toys and snacks. BTW, so thrilled we brought Thomas with us... we kept going back and forth on that point, but it was wonderful to have him along and Emma adored him from moment one!
6. We kept in touch via computer (we brought along a laptop, it was a tiny one and I'd definitely do it again) and while we never did get a phone card that we could figure out, it was much cheaper for people to call us than the other way around. For instance, MIL called us almost every day when she'd get up and we'd be winding down our day in Asia and it was nice to get a little taste of home. Also, having the computer allowed us to easily download our pics every day while Emma was napping or when we had some downtime in the evening or all those times when I was up for the day at 4:00am!!lol It also allowed us to Blog and keep everyone up to date on our trip. Also, one of the families in our group had their camera stolen - they lost all their pics up to that date - having somewhere to download the pics, even if it's a USB stick thingy, is important. We also brought a video camera. We didn't use it much but did have it to videotape the moment when we met Emma and that's really priceless.
7. If you're bringing children along on the trip, if there's any way at all, bring along another adult. My sister came with us and her help was invaluable! Our time in China was so much easier because she was with us. I was always so nervous about losing sight of Thomas when we were out and about in crowded places and it was nice to know that on top of Gary and I keeping an eye on him, Susan, who didn't have Emma to distract her, focused all her attention on keeping Thomas safe and happy. It was also nice when we had to go to some appointments for Emma that he got to stay with Susan and do something fun rather than come wait around with us for hours while we got paperwork done.
8. Gary speaks Mandarin so he could get himself where he was going, but the rest of us wore lanyards with a little card in a plastic sleeve. One side had a little picture of Emma and explained that we were North American and in China to adopt our daughter. When people approached us and we couldn't communicate, we could always show them the card. The other side of the card said something to the effect that we were lost and needed to get back to our hotel or have someone contact such and such a person and in the plastic sleeve that this card was stored, we always had our hotel's business card as well as our guide's name and cell phone number.
9. We regret not visiting the orphanage. A few things out of our control made the trip more difficult than orginally planned. Most of the families in our group had expressed an interest in visiting the kids' orphanage which was about a 3-4 hour drive away. When it came down to it, everyone was too exhausted and the planning got too complicated and plans to visit got cancelled. We wish now we'd perhaps hired a driver to take Gary there and have him visit the SWI and surrounding area, speak to some nannies and take some pics, hopefully including Emma's finding spot. We hope one day to go back to Guangdong Provine and visit the area where Emma lived for the first 10 months of her life.
10. We brought way too much clothes for Gary and I. The fact is, every hotel room has a clothes line over the tub and getting laundry done is cheap, not to mention that you'll look like hell and you won't care. One mom who was on her 2nd adoption trip brought TWO pairs of pants... I think I had five or six which was about 3 too many... total waste of luggage space!! I did go to Tilley's and get a few pieces of travel wear which were wonderful. I got quick dry pants that had zips so they could turn into shorts (yeah, very stylish!!lol), quick dry socks, underwear and quick dry/wrinkle resistant shirts. Because we were going to 2 very different climates (Guangzhou and Beijing), we tried to bring as many clothes that could do double duty, such as the turn into shorts pants and jackets with zip out linings! We should have brought more clothes for Emma - we forgot how many times babies have to be changed in one day!lol We did use the laundry service and it was quick, efficient and cheap.
