Grace Xue

Another milestone: Swimming

2011-06-04T23:26:00.000-04:00

Forgot to mention that Grace swam her first few strokes without assistance at lessons on May 28 and again in the pool with me on the 30th. So exciting! She started lessons in December and is getting very confident at floating, putting her head under water and jumping into the water (at someone). Pics to come. As of now, she is 32 lbs, and easily sees the tops of all counters and can turn on all light switches. She also can buckle her own child safety seat, clip on her bike helmet and write her first and middle names. Guess she'll be wanting the car keys next....

Grace, Mary, and Old Mac

2011-06-04T23:21:00.000-04:00

Grace had her first piano recital today. She played "Mary's Lamb" and "Old MacDonald." I lost the cable that will allow me to sync the video and pics from our camcorder to the computer and upload them here, but I hope to find it or buy one this summer before our big international trip. Anyway, she has only been nervous in the last two days, but has willingly given preview performances to anyone she can pull over to our piano. We got dressed up today, complete with a special gift of painted toe and fingernails (purple) and McD's nuggets (we were running late). She wore a chinese dress (fuschia, with colorful butterflies) from Alan and Donna, and white tights and red patent shoes (her fave, from Maya M.) and her REAL grown up pearl necklace from China that she will get to keep when she is 16. We clipped a little white flower barrette in her hair. She fell asleep five minutes before we arrived at the recital hall (nothing fancy, finished warehouse space that doubles as a music store) where she woke up and readied herself. The video is shot from behind; wish I could see her expression as she went through the following steps: Walked to the bench, slid up onto the bench. Sat for an eternity while people whispered "She SO SMALL!" until her teacher realized the bench was too far away for Grace to reach the keys. After a quick scoot forward, Grace placed her hands on the keys and...sat...and...finally...played! Flawlessly! Methodically, with excellent pressure and timing, and not a note out of place. It was magical. Everyone was so polite and quiet and patient and when it was all over, she gave a hearty bow to the audience. (I was so proud and happy, of course I cried!) Later, after all the other kids finished and everyone was eating and drinking refreshments, she joined the crowd of kids at the piano and squeezed in to play another song, a practice piece, that we hadn't realized she knew from memory. It was great to see her enjoying the piano and her new skills. Puts all that drama from practice behind us...at least until tomorrow.
Thanks to Miss Lorna, her wonderful teacher, and all of G's fans who have cheered her on since she started in February. It bears noting that she has often remarked through the sturm and drang of practice, head in her hands, elbows on the keys, "I wish I'd never said I want to learn piano!" Well, today, we are all glad she did. Good work, Gracie!

Will also post photo of the program, in which she is the first student to play, as well as her medal (engraved with her name) from Lorna. No shots of her black nose, which she gave herself by rubbing the program over it a few minutes before the performance. Cleaned that up quickly.

Webcam

2011-03-08T02:41:00.000-05:00

Don't know how to use it, I admit. Well, I do know how to point it at me and Grace and snap a pic. See?

Headed to Four

2010-12-06T00:47:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know all is well with Gracie Xue. She turns four very soon and we are planning great things for this month. This weekend, she attended her second musical of the fall (and a third one is teed up for next week). She is a great theater-goer, and has the etiquette down pat. She also had her first swimming lesson which went -- well, swimmingly!

I am taking a few days off before Christmas and will use some of that time to update her photos and current interests. It's been a rough year for technology at our house, and the laptop we currently have is finicky and difficult to use so please bear with me. I hope next year is one filled with reliable hard drives and no little software goblins. Speaking of goblins, Grace went as a ghost this year for Halloween. Don't think daddy got any pictures and mommy was out of town but we did get a few at her preschool parade. Hope to post updates soon -- no major changes (although she is over 30 lbs and 36 inches now) but still as beautiful as ever. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Gotcha Day 2010 Campout!

2010-09-05T21:44:00.000-04:00

For our third Gotcha Day Anniversary, we had a cookout on the deck and then Grace and I slept in a tent on the deck. We were joined in the morning by one of our dogs.

Lemonade for Sale!

2010-09-05T21:26:00.002-04:00

Grace's first foray into commerce. Although the advertised price was 25 cents, if asked she would reply "Five Dollars!" She loved counting her money.

Pixie Pics

2010-07-21T21:11:00.000-04:00

The Lost Pics

2010-07-21T13:49:00.000-04:00

Computer failures this spring caused me to lose about 3 months of photos and 5 months of videos, including her sled dog ride (which I failed to capture well anyway due to operator error with the new video camera) and her first gymnastics performance (cute, but largely chaotic), some cute songs and the slow documentation of about 1.5 inches of growth. Rats. Most of the photos you see in the last posting are from the lost files, so this blog is the only place in which they exist anymore... And where is that, anyway? In the "cloud"????

So, now our computer is repaired (cross fingers) and I will be backing up BEFORE reformatting the SD cards (lesson learned). New photos coming soon. She is changing by the minute.

Also, some milestones passed while we were off the grid, notably, the third anniversary of "meeting" Xue Chun via the referral and pics in July 2007 (was it the 9th? I think so.)!!! What an amazing time that was, and how time zips by, and oh so many changes have occured here in our family. More to come. We have the third Gotcha Day coming up in August -- maybe I'll organize a party this time to celebrate beyond just our family of three.

Oh yes, and it's HOT HOT HOT here. Dogs are drooping.

2010...at the halfway mark

2010-06-30T05:32:00.000-04:00

Busy, snowy winter; scarlet fever and hives; trips to LI, Rochester, and more coming up. This is one active three year old. Still in preschool, she is writing her name and other letters. She sings a lot, makes up some stories once in a while, hates to be videotaped, still loves her blankets and stuffed animals (Baby B, Pink Stink, Meow Meow and a host of new additions). She eats everything (even tried mussels and said they tasted "different" but refused to eat the foot; can you blame her?). She has only gained a few ounces since December but has grown about an inch and a half. She turns on lights, crawls onto the bath vanity to brush and floss teeth. She is fascinated by the little black and red box elder beetles that scatter when she pokes the cluster of bugs on the side of the gazebo. She is still crazy about animals and can recite the text of many books, especially those with animals (Roly Poly Pangolin and Puffling are her latest). Last Sunday, she saw her first in-theater movie, Toy Story 3 -- she was great and at the end immediately posited that there would be a 4 and 5. She loves to ride her bike or ride in a seat behind me or her dad. I gave her her first big haircut, a bob, around Memorial Day to help keep her cool. She loves short hair and hates to be sweaty (especially, for some reason, on her feet - couldn't keep her in socks or slippers this winter).

The computer has been on the fritz for many months but I just got it back and will upload some pics. Here are a few from February to May, including Easter egg dying, Valentine production (which stretched into March - sorry we never sent them!); the SNOW (nearly 50 inches in one week); and more. Missing are pics from her gymnastics performance and her new haircut -- they are on the video camera and phone camera and I need time to figure out how to transfer those files. More to come, hopefully by August. Grace and I are headed to Maine where I hope to pick blueberries with our little Sal. Coming up on three years together this summer with this amazing child. Love to all and thanks for your support!

School Holiday Pageant!

2009-12-20T19:15:00.001-05:00

Check out our cute little reindeer....first video is simply kids getting ready, second is the big performance. Sorry about the poor video quality -- Santa, bring me a video camera!

Awww, shucks. Just tried to upload and blogger won't take .mov format. Anyone have any suggestions?

In the meantime, while we sort out the technical difficulties, here are some pictures of our big snow.

Working our way back to August in Photos

2009-12-14T03:44:00.003-05:00

A few highlights from the collection.

Halloween...A bit late, Sorry

2009-12-14T02:55:00.002-05:00

She was a skunk for Trick-or-Treating but it was a very warm night and a very hot costume. We hit six houses and by then she had the hood off and the top completely un-velcroed. I hadn't put a shirt on her and when it started to rain, she looked like a cross between an Orlando-area stripper and roadkill. Needless to say, we have no pictures of this. However, for the pre-school parade and the previous night's haunted barn party, she went as a cowgirl. Whether it's smores or sugar babies, this cowgirl likes her sweets. She also prefers to wear her hat in the extruded crown style. And for those who haven't heard the story, her horse is named Jackson Pollock. Yep, that's right, Grace named him Jackson Pollock. Hats off to former pre-school teacher Ginger, who focused on a few key artists in February of 2009. Certainly left an impression on Grace! Ironically, the horse is a paint.

Pics follow:

[Note: Haunted barn a bit scary. She was concerned that the skeletons might eat her. I noted that they can't eat anything anymore, as they don't have stomachs.]

In line for Santa....

