What a difference half an inch makes.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Baby S's 12 month C@rter PJs did not have much room left lengthwise. As usual, it happened at a rather inconvenient time. Baby S fell asleep downstairs and I needed to change her. I tried to get them on quickly and then found it difficult to get her arm in. Weird, because she had room to grow. Baby S woke up but I was able to get them on and get her back to sleep. I thought maybe it was that I was in a hurry and forgot about it. The next night the same thing happened and I realized that her PJs were now a perfect fit. P got out the measuring tape and it appears that Baby S has grown half an inch since her check up in December. Please keep in mind that this is us measuring half a$$ at home with a very wiggly toddler. To us she looks the same, but then again, we see her every day.

Right around that time I started noticing certain things around the house. One in particular caught my attention, Baby S's sippy cups. Our girl loves to walk around holding her cups and like her Baba, she loves leaving things all over the place. I particularly dislike it when she leaves her sippy cups in her ball pit. You never know where she is going to leave (rather hide) that thing. Then when she must have a sip of whatever and does not remember where she left it all heck breaks loose. By now I have a pretty good idea where to look, because thankfully our place is small and she is predictable.

I like that she is predictable in her own messy way because P and I are the same way. We are terribly disorganized, but in a predictable manner. Heh. If I was the last person with the remote it can always be found under a pillow in my vicinity. Now days you can even find sippy cups under the sofa pillows and even under the pillows on my bed. I wish I could blame it on Baby S, say that it is a means to hide things from her. But I have been doing this for decades.

P tends to leave things between the sofa cushions or on the sofa. Look at the picture below.

This morning I found a phone, a remote and a binkie. You can usually also find sippy cups, Q-tips and the last thing he removed from Baby S's grubby little hands. But back to the sippy cups; I kept coming across this,

and it caught my attention. I never place her sippy cups on the stools and neither does P, as it is beyond Baby S's reach. It usually caught my eye as I was on my way to do something so I didn't think much about it. Maybe P found a new place to leave stuff. I picked up the sippy cup and placed it in its usual place, on the coffee table.

A few days ago I walked into Baby S's room and found this.


Baby S is a grabber and she cannot fathom being on the changing table without at least one toy. It usually is a tub toy that she grabs on her way to the dresser. We also keep a few toys on the dresser to keep her busy hands happy. However, the fish rings are not one of those toys.

Two days ago I was cuddling with Baby S on the glider after her nap. Once she was fully awake she climbed down from my lap and went straight to her toys, grabbed the heart shape piece from the shape sorter and walked over to the window sill. She got up on her tippy toes and triumphantly placed the object there. She then turned around and went back to her toys.

AHA! It was her placing the sippy cups on the stool after all. I guess half an inch is not that big of a deal to us grown ups, but when you are only 30 inches tall every bit counts. Baby S is drunk with the power her new found height is affording her. I like that she leaves a trail wherever she goes, in her own Hansel and Gretel way. Guess she won't become a master criminal, since she leaves incriminating evidence in her wake.

Here is our Yunnan Ham in action.

Another golden moment in parenting.

I can't believe that all three of us are still struggling with this cold. UGH! P is working this weekend to make up for the two days he was sick during the week. This means that it is Baby S and I all by ourselves. That saying about misery loving company is so true. Anyway, we'll have family time next weekend.

Baby S and I were totally low energy this morning, and I know P was no better because I kept him up all night hacking. Although we thought about keeping Baby S in bed with us, P moved her to her crib due to my coughing. Good move on his part.

Although my handy dandy iPh0ne informed me that it would be raining all day, the sun was out and calling our names. I asked Baby S if she wanted to meet Baba for lunch and boy did she perk up right away. Her happy dance was something else. When I showed her the Y0 G@bba G@bba shirt (her current favorite) she squealed and did another happy dance. Off we went to meet Baba for lunch and pick up a few items, like orange juice. Baby S has been drinking a lot of it lately, it is her favorite juice by far. We gave up on apple juice, it is just not her thing.

By the time we left the store our friend the sun was gone. Although I had planned to go to a few stores I decided to come home and allow Baby S some free range time. Funny thing is that when I commented on how beautiful it was outside P told me to enjoy it for the short time it would last. I hate it when Weather Man is right. Today Baby S was fascinated with plain old gravel, picking through the stones and gleefully showing them to me, while saying "ohhhhh." She also spent time chasing bubbles.

Baby S was was on exploring mode, just walking all over the place. I finally tried out the macro lens that came with our camera. That explains the close up pictures. I wish we had used it in China, but the reality is that when you are parenting on the go, picture taking is not a priority.

Remember when I posted recently about how scared Baby S is of cars, or rather the noise cars make? Leave it up to our daughter to change gears on us when we least expect it. Baby S has had the week from he** due to being ill and as expected, has been really hypersensitive about everything. Totally understandable and expected. Of course she chooses today to find cars amusing. Every car that passed by was carefully looked at and waved bye to, while saying "car." A tow truck drove by and I rushed to get close to her due to the noise. Baby S inspected the large vehicle and seemed rather taken by the fact that it was towing a car. She turned to me and with exaggerated moves and in a deep voice stated, "CAR, CAAAAAAAAR." Yes Baby S that was a big car.

Two hours of playing and running amok took a toll on Baby S and she threw up. I took that as our cue to go inside and settle down for a while. Baby S strongly disagreed with my assessment and tried to negotiate more outside time. Her negotiation tactic came in the form of a royal tantrum. Sadly for her, P and I have a strict rule of not negotiating with terrorists, something we say to Baby S often. Of course it helps that she is small and all it takes is picking her up and bringing her inside.