11. I brought a cheap pair of slippers to wear in the hotel room and on the flights. Let me tell you that by the end of a 16 or so hour flight, you will NOT want to use the washroom in your sock feet and you will have kicked off those shoes hours before and you'll be lucky if you can get your feet back in them!!lol
12. We had a shoulder style carry on FULL of medicine. Name it, we had it. We had enough antibiotics on us to cover the whole group!!lol We did see a naturopath and hoped we could handle whatever came along naturally, but we brought along every medicine known to man and I would again, although we didn't need any of it. We also brought along tons of stuff for Emma, everything from antibiotics to cough syrup, Tylenol, Nix, etc. etc. We didn't need anything, but some people did and they didn't have... we all felt much better knowing that if we did need some meds, we had them on hand. The last thing I'd want to do is have to go to the market and try to figure out what a bottle of Tylenol should look like in China!!lol Let me add that when we brought Emma to the hotel clinic to have her ears checked since she kept pulling at them and seemed uncomfortable, the doctor left the room and the guide told us she was going to get her special tool to check ears - well, we've all seen that little light thingy the pediatrician uses right - wrong... I swear to you she came back with a huge Eveready flashlight and used it to look in Emma's ears... gee, wonder why she saw nothing unusual!!lolol If I'd known, I could have done that with the flashlight in my luggage, didn't have to wait around for a doctor!!lol
13. I printed up the name of every international medical emergency clinic in each of the cities we stayed. Yeah, I know I sound paranoid... I prefer to think of it as better safe than sorry!!lol Again, didn't need them, but glad to have them on hand. We also got travel insurance above and beyond what was provided by our credit card company.
14. I worried and worried and spent hours figuring out what gifts to get the nannies. We never handed a gift directly to anyone and no gifts were ever acknowledged. It was such a "non" event during the process, if I were to do it again, I'd pick up a few nice little things but in no way would I fret about it.
15. We sent a camera to the orphanage. I know there are mixed thoughts as to whether or not this should be done but we decided to try it as our research seemed to indicate that this particular SWI was open to receiving packages for the kids. We only sent a disposable camera, an album with photos of us, our home, our neighbourhood (mainly so the nannies would know where Emma was going, but hoping they might show her and discuss her new family) and goodies for the nannies. We did not include anything for Emma that might require any extra work for the nannies - no toys, blankets, stuffed animals, etc. Every family in our group who sent a camera got pictures back.. pictures of our baby from before we met her are of course priceless. Also, when it came to donating things to the orphanage, we brought a bunch of cotton t-shirts. We saw in the pics that our babies only seemed to wear t-shirts and some sort of Chinese undergarment which we can't quite distinguish in the photos so we didn't send anything we thought they wouldn't use like onesies, dresses, etc.
16. GET A SEAT FOR BABY!! You might get lucky and have an empty seat in your row, but it's not a chance we were willing to take. Our flight home was LONG and no way we could have just sat there, stuffed in like sardines and with a baby on our lap. I know some people do it and bless them, but if you can afford it, get the extra seat for baby. We actually ended up getting 2 extra seats so we'd have some legroom - DH is 6 foot 5 - it was nice to have a little extra legroom. And if it's possible, get a DIRECT flight!! Most families in our group took a connecting flight. It was easier to fly direct, especially when coming home with baby in tow.
17. Try the best you can to find the baby carrier that's right for you. We thankfully had 2 at our disposal because one was just awful and there's no way I could have used it for more than about 5 minutes! Also, I remember someone telling me to use some of my wait time strengthening my arms - lifting weights and such... yeah right. Well, I swear after carrying a baby around for a couple of days and thinking my poor arms were going to fall right off, I sure wished I had listened!lol At the very least, bring some Motrin!lol As for should you buy a stroller there, bring one or skip it altogether, it's a tough call. We bought one there and really never used it other than in the airport, but it was convenient for that. Because we couldn't find a 5 point harness stroller in China, we couldn't really do much with the stroller since Emma stood right up it in, so if we'd brought a 5 point stroller with us, it might have been different. All this being said though, it really was nice to just hold her and carry her close to us. :-)
18. Read, read, read, read about adoption, China, attachment, etc. but don't freak yourself out. There are an awful lot of books out there about everything that can go wrong, but odds are, things will go mainly right. Read enough to know the basics, to recognize the signs of any problems, but don't read too much and get freaked out. Also, do some research and find out what services are available to children in your area - OT, PT, speech, attachment, etc. etc. so that if you do end up needing any of those services, you'll already have an idea where to look.