2009-12-14T02:40:00.000-05:00

She was great. It was late at night, close to 9 pm. Lots of children waiting in cheerful outfits, lots of parents in sweatpants and sloppy shirts. Grace told us that she was going to ask for "another Audrey" (favorite doll) and wanted to tell Santa she could go to the North Pole to help him make presents. She was excited and pretty patient. A cute little 15-month old boy ahead of us discovered he was no longer shy and persisted in trying to hug Grace, but our girl played coy (or more like Lucy to Charlie Brown's football) and dodged little Gabriel every time. Finally, just as we got close to Santa's big chair, Gabriel burst out crying at the sight of Santa. Grace ran forward and gave the little guy a nice hug. He was all smiles then, at least long enough for one good pic for his parents. Then it was Grace's big moment. She said "Santa!" and ran forward, scrambling into his lap. And then....nothing. Just like the Easter Bunny in 2008, or the Santa later that year. Silence. She stares off into the distance, looking as though she had just eaten a raw frog. Finally, she climbed down and came to us. "I didn't feel like talking," she explained. That's okay, Santa knows.

Santa, Baby!

2009-12-14T02:31:00.002-05:00

Grace - born in the The Year of the Fire Dog

2009-08-30T03:15:00.000-04:00

I re-read G's zodiac description and now, with her personality in full swing, I find it even more appropos! I draw your particular attention to references that would validate her tendencies toward quality control and her night-owl (or should I say "night dog"?) habits. Oh, and with respect to the final sentence below, let's not forget her favorite question -- "Why?"

Here's one take on Fire Dogs (quoted below from http://www.astrologycom.com/firedog1.html) :

The Dog in Chinese astrology expresses its principle qualities of loyalty, faithfulness and unselfishness. The Dog is active and honest and is appreciated by his superiors and those under him due to giving priority to the collective interests of all rather than his own. His best role is as a prophet of future events and he barks to draw attention to the events of the day as well as to the injustices of the world. He does look to how wrongs can be corrected. He's forever on guard to look after his property and so anxiousness is a characteristic of his personality. Money is important for his family and so he will earn it to support them; however, he thinks of it as mere 'paper'. He delights in anything to do with the occult, the mysterious, the bizarre and the unusual so he yearns to investigate these things in his life.
Wild and Romantic
The Dog's favourite places are wild, romantic landscapes and the remote regions of the world. He feels at home in the wilds of Tibet or Mongolia, the windswept islands of Scotland and the jungles of the Amazon. For this reason he is an explorer, but he also prefers the comforts of peaceful evenings by the fire where it's far from the business of the everyday world. As a profession he is suited to be a manager or head of companies, but he cares very much about the quality of the work environment
. He can be a priest, nun, missionary, teacher, nurse, magistrate, judge, lawyer, doctor, scientist, researcher or preacher. More than any other animal of the zodiac, the Dog is always asking itself, "What am I doing here on earth and what is my purpose in it all?"
A special feature of the Dog-born person is that he or she is the one who sits at the gates awaiting nightfall, wherein the Dog will prowl and keep watch. He is a faithful watchdog and is the guide and guardian in the underground invisible worlds and thus, lying at the gates of the underworld, is a figure of the subterranean world of life and death and is symbol of initiation into the rites of death and rebirth. He pleads mankind's cause with the gods and especially brings questions for us all about our life purpose. Cerebus, of Greek mythology, was the dog who lay at the cave entrance by the River Styx, the river that souls crossed in their passage from life to death, guarding the Gates of Hell and Pluto's underworld. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead it was the dog who guided souls on their journeys into the next world. This year then, will bring a certain edge to us questioning why we are all here.

A New Look for Grace's Blog

2009-08-30T03:08:00.000-04:00

Many of you may notice that I was having trouble with the layout of the photos and text here. In order to use the new and improved layout and editing tools, I needed to update the template. In the process, I lost a few of the old links, to Grace's Chinese Zodiac sign and Scott Simon's piece on adoption. I think that's it, as I have recreated the links (with pics on front page now) to G's referral photos and the link to Rumor Queen (although for fun and balance I ought to add the Canadian one, too). I'll try to find the other two items and add them back. In the meantime, please let me know what you like and don't like. If any of the colors bother you or are hard to read, please post a comment and I'll fix the blog. Thanks!

Fewer words, more pics!

2009-08-28T15:14:00.012-04:00

Eat Dessert First. [Actually, it's just my ineptitude with Blogger; can't get the pics to load in the order I'd like.]

She picked these shoes for her outfit because she wanted to run around the restaurant.
(Thanks, Al and Donna, for the pretty dress!)

Family Pics Before Heading out for Gotcha Day Dinner.

Yoo Hoo and the American Flag:

Steelers Fan. No, she doesn't really sleep here -- she likes pretending that she's a "tiny baby" and having me feed her and rock her and climb in this bassinet (it's all we have to play baby with since we said goodbye to the pack n' play and crib last December). I am sure when she grows out of this phase she will realize how immature she was and finally root for Tom Brady and the Patriots.

How We Spent our Summer....

2009-08-28T15:01:00.003-04:00

Here are some pictures to show you what a wonderful, active and people-filled summer we have had!

As of this writing, Grace is unofficially over 25 lbs (maybe more, but if so, that means that I weigh more than I would like, so I prefer the accuracy of my scale to be somewhat nebulous), and quite possibly three inches taller than she was at the start of the year! We'll need to wait for the next doctor's visit to confirm these reports, but we have gone from a size 5 to size 7 toddler shoe in a year, so we have real evidence of growth. Happily, we also welcomed a new baby niece this spring, so someone will be able to use the clothing and shoes that Grace is quickly outgrowing (Yay Bella!).

And for a quick update, Grace likes Frog and Toad books, being barefoot, eating ice cream, visiting the monkeys at the zoo, doing flips on the bar at the playground (completely unassisted) and bouncing on the trampoline at gymnastics class (started in July shortly after we witnessed the flipping). She loves her grandparents (all six of them), her Uncle Alan and Auntie Donna from the U.K., her dear "aunties" and "uncles" in the neighborhood. The ocean. Noodles. Watching Kai-Lan, Dora and Max & Ruby. Playing at the playground. Running. Helping to cook, do laundry, set the table, wash the floor. She is less keen right now on washing her hair or going to bed (11 pm....!!!). Brushing and flossing are less fun now that she's met the dentist (really, she needs to understand that the more she does the former, the less she needs to do the latter!). And, she really wishes we would go on airplanes more often as she loves to fly!

Here come the picures.

Memories of the Gotcha Day

2009-08-28T13:40:00.002-04:00

(....continued from 8/26/08)

We arrived the night prior, to a sweltering Hunan airport. The tropical plants and palm trees were a change from Beijing's more familiar environment. The humidity clung to everything. We were hustled along in the dark by a young woman who would become our guide in Chang-Sha, "Vicky." She moved us en masse, with all our luggage, into a waiting van.

The vans smelled a bit of mildew, which would become a common scent here and farther south in our journey. I had tried to do a little laundry in Beijing the day before, washing it by hand in our hotel room and hanging our thin, microfiber clothing to dry in the bathroom and bedroom. Needless to say, the short turn-around time and relative humidity of China made air-drying nearly impossible, and our luggage was now significantly heavier, as we carted around very damp clothing.

We were very tired, and eager to go to bed. Our hotel was stunning on the inside -- featuring a massive lobby with marble pillars, koi pond and dramatic gold accents along the walls. We checked in to the Dolton, selected our pillow preference (feather and buckwheat for me), changed some money in the lobby and headed to bed.

Upon unlocking the room and heading inside, I was struck by an unfamiliar but momentous sight -- a crib, tucked in the corner, awaiting its occupant. All the talk, the work, the expense to prepare the papers, to nest, to pack, and to make the long journey to get to this room, with this crib, was suddenly very much in the past. Looking at the crib, I realized that everything from here forward would be different. We unpacked formula, bottles, a few things we needed in the morning. And although our beds were as unyielding as plywood, we piled on the comforters, said goodnight to each other and the room that would soon be filled with a world we had only imagined...and went to sleep (one of us needing a sleeping pill to calm his anxiety).

The next morning, we headed to the hotel buffet. The big event wouldn't occur until after lunch, so we joined our fellow travelers and worked at calming nerves enough to eat a meal. Following a joint meeting in the hotel conference room to review all our paperwork and meet two other families (from Maine and Minnesota), we headed out to lunch (who could eat???) and then to get the babies. Three families proceeded to the county offices in Chang-Sha, while the two others (second-time adopters, matched with slightly older children) settled in for a long drive to southern Hunan for their girls.

Two years later, I can't remember if the bus riders were quiet or bubbling with excitement. Three of the six future parents had never experienced parenthood before, so I am sure that even if there was noise, there was nervousness as well! We pulled into courtyard alongside the building and proceeded inside. At each step, we were asked to wait -- just a minute here or there, but it was agonizing. Other vans would pull up and we would get excited, thinking that the babies were in the vans. But one after the other, the vans were just delivering more prospective parents. We started to cluster in the lobby until we were invited into small elevators for a trip upstairs. Again the crowd built, as adults speaking several foreign lanuages spilled into the room. Some took posts along the walls, some in the ornately carved wooden benches throughout the room, and some just milled around blocking the doorway. We quickly prepped the camera for video, having run through the basics in the hotel room that morning (why I hadn't taught him to use the video before this day, I'll never know! Fortunately, he did great).