Baby S wanted to play in her room and I decided to download the pictures and choose some for today's post. That is when our golden moment in parenting came to my attention. I looked at the date (how I file pictures) and realized that today is Baby S's seventh month at home. DUH! Usually one of us remembers, and this is the first time that neither one of us had a clue. Bad, bad parents. :( This past week has really kicked our butts.

With JJ we basically keep track of one date, March 21, his birthday. It's neat and simple. There is nothing simple about IA, including those milestones we hang on to, perhaps to make up for missing on our children's birth and firsts. Here are a few of the dates we keep in mind:

Dossier to China (DTC) : Date our completed dossier is sent to the CCAA.

Logged in Date (LID): Date the CCA officially logs in the dossier.

Referral Day: AKA as The Call, when the agency representative calls to inform that our referral has arrived.

Letter of Intent (LOI): Our agency does not do this, but other agencies have the parents sign a document expressing their intent to adopt the child referred. This one cracks us up because we could not imagine not following through with Baby S's adoption. We did not care if she had an extra head or several extra limbs, she was our baby.

Travel Approval (TA): When the Chinese government grants permission to travel.

Family Day, Metcha Day, Gotcha Day (some find this term offensive): The most amazing day, the day we get to meet and hold our child.

Medical Exam: Very basic (thank G-d) medical examination to comply with US immigration requirements.

Consulate Appointment (CA): Where we swear that the information we provided is true and that we will take care of our child. For us this was a bit different. Due to the child with chicken pox in our travel group, the US consulate did not want any of our children possibly contaminating the other children there. So they came to our hotel for the ceremony. Since 9/11 security is very tight and no pictures are allowed. The upside of our situation is that we have pictures of our swearing in and when the US liaison handed us the infamous brown envelope. The one to be turned in at our port of entry. I am absolutely unimpressed by ceremonies of any type, but if Baby S cares in the future, we have that little bonus moment for her.

Arrival Home: Finally!

*** There's also the date your child is found, frequently different than their DOB.***

As you can see, there are a lot of dates swirling around these old brains, so it was only a matter of time before we forgot one of those milestones. I might move those dates into another post because this one is awfully long already. I'm trying to write things down as I remember them to hopefully give Baby S as accurate an account as possible of her time with us.

Once we reach the one year Family Day anniversary we will only celebrate yearly. But for now, Family Day and coming home day are very important to us.

I'm not sure what had her bending over in laughter.

Try it Mama, it's really comfortable.

Soulful eyes. Reminds me of the song Yo Vendo Unos Ojos Negros.

Her mischievous face.

Bubbles

When P arrived home from work today, he left the front door open. Baby S gave her Baba a hug (she now body slams him while saying "hug"), and then bolted outside wearing only a t-shirt. She began to do the sign for help and up pointing at her scooter. We were not planning on outside time, but Baby S threw a fit and we decided to let her run around for a while.

She is still sick, but managed to run around after bubbles for quite a while. Since we are still going for that parent of the year award we did not even bother to comb her hair. Oh well...

Lately Baby S has been insisting on feeding herself. She did a good job today with her lasagna and used a fork. Baby S consistently uses her left hand when she feeds herself but also uses her right hand for 0ther things. At her age she should have a hand preference, so we'll see what happens.

Here Baba, more bubble juice.

Oh my, bubbles. Love her little hands.

Sideways S

Last night was pretty crappy, especially for Baby S. She is definitely more energetic, but her parents are still a few steps behind. We had an early dinner and by 6:30 p.m. P was ready to head upstairs. Yeah, 6:30 p.m., like Papi, going to bed with the chickens. Although we did not go to bed but just hung around upstairs. Baby S felt OK enough to play in her room alone for a while. She did check on us here and there because G-d knows that parents can't be trusted. :)

Baby S joined us in bed and by seven thirty she was doing the I'm-so-tired-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-myself-so-I'm-going-to-cry-kick-and-scream-until-I-figure-out-how-to-fall-asleep-ritual. Since she is sick, we are giving her a lot of space and letting a lot of things go, so we just resigned ourselves to a good 45 minutes of her Linda Blair in the Ex0rcist imitation. But it did not happen. What? She started her ritual, and then I heard her snore. P pretends to snore to try get her to sleep (never works) and Baby S has started to mimic him. I thought she was simply imitating her Baba, but when I looked she was out, totally out. YEAH!

Since P and I were awake and talking and laughing, we woke her up a few times. Poor Baby S glared at us and went back to sleep. About an hour later we placed her on her crib, because we knew she would not sleep well with us. We spent the night tossing, turning and coughing, not conductive to peaceful slumber.

Baby S is usually all over her crib, and our bed. It is not unusual to find her at the foot of the bed, about to roll over onto the floor. Last night we realized how sick she was because she remained in the same position all night. I was up all night, checking on her, making sure she was breathing. Kind of freaked me out that she was not moving. I took the picture above at 7:30 a.m. and she still had not moved. I guess she needed that tight fit to feel comfortable. It makes sense because that is what she does when she wedges herself between P and I. Baby S makes her own womb as needed.