19. Be open to whatever happens in China. It helps not to have too many preconceived notions. The day you meet your baby could be amazingly beautiful, could be amazingly stressful, your baby may sob for hours or happily babble away. (S)he may be wearing a pretty outfit you'll one day frame in his/her room, or be like Emma, wearing a blue and white sleeper, two sizes too small, and carrying the pungent odour of a very dirty and wet diaper that had leaked through and obviously not been changed for far too long!lol Whatever the moment is, whatever the trip is, enjoy it and remember it.
20. And finally, CHEERIOS rule!!lolWell, longer than I thought to begin with, but if anything else comes to mind, I'll update. :-) All and all, this was the experience of a lifetime!!! These are just observations based on our experience. I'm sure there's another blog out there where someone is telling you the best thing to do is ditch the thermos, bring a shoulder style diaper bag, skip the extra seat for baby, leave any kids at home, bring as many clothes as you can possibly fit into your suitcase and leave the laptop at home!!lol
Emma
Here are a few pictures of Emma taken in Guangzhou and Beijing last year. She relaxed noticeably with us from beginning to end of our time in China...how much she (and all the other kids) changed in the course of 2 weeks was amazing! It really is astonishing the impact of one on one (or two or three on one!lol) attention has on these little ones! For instance, Emma's legs were a bit weak when we first met her. Within a few days, she was pulling herself up and walking all around her crib and by the end of our stay in Beijing, she'd literally pulled the side right off a crib by rattling it. The hotel handymen (3 0f them) were unable to fix it and had to replace it...that's our little Hulk!!lol BTW, the crib she broke is the wooden one you see in one of the pics, not the tiny metal one!
Great Wall!
The Great Wall is indeed GREAT!! It was BY FAR my favourite part of the touring we did on our trip. I enjoyed a lot of the sightseeing and yes, the Forbidden City is quite something, and so is the Summer Palace and so on and so forth, but for me, nothing compared to the Great Wall. We were there in early November and it was the perfect day to see the Wall. Most of our days in China were quite gray (I think in great part due to pollution) but the day before our scheduled trip to the Wall, wind and rain came through the area and we saw blue skies for the first time. On our day at the Wall, the skies were clear and blue and the view, as far as the eye could see, was breathtaking! It was a little cool although that didn't bother some of our travel mates, a couple of whom pretty much wore nothing but shorts during the whole 2 weeks. We had an interesting packing dilemma in that our group of 15 families was in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Beijing. HK and Guangzhou were HOT and required summer weight clothing; Beijing was cold and required heavier clothing. Thankfully, there was a cold spell in the hot cities which made them bearable and a warm spell in Beijing, with temps mainly in the 60s, which made it very comfortable as well. We got amazingly lucky weather wise. We did pack for summer and winter which added some stress to our attempts to pack light!lol Anyhow, many of us wore hats and gloves at the Great Wall since it was much cooler than in Beijing, but otherwise, we never needed them. One thing many of us didn't realize was how many stairs made up the Wall and how STEEP it can be in some spots!! The pics include one of our hot blooded group members, Gino, and the lovely Meg and Thomas climbing up one of the steeper parts of the wall.
Emma's preferred mode of transportation!
Emma's favourite mode of transportation in China was mommy's arms (sometimes daddy's)... with or without a carrier. The cute stroller we bought in China...umm...I don't think so. And since none of the strollers for sale at the stores we went to had a 5 point harness system, our little Houdini could just stand up and well, a standing child in a moving stroller is just not quite what we were going for! After about 2 days of carrying Emma (who was 10 months old and around 16 lbs)around, I started popping the Motrin - I thought my arms would fall off!! After another couple of days, my poor arms had gotten over the shock and I could carry her for hours without problem... I could even use a squat potty while wearing a sleeping baby on my chest!lol
ONE YEAR AGO!!