Then, Chinese women carrying babies began to enter the room. People were craning for a look at the children, seeking facial characteristics they could recognize from the pictures we had coveted for month or more. It was an amazing moment to realize that the 2-D image that filled your dreams and palms for so many days was now a physical presence, breathing, blinking and, in some cases, crying in the arms of the young aya's (nannies/caretakers). I saw a baby I thought was Grace, and we craned our heads for a better look. But a Spanish family crowded around her and gathered her up as I stood there, shaken by the thought that I didn't really know what my child looked like.

Then our guide returned, with three babies and ayas behind her. The noise was now cacaphonous, with various languages, cries of happiness and relief from the parents and sadness, fear and separation emanating from babies. R. turned on the camera, narrating his top-of-mind thoughts about the crowd and chaos. Suddenly, he spied Xue Chun. R.'s remarkable facial-recognition skills gave me instant relief, as I knew our daughter was finally here. He followed her with the camera as they first offered her and then retracted her until I could present my passport for identification. Xue Chun was staring around, expressionless but alert. When they handed her to me, my arms lifted a bit, overestimating the weight of the slightly built little gift that was now, finally, ours. She gripped firmly to a tissue box that was her comfort or toy -- I had imagined her playing with it on the long drive to the official building and now, needed this familiar object among all that was noisy and erratic and new.

She was so very soft, with arms and legs that while not sickly, seemed to have no muscles contained within. I couldn't believe this delicate little child could so tightly grip the tissue box, or so steadlily hold her head aloft. But she did -- watching with intense interest and growing horror at the crying and screaming of her fellow babies. Finally, she started to cry too, a loud and unending protest, her sweaty head and face turning red and anger pouring out of her. I cooed "bu pa" and "wu aie nee, xue chun" (don't be afraid, I love you) and her new daddy started the rocking that would not stop to this day, the swaying to calm an upset child (or maybe parent?).

Otherwise, she looked well. Her hair was fine and uneven, evidence of being shaved for some medical procedure (they would reportedly draw blood from the side of a child's head, or for other purpose). She had a few large red bumps on the back of her skull, from heat, we were told. Otherwise, was fine-featured and beautiful. Her clothes were cotton separates, made in India with the odd slogan "Ethnic Baby" imprinted in a colorful orange pattern across the front (just bizarre). Someone has tied up the undershirt strings and rolled down the waistband of the shorts to keep the clothing from falling off her.

We were finally removed to the van to return to the hotel, mothers now holding their precious babies, fathers gearing up with bottles and plastic keys and any manner of tchotchkes to calm the children's fears and provide entertainment. One baby peed all over her mother, and we all suddenly realized our daughters were not wearing diapers. Quick diapering ensued, and then we were at the Dolton.

At this point, Grace had stopped crying and was nearly asleep, worn out from the effort and the trip and the trauma. I can't quite recall whether we slept first, or bathed first. Either way, both were done as was a successful bottle-feeding. Shi-goo stopped by with the type of formula they used at the orphanage ("Sanlu" -- later found to be the brand contaminated with melamine) -- at the time, we were just thrilled to provide some continuity to our new little baby. After all had rested, we dressed her and went downstairs for a late and quiet dinner. She was calm, quiet and taking in everything with her lovely, shiny dark eyes.

I remember tucking her in her crib that night, incomplete phrases from dozens of lullabies and nursery rhymes floating through my head. We snapped a few pictures of our sleeping beauty, kissed her goodnight and went gratefully to bed.

I'll close this post by saying that following the hand-off, Grace never again had a crying spell in China. She woke up the next morning, cheerful and alert. She slept through the night, except when she needed a diaper change. We even realized that when we held her over the potty, she would pee -- an awareness that would later in her life lead to a very easy and early potty training. She was a happy, well-adjusted baby who took her bottles well and tried many solid foods at many Chinese buffets! She could suck a noodle like a champion, and, despite having no teeth, would go with gusto for fruits and rice, eggs, soft meats and other foods. We enjoyed our time with her in China, delighting in her laughter and surprise, her many facial expressions and interests. For the duration of our trip in China, passersby would stop to interact with Grace, saying to us "beautiful baby, clever baby," and we agreed.

On this second anniversary of our first Family/Gotcha/Adoption Day, we are no less thrilled, thankful for or awed by our sweet and spirited, intelligent and lovely little girl. We love you, Grace Xue.

Happy Gotcha Day 2009!

2009-08-28T13:32:00.005-04:00

It was two years ago today (okay, yesterday, the 27th) that we met our Gracie. Last year, I posted the wind up to the meeting... one year later, before the exact memories fade and are replaced by just emotions and "recollections" jogged by the video and pictures, I will attempt to write the story of our first day as a family......

The pics in this post are a mix of old and new. Grace is on the left of most of the pictures, in the middle of the three girls on the first red couch photo. The girl on her right in the old and the new pics is C., who just came to visit.

New Stuff

2009-05-20T22:58:00.002-04:00

Grace, her dad and I enjoyed the zoo on Mother's Day. Big faves were the monkey house, where unmentionable habits were the source of much education and amusement for Grace, and the giraffe, who ate leaves that Grace tossed at her. If prompted, she will talk non-stop for several minutes about the antics of the monkey family. Fortunately, there is no reenactment.

This weekend, we had a chance to jump in a pool together. She thoroughly enjoyed it, although she didn't seem to remember swimming the previous summer. Kicking came naturally and she blew a few bubbles but in order to get her arms going, I instructed her to pretend she was pushing away her big dogs ("Move, Reese, move!").

She has been singing a lot lately, mostly Old MacDonald (whose farm apparently features, in addition to what are mostly ducks, a "big mama" -- e i e i o) and Frere Jacques/Are you Sleeping/Two Tigers (Liang shi lao hu) -- which she sings in all three languages. She also has been role playing with her baby dolls ("You need to listen to my words, baby.") and has frequently stopped me to say "I have a question." But since that is usually followed by a song title ("No Work" for example -- which is really "Never Go to Work" by They Might Be Giants), I think she means to say she has a "request."

We are working on grammar -- using "These and Those" instead of "Them" to begin a sentence, and making the correct verb agreement. Next we will work on finishing the phrase "go with [us/me/you/them]" or "take it with ___."

One day I told her not to let Reese take the opportunity to steal her food off the booster seat tray. A week later, she was still yelling at Reese to not take her "tunity." I think she thinks opportunity is a food group.

She greatly enjoyed watching our neighbor's daughter perform in a ballet ("Twirl, Caroline!"). She also likes the pinwheel she got at the fundraiser/fair where she loved the moonbounce but seemed a bit taken aback when she realized that Elmo was not a freestanding being but was attached to someone's arm.

She loves worms and bugs ("Don't bite your tail, wormey.") and fishing and running and hugging and kissing. She doesn't like going to bed, staying in bed, reading new books (just the usuals, please), or eating spicy food.

When she coughs, she gets a funny, concerned look and says "That doesn't sound very good." She recently had her fourth ear infection since December. It came with a cold (allergies?), fever and unrelated hives. She may have redeveloped her strawberry allergy. But she's a pro at taking her medicine and is hale and hearty now. She has grown maybe two inches since Christmas and can open the doors in the house without rising on tiptoes.

Stay tuned as we approach the second anniversary (in August) of the day we met Grace.

Grace's School Report: Brag, brag, brag....

2009-05-20T22:34:00.003-04:00

Today was our first parent/teacher conference (other than the one in February where they said she was not listening in class and we discovered that the real problem was that she was not interested in serving as the Teaching Assistant, all likely due to the departure of her original teacher and advancement by her close friend to the next class). It went very well, with Grace scoring highest ("independent") on nearly everything and "progressing" on sharing, awareness of relation to space (on, under, in, etc.), and respect for personal space (she sits too close to others....why that is an issue, especially at this age, I cannot fathom). She knows the alphabet and recognizes the written names of all her classmates (at 29 months -- and she has done so since age 2). She still has trouble identifying numbers but can count sequentially up to 27. Fine motor skills, comprehension, inquisitiveness -- all above average.

Our biggest problem is that she is way ahead of her classmates developmentally but because of her birthdate, the school won't advance her to the next level until December, maybe October/November if we are lucky. Meanwhile, half the kids in her class will move up to the next level in August simply because of their birthdays. I think we are going to face this kind of challenge for many, many years to come. In China, all the people we met would see her and remark "Clever baby!" I never doubted their assessment but often wondered how they could know so quickly.

The Director mentioned that her son (who is about a year and a half older) has been asking to invite Grace for a play date. He stopped her in the hall and asked her for her phone number. "I don't know my number," said Grace. "You don't know your phone number?" he asked, incredulous. "Why not?" Grace responded, "I don't know." He then turned to his mom and complained "She doesn't know her phone number." The Director said to her son, "But you don't know your phone number." "So what," he said, "I don't need to call myself."

I would teach Grace her number but I didn't think I'd be in the position of fielding calls for her at such an early stage. Maybe they could just text each other.....

More pics but kid is sick

2009-05-04T23:30:00.007-04:00

Down with a cold/cough and the third ear infection of the year (fourth in six months). Also, hives. We think it could be the old strawberry allergy surfacing with her immune system fighting the other stuff.