Over the past few days Baby S also did something we had only seen our second day together in China. She has demanded to have both of us, not in a bratty way but in a really needy way. Our second day in Kunming Baby S was off and we stayed in our room, skipped the group dinner and ordered room service. She was whimpering and spent the evening alternating between our laps. We thought she was grieving and truly needed both of us. Ever since, Baby S has been consistent in wanting her Mama when something is wrong. But not for the past few days. I hate to admit this, but I'm glad that P stayed home sick for two days or it would have been hell on me. Two nights ago I got up to get something and Baby S had a gargantuan meltdown. P asked me to sit down with her and offered to get the item for me. That did not work for Baby S either and she had a small herd. We had to sit close to each other, with Baby S on our laps, to get her to calm down. I guess that we have a way of quantifying how bad she is feeling. If Baby S needs two parents at all times, we are on red alert. Even when sick she manages to teach us something new.

Baby S is picking up more words every day and does a lot of baby talk but with a discernible pattern. It is really funny when she goes off on her rants. It sounds a bit like twin talk, except, that, you know, she is NOT a twin. So we kind of wonder if we'll be using that therapy fund sooner than expected.

Baby S is still using the sign for poop , although she can clearly say the word. Yesterday she made the sign and said the word several times, but it was a false alarm. I said the same thing I have been saying for 7 months, "No sweetie, you did not poop, you passed gas." Seven months saying the same thing and not once has she repeated gas. OK, no biggie, we knew language would come slower for Baby S due to her origin and our insistence in exposing her to three languages. After a few more false alarms I looked and said, "Nope, just a f@rt." Baby S giggled and repeated, "f@rt, f@rt." OK, do children come with a built in sensor alerting them what they are not supposed to say? It is the first time I used that word with her, I talk to her constantly, and of the thousands of words she hears daily, she chooses to repeat THAT one?

The common cold SUCKS.

P returned to work today and understandably had an awful day, because we are all still sick. Baby S is a snot factory. Seriously, if the gooey, green, disgusting stuff was a commodity, P and I could retire and our great-grandchildren could live comfortably with the money. I have never seen so much snot come out of such a small creature.

She is more active and also more whiny, since she does not understand what is going on in her little body. Baby S is now a pro at wiping her nose and we are sure that by tomorrow she'll have catarro (cold) and salud (said when someone sneezes) down. She is not eating but is drinking milk and orange juice. Last night P made a strong stand when Baby S would not eat her dinner. He went out (as lousy as he was feeling) and bought her chocolate chip ice cream. P's explanation, "So she'll at least have something in her tummy." How many of you are surprised that Baby S refused to eat dinner (and breakfast and lunch)? But, since I am picking my battles I just reminded P that he must deal with the backlash when the time comes.

This afternoon, Baby S said "G00gle." She repeated it on the phone for her Baba and did a repeat performance when he came home in the afternoon. Phone pics below, because I was too lazy to walk downstairs to retrieve one of my cameras.

Baby S is still down.

Still under the weather.

Baby S has a nasty cold.

Actually, all three of us are down with the cold, and down in a bad way. P had to call in sick, something that has not happened since our arrival from China. Poor Baby S, she is like her Mama, that kid has gone through so much and always bounces back. But the common cold? Nope, it floored her. We have spent the weekend lounging around and just began to eat yesterday afternoon.

This morning P was looking at a video on U T*be and we were surprised when Baby S did not even turn her head around to watch. She lives for watching videos so the poor thing must have been feeling pretty crummy. We are waiting for Baba to bring lunch and hopefully we will all feel better by tomorrow.

Such a beautiful face, even when sick.

Best we could do for a V-D photo.

Pretty much what has been going on here for the past three days.

OOPS

I forgot to mention that I am finally doing better. Just dealing with numbness on my left leg, but no pain. I am back to picking up Baby S whenever she wishes and she is a happy camper. Nothing noteworthy going on around here.

Two old pics:

T-shirt: I am my grandparents' angel. They have obviously not spent time with her. ;)

Last August Baby S and P watched their first Angels game as Baba and daughter. I got them the matching socks last year during a work trip. Baby S has two Angels sippy cups and P is looking forward to taking her to her first real baseball game. Thank G-d I have my iPh0ne, because games bore the daylights out of me.

Lonely no more.

This is Baby S's glider, until recently a sore subject for me. We spent more than we initially planned but P made a good argument for the extra expense. I focused on the cost and being sensible, while P thought that once I had a screaming Baby S home I would be glad that it is wider, more comfortable and it reclines. Since our arrival from China, the glider has been a constant reminder of our miscalculation, and a source of guilt for me. We are not upset, because Baby S could not help the fact that being held lying down freaked her out, or that gliding/rocking is a new and uncomfortable sensation. A few times I considered asking P to move the glider to the garage, allegedly to have more room, but in reality not to look at it. Knowing P, that would have been a big mistake and I just let it go.

Then Baby S began to relax and our morning ritual of cuddling on the glider began. Yesterday morning when I greeted Baby S by her crib she did the sign for up as usual. She then pointed towards the glider. Looks like she is enjoying our morning cuddle time as much as I am. Baby S takes her time waking up, just like her Baba, a foreign concept to me. P is always amazed at how when I'm up, I'm up, that's it. Sometimes he is annoyed by it, but it's just who I am. He is glad to finally have a kindred spirit. Wait until we have to wake Baby S up and get her to day care or preschool on time. Something tells me he won't be as big a fan of her morning sluggishness.

