One hot chickita....

Heading out on the town for lunch at our favorite Japanese place, Futaba, to celebrate Annie's first Canada Day as a Canadian. A day early we know but they will be closed tomorrow!!! My girl loves tofu with zuchini, ginger and garlic. Oh and temago!!! She fits right in!!!!

LOVE our "new to us" Chariot Cheeta. It is a bike trailer and stroller - Annie loves it too which is great!

My baby cradle

My Mom found my old baby doll cradle and sent it out to me. Annie and I put it back together and she was so helpful - especially with the screwdriver. You are never to young to learn how to put stuff together!!! So here she is playing with her fishy in the cradle...
and here she is trying to climb into the cradle!!!!!! Yes, we are there already!!!

So happy...

Through networking in Annie's SWI yahoo group, I found a person who uncovered the information about Annie's first year of life. There are some gaps but we now have photos and know where and how she lived. I am just thrilled to have this information as now I can start her lifebook... ahhhhh... so happy that we can give her this gift. It was fairly expensive to do but to me and to her one day, this information will be priceless...

the "updated" new haircut

This was the first cut...

The more "punk" look - right side

Left side...

Left side again...

The front view...

I had to cut it because miss banana head puts food in her hair, hates to have it washed AND won't let any clips or elastics in it. Gone are the days of the pretty pigtails for now :( I thought that a "punk" haircut might be fun - ah what you can get away with while they are small!!!

A few photos of a day in the life...

"Helping" Mommy with the laundry... one of my favorite things to do each morning.

Modeling my rainbow baby legs and matching hair clip. I took off my shirt!!!

Visiting with the goats at the park...

Hanging out on my couch ...

Loving my new couch!!!

Reading books at my table.

Yes, one more pasta shot, just toooo cute!!!!

Rocking in my rocking chair. I won't let Mommy or Daddy hold me and rock but I LOVE to rock on my own...

Interrupted while "reading" my favorite book... I LOVE bears which is good because Daddy has been known to be called Mr. Bear...

Yes, eating again but my favorite fruit Watermelon!!! I love all melons and most fruit. Yesterday we had strawberries and raspberries from our garden and I think that they are "mmmnnnn".

Spaghetti photos...

Each month we have at least one pasta dinner. At the end, we HAVE to take a photo because it is such a fun meal. Notice how comfortable little miss is with the camera these days!!!

A few days ago...

Last month... notice the full body bib - Shawn calls it the "bionic bib"

First spaghetti dinner in April... yea, that bib lasted for about a month...

Annie loves her pasta but she loves smearing it everywhere even more!!!! We are usually off to "splish splash" after so it really doesn't matter to us where she smears it!!! I would rather have a child that isn't afraid of food and textures than one that is. I should take a photo after she eats zuchini - she loves to squish them and then eat!!!

Feeling Better...

Annie is feeling better, so much so that I was able to cut her hair while she was in the tub. It is a really cute haircut and very fashionable these days. I cut it high at the back but left the front bits and her bangs alone. When I have a chance I will take a photo and post it. She actually let me do it but Shawn held her for me to finish it up. Shawn and I cut each other's hair - I know we are strange- and I wondered how we were going to have Annie's hair cut but I guess I can do it now.
Annie is sitting on her Dor.a couch (which she loves, thank you for the idea Auntie Kate!!)and playing with my socks!!! Too funny!!! She is a cutie and I am glad that she is starting to come into her own. Yesterday she was digging in my plant. I swear, I had my back turned for 30 seconds while I was putting her picture in a frame and she had two handfuls out of it by the time I turned around. I guess I am going to have to put the heavy tape across them like I did for the cats. Shawn calls her his little kitty so I guess it comes naturally!!!
Oh and she will put everything and anything in her mouth. Shawn's black socks leave little black bits all over and I can just imagine how many of those Annie has ingested!!! I am trying the ignoring thing but I think that she just likes to do it so that doesn't help. Argh!!! I can't keep the floors clean enough because "hoo.ver" finds the smallest speck!!!!
Gotta run, baby whining!!!!

Sick baby...

Well, we have a sick baby on our hands. Poor little pumpkin. She was crying in her sleep again early this morning so we put her in bed with us and she cried/slept until about 10am. We found that Annie was running a fever but the tyl.enol brought it down. All we can say is thank goodness she gives us the cue that she has to go #2 because even in the potty it was messy!!! Poor babe, she is sleeping again. This is the first time she has been "sick" with us. We went through the teething thing but that was different. Shawn is off today which is very helpful and we have both been giving Annie lots of cuddles when she will let us. She had a terrible time getting to sleep last night and we figure that she was uncomfortable then but Annie slept until 5:30 this morning. Oh well, it just makes me sad when she cries that heartfelt cry during her sleep. All we can do is cuddle her, give her lots of liquids (I enticed her to drink water by giving it to her from my glass), keep her fever under control and have a quiet day or two. Poor babe. Now lets hope that we don't get it!!!!!

Attachment...

We are working really hard with our attachment to Annie. For anyone who has adopted a child and gone through the attachment process, you know how intense and challenging it can be. Our therapist told me that all parenting is attachment and we just hit the ground running with a boatload of issues to deal with. Every day it gets a little better. There are little successes and I just wanted to post here one that I had recently.
I was sitting on the couch and Annie was bopping around. I said "Mommy needs a hug," and Annie came over, pulled herself up and held out her arms to hug me. I cried after that. It hadn't donned on me that she would come and "give" me the hug. I said the words and was preparing to come over and hug her. Wow, a success and so gratifying for both of us. It is the little successes like this that make the whole process worthwhile. It is really a challenge to be the only ones responding to all of your child's needs 24 hours a day and I get to do it all by myself four days a week as Shawn works very long hours. It helps when your child is sweet, cute and starting to respond in a loving way!!!