I just can't believe that in 2 days, Emma will have been part of our family for one full year. In some ways, it feels like she's been here forever, in others like it was just yesterday. We didn't post many pictures while in China so I thought I'd go through our pictures and post a few here as we commemorate Emma's one year anniversary.
Here is Emma, about 30 seconds after she was put in my arms and tried to pry my glasses off!!lol
Here is Emma meeting big brother... she literally couldn't take her eyes off him for days on end... she still adores her "tapa" as she calls him.Well, I didn't have to wait very long...
Well, I did wonder what my mother would surround me with next and it turns out I didn't have to wait very long to find out - first leaves, then hay, and now it would seem: plastic!! Yup, here we are, nice, cold, windy, rainy fall day. Seems we've had a LOT of those of late. Mommy decided, enough of this, we need some fresh air - for some reason, she felt the need to take me along!! So here I am, all bundled up and "plasticized". We walked to the book store and I got a great Dora book and a great Diego book and we even found a new book in the Bionicles series for Thomas. BTW, mommy says when she can't find a good book to buy, she should use the "Emma method" of bookshopping - today, Emma would only consider books that had purple covers. I guess she's going through her purple phase - pretty much every book we read today, be it Pooh and Tigger or Dora or Diego had a mainly purple cover and at the verey least a purple spine!lol Anyhow, Mommy also bought a bagel so that kept me quiet the whole half hour walk back home! BTW, this is the Mac3 stroller. Probably the worse stroller ever sold by Maclaren and I think it was only part of their lineup for a year or two with this particular design. My fave baby store was practically giving it away to get it off their showroom floor. Really awful stroller EXCEPT when you're dealing with snow, sand or rain - then it's GREAT! It has wheels that make it through anything (the back wheels are angled out...looks weird but works well, unless you're trying to maneuver a narrow store aisle!lol) and a rain cover that could handle a monsoon without so much as a ripple!
Friday, October 27, 2006
More pumpkin day
Last week I was buried in leaves, this week I'm sitting in hay, what special treat does mommy have in store for me next week??? Can you see how thrilled I look??lol
Pumpkings, bow to thee, I am not worthy!!lol
What a big girl!
Jackie was mentioning in a recent comment that Emma looked like she had grown. I measured and weighed her today and she is now 32 inches tall and 25 lbs. She just turned 22 months old. She's a growing girl. :-)
Pumpkin Patch!
Carolyn and I took the girls to the pumpkin patch today. It was COLD so it was a relatively quick visit, but they both enjoyed it. Emma enjoyed throwing herself at the pumpkins and trying to pick up pumpkins that weigh as much as her!!lol It just so happens, Carolyn and I were together on this date last year... on this very day in 2005, we were jetting off to Hong Kong in the first leg of our journey to meet our amazing daughters. :-)
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Madonna adoption
It's surprising how many people have asked me what I think of the Madonna adoption because "well, you know, you've done it"... I don't think our adoption and Madonna's have much in common. We live in different countries with different laws and adopted from different countries with different laws. And believe it or not, Madonna has not called me to discuss her adoption - the nerve of her!!lol To the degree that I know anything about this adoption, I'll assume that the usual procedures were followed (homestudies, police checks, etc) and I hope that this child has found a home where he will be loved and cherished.
While I don't know enough about Madonna's adoption to comment on it per se, the one thing I want to comment on is all the hoopla over this child having a living biological father. Well folks, before you get all up in arms about Madonna taking away this man's child, assuming that what Madonna said on the Oprah show is correct, the child was left at an orphanage at the age of 2 weeks and no family members had any contact with the orphanage or the child thereafter. Isn't that most often the case in international adoption? For instance, odds are quite good that our daughter has a living biological mother and father in China (and quite possibly sibling(s) as well)... I think that's the case for most of our babies...most of them DO have (a) living biological parent(s). This whole Madonna mess seems to insinuate that "orphans" have no parents, well, in many/most cases when it comes to international adoption, the birth parent(s) is/are alive and the child found him/herself in an orphanage for reasons other than death of parent(s). In fact, most North American adoptions are also of children with living birth parents...so I don't get this furor over "but he has a father"... think about it for a moment, most adopted children do have living birth parents, be it a mother and/or father in China who felt, due to whatever circmstances, that they couldn't keep their precious child or a single mother in America who participates in an open adoption - all living birth parents!!