Baby S did not nap yesterday and we were hoping that she would make it to 8:00 p.m. before falling asleep. We were afraid that she would nap for a few hours then go to bed way past midnight. Hard as we tried she succumbed to slumber at 7:00 p.m. I resigned myself to being up past midnight with Baby S on party mode once she "napped." She woke up crying at 11:46 and I made it a point to get to her before she stood up on her crib. Once she stands we have lost the battle and she is up for good. I found her on her knees. I picked her up and realized she must have had a bad dream because she was crying softly and a bit disoriented.

We sat on the glider and I instinctively held her upright. Baby S rested her head on my shoulder, then slid down to my chest. Then every few minutes she'd slide down a bit more, until she was laying on my arms. We were rocking for about 30 minutes when she let go of Funky Dog and I heard her snore. Seven months later I finally rocked my baby to sleep. I placed Baby S back in her crib where she slept peacefully until 5:00 a.m. The sound of the shower woke her up and I could not get her back to sleep. We will take a ten hour sleep stretch any day, even if she is up early.

We had snow flurries yesterday! Got to love California weather where one day you are playing outside in the sun in short sleeves and two days later you get snow flurries. It is raining right now and we are hoping that by this weekend we get some snow on the mountains. We are getting anxious to get Baby S out there for another first.

S is for sharing.

Apparently, this is something that Baby S needs to practice before she enters the real world, a.k.a. day care or preschool. As I was cooking dinner yesterday, on a whim I decided to make domplines. JJ tried them for the first time when he was 18 months old, courtesy of Abuela. When he was 5 years old, Abuela returned for a visit, and set out to make them thinking that I had made them in the meantime. JJ eyed them suspiciously and asked me "What is that?" Before I could answer, Abuela responded, "Puerto Rican cookies." That is all the kid needed to know and he gladly chowed down. I was curious as to whether Baby S would like them and that is how I ended up making something I had not made in about ten years.

Baby S took her first bite and gave her approval. She then moved to her chair and kept chomping away. Since she has ants in her pants she ended up on the sofa and within P's reach. P wanted a bite, and as you can see in the video below, Baby S was not willing to share. This is unusual for her as she usually shares with us even when we do not ask nor want whatever she is eating. P was hurt, but he'll get over it, I'm sure. However, we have a lot of work to do regarding sharing. Maybe it is just about the food because Baby S is doing much better sharing her Mama with her Baba. Now when she wedges her little body between us, it is more about comfort and cuddling. Up to a couple of months ago it was about "get your filthy paws off my Mama." We are considering that progress.

I was asked how much Baby S weights and the truth is that we do not know. She has her 2 year old check up next month and we will find out then. Her muslitos (thighs) do look chubby and she is filling her clothes a little bit more. We are hoping that she has achieved and passed the twenty pound mark. She is wearing 18 months and 2T tops now; pants are more of a problem due to her tiny hiney. Oh, and although her feet look huge in the picture where she is sitting with the presents from her Cousin Bel, her feet are still tiny. Her Chucks are a size 3 and the pink booties she wears are a size 2. The Mary Janes she is wearing in the studio pictures are a size 4 but with room to grow. So she still has infant size feet although her second birthday is fast approaching. She finally outgrew the pink Chucks so her feet have changed little in seven months. Right now we are desperately searching for a pair of snow boots in a size 4. Also reasonably priced as she'll probably wear them only a handful of times.

Domplines

First taste.

Mmm, this is good, sit down in a comfortable, padded rocking chair good.

Dude, get your own!

Lunch time.

I never expected P's lunch hour to become such an integral part of my day. For the past eight years P and I have worked in different cities. Prior to moving here we worked about 22 miles from each other. P's job was rather predictable but I was doing field work and it was a rare occasion when we could get together for lunch. Once we moved here we were 40 miles apart so forget about meeting for lunch. But ever since we arrived home P has made his lunch hour all about Baby S. That time is sacred, no messing with the computer, no checking e-mails, no phone calls. We only answer the phone for JJ, and when he calls it makes us feel good that the four of us can talk via speaker phone.

Once a month P has a safety meeting at work and that becomes a working lunch. Occasionally, when a salesperson is trying to get the lab to buy new equipment, P has to stay for lunch. This has happened only a handful of times. I sometimes feel bad because P's coworkers invite him out to lunch and Baby S and I are included, but P always declines. He has become accustomed to that alone time with his baby girl.

That time also allows me to do things I had taken for granted such as closing the door when I go to the bathroom and showering on my own. Baby S hates it when I close the door and she stands outside banging on the door and calling out for Mama. I have to get P to get it on tape soon. She is a riot. I am sure that I would be a more than stressed out stay at home mother if I did not have that window of time when I can give myself a time out and get ready for round two with Baby S.

I have meant to write about this for a while and kept forgetting. I know that I joke around a lot about P and regularly threaten to shorten his life span, but there is no way I could be doing this without his help. The kick in the pants is that when we met, my plan was to adopt as a single mother. I had no desire whatsoever for a husband, boyfriend, partner, whatever. The man certainly has a way of ruining my plans. :) Thank you P, I truly appreciate what you do for us.

Enough of that mushy stuff, I have a reputation as a heathen to protect. Today the forecast called for showers and by 10:00 a.m. it was obvious that it was not going to happen. The sun was calling us, so Baby S and I went outside to play. I took out the tubes and Baby S had a blast. She ended up using her scooter as a boombox and danced her tiny buns off. P found us outside two and a half hours later when he came home for lunch. According to my phone it was 48 degrees but it felt much warmer and P and I were wearing short sleeve shirts. I have no qualms admitting that I am afraid of Baby S's Abuela and that is why Baby S is wearing a long sleeve shirt.