Sorry we had her out in the rain all day yesterday. At least she had fun.

Here are pics our friend took on her quick visit here last month. How I envy her camera and photography skills!

(And no, Grace isn't searching for Easter eggs here, and it's not blueberries for Sal, either....)

Octopus and Lambs

2009-05-04T00:30:00.002-04:00

[Don't read this if you are currently eating, are fond of wool sweaters or were upset reading Old Yeller. Really. At least there are no photos.]

Just felt like telling you about our day.

I was determined we would go as a family to the sheep festival in our half-country, half-suburban county this weekend. Yesterday was filled with errands, so I pinned my hopes on today. We woke up late after an extraordinarily difficult, late night -- Grace just wouldn't go to sleep. It was 10 pm when she went down and even later for us.

Grace helped me crack some eggs and sprinkle some cheese in as I scrambled them (and she ate the rest of the cheese in handfuls). Then we dressed and tried not to notice the pouring rain. She is a little sick with an off-again/on-again facial rash and an infrequent cough. It wasn't enough to affect her energy or mood so we pressed on. I convinced Daddy we needed to buy her a raincoat since I didn't relish walking all day with an umbrella and a toddler (at least, not without protective headgear). So, we drove over the thrift store to check out the stuff. No coats, but Grace got several cute hats and Daddy got a couple pair of shorts. Then hunger overtook Daddy (he had passed on our breakfast and was off by a meal) and we ended up at a fast-food restaurant. Grace picked at the food and giggled over the figurine in her meal.

We got in the car and hadn't even left the parking lot when Daddy, who has bad allergies, started gagging over draining sinuses and coughed vomit all over the front of my car. It wasn't as funny as he thought and even though Grace and I were in the back seat, the idea of vomit in close proximity made me throw up, too (fortunately, I was able to open my door soon enough to yak on the street). Grace was completely confused by all this chaos. [For the record, the only time she has ever thrown up was upon landing in the US on the flight home from China, thank goodness.]

So, after he cleaned up using the last of our China-purchased baby wipes which we kept in the car for spills, we drove to a big box store for a raincoat and a clean shirt for Daddy. Got the shirt, but there were no coats to be found. We headed to another chain store but had no luck there, either. I was beginning to think retailers don't believe that kids play outdoors anymore. We pressed on, realizing that we were about to miss the second of three demonstrations of border collies herding sheep but as it was still pouring, we had little choice.

We pulled into the mall and splashed into yet another clothing retailer, this one focused on outdoor activities. After confirmation from a clerk, we found a rack of several lovely little raincoats in blue, yellow, pink flowers and ... squid! (Okay, not squid -- octopi, but squid is a funnier word.) We passed over the matching boots since she already had a pair of ducks in the car, grabbed some rain pants, a pair of winter boots for next year, and a pair of sneakers for her and Daddy, and headed to the fairgrounds.

It was all we anticipated and more -- sheep after wet, woolly sheep. Grace reached out to pet (and kiss!) curious and ornery lambs and even the original Baa Baa Black Sheep, who did, in fact, have three bags' worth of wool. We watched one sheep get shorn (think WWF smackdown with hooves) and lots of little kids parading their 4H animals around a sawdust ring. Daddy bought us all some fudge. I marveled at beautiful ink drawings of covered bridges, barns and horses that reminded me of my childhood. Grace pointed out the poop on the floor.

Several times over the 90 minutes of our visit we stopped in the barn that featured musicians playing celtic jigs and running a puppet theater of dancing dog puppets -- through a hidden pedal in the rear, the fiddler would make the floor of the theater bounce and the dog puppets would jiggle and leap on cue. Grace was transfixed. The music drew little wet raincoats from all over the fair and soon there were 20 kids watching and bouncing in time.

As we wandered among the sheep droppings and muddy wet fairgrounds, I wondered about the juxtaposition of live animals who acted like dogs (named; on leashes, being shown around rings; standing up on the rim of a pen like a counter-surfing labrador; groomed on high tables) and the smell of hot gyros wafting across the misty cool air. 4-H'ers leading a 14-day old lamb with truly virgin white wool on a walk behind the barn -- the little lamb dressed in a blue wool sweater -- and others hawking lambburgers around the corner. I saw the skeins of pretty yarn and lovely sweaters and recalled the look of sheer terror in that sheep's eyes as the shearer gripped the animal's head between her legs and thrust her shears across skinny legs and sensitive neck and belly areas. Immediately upon righting itself after the shearing, the sheep defecated on the floor and bright red blood dripped from just beneath its tail; a very fresh accident. I saw the same look of terror in the young shearer's eyes when a white-haired, retired sheared advised her to wear goggles and told her of the day a sheep kicked the shears into his eyes.

We talked to a farmer who spoke of the need to protect his resting sheep with a cover so the wool wouldn't ruin. We saw the animals who had just been shorn being led away, legs wobbling from the trauma, to join other panting, exhausted beasts collapsed on the hay. We saw shorn lambs crowded in a pen, tied up by their heads and identified by blue numbers on their backs (Dachau, Buchenwald, Treblinka....). I realized how much skill -- and emotional pain -- would be behind every perfect hide-shaped shearing.

Finally, the last demonstration of the day was being announced and we headed down the hill to check out the herding show. Grace was getting tired and very fidgety as we waited for the border collies and sheep to take their places. Spectators encircled the large gravelly pen. Lean dogs made their way into the ring, muscles tensing and senses alert for commands from a tall, dark figure with a staff. No Bo Peep, this shepherd directed the dogs to run the sheep first up, then back, and then in a large and orchestrated turn. I watched the herded animals cluster together, swirling as one unit with heads held up alert, concerned -- 10 pair of eyes working together to mind the wiry collies chasing at their legs. Grace was pulling at us and threatening to dash beneath the rail fence. I sat her on my shoulders and we walked back up the hill to our car, now deep in the mud and grass of open field parking area. I pulled off muddy boots and the raingear, strapped her into her seat and watched as her eyes closed before we left the lot.

Tonight, as we were eating a meal of cereal and strawberries (her request) and talking about other things,
Grace turned to me said "I had a fun day."
"Oh," I asked, "What did you like?"
"DANCING," she said, her eyes twinkling.
"What else?" I persisted.
"Lambs," she said, as a contented smile spread across her face.

CUTE! Easter pics and other moments.

2009-04-28T01:03:00.004-04:00

Hair, me, and Grace

2009-04-28T00:25:00.011-04:00

I was just trying to kick the highlighting habit. In an homage to Earth Day (who knows what havoc hair salons wreak on the environment) and financial thrift (I know exactly how much damage the partial foil does to my bank account), I decided to stop a twenty-year habit of adding blond highlights to my hair and "take it back to my natural color." Here's what came out of the hairdresser's shop.... On the plus side, now I look a bit more like my daughter.

And no, she didn't notice.

[Just for fun, I am adding a pic of us from September 2007.]

Bugs

2009-04-28T00:13:00.005-04:00

As a token of my regret for a three-day business trip, I brought home a shirt for Grace. It has ladybugs all over it and says "Cute as a bug."

This weekend, as the weather spiked to record highs and we began ditching our long-sleeved tops, I grabbed the shirt as a back-up to the fancy dress she was wearing, and we headed to our friends' house for a first communion celebration party and play time. [Here is Grace, the future entomologist, scanning the ground.]

True to the slogan, and her nature, Grace ended up with a live worm in one hand and a dead bumblebee in the other. She couldn't have been happier!

Worms, she says, are "tickley."

Summer!!!!

2009-04-28T00:02:00.004-04:00

After a long, cold winter (with only one good snowstorm....par for the course, here), we were treated to 92 degree weather this weekend. Grace enjoyed wearing shoes without socks, and going barefoot, and spraying us with the hose, and planting vegetables and herbs, and eating popsicles, and putting on "lo lo" (lotion -- sunblock).

We also saw a ballet that starred our friends' daughter (Grace twirled in the aisle and jumped like the ballerinas). That was followed by a late night for her -- up to 10:30 eating pizza and downing several juice boxes on our neighbor's front porch, and watching the "lighting and thunderling" that was off in the distance. Ah, summer!

Here's a pic of Grace and some friends who came to visit -- the one digging in the sand was in our adoption travel group in 2007. The girls had a great time. There was much running and shrieking and hugging and playing.

Warning: Hall streakers

2009-03-07T00:27:00.002-05:00

What Kind?

2009-03-04T11:05:00.002-05:00

I told my mom I was taking Grace upstairs so she could put on some clothes (we were still in pjs). Mom asked, "What kind?" Grace responded: "Tiny ones."

Pics from the Horse farm

2009-03-04T10:54:00.002-05:00

3 Glimpses of Grace

2009-03-02T13:27:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, my mom (who is visiting) asked Gracie where she was from.
"HUNAN," Grace responded, emphatically.
"Where is Hunan?" we asked.
"Upstairs," she replied.

[Actually, it is. We have a map of the world on our shower curtain. Hunan is in China on a shower curtain upstairs. So literal!]