It's interesting how the media spins things in such a way that sometimes you're outraged without even thinking about it. I admit it, when I first read that Madonna was adopting a child who had a living biological father and that she should have adopted a "true" orphan, I was taken aback and outraged for a moment as well... yeah, what is she doing, how odd the child has a bio father...ummm...then I stopped for a minute to think and guess what, many, if not most of adopted children DO have living birth parents so the fact that Madonna's child has a living parent is really not the big deal the media is trying to make it and pretty much the norm...of course, the media is hounding this man and trying to convince us otherwise!
While I don't know enough about Madonna's adoption to comment on it per se, the one thing I want to comment on is all the hoopla over this child having a living biological father. Well folks, before you get all up in arms about Madonna taking away this man's child, assuming that what Madonna said on the Oprah show is correct, the child was left at an orphanage at the age of 2 weeks and no family members had any contact with the orphanage or the child thereafter. Isn't that most often the case in international adoption? For instance, odds are quite good that our daughter has a living biological mother and father in China (and quite possibly sibling(s) as well)... I think that's the case for most of our babies...most of them DO have (a) living biological parent(s). This whole Madonna mess seems to insinuate that "orphans" have no parents, well, in many/most cases when it comes to international adoption, the birth parent(s) is/are alive and the child found him/herself in an orphanage for reasons other than death of parent(s). In fact, most North American adoptions are also of children with living birth parents...so I don't get this furor over "but he has a father"... think about it for a moment, most adopted children do have living birth parents, be it a mother and/or father in China who felt, due to whatever circmstances, that they couldn't keep their precious child or a single mother in America who participates in an open adoption - all living birth parents!!
It's interesting how the media spins things in such a way that sometimes you're outraged without even thinking about it. I admit it, when I first read that Madonna was adopting a child who had a living biological father and that she should have adopted a "true" orphan, I was taken aback and outraged for a moment as well... yeah, what is she doing, how odd the child has a bio father...ummm...then I stopped for a minute to think and guess what, many, if not most of adopted children DO have living birth parents so the fact that Madonna's child has a living parent is really not the big deal the media is trying to make it and pretty much the norm...of course, the media is hounding this man and trying to convince us otherwise!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The time has come...
We met Emma on October 30, 2005. She has yet to have a haircut, not even a trim, but I think the time has come. So, for those of you with a better eye than me (that means pretty much everyone!!), what do you think, just a trim or bangs??
Puzzles
Emma loves puzzles. She has 3 of them with big wooden pieces and she takes them all out at once, spills all the pieces and puts them back together. I have to say, she's pretty good at it too!
Bath time observations
Emma LOVES to pour water over her head. She always wets her own hair when I'm doing a shampoo. She's so independent in many ways. This is so odd to me because Thomas HATED getting his hair washed. I ended up putting decals on the ceiling above the tub to make him look up and distract him so I could wet/wash/rinse his hair! Emma has no such qualms. I'm sure she'd do great at swim lessons if she'd actually consider going anywhere near a swim instructor!!lol
Sometimes if I mention Emma's "sticky outy ear" (that's the medical term!lol), people say "what sticky outy ear"... see it now??lol What's interesting is that it was quite obvious on her referral pictures since she didn't have much hair and I never noticed it until someone pointed it out to me a few days after referral!lol We've been lucky enough to get a few pictures of Emma before she joined our family, including her finding ad, and the one easy way to identify her is her left ear. :-)
Emma's new thing is lying down in the tub...she loves it... just lies there telling stories! She particularly enjoys talking about her new boyfriend - Diego from Go Diego Go!! In the last little bit, she's actually started sitting and watching a whole episode (does it make me a bad mommy that I'm thrilled my child will now watch 30 minutes of TV every few days??lol) and then she goes on about it for days "mommy, Diego, turtle, Baby J., Bobo monkey, Emma see Diego, Go Diego Go"!!lol
Monday, October 23, 2006
Help!!lol
Really folks, could someone please come get that
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Another water baby!
