New Year, New Teeth and more news

Well, here we are in 2008. Nothing can top the excitement of last year but we're off to a good start. Laina is doing new things everyday. She now has 11 teeth, and more coming soon. She is doing Ring Around the Rosy and dancing a lot. She sings to us, and everything is the tune of Jingle Bells(Just like Elmo does it). She says a few 2 word phrases and they all have to do with food. At Day Care and now at home too, she announces "Snack Time!" when she feels sure the time is right. She is growing taller and is running out of feety pajamas quickly. We play tea party everyday with her toy dishes and there's lots of play-eating (as well as the real thing.) She sleeps pretty well, about 9-10 hours usually with a couple of adjustments during the night; you know, blankie rearranging and binkie maneuvers...She is also working hard at learning to jump, which is just the cutest thing you've ever seen. She throws her body up but doesn't get any air, but she laughs and loves it and keeps trying and trying. She puts all our coins in her nice piggy bank that she got from our friend Alexandra. I'll post a photo of that. I have a cute one of yogurt-eating. We are still encouraging the spoon but she likes to use all her senses to really experience a meal as you can see.You'll have to imagine all the lip-smacking and "nummy" sounds... She was inspired by her Daddy to try coloring with her toes, and actually did pretty well and since then, she has been trying to do a lot with her feet. Yesterday she wanted to try playing the piano that way! Well, it's almost time for her to get up from her nap. She wakes up and shouts "All Done!" (This is cute, except for at 3 or 4 a.m.) Enjoy the pictures!

Christmas continues

oops, I forgot to add a couple of pix. Here's the grocery cart one(Thanks Aunt Ronnie, she loves it!) and my favorite one of her sleeping under the tree...I'd add some with other people in them but, well, hmmmm...don't seem to have any of anyone else!

First Christmas

Hi everyone, here are some photos of Laina's first Christmas. We spent the whole weekend celebrating with both Jimmy and Nancy's families and that was loads of fun. We were very wiped out from all the festivities and as it turns out, Laina got sick on Christmas day and spent a good part of the day sleeping under the tree. I got all weepy when I was looking at her there and all I could think of was that she was the only present we could possibly need. It's been an incredible year for us, bringing home Laina is really a dream come true. 2007 will always be my favorite year, although I realize that there's lots more amazing times to come with our daughter! Here's a few photos, and I am including a couple of "runners-up" Christmas card shots too. By the way, if you are friend or family and did not receive a card, please don't take it personally. I ran out of steam, but not out of cards! Feel free to ask for one. Let's see...there's a picture with Daddy under the tree, a picture sleeping under the tree,a picture of just how much energy she had to open her stocking, and just for an action shot to liven things up, I will add a running photo with her new grocery cart. She is a very fast shopper! Happy New Year !

All I want for Christmas

These 2 photos speak for themselves...we went to see Santa for the first time this past Sunday. All Laina wanted to do was climb the little stairs to the Santa chair, as we waited in line we had to keep retreiving her. I also got a cute shot in her fish tubbie. We've found that this inflatable fish works out great as a tub for her, it is safer and smaller and FUN. She has always loved the water and has no problem getting her face wet(or drinking it!). The hard part is getting her out. Enjoy the photos, more to come...

Firsts and Funnies

Laina has been doing "firsts" everyday now, it is hard to keep track of them, especially new words. When she gets hold of a new word, she likes to practice it and she does this by SHOUTING IT! For a while, she was Baa-ing like a sheep really loud,and still does especially when you drive by a field. Then it was "apple", everything was an apple until we almost couldn't wait for the next word. But one day, she had pulled my hair that morning and I said OW! She thought that was pretty funny and did it again. So...we had a nice little talk about bodies and boo-boos, etc. End of lesson. Then we went to the grocery store...She started yelling OW,OW,OW until customers and employees were looking down the aisle at me with daggers. A store worker came up to me and asked "Is everything all right?" I was mortified but also trying not to laugh as I carefully explained that it was just the "word of the day". Laina was smiling so I think they believed me..and it helped that there was a big milk poster in the dairy aisle and she decided suddenly that yelling MOO would be fun too! Here's some new pix for you..one is of her when I gave her a whole banana to hold and eat instead of cutting it all up. Another is of her first touch of snow with Daddy. We only got a dusting but she really liked it and now she checks out the sliding glass doors all the time to see if there's any out there.We are supposed to get a little tonight so maybe tomorrow there'll be a little to play in. I will also include a photo of her with her Day Caregiver, Nancy, who she likes very much. We are lucky to find a really great place where she goes 3 days a week.Laina has really blossomed since she's been playing with the other kids, doing organized activities and learning from the older ones there. We both just wish that we could be flies on the wall so we don't miss anything.