***

Mom and Grace were growling at each other during a silly point at dinner last night. Mom growled loudly and Grace squeaked. Mom turned to me and said as an aside, "I think I scared her."

Not skipping a beat, Grace insisted, "I'm not scared of you!" Maybe you had to be there but it was very funny at the time. She had a totally dismissive look. I think we have a 32 inch teenager in our house.

***

Grace loves the teenagers who live down the street. She loves Caroline, her sometimes babysitter, and Caroline's younger brother, Nick.

Me: Do you like Caroline?
G: No.
Me: Do you like Nick?
G: No.
Me: You don't like Nick?
G: No.
G: I like Paul.
Me: Paul? We don't know a Paul.
G. Hunh.
(Funny expression, imagine her thinking "Apparently I didn't get matched with the smart parents.")
G. I like PAUL.
Me: !!!!!
(Sudden realization: Caroline's teenaged boyfriend, whom Grace has met on three occasions and at whom she was making flirty smiles three weeks ago).

We do know a Paul. G likes Paul. Daddy is not amused. [Okay, maybe a little bit.] Hunh.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T14:03:00.004-05:00

Much love to all of our family, extended family, and friends from Maine to California (Mar, Paula, John, Lacey and more!), Qiangdao (Xiu Chen!) to the UK (Donna, Al!!!), Michigan (Betty!) to Florida (Penny! Mike!), and Arizona (The Family K!) and all the wonderful people who live in between, North and South, East and West (and my RQ friends from Canada to Australia, Washington State and Texas to Brussels and Iceland). Hope this Valentine's Day is filled with love. Here are a few pictures of Grace, the sweetest Valentine I ever had.

Thanks, MeinME, for the New England (lobster) to Maryland (crab) sweater!

She's cute and likes bold patterns. She picked out this sheet combo....hoo boy. At least she stripped and made her own bed -- guess we won't complain about the mismatch.

Black lips courtesy of Steeler-colored cupcake frosting (go Six-purgh!).

Follow this blog!

2009-02-14T13:59:00.003-05:00

I know Grace has a lot of fans out there. I also know I haven't been very good at regular updates, although I try not to let more than 6 weeks go by without new pictures. If you would like to know when I update this blog, there's a way to sign up to be notified when it changes. Not having done this myself, I think you click on the "subscribe to posts" link at the bottom of the right hand colum, under the power blogger icon. Good luck and thanks for checking in with Grace!

Pics 2009

2009-02-14T00:10:00.004-05:00

Grace sends her first email to her bud, Charlie in AZ. It went something like this:
wwwwwwwwwllllllllseeeiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccsaaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Queen CiXi and her entourage.

You there, pull faster.

I may be from Hunan, but I don't mind a snow day.

She ate the whole thing. First robin of spring. (Truthfully, it was an ex-robin; already dead; pining for the fjords; perhaps even frozen. It wasn't going to see spring. It might even have been killed by the goshawk we have spotted lately in a large tree in the back swale. A pile of mourning dove feathers on the iced-over fish pond suggests that our backyard feeder may be a fairly dangerous bistro for our feathered friends.)

As of January, Grace can recognize and shout "Blue Jay! Cahdinal! Woodpacker! Skuh-rel!Chickadeedeedeee! Right before Reese eats it.

And New Pics - 2009

2009-02-14T00:01:00.002-05:00

Grace's self-portrait of her feet.

Birthday, under the weather but still hoping for cake.

Gracie loves her clothes from Auntie C and Uncle K.

First helicopter.

Carrots for reindeer, cookie for Santa

Time for an UPDATE!!!!

2009-02-13T23:47:00.002-05:00

Well, so much has happened around our house. Best of all, Grace turned two at the end of the year. Unfortunately, she was suffering from an ear infection and so we had a low-key holiday season and birthday. Then in January, she had a double ear infection, and mom and dad were sick, too. We did enjoy a few successes: Grace transitioned to a twin bed overnight, the last night of her first year of life. (Mainly because she was caught trying to do a dive out of her crib.) Grace's parents renovated the kitchen so dad could have a nice foundation on which to install our concrete countertops (the latter still pending -- pics soon). The inauguration was a wonderful sight to behold, and the Steelers won the Superbowl. Okay, so the last point is more about dad's happiness than mom's, as I am a Pats fan. Grace ran around the night of the football party sporting BLACK frosting on her mouth. She looked a bit Goth. One guest asked if I was worried she would ruin the furniture. Nope, I said, that's why we have black leather couches.

And did I mention Grace was fully potty trained in early December??? We are no longer building our own landfill with disposable pull-ups.

Grace had a good check up at 2 years (and a few weeks) -- she was 23 lbs and 32 inches, I think. 10th percentile weight, 10th percentile height and 55th for head circumference. I figure that explains her ability to pitch forward out of the crib AND her skill at recognizing and pronouncing "pomegranate juice."

Life is hectic right now. Dad just took another course in countertop fabrication, mom negotiated a big deal for work and Grace is leading the class in science (she correctly identified what ice is made of). Weather has been wild and Grace has seen a few snowy days, though nothing really allowing for a serious sledding expedition. Damn that global warming!

Hope you are all well. Happy Chinese New Year (of the Ox) and Happy Valentine's Day.
As we packed up the rotating tree and the snowman ornaments in early January, Grace asked "Where did kissmiss go?" We assured her it was in the attic over the garage and would be back in 11 months.

School Photo and some odds and ends

2008-12-25T15:44:00.003-05:00

We need naps.

The new, gently used dolly -- Thanks, Janet!!!

Self-portrait

[Let me know what size you want, mom and dad!]

Really, we did bake....

2008-12-25T15:40:00.003-05:00

Proof, even if the cookies never made it in the mail. Sorry. They were yummy.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T15:22:00.004-05:00

I need a new camera.

Mmmm, raisin cookies!

Taken during same sitting.

Flash killed the pretty tree lights.

Finally, a smile! Well, not from the dogs. They can't have raisin cookies.

More pics to come but here's an attempt at posting a video. Taken at preschool performance. Grace is in the blue dress, spinning like a pro! Happy Holidays to all.

What does Grace Like?

2008-12-18T23:51:00.002-05:00

Books: Fox in Socks (arrrgh), Goodnight Moon, a Sandra Boynton counting book with dogs -- title escapes me -- which I swear she is READING (or at least reciting from memory), Head to Toe (loves all the Eric Carle books -- she wore out Brown Bear, Brown Bear), and starting to like
"Win in in poooooo" (Winnie the Pooh).

Music: She is a You Tube junkie. ACDC, Jimi Hendrix (Let me Stand Next to Your Fire, or, as Grace calls it, "ooh ooh ah ah"), and several videos of children's songs including ones about rhinos, elephants, monkeys.

Toys: PLAY DOH all the time, and her toy kitchen - best when used together, tea set, bike

Also enjoys playing pretend (meals, mostly, or bathing her babies and stuffed animals), tunnels, forts (under the kitchen table); loves the 8 year old girl up the street; loves fish, birds, horses, butterflies, and dogs. Her placemat that she made for Thanksgiving at preschool gives "thanks for fish."

Kids say (and do) the darndest things...

2008-12-18T23:47:00.001-05:00

Last month it was "Knockee off, Harris" (Knock it off)

Last night it was "Chicken boodie" (Shake your booty).

That last one was followed by a big grin and nod when I finally decoded what she was saying.

"Who taught you that, Grace?" I asked. "Lauren," she said immediately.

Ah, Lauren. Cute kid, new to preschool, could be Grace's twin but for an inch of height.

Harris, also of the under-three set, sticks his hand in the fishtank and pulls the fire alarms.

I think at least one of these new commands may come in handy at school.....

Final note: as I reached for the pajamas tonight to get Grace ready for bed, I turned back to see her looking at me with the widest eyes -- she was purposely opening them as far as they would go.

Just in case I didn't get the hint, she said "AWAKE, mommy." No doubt.

One little, two little, three little....

2008-12-08T08:50:00.004-05:00

I will add more later. These are from the preschool thanksgiving feast (day before the holiday).

Brilliance

2008-12-05T22:08:00.004-05:00

Grace and Christmas Pooh in the furniture department.

A bird in the hand is worth more than a sippy cup....

Hall Sprints.

Bedtime sillies.

Begging for crackers.

Grace is a truly incredible child. Here is what happened today in preschool:

According to her teacher, all the children were sitting in "circle time" listening to the plans for the day. The teacher mentioned that the storytime book would be about gingerbread men. Grace reportedly got up from circle time, walked over to the bookshelves and pulled out ALL of the books (randomly filed) that had gingerbread men in them, and brought them to the teacher. (We didn't even know she knew what a gingerbread man was!)

The other night before bed, she collected all the stories with rabbits in them for me to read.

Her favorite book these nights is "Moon" (really, "Goodnight Moon"). She enjoys looking for the mouse in every picture. She has a mouse in school (a real one) and its name is "Eee eee."

Today, I asked her to tell me her name. She did. First, middle and last. I am completely in awe of her brain.

"Yayoba-ma"!