Baby S is now afraid of cars and as I have mentioned we live on quite a busy street. The thing is that the area was busier when she arrived home because it was summer. Plus we have a basketball court across the street that was busy all day long. But now she chooses to be afraid of every passing car. It does not matter if she is indoors she still freaks out. No matter how many times I tell her the cars are harmless.When P opens the door, which consistently happens at lunch time and in the afternoon, she also freaks out. Any suggestions on easing her fear are greatly appreciated.

JJ, we watched T@ken and we really enjoyed it, thanks for the tip. When we saw the trailer, P told me that it was a JJ kind of movie. The man does know his kids.

First time doing this outside. I like it.

She's getting really good with the slide.

Yeah, outside time!

W0w W0w Wubb*zy

Baby S likes the W0w W0w Wubb*zy cartoon. Although she has only seen it a couple of times, it somehow caught her attention. Whenever she hears the commercial for the DVD she screams and dances to the music. When the commercial is over, she cries and repeats W0w W0w trying to will the commercial to replay. We thought it would be neat for us to buy her the WWW DVD as a FD present.

Baby S was so excited when she saw the DVD that she actually kissed it, but my phone is too slow and I could not capture the moment (I left my camera in the van). P tried to look at the DVD cover and Baby S yanked it from him. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to share. When we came home she spent about twenty minutes watching the DVD and was done for the day. Ah, the advantage of your child having a short attention span.

Baby S is comprehending more of what we tell her. This leads to a lot of frustration on our part when she engages in selective hearing. But that is her job, to test boundaries and keep us on our toes. About three weeks ago, Baby S was looking for her sippy cup. She loves to carry stuff around and then leaves it somewhere then forgets about it and that leads to crying. I was busy at the time and just told her to "look behind the sofa," without gesturing in that direction, I was not even looking at her. She simply walked behind the sofa and returned with her sippy cup. P and I were very impressed.

In the second video I ask her to do the sign for swallow, and she does it, although it is not very visible. We had to teach her that because Baby S chews until there is no need to chew but forgets to swallow. She has the sign down, but still takes her time over-chewing.

Baby S received her first invitation to a birthday party, but we could not attend. Her other best bud, Luke, celebrated his first birthday yesterday. We will hopefully get together with them soon. Happy birthday Luke!

My own W0w W0w Wubb*zy DVD. I like my Family Day gift.

No, I don't want to share with you.

Baba, I think I should be the one playing with the toys.

Seven months as a family.

Seven months since we first met the beautiful little girl that had already stolen our hearts and would turn our lives upside down, but in a positive way. I wonder what it would be like for Baby S to read about our memories of Family Day. I wonder if she would say, "You think I turned your lives upside down? Dude, YOU turned my life upside down." After all, she is our kid.

One of my first thoughts this morning was about the first dinner we had together at the hotel in Kunming. Our guide was smart enough to have us stay in, hardly knowing our babies and all. When we arrived at the restaurant, B and J were there with their Baby J and asked us to join them. The restaurant was spacious and our six families were the only ones there, but it felt good to share a table with them. We had talked to B&J in passing, but we sort of clicked at the Civil Affairs Office once we met our daughters. Out of our travel group we missed them the most and it is a bummer that they live in Southern California.

What stands out for me about that first dinner is how ordinary it was. Of the six couples in our group, only two couples had other children (us and a couple meeting their fourth child). It was a bit hectic for those with a baby for the first time and it showed. B&J are both very calm, easy going individuals, but you could tell that they were a bit frazzled with the logistics of eating with a baby. They discussed then decided who would eat first and who would do what.

We waited for a high chair, P settled Baby S and I went to look at what was available, and decided to start out with pumpkin soup. I don't recall P and I talking, he did his thing and I did mine. I chose soup because I was told by Baby S's nanny that she had only had formula, congee and they had just started her on white rice. Baby S loved the soup and before I realized that P was gone he returned with a plate with rice, noodles and duck. We fed Baby S and she accepted all three foods. She then forgot about the soup, she wanted more solids. Baby S still loves duck, especially with orange sauce.

P again left the table and returned with plates for both of us. For someone who never had to deal with a small child (except when we baby sat T2 & T3) he really surprised me with his easy breezy demeanor. It was, at least for us, a very relaxing dinner, not what I had expected. I remember B commenting on how "content" Baby S seemed. Baby S surprised us by eating so well, whatever you offered she ate. That is when P came up with our Chinese pet name for her, Shao Niao (little bird), because that is what she looked like whenever she opened her little mouth to ask for more food.

This morning Baby S decided to kick off Family Day with another first. She played in her room while we were watching a movie in our room. Baby S cannot stand being without us and we were blown away by this. Mind you, her room is next to ours, only 4 steps separate us. Baby S would come into our room periodically to check on us, but she did her thing in her room. She played for about an hour and that is one giant baby step.

When P returned from the bank not only was Baby S napping, but he returned with a movie. So much for going outside and exploring. P has been working long hours and just wanted to hang out at home. He chose a sophomoric comedy to make up for the lousy movie we had just watched. I know, two movies in one day, a tad excessive. But they guy works hard and he needs a break here and there.

Baby S woke up from her nap just in time to hear and then repeat a colorful word (the movie not us). Ouch, have to remember that the kid is a sponge and our days of watching whatever are over. In another moment of exemplary parenting, we had Baby S lounging around wearing a onesie. She had sausage for breakfast, her favorite, pepperoni pizza for lunch and turkey and cheese for dinner. I know, we should write a book on parenting. We ended our evening by watching 48 H0urs M*stery. Baby S was not expecting the end at all.