The wait is ALMOST over for...

Red Sand and Enviroman !!!!! If you are into looking at some cutie-patooties, head on over and have a peek at their referrals for.... YES, TWIN BOYS!!!!! Yippee, hooray and congratulations!!!!!
Sam was my secret pal from our Feburary DTC group and although she lives on the other coast, we have kept in touch through these long months of waiting. We couldn't be happier for the new family!!! Oh and Sam, all of those girl clothes that I sent, I hope that they fit Buddah Baby although she might be a bit big for them now!!!!!

In tears...

me that is!!! Annie brought me a lovely book this morning to read. She picked it out of her bookcase and the weird thing is, her books aren't all over the floor like they usually are. The book is "I Love you Like Crazycakes" and for those who don't know, it is a book written by a Mom who brought her daughter home from China. This is the first time I have read the book to Annie and I couldn't help but cry. Some of the story is very different than ours, but some is very much the same. After I read it, she started saying "Baba?Baba?" because there isn't a Daddy in the story I guess. Brilliant Child!!!
Anyway, I was in tears and asked for a big hug which Annie gave me and I pulled her into my lap and we had a huge cuddle with lots of kisses. I think that I have the sweetest most brilliant child in the world!!!

It makes you think...

Annie and I had a very busy day that started with a swing at the park, a visit to our garden to water, a visit to a playgroup, a quick sleep while we walked home, part of the afternoon in her little pool for the first time and a long nap.
So, what makes me think is the fact that Annie has been inconsolable this afternoon. She cried her heart out when I put her in the pool - I picked her up quickly and cuddled her until she calmed down. I then got into the pool and she came in with me. She was fine after that and the weird thing is that she LOVES water. Her "splish splash" is her favorite part of the day!!! Then during her nap, she cried in her sleep for about 3 minutes. When she had been asleep for 2 1/4 hours (her normal nap time), she started crying again. I went in to see her and she was crying inconsolably but still sleeping. When Annie didn't wake up, I rubbed her back and her legs to try and comfort her a little, telling her that I was there. This didn't work at all so I picked her up and she cried and cried in my arms for about 10 minutes. After this I gave Annie her favorite snack and she wanted to be in my arms while she ate it. For dinner, I again, gave Annie her favorite foods which included cheese, lemon rice, cucumbers, tons of honeydew and blackberry yogurt!!! She just seemed to "need" special things and time from me today.
So Daddy is now putting her to bed but even during their special time she wanted me tonight to hug, kiss and cuddle her. She isn't going to sleep very well tonight either!! I can hear her in the monitor. Poor Shawn!!

So what makes me think is today is June 3rd, the 20th anniversary of the deaths at Tiananmen square. It just makes me think...

Coming into her own...

Annie has been very co-operative with us. She seemed to listen and respond to the "no" routine. Well, that is all starting to change as she becomes more attached to us and comfortable in her life here.
So the first thing is food in the hair. Yep, gobs of it. For quite some time, she allowed me to put her hair up and put clips in it. Not so much now - if she can reach them, she rips them right out. I put a ponytail in the back of her hair and now I am using my hair elastics because the fuzzy ones she just takes out. The problem is with her bangs -potato, banana, pasta sauce, yogurt etc etc all end up in her hair. I want to grow her bangs out because they are bothering her but she won't let me clip them back so... fun!!! I figure that the hair thing she can win. If she doesn't want her hair up, she doesn't have to have it up but we have to clean it after every meal and every night now and she REALLY doesn't like it that!! A natural consequence. The other day she had egg salad all through it and Shawn said not to worry, all the girls he knew growing up used to put egg and mayo in their hair!! Too funny but he is right.
We are pretty thrilled that she is feeling comfortable enough with us to assert herself. I am pretty much ignoring the food in the hair because saying "no" just engages her - like yesterday's "yes"!! We have decided to save the "no" for serious things like electrical cords, outlets and generally dangerous behaviour.
My time on the computer is up, Annie is here and I have to run!!

Annie is walking!!!

Well, not quite but she did take three steps today at 4:50pm. She walked from Shawn to me and I was so excited that she started to get excited and couldn't do it again. We will try another day. Maybe it was the joyful tears running down my face but she just wanted to hug, kiss and jump up and down after her first attempt. She is such a little snuggle bunny.
I knew that Annie was ready to try because she has been climbing. Annie has also been practicing standing and she has become very steady on her feet. I remember reading how excited everyone gets excited about these things when you are young but when you are twenty five and walking, no-one seems to care!! Too funny.
Anyway, our darling girl is learning, growing and surprising us every day. Oh and a funny aside. I had the vacuum out today and as I was plugging in the cord she picked it up. We did the "no" routine and she looked at me and said "yesh"!!! I started laughing, it was just soooo funny. Well, I won't do that again because the next time I went through the no routine, Annie said "yesh" and looked for the laugh!!!! What a kid!!! Have to love her to bits and pieces.
Oh and Lisa, thanks for letting us come over and visit with Musette. Shawn is softening on the kitty idea!!!!