2008-11-05T00:03:00.005-05:00

That's what she says when she sees his picture, that of our new President-elect!

I am glad that Grace will grow up in an America that has chosen a new direction for this country, has demonstrated that hard work and intelligence can still bring the rewards (albeit additional hard work) of the nation's highest office, and has put a new face on our future.

Perhaps one day someone like Grace or even Grace herself will inspire Americans to revisit the Constitutional requirement for American heritage.

To all of that, I say, "Yes, we can."

(Postscript -- after watching the acceptance speech, I headed outside with the dogs in the midnight drizzle to let them do their business. Reese sniffed a bit too long at our Obama yard sign and as I watched in dismay, she lifted her leg and peed on it. Lest those among you who did not cast a ballot for Obama think this to be a reflection of some greater wisdom of canines, I hasten to note that Reese, being a girl and thus not usually inclined to lift her leg, only pees where others (boy dogs) have peed before. Someone in the neighborhood obviously allowed their dog to mark this sign, perhaps in some passive-aggressive commentary on our political expression. They also allowed the dastardly action to happen on election night, as Reese has had no prior reaction to the sign. And while I could be angry, I prefer instead to recall a wonderful and auspicious name I saw on a call sheet for a swing state I was contacting while volunteering for the campaign. The person's name was "Glorious Knight." Notwithstanding the incident with the urine, I will always remember November 4, 2008 with great joy as a truly glorious night.)

Grace and Reese

2008-10-24T00:34:00.010-04:00

These photos loaded in reverse order. I think it will all be clear if you view them from the bottom up. No pun intended.

There's only so much poking a dog will endure.

Airplane.

"Cheese"

Reese is lazy and therefore was subjected to some toddler pestering. Talley, who tolerates Grace much better, was smart and stayed far away during this photo shoot. Missing is the last shot, where Reese has gotten up and left the deck, upending Grace in the process. In the other pics, you can Grace doing her chores.

Our Second October

2008-10-23T23:45:00.010-04:00

Head, shoulders, knees and toes!

No Paparazzi!

Grace has been using our stainless utensils for six months. But one night, after stabbing her fork into the wooden table time after time, we offered the ultimate threat -- "Do you want a baby fork?" -- referring to the useless, rubbery excuses for utensils that frustrate so many kids for so long. To our surprise, she replied "Yes!" with a big grin. Grace is shown here enjoying a meal of many baby forks.

Here she is, determined to wear her strawberry sandals from China one last evening before packing things away.

The weather has turned cooler here and we are enjoying every minute of it -- we've been to petting "zoos" to see the farm animals and back to the park we visited last year; we have taken Grace to the city to meet up with old friends visiting from far away; we have put away the summer clothes and moved on to tights and leggings and long sleeves and coats. Grace now finds plums, pears and apples in her lunch and cider in her cup. We roasted acorn squash (on the grill! Go Daddy!) and collected leaves in the yard.

Every day brings new words and skills. Lately, she has been singing ABC and Happy Birthday (sounds like "appee juju") and counting to 10 (using just 4 numbers -- clever kid, she's counting in factors! Or something like that....).

She enjoys drawing and making beautiful arts and crafts. She is very capable of expressing exactly what she wants ("The door OPEN," she says repeatedly before bed). She is also very stubborn and funny, and can really hold a grudge.

Eight weeks ago, a little girl in her preschool bit her finger while arguing over a toy. Not only will Grace still hold up her finger for inspection and kissing if you ask about the little girl ("Avery bite"), but she has also started to blame faulty household objects on this tiny fall-girl. "Avery broke it," she says, while pointing at lightbulb that has gone out. Cheerful and loving little Avery runs to hug Grace every morning despite Grace's visible lack of interest. One day, Dad witnessed Avery run full tilt toward Grace when, at the last moment -- like Lucy and the Football -- Grace ever so slightly and swiftly, and with no change in expression, leaned sideways and let Avery crash into the door behind her. When we tell Grace that she needs to forgive Avery for the biting, our daughter's response is (and always has been,) "Why?" We just learned that Avery will be moving away. Hard to know how Grace will take it but I sadly suspect even after Avery is long gone, she will not be forgotten -- or forgiven!

Grace has adapted well to her parents' busy schedule. Daddy's work means that Grace is spending longer days in preschool. Fortunately, she loves it and is thriving. She is very independent. The night before I left for a three-day business trip, I sat beside Grace to break the news: "Mommy's going on a trip-" I started, but before I could finish the thought, Grace held up her hand, waved and said "Bye! Bye Bye!" as if I needn't take a second more and should depart immediately.

Finally, I recently captured on video an episode of Grace TV (the baby monitor) where one normally finds at 9 pm reruns of the same soap opera of "Maaaa-mmmeeeeee," complete with fake tears and hyped-up drama. However, after spending a whole day with new people, Grace saved up some newfound dialogue for a zinger of a denouement. After we tucked her in, we turned to the monitor to find a pleasant, calm child laying on her back grinning and repeating my name in long, drawn out syllables. Guess she figured I was more likely to answer to that than the stock dialogue.

21.8

2008-09-15T22:28:00.002-04:00

Pounds, that is. I weighed her on our scale today. Although she is still in the same sized diapers we brought to China, she is definitely growing. We estimated her weight a year ago at about 15 lbs.

She is still easy to carry but I am starting to think twice before letting other people pick her up.

Tonight some little girls in our neighborhood were remarking on her size ("So little, so cute.") They asked if they could pick up the "baby." In the past, I might have said yes. Now, however, I am starting to wonder if Grace really wants to be carted around (by other than her mom and dad, that is -- she clearly still wants that). So I told the girls to ask Grace if she wanted them to pick her up. The girls looked surprised. It's hard to see such a comparatively small child and imagine that her personality has advanced to the stage of having opinions about how she is to be treated. But then I reflect on the crib episode (see previous post) and I realize she's farther along than any of us fully appreciate.

In the end, they "jumped" with her by lifting her up and putting her back down (Grace likes to "Jum-pah!"). That satisfied their need to hold her and Grace retained some independence.

She then stunned them all by doing somersaults on the lawn.

Love and Lights' Out

2008-09-15T22:12:00.004-04:00

Grace's vocabulary is exploding. There isn't a word she won't try to say. She's also very busy, watering the plants with a spray bottle and putting on her own socks, shoes and shorts. It's exciting to see her try so many new things.

Today, prompted, she said she loved me and daddy. Very sweet and rewarding. She also tried flossing: Hooray! Recently, she started calling me "Mom" instead of Mommy or Mama. It's cute and funny, coming from a 20 month old child.

But when it comes to bedtime, well....

She is rejecting the crib but won't stay in the twin bed. Since she is nearly completely potty trained, the crib represents an impediment to her ability to go without our help. But for whatever reason, the bed is not where she wants to sleep. She tricks us into taking her out of the crib by saying she has to potty. This little ritual went through three cycles tonight until I wised up. Tired of squatting alongside the toilet while she sang and grinned and made funny faces and tried to get me to give her bandaids or lotion or extra toilet paper, I turned out the light in the bathroom, left the door open and went down the hall, telling her to let me know when she was done. A few minutes later I heard "Ah Done!"

Maybe it was the lights' out technique, the tough love, or the fact that it was 9:30, but it worked well enough. We re-diapered her (pull ups still don't fit and neither does underwear), dropped her into her crib and left. She yelled for us for a few minutes and then fell asleep. Tune in tomorrow to see if she stayed there or awakened at 5:50 AM as she did this morning, conning daddy into putting her in her parents' bed.....

Amazing Grace...or just ambidextrous?

2008-09-10T21:37:00.004-04:00

Tonight before bed, she did a little drawing. I noticed that she is equally skilled with either hand. I'll try to post some video soon to show you her mad drawing skills.

[Please ignore the wall paper. That was one project we never managed to tackle before we left for China....]

More Pics

2008-09-06T01:06:00.002-04:00

Pictures, continued!!!

2008-09-06T00:59:00.003-04:00

Pictures!!!

2008-09-05T23:02:00.007-04:00

I still need to write Part II: Happy Gracie Day, however, with all the travel I've been doing lately I am not feeling very creative and my only time is late, late, late at night. So, hopefully a few photos from July, August and early September will hold you until I can get back to the very important job of retelling the Day We Met.
Thanks to everyone who has made our first year with Grace so special.
The following include farm animal and carousel pics from the local fair, and some other self-explanatory shots. Enjoy.

One Year Ago Today...Anticipation

2008-08-26T21:28:00.012-04:00

One year ago today, we flew to Changsha, in Hunan Province. It started as a rainy Sunday in Beijing and with our travel group, we passed the morning holed up in the Beijing International Hotel, recovering from a few days of whirlwind sightseeing.