I love my personal and portable playground.

See the picture on the coffee table behind Baby S? We were supposed to mail it as a gift and yet there it sits.

Always finding new ways to sit, but never the normal way.

Baby S spent most of the evening playing with that plastic fork and the star from one of her shape sorting toys. Why did we ever bother with so many toys?

Baby S had a great night, I'm feeling better and when others hurt me it is all my fault.

Baby S had an awesome night, she slept peacefully, did not whimper or wake up once and woke up at around 8:00 a.m. I woke P up just before 7:00 a.m. to ask him to call my cell because I could not find it. His phone was downstairs (a first since he is practically attached to it) and he was not amused. Maybe that is why he has subconsciously been "forgetting" that I am still hurting. I woke up feeling better, I am no longer in excruciating pain, just plain old pain. Good for me that I do plain old pain well. P and I lounged in bed waiting for Baby S to wake up, when she did we allowed her to rot her brain watching cartoons on N0ggin, and then we watched a really lousy movie, V@ntage P0int. But it was Netfl*x so it is not like we are out the price of two movie tickets.

We had to watch the movie upstairs because that is where our desktop is located. While watching, I was laying on my stomach and P was sitting by my feet. All of a sudden he decides to use me as an ottoman and his leg landed on my left side. I complained and he apologized. OK, happens to the best of us. Then after the movie we were roughhousing with Baby S and he leaned his entire body's weight on my left side. I screamed OUCH and asked him why was he he** bent on hurting me today. He looked at me, then stated, "You know it is NOT intentional, just like when Baby S does it. Actually if you think about it, both Baby S and I have hurt you, so YOU are the common denominator. This is all your fault!" On yeah, he's got big ones and he is lucky to be alive right now. The upside is that he felt so bad that he is at the bank right now so I won't have to do it. BTW, this type of conversation is a daily occurrence at our home. P is a sweet, sensitive guy, but he is also the biggest smart-a$$ I've ever met. And remember, I happen to be the mother of two smart- a$$es. I am so going to be chided by my mother about all the a$$ talk.

Speaking of being a SA, this morning P and I had the best laugh we have had in months due to our SA nature. We have S*temeter to check on who is visiting the blog. While we did post the blog address in one adoption website we do not want to attract too much attention to it. We mainly check on how people find us when they
G00gle keywords. For example, someone keeps G00gling "spectacular first name" and lands on our blog. So for the most is funny stuff that we find. There is also someone in Chonqing, China who has visited quite a few times. If you are reading, leave a comment or e-mail us and tell us who you are, we don't bite. OK, that is an outright lie, we do bite, but only each other.

Anyway, this morning when I checked S*temeter I realized that someone from Saudi Arabia was on at the time. Saudi Arabia? That is a new one and to my knowledge they do not adopt from China. Then I looked and realized they arrived via G00gle after searching Mole's Disease. OMG, P and I were laughing so hard that we were gasping for air. It is a miracle that we did not wake up Baby S. P came up with the MD thing and of course he was referring to the animal. It has been an ongoing joke in our family for over ten years. Geniuses that we are, we did not look it up before posting and that is how a poor soul in Saudi Arabia landed on our blog reading nonsense. Still, it was a great laugh and helped us start the day on a jovial mood.

P should be home soon, the sun is out, we expect a high of 67 degrees, so I better get ready to take Baby S out to work on her winter tan. I'm pretty sure we'll manage to get pictures of Baby S today.

Oops, just as I typed the last word I felt Baby S's dead weight on me, guess the outside world will have to wait until she naps. She usually fusses so much but this time she just leaned on me and went to sleep. Baby steps, baby steps. :)

Thank you Cousin Bel! I LOVE my gifts.

Baby S received a a special package from her Cousin Bel (with help from Aunt Court and Uncle Matt) this afternoon. They had no idea what is going on at home but it sure made Baby S's day. Cousin Bel sent a beautiful dress, a set of PJs, a puzzle and a big penguin.

The dress is just too cute and we can't wait for Baby S to wear it when the weather is warmer. She loves the PJs because dogs are one of her current obsessions. I am not a girly girl, but those jammies are beyond cute. The puzzle is Baby S's first, because given the many toys she has, her parents neglected to buy her any puzzles (or a much coveted taggie). The puzzle has an apple, a banana, a glass of milk, a slice of pizza, a burger, mac and cheese, and cookies. Baby S immediately made the sign for apple and milk; then she said nana (banana). At least she can recognize them.

P is a big fan of penguins and one of Baby S's favorite books is about penguins. We have over a dozen stuffed animal penguins in the garage waiting for Baby S. Although he loves them so much, P had never received a penguin as a gift until I gave one to him. All the penguins he has received have been from myself or JJ. When we moved here, P carefully packaged them for Baby S. Since she has so many toys and P was he** bent that his daughter was going to be a Sn00py fan, the penguins remained in the garage. Funny that Baby S's first penguin came from her cousin not her Baba. She loved Mr. P and spent the afternoon kissing his beak and giving him hugs.

We gave Baby S another bubble bath and she was happy to get into her doggie PJs. We took a few pictures and P took her downstairs while I uploaded the pics and video. Before I was done, P was back upstairs, placing Baby S in her crib. Guess all the excitement about her gift resulted in an early and easy bedtime. Thanks Cousin Bel, Aunt Court and Uncle Matt for the gifts.