Here's my other water baby. And yes, I will one day take pictures from a distance again, but I am so enjoying being able to do close-ups - something my old camera really couldn't manage. So here's Thomas... look at those long lashes... they're better than mine!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Ouch!!
Notice Emma's left eye - see how it looks a little red and swollen in the corner? See it? Yup, that would be my fault!! Guess I'm definitely not up for the "good mommy" award today!! I of course brought the new camera to take pictures at the beach. I'm used to a small "throw it in your pocket" digital camera. The new camera is BIG (Nikon D80 digital SLR) and it has a big lens on it. Emma asked me for something and as I leaned in to give it to her, the camera, which was on a strap around my neck, swung forward and the lens bopped her in the face....ouch!!! Yeah, no mommy award for me today, unless it's the clueless mommy award!!
At the beach!
If you read this blog regularly, you might have noticed that we often go to the beach. We LOVE the beach! Perhaps going to the beach in late October isn't the ideal time, but it's still beautiful and relaxing. So while the boys headed off to karate this morning, Emma and I headed off to walk on the beach.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Passport photos!
Yesterday, I took Emma to get her passport picture taken. I realize that many/most of our passport pictures look like mugshots and we all shudder at the thought of the powers that be in China matching us with our beautiful babies based on that ever so lovely passport style picture we all must provide with our adoption application. Anyhow, I wasn't thrilled with yesterday's picture and decided to take Emma to a different passport photo place today on the off chance we could get a picture which didn't look like her very first mugshot. Anyhow, here are the 2 pics. I swear these are both Emma and they were taken almost exactly 24 hours apart - does she not look like she just spent a month being the recipient of one of those TV makeover shows???lol Well, it seems obvious to us which is the better picture - what do you think? Honestly, if someone showed me these 2 pictures, I wouldn't even think it was the same child! You know how people say "oh, she looks just like so and so"... I don't even think Emma looks like Emma, forget about looking like anyone else!!lol Good thing we always have her "sticky outy" ear by which to positively identify her!lol
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Frequent flyer!
One thing we've noticed about Emma is that she's not much for toys overall. She loves her books and she loves her puzzles, but she doesn't really play much with toys - well, unless you consider Gary, Thomas and I to be her toys as I think she often does! She loves playing at the beach or in her sandbox and she loves running around after the cats or pushing a stroller around (I'm trying to get her to follow in my stroller addicted footsteps!lol) She's getting pretty funny with her imaginative play though. She was on a few airplane rides over the summer and she loves airplanes and airports - she's always pointing to the airplanes in the sky. Let me add that she's also always been really obsessed with buckles - the ones on the carseat, her stroller, etc. Anyhow, her new game entails her saying "airport, airplane, fly" and then she links her fingers, says "buckle" and puts them against her tummy like she's flying and then she does this: "flies" on the table as you can see in the pic!lol
Her new - or maybe not so new thing - is bossing us around. I guess she's always minored in bossy, now she's picked it as her major!lol She tries to tell us all how to do things. When we're in the car, she tries to dictate who can have their window up or down and what songs can be played (right now her fave is on a Sesame Street CD and goes something like "womba womba womba woo woo woo, blah blah blah, monster in the mirror" - can't tell you how many times I've heard that one - obviously not enough to remember the complicated lyrics though!!) I was having a cup of tea earlier and she's trying to tell me when I can take a sip, when I can put the cup down, when I should give her a sip, etc. I'm telling HER she's not the boss of me... shouldn't it be the other way around?lol
So, any of your little ones (Emma is almost 22 months old) also not into toys but totally into bossing everyone around??