The prior four days were spent acclimating to the time change and exploring Beijing. On the first full day since our arrival Wednesday, we ventured out with our guide, Tao, who took us to the Summer Palace. A student of history, Tao walked us through centuries of Chinese culture and experience. We marveled at the beautiful paintings on the ceiling of a long, covered outdoor corridor, and at the large marble boat commissioned by the Empress Ci Xi, who requested a canal be built all the way to Beijing so she would not have to travel over land. For dinner, we met up with two other couples who had also come to China to meet their future daughters. We exchanged stories and dined on 1,000-year eggs. On Friday, we visited Tienanmen Square, surrounded by Mao's Tomb, the Parliament or People's building, and many cameras mounted high on lampposts. Chinese tourists mingled with the Rolex vendors while kites flew above us in the square. Under and across the street, we entered the Forbidden City and were awed by the age and enormous scale of the complex where hundreds of years prior, whole armies massed in the plazas. We climbed into bicycle rickshaws for a tour of the ancient Hutong neighborhood, watching local people scrub and paint the alleyways in preparation for the Olympics to come the next year. We ate a home-cooked lunch and dinner in the two-room dwellings of Chinese families, enjoying cucumbers braised in a wok and dumplings, chicken drums cooked with cinnamon, and were surprised to find fresh tomatoes and watermelon at every meal. We visited a kindergarten, where kids clamored to pose in a picture and stuffed animals were airing along a clothesline in the sun. We visited a family that lived in small, single-storey rooms surrounding a courtyard with vegetables growing above their heads and a myna bird that said "Nee-how (Hello)." Several generations had lived there and the patriarch showed us his skill at intricate paper cutting, an historic folk art that involves great precision. We climbed the steep stairs to the drum tower and admired a view that rivals that of the Empire State building. We boarded a long boat paddled by the Chinese version of a gondolier and were serenaded by a sullen young woman who played beautiful pi pa music at the bow. That night, the two of us struck out on our own to enjoy a masterful performance of martial arts infused with Vegas showmanship. We winced with empathic pain as young men broke metal bars across their foreheads. We marveled at the performance, which was packed with foreigners whose guides waited to collect them outside the building following the show. Bypassing the cabs, we walked in the finally temperate night air for 20 long but safe city blocks until we reached our hotel. We strolled among people with little dogs and passed an ancient observatory wall reconstructed from bricks returned by the city's citizens.

On Saturday, we all set out for the Great Wall. We drank a lot of bottled water and closed our eyes as our van dodged other vehicles on congested streets and highways. We passed the future Water Cube and Bird's nest stadiums that would be so familiar to the world one year later. We traveled for an hour to the North, leaving behind the vast city and finding ourselves quickly in open countryside. Once at the site, we climbed a steep, uneven and crowded path up the Wall until the altitude and grade thinned the numbers of fellow tourists. The dense green thicket on either side of the Wall looked like fortress enough to repel an invading army. At regular intervals, roofed parapets served as ancient way stations, sheltered areas to sleep and cook and recharge. We left the Wall and visited a State-run store that featured crafts from around the country and busloads of tourists. On again to Beijing, to stop at a pearl store where we learned about the minerals in a river that yield pink (copper), champagne, black (iron?) and purple pearls (copper and iron?), and the associations for each color (purple signifies romance). That night, we ate at a Mongolian restaurant that featured a mural of Mongolian warriors, one of whom closely resembled Grace's future Daddy. While enjoying an eggplant dish rumored to be good for the digestion and weight loss, I bit into a spice called the prickly ash seed which caused my mouth to tingle and then go numb for a few unnerving minutes. Later, we struck off to see a performance of acrobatics -- very young children in some cases, flying around. At one point, there were 15 people on one bicycle.

That night, I rinsed our clothes in the sink so we would have clean apparel in Hunan. On Sunday morning, everything was soaked; the humidity made it difficult to dry anything. I bundled it in a plastic bag and put the heavy load in my carry-on in an effort to avoid luggage charges due to the extra weight.

The two of us were getting stir-crazy in the hotel and needed some R&R. A hotel bell hop escorted us under a big umbrella back through the parking lot and across the street to a Thai massage house, where we were briefly separated, lost the ability to be understood and questioned the merits of the whole pursuit until skilled hands soothed our tired and tense muscles.

That afternoon, we all toured the Temple of Heaven under cloudy skies, noting with awe the total lack of nails in the massive tongue-and-groove structure. We joked about our busy itinerary to date and bought postcards as mementos. Mostly, though, we were preoccupied with thoughts of meeting our little girls and anxious to get to Hunan.

Our flight left late in the day and we arrived in Hunan at night, nervous, giddy, and full of questions.....

[Pictures of most of this experience available on request.]

Ethnic Baby

2008-07-15T22:12:00.004-04:00

In June I had a sudden urge to put Grace back into the outfit she was wearing when we got her in August of 2007. It fits now, although back then she was just swimming in the little cotton two-piece set; the spaghetti straps were tied up in knots to keep the top from falling off her tiny shoulders.

Unlike all other baby clothing, which is almost universally made in China, this outfit was made in India.

We have always been amused by the saying printed on this little suit: "Ethnic Baby, " it says in English.

Dog Park

2008-07-15T22:05:00.007-04:00

On the way.

Among the Dogs....

Florida in June

2008-07-15T21:07:00.007-04:00

Belatedly, here are some photos from our mini-break in Ft. Lauderdale last month. The other cutie in the photos is her Pingjiang, Hunan China mate, Charlie. Acee loves ya, Charlie!

It took three days but by the end of the last day the girls were chasing each other, hugging, rolling on the floor and screaming with glee. Very cute. The first few days they eyed each other cautiously, assessing the likelihood that the other would steal their yogos/cheerios/golds (goldfish).

Grace loved to chase birds on the beach, wiggle her toes in the sand and endlessly shovel into her bucket at the water's edge. She didn't mind the surf but each day I took her into the water, she fell asleep on my shoulder. Vacations are so relaxing!

We saw a double rainbow over the ocean and another one the next week, when we were back home! That's a lot of good luck!

Grace was all eyes and ears as we entered the butterfly/bird sanctuary. She was in awe, and then just a little unnerved when lorikeets and parakeets began landing on her daddy's head and shoulders and back and arms -- as he was holding her in his other arm. (That would be the arm with the watch that Grace very intentionally dropped into the toilet at the hotel. So far, our first and only drain-stoppage effort. Calling on rainbow luck to protect us against future episodes.)

The whole trip was extra special because it started on Father's Day, and Daddy and Grace ventured into the water together on this first Father's Day together. (Nevermind the pic where she is screaming...she was mainly complaining about the lack of appropriate swimwear, soon rectified.)

She was a fantastic traveler, waving to everyone in the airport and on the airplane. Our only regret was giving her uncut juice on one of the legs of the airplane ride -- we had a VERY busy and LOUD child for an hour of encapsulated joy.

New words: Baibow, O (ocean), Beh (beach), something like Butterfly and, of course, Airplane!

Can't wait for our next beach trip. Bucket and shovel standing by.

First Fourth

2008-07-04T13:15:00.006-04:00

Also, first ear infection. Also close of first week of preschool. A big week, all in all.

Here she is, enjoying refreshments during the neighborhood parade (watermelon). Watering the lawn (image is blurry as she first watered mommy and the camera). Dining on strawberries, blueberries, corn on the cob. Ah, summer!

Will write more soon.

Belated Thanks and Packing Peanuts

2008-06-11T23:04:00.003-04:00

My wonderful Aunt "B" (name withheld to protect the midwesterner) carefully bundled up and sent her mother's rocking chair for Grace. Since Gramma died almost two years ago and never got to see our darling girl, I was really touched that at least they will have shared the same seat. I wonder what Gramma looked like at Grace's age, pushing away at those armrests to get the best back and forth momentum as Grace now does? Here's a pic of Grace in case one day our daughter's granddaughter wants to look up her blog and see for herself.... Thanks, dear Aunt B and Uncle D, who helped get the package off to UPS. Not a scratch on it!

back, front, side

2008-06-05T22:38:00.004-04:00

It's hard to shoot this girl from the front --she's constantly on the move.

Now that she is 17 months, life is hers for the taking. She is busy with sandboxes and parties, playing and entertaining. She loves blowing bubbles, spotting birds and airplanes, pointing to her eyes, ears and nose. She sings, she blows bubbles in her milk. We visited the aquarium and she loved the large balls being bounced by dolphins. What she thought of the dolphins, I do not know.

Here are a few pics. More to come and some stories, later.

The Good Girl

2008-04-30T23:49:00.003-04:00

A Bird in the Hand is Worth Nothing Compared to One on a Picnic Table

2008-04-30T23:14:00.004-04:00

Bird baths.
Grace making tweety sounds.

Maya Angelou may know why the caged bird sings but I know why the stuffed bird doesn't, anymore....

Ursa Minor

2008-04-30T22:46:00.008-04:00

Okay, so Big Poppy is definitely a hit (see previous post; Poppy is a Panda). But he is no comparison to Giggle bear, another pal from across the pond.

This gal is straight from the UK; Plymouth, to be precise. Giggles flew British Airways with Al and Donna, Grace's godparents, and is never far from Grace at night.

In fact, one night she awoke around 2 am and was inconsolable until through much pantomime and a little guesswork, we figured out that Grace had developed an attachment to Giggles, Robin and the original (smaller) Panda and needed ALL THREE in order to fall back asleep. Now Robin goes to daycare, Panda treks around the house and Giggles stays close to the crib.