Michelle, if you were nearby, you'd be the first person we'd call. Don't worry, when Sophie comes home you'll do just fine. BTW, I'm so glad you are blogging again.

You guys are so silly, I'm NOT sharing my goodies with you.

How much do I like my gifts? This much!

TGIF

Wish I could say that Baby S had a wonderful day yesterday. She woke up wailing and it went downhill from there. Everything made her cry and not that fake cry, but crying with tears. I hate seeing her tear stained cheeks, because I know it is my fault. Yesterday the sofa was the cause of most of her crying. Baby S has been climbing on the sofa since she arrived home. Initially, she would take a pillow from the sofa and use it for help. Now she scares us daily because it is not unusual to find her trying to sit on the back of the sofa. But yesterday she was incapable of such a feat. She would pretend (she is into pretending these days) that she could not get on the sofa and asked me to pick her up. I did a few times, but I am not into enabling, so I left her to her own devices. That pi$$ed her off and she had a few fits. Baby S would get off the sofa, deliberately leave Funky Dog behind, then pretend that getting to him was as insurmountable as climbing Mount Everest on her own. Our daughter is the ultimate drama queen, but OMG she is so freaking cute.

Anyway, our morning was all about her crying. At one point she was inconsolable even if I picked her up. I had to call P at work, something I do not like to do. He has his job, and for now my job is to take care of our daughter. I am feeling like such an incompetent mother. Baby S kept crying for a few minutes but P was able to get her to stop. He was surprised that she was so upset and more surprised when I told him it had been going on all morning.

Yesterday I realized how much I pick Baby S during the day. You know one of those things we do on autopilot. We do not deny Baby S hugs, kisses, cuddles or holding her because, well, what’s the use in denying affection. Still, I did not realize how often I hold her. At one point she did the sign for up and I held her. She kept doing the sign and since I had to get something I picked her up. She still kept doing the sign. Now I was puzzled and she would not stop. Then she pointed at the ceiling fan and it hit me, she wanted to be held over my head. She likes it when we hold her up and she tries to touch the ceiling fan. As adventurous and stubborn as I am I was not about to try that. I was really hurting and had to pass. Baby S had a cow, no wait, she had a herd. Sweetie, can’t do that until Mama gets better.

When P came home for lunch he made sure to play with Baby S and hold her a lot. That seemed to fill her tank and she cried much less in the afternoon. We rewarded her with a nice strawberry bubble bath last night and P allowed her to stay in the water as long as she wanted. Baby S “discovered” the new bath toys her Nana sent and that distracted her for a while. I was sitting on the glider, which can be easily seen from her bathroom. It was funny how she would play a little then look at me say hi and smile. Baby S has such a kind heart. We brought Baby S to bed with us but she was restless and P had to place her in her crib. She slept but was thrashing all over the place.

I can’t wait for this to be over because it is really taxing on Baby S. Plus, although I do pain well, worrying about Baby S makes me more vulnerable. If this continues Baby S is going to learn some colorful language. I have been very good, but hey there’s only so long I can take, before I lose my patience and the colorful language slips out.

The positive side is that once P comes home this afternoon we have him for two full days. Weather permitting we will be outside with Baby S, allowing her to run, climb, scream and do whatever she wants (within reason). Sorry about the lack of pictures, but I just have not been in the mood. I know, a first for me. I might add some old ones later on, that way Abuela won’t send me a nasty gram, I mean e-mail.

An oldie but goodie, Baby S doing her Baby Hulk imitation.

Last night.

It’s sobering how a small event can turn a child’s world upside down. Baby S had a bad night and it is all my fault. I received an e-mail last night from my mother admonishing me for ignoring my doctor and continuing to pick up Baby S. Her point was simple and spot on, the longer you pick her up, the longer you’ll be hurting. The longer you are hurting, the longer Baby S misses on her Mama. Sigh. Mental note, do not be a smart a$$ on the blog when you darn well know your mother follows it like a celebrity stalker. P agreed with my mother and made sure to be the one to pick Baby S up and give her lots of extra cuddles and kisses. Baby S would just gravitate back to me, and when close would get so excited that she would end up jumping on my left leg. OUCH!

Trying to be good I did not pick her up last evening and that is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Baby S just walks up to me, does the sign for up and knows her Mama will pick her up. Not last night. We played with her and tried to distract her until bedtime. P voluntarily took over bedtime since we arrived home. So for the past six months he’s been the one to take Baby S upstairs to bed. If I’m staying downstairs for some alone time she just gives me a kiss and off they go. Last night Baby S was getting restless and P decided to take her upstairs and that is when the fun began. She threw a fit, wiggled out of his arms and clung to me like she had not seen me in a week. The crying and the “Mama, Mama, Mama…” was hard to take. I went with them upstairs and we decided to have her in bed with us. Too late for amends, Baby S was royally teed off and let us know. She had a really rough night with lots of whining, rolling all over the bed, kicking and head butting.

At around 3:00 a.m. she had become so restless that P deposited her in her crib. She was not a happy camper, cried for her Mama, but fell asleep for a little over an hour. P brought her back to bed, whimpering and in a foul mood. Baby S fell asleep much later and is now still on our bed catching up on much needed sleep. She is usually up and about at this time, bright eyed and bushy tailed. I feel awful that not picking her up last evening made her feel so insecure.