Seinfeld
Emma always refers to herself in the 3rd person - Emma do this, Emma want that, etc. - why does that always remind me of that Seinfeld episode???lol What was the guy's name? BTW, you can really find ANYTHING on the Internet these days. I just went to Ask.com and typed in "Seinfeld episode where guy refers to himself in third person" and guess what - a bunch of sites popped up - his name - Jimmy!!! :-)
Clothes, what clothes, let's talk food!
Some of Emma's little friends are getting very picky as to what they will wear - their moms can't dress them the way they want, the girls insist on doing their thing. Well, Emma could care less about what she wears. What I pull out of the closet in the morning, she wears. Sometimes she'll say " pretty", but that's about as involved as she gets. But, let's talk food now - different story altogether! Today at lunch I asked Emma if she'd like chicken pot pie, one of her faves. Her resounding NO was followed by "Emma want turkey breast, apple sauce and cado (avocado) ... thankfully mommy had them all on hand!lol Oh, and she asks for "Coke" all the time... she's noticed mommy's bad habit... not a chance I'm sharing though!lol
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
Our fur babies!lol
The cats often show up in the background of pics but I thought they really should get a post of their very own... so here are "the boys" as Emma calls them!lol
Fun at the park!
Here are the kids playing at the park on what I'm sure will be one of our last nice fall days. And don't worry, there wsa someone within catching reach of Emma on the swing picture. She's so funny, she thinks she can do it all and I have to say, she's usually right - she's so strong, it amazes me - much stronger than Thomas was at her age! She's such a determined little one! We often call her "me too" because whatever Thomas says or does, you hear "me too" from Emma in the background. When we tell Thomas it's time for homework in the evening, "me too" has to do her homework as well, so we assign her a puzzle!lol She's 21 months going on 21 years!!lol
Saturday, October 14, 2006
More Daddy style!
Umm...it would seem that daddy is starting a new trend - really, who needs their undershirt to be snapped and under their clothing...didn't Madonna wear underwear on top of her clothes???lol In his defence, this is how Gary put Emma to bed and he didn't realize his mistake until morning, and while he could have just quickly hidden the evidence, he let me see what he'd done and even take pictures so we could poke a little fun. So, his dressing style for Emma is a little interesting, but he is a good sport!lol
Friday, October 13, 2006
Unclear on the concept...
Should be pretty interesting around here in a few more years. Emma has started blaming Thomas for stuff. Today, she was saying "Tapa (she often calls Thomas Tapa or Gugu) hit Emma arm, Emma booboo on arm" and "Tapa poopoo, tapa stinky, gross"... well, Thomas was at school so since he wasn't home, he was definitely innocent. She'll have to work a little on her lies stories! She's also starting to blame everyone else when certain odours start emanating from her diaper - "daddy fluff, daddy stinky" (we refer to gas as "fluffing"...sounds so much nicer than the alternatives!lol)!lol She's such a funny little character!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Hippo Hug!
When Emma used to ask for a "triple hug", it sounded like a "tippo hug" and somehow, Thomas changed that into a "hippo hug" and that's what a three way hug is now known as in our house, a hippo hug. Here are Thomas, Emma and I sharing a hippo hug. :-)
Could be worse than Gary style!
Here is sitter style!!lol I'd put this dress on Emma this morning with brown tights. I took her tights off when she went to bed and I was off to get Thomas at school when she woke up so the sitter dressed her - she decided that what would go best with this dress was a pair of patterned leggings!lol It's a sad, sad day if I'm the styling one in the house!lol
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Gary style!
We saw Emma style a few days ago - what happens when Emma dresses herself. Here's what happens when her daddy dresses her!!lol Any wonder I usually leave out the clothes for her to wear on her dresser every morning!lol And yes, those are PJ bottoms, not pants!
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