Tunneling for Trouble

Hi Everyone. We have been recently assured that, yes, someone is "out there" still looking at our blog. All viewers have not been lost! Hi to my sister Kathy and her friends at work who check in with us regularly.(Don't tell the Boss!) Laina is becoming such a personality. She is having fun in tents and tunnels, jumping on pillows and much more active play. She also is showing her imagination by marching her animals and pretending to feed us, etc.(Yummy, ABC food, if you know what I mean...) Tonight at dinner she had a big half of a slice of carrot and was driving it around on her high chair tray like a little orange VW Bug, complete with engine sounds, it was very funny. We attended a potluck party with the AFTA group we have here, that stands for "All Families Touched by Adoption", it was a lot of fun and we feel so lucky to have this kind of group to get together with. Laina was one of 4 new kids adopted, and they got a cake with their names on it and lots of attention. I am posting a group photo of most of the kids at the party,Laina is the teeny red person in the middle, surrounded by 5 other little ones also from China and many other incredible kids from all over the world. There's a nice close-up of her beautifulness, and a couple of her recent tunneling adventures. One we made from the couch at home and one is at the Family Center where the party was held. Now, Get back to work Ladies!!

BOO

Laina's first Halloween was a busy one. We borrowed some costumes(Thank you Holly, aka the Halloween Queen), tried on some old family favorites, and had a great time. Here are some pictures. First she was a puppy but alas, the costume was too short and she said NO. Got a photo anyway...Next, she was a bumblebee for a birthday party, we put the hat with antennae on her and she said NO. We took a photo anyway...Next she tried on a hat herself, got a cute photo of that. Then finally we realized that we had received an awesome lamb costume at the baby shower and although it was too big, she said YES! And what a cute lambie she was. We went to the pumpkin patch and she picked her first pumpkin and she was also a pumpkin herself at Day Care where they made Halloween cupcakes, had a singalong in costume and she came home one tired out li'l punkin.

Beaded, Beautiful, Beachy and Brilliant

Laina has been keeping us so busy, Wow. She moves really fast these days, and she's curious about everything. Her 8th tooth just finally came in after a few sleepless nights. We've all recovered now, and things are back to our usual comfortable chaos. I have a few new pictures for you. She's just so beautiful I can hardly stand it. There's a new pink coat shot, one of her in her beads that she likes to wear all the time, a picture of her in her hippie vest on the grass, and a cute one of her on the beach just yesterday. We have finished our post-placement requirements this past Friday when we had our final Social Worker visit. Next, we are going to re-finalize the adoption in the local court so she has a U.S. Birth Cretificate. This is not required and she is "officially " ours already. She even has a U.S. Citizenship certificate and a letter from President Bush. We got her a SS number too. I think the re-finalization will give us a sense of closure and a sort of "ceremony" here. The birth certificate will, of course, make it easier to enroll her in school, etc. This past Sunday we visited with Laina's friend, Bella. She is a child from the same orphanage as Laina and we traveled together to get our babies. They had a good time playing and we all enjoyed the visit but we forgot to take a picture of them together, RATS. But here's the photos I promised..

Twirling

Wow! October already. On October 20th, Laina will have been home for 6 months. It's hard to believe. Feels like she has always been with us... As you can imagine, Laina is growing now by leaps and bounds. She is not only running around, but also can walk backward, and twirl in a circle. The big kids at Day Care are great for her to be around, everyday she learns more just from watching them. There are new words all the time, I'd say she has at least a dozen now and she's mimicking all the time. There are 6 teeth in and more on the way. She'll eat anything, and I mean anything, but she is learning to put things in the basket when we tell her it's trash. We have given away the first batch of clothes that she's grown out of. Here's a picture of her with her favorite articles of clothing..SHOES! Also one of her with her Grandpa(Bampee) and Grandma(Mamma), and a cute one of her in her Saturday jeans and sneakers. I have had trouble finding time to post, but will make a better effort. One thing is that our computer is in a guest room and we have had a lot of people visiting lately. More arrive tomorrow and I'll be taking some new pix with her Aunt Kathy, Uncle Tom and cousin Robert to post next time.

Bubbles

Laina received a "gazillion Bubbles" machine and we tried it out one day. She loved it of course, although she wanted to put her mouth up to the gizmo and eat them! Here's a shot of her playing in them. We've been very busy with guests and will be until after Columbus Day. Laina is in Day Care for 3 days a week and I am getting back to work. She loves the Day Care place but we wish she could tell us stories of her day. It feels very wierd not to know what she did every minute!Oops, she's awake..gotta go!