Baby S’s behavior last night reminded me that she is part whale. I don’t think I have blogged about this, but Baby S breaches. She has not done this in a while and last night she regressed to her baby whale behavior. Watch out when she breaches because she lands really hard and it is always her very hard head on my face. As painful as her landings are, she looks really cute doing it. Littlest whale in the world. :) I am hoping that our baby girl has a better day and night.

We still think that Baby S is doing well sleep wise as last night's problems were the result of a change in her routine. Can't blame the girl for protesting vigorously the only way she knows how.

A pinched nerve and a clingy child do not go well together.

I have a pinched nerve and it hurts really bad. I have a high threshold for pain and this thing is kicking by butt. Even though Baby S is a light 20 pounds, those are 20 pounds of love, and I have learned that love pounds weight more than regular pounds. Seriously people, I am not making this up, I'm sure it is in some scientific journal somewhere. Now my newly semi-independent child realizes some evil individual (hi Dr. S) told her Mama not to hold her and has become incredibly clingy. And as anyone who knows me is aware, I am the perfect patient, known for listening to my physician's instructions and just doing what I'm told without questions. Snort.

Anyhoo, there is NO WAY I am not picking up or holding my daughter, so yeah, I am hurting, but hopefully not for long. Baby S is really intrigued when I ice the area and just sits there watching her Mama placing an ice pack on her lower back. Then again she is probably wondering what the heck kind of freak show she belongs to now. It's difficult to tell with her, she's has a great poker face.

As I have mentioned, Baby S LOVES to say ou or ouch. I have let out a few and now she walks around the house holding her left side and saying "ouch." That kid cracks me up, and laughing does not help with the whole avoiding pain part. Now if I say ouch she takes it from there and adds 6 or 7 on my behalf. Who knew having children at my advanced age would have such benefits. She is saving me a lot of energy by doing my griping for me.

Yesterday afternoon we were again blessed with 70 degrees and Baby S was eager to go outside. Not the smartest move on my part, but I could not deny her the opportunity to roam around, scream like a banshee and just soak up some rays. I got her scooter out and Baby S did her happy dance for her old friend. Wish I had filmed it but no way was I going to look for the camera if it was not within reach. Baby S had a great time getting reacquainted with her old friend Scooter, chasing bubbles and running around attempting to break the sound barrier.

Until Baby S arrived home I was the klutziest person I had ever encountered. Ask P and he'd readily agree. How big of a klutz am I? On our drive back from Kn0tt's Scary Far in October 07, I was laying on the third seat of the van. JJ was driving to give P and I the opportunity to get some rest, as we were both due at work in a few hours. Don't ask me how, but I managed to punch myself in the eye. And it was a good one too, I managed to give myself a shiner. Everyone had a great laugh at my expense and of course P, JJ and S just kept asking how did it happen. Sigh.

But Baby S is a klutz extraordinaire. P and I are always amazed at how she manages to trip about a dozen times a day. Initially we thought it would subside once she became more confident walking. Part of the problem is that our daughter does not get the concept of walking. She must run, and fast, again that whole trying to break the sound barrier goal. One of best moments happened a few weeks ago when we walked to the mailbox. Baby S lost her balance, then completely bent at the waist, she did not get her hands out in time and her forehead ended up on the pavement. I hate to admit that I wish I had it on tape because I have never seen anything like it. The funny thing is that Dr. S says that Baby S's head is on the small side. P and I are not buying her assessment. The girl has to be carrying some serious weight up there to pull that stunt.

Yesterday, Baby S needed help taking a step down and I held her hand, while she was clutching her sippy cup with her other hand. Much to my amazement, once she is safely standing on Terra firma she proceeded to do a complete somersault. I had to let go of her hand for fear of fracturing her arm. My lovely daughter landed face first but luckily no injuries to her face. What got me is that she never let go of her sippy cup. My girl's got her priorities straight. P could not stop laughing when I told him the story. After all, he is only 12. And I wish that was the only fall of the day. Baby S managed to scrape her knees as well during another stumble. I had to take a picture of her chubby wobby knees to commemorate the occasion.

On a positive note, Baby S continues to do well with sleep. Last night she fell asleep on her rocking chair again and I was able to take her upstairs, change her diaper, get her PJs on, and place her in her crib without incident. Of course that is possible as long as Funky Dog, Snoopy blanket, Ming Ming and now Duckie blanket are in the crib with her. She slept peacefully through the night which was a blessing to her aching Mama. If anyone out there is waiting to bring their child home or experiencing sleeping issues, do WHATEVER it takes to get your baby (and yourself) to sleep. Forget what you thought it would be like and just do what you have to do to. We are convinced that Baby S's ability to sleep through the night on her own is rooted in the fact that she finally knows we are here for her. She is slowly trusting us.

Another positive aspect that coincidentally began when Baby S's sleeping issues began to settle is that she finally allows us to hold her horizontally. We quickly discovered in China that we could only hold her upright. Once home we realized that our wonderful glider was going to go unused because she would not allow us to rock or glide with her. She is not only allowing us to do these things, but she seeks them. When I hold her, she lays across my lap and places her little legs over my arm. Also, upon awakening, we spend 10-15 minutes on the glider, while Baby S slowly returns to the land of the conscious. We are loving every second.

I'm supposed to be finalizing the details of Abuela's (and hopefully a meeting with Grandpa) trip next month so I better get to work.

As much as she loves showers Baby S is really getting into bubble baths.

She has a great grip on her sippy cup.

Look what I did to my chubby knees. I hope they don't make me wear knee pads now.