Giggles has some electronics in her right paw that make her the life of the party (at least until the battery dies or the dogs do in her chip and speaker).

One night, I awoke to the sound of hysterical laughing on the baby monitor (Channel "G," Grace TV). Grace had fallen asleep on top of Gigs and had set off the noises. Luckily, she was not roused by the sound or the repositioning of the bear's paw.

Now, the only unhappy sounds are those of Grace when Reese takes off with the bear in mouth, planning some bad end for the stuffed buddy. For now, bears have replaced the baby blankets and Giggles and Grace are an inseparable pair.

A New Friend

2008-04-30T22:09:00.005-04:00

One day, Grace and I were taking a long walk with the dogs down a neighborhood side street. There inside the garage of one of the homes was this handsome guy, sitting on top of a grill. He reminded us of Stillwater from the book "Zen Shorts." I asked the people who were cleaning out the garage if they knew where we could find another like him.

"You want him? Take him," said the woman, carrying him down to us.

"My daughter has had him since she was a baby and now she's twenty-one. I was going to take him to the dumpster. He's all yours."

We stuffed him in the top of the stroller. Talley had a good sniff and Reese ignored him. The five of us took off back down the road and finished a very long stroll in the spring sunshine.

When we got home, Grace and I took baby wipes and cleaned him all over.

Sometime later this summer, he will probably get a full bath with the dogs and the hose.

Tonight, he is keeping watch over Grace as she sleeps.

He is a good friend.

Where's Grace?

2008-04-14T22:45:00.002-04:00

Or really, where's mom? Mom has been procrastinating on taxes for several months and felt overcome by guilt whenever she considered blogging instead of TurboT'ing. Sorry for the extended absence. Also, I forgot my password and got locked out for a lieSo, let's find out what Gracie is doing....

Eating: Yes, still. Although the doc said she was only 5th percentile for weight at her 15 month check-up, she is still growing in height and head circumference. Stats: Just over 19 lbs, 29 inches tall and 45th percentile for head. She will still eat just about anything you put in front of her, but you must be ready to feed her immediately upon awakening and right before bed.

Favorite late-night snack: cheese. Takes after mom.

Bedtime: Pretty reliably 8-8:30 pm.

Rise & Shine: 7. Or 8. Or maybe 6:30. And once, 9:00. We loved that morning!!!
Other: 1:30 am. Or 3 am. Or 4:30. With screaming. Not as endearing.

Daytime activities: Using her outdoor slide. Filling up the dogs' water and food dishes and carrying these to the feeding stations. Wiping surfaces with sponges, wipes and towels. Singing. Preventing mom from singing by putting her hand over my mouth. Playing piano gently. Imitating bird sounds and barking dogs ("Woowoowoo!"). Streaking. Climbing up on the beds, the chairs, the couches, the swings, the piano, the picnic table. Falling. (Oops.) Feeding the fish in the pond. Practicing drinking from an open cup. Using all her food bowls and plates as cups. Teasing the dogs by pretending to feed them. Pretending to feed me with her toy kitchen set. Emptying her potty chair, whether it needs it or not. Emptying her diaper pail (really!) by carrying it to the bathroom. Listening to They Might Be Giants on YouTube (Istanbul, not Constantinople) and YoYo Ma. Falling asleep on her big girl pillow with her Panda Bear, her British Giggle Bear and her robin (a.k.a "beh," "beh," and "buhr"). Pointing out babies ("bahbah"). Whining, screaming and rolling out crocodile tears (Really? Our daughter?). Throwing the ball to Talley ("Ta!"). Biting for attention. Pulling her wooden cricket or plastic catepillar around the house. Playing with her safari animals. Scribbling on the etch a sketch and on paper with pens or crayons. Wearing overalls. Picking dandelions. Closing the microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator and front doors. Brushing her teeth. Brushing mine. Turning out the light.

Pics soon.

Looking Back...

2008-03-25T23:59:00.004-04:00

Grace on Gotcha Day, Grace six months later....

Gracie's Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-25T21:28:00.008-04:00

And more... a mouthful of hard-boiled egg!

Easter

2008-03-24T21:48:00.002-04:00

Our dear friends came over and hid hand-dyed eggs for Grace in the front yard. She caught on very quickly and scouted the whole yard, pulling her little red wagon behind her. The next day, she tried to recreate the fun by leaving a trail of plastic eggs in the kitchen for dad to find. [Pics to come.]

A Canine Intermission

2008-03-23T00:35:00.003-04:00

Needed to get the pooches a little blog time. They are feeling left out.

A Little Rumor Queen

2008-03-20T22:18:00.001-04:00

For my buddies on the RQ blog:

The Pics for Which She'll Hate Me Later...

2008-03-18T23:47:00.007-04:00

Despite cool temps outside, there are still plenty of clothing-optional occasions. Here are my faves:

Communing With Nature

Feeling Under the Weather...

Personal Hygeine

Summiting/Celebrating (Just Ask Tensing Norgay. Plus, it's warmer here than Everest and the cloud cover is actually a feather duvet)

Pondering your sagging middriff? No, that's for the parents. In this photo, she was clearly just preparing herself for the big climb having reached Base Camp I.

Relaxing in the Spa.

March: In Like a Lamb

2008-03-18T23:36:00.003-04:00

Safety first!...why didn't we get her one of these when she was learning to walk???
Where there is food, there is a dog.
Grace's favorite sign: "Eat." We see it every 45 minutes, except when she is sleeping.
No words necessary.
Come on Spring!

Patience

2008-03-18T23:22:00.002-04:00

Thank you for your patience as I have struggled to find time to download the new pictures and update the blog. Lots of good stuff coming soon.

Funny, the other day I was watching Grace as she exhibited her new emotion, impatience, and the thought occured to me that some people are named "Patience" and then I wondered if they threw tantrums, too, when they were 14.5 months old....

No matter, she is exerting her independence and we are happy. Hearing impaired, but happy.

Grace is doing very well. She enjoyed the Valentines (thank you to her Grammas and her Aunt Judy and big special thank you to MY Aunt Ann, who send her a cute puppy dog card that reminded me of the little cards we would bring for our classmates to put in their cubbies). [I hear that Grace will soon have a new little cousin from my Aunt's children. Congratulations, Renee!]

She also had a fun time at a local photo studio chain store showing the photographer that she not only understood commands such as "Sit," and "Stand," but that she also knows (and prefers) their antonyms....

Finally, for tonight's observations, Easter Bunnies are apparently not amusing. Despite being soft and mute, one should avoid being photographed with them at all costs.

Done.

Cold Weather + Busy Baby =

2008-02-06T23:13:00.000-05:00

The Queen is Not Amused

2008-02-06T22:57:00.000-05:00

No explanation necessary.

Take That, Impressionists!

2008-02-06T22:19:00.000-05:00

Grace discovered the joys of fingerpainting. (Thanks, MamMam -- now let us discover the joys of bathtime!)

Rats! Happy New Year!

2008-02-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

Chinese New Year starts tomorrow. I had high hopes for sending out pics of Gracie and belated thank you notes to all of our friends and relations who have been so generous and thoughtful and helped us celebrate and spoil Miss Grace. I even have two years' worth of USPS-issued sheets of Chinese New Year stamps (both in too-small denominations now) for the envelopes. Anyway, those were my plans....

Instead, I can report that we are spending all our time chasing Miss Grace and trying to find time to file the tax return.

It is the Year of the Rat, which reportedly means there will be prosperity, at least in the first half of the year. (Seems to be true based on our rough estimation of our tax return, although nobody told the Dow or NASDAQ about this Rat thing...). Also, earth and water will be prominent this year, with water meaning "a focus on lively trading, communications, transport and tourism, which will boost the economy." And Earth relates to "construction, agriculture, petroleum and palm oil." Some of that sounds like good news for Grace's mom and dad!

As for Grace, she seems to have plateaued a bit -- or maybe she's just taking a holiday from brilliance. In the last week, she has been whiny, fussy, and disinterested in food unless she can eject it from her mouth. She has regressed from saying many words to just screeching and uttering "datdatdatdat" for "what's that?" and "gimme that." She is exhibiting signs of impatience, exasperation, and frustration. She refuses to use any of our many potties after her early success.

On the plus side, she has a new tooth (and more coming in), is running and walking very well, and has stopped biting her parents. Thank goodness for progress.

Noises & Expressions

2008-01-12T22:36:00.001-05:00

From her trademark "Oooooo," she has moved on to a multitude of noises. She coughs like a consumptive Garbo (for attention), screeches like a teradactyl (for food), growls like a tiger (for daddy), and then there's that sound one makes by sustaining a note and using your finger to vibrate your lips (bububububububub) -- except she uses the back of her hand or sometimes sticks her finger IN her mouth, to the same effect. That noise she does for the neighborhood girls, who taught her the trick. They also deserve credit for "Uh Oh," which debuted at 9 or 10 months but hasn't been heard much since 11 months.

She giggles if you blow on her hair. She laughs when she pats her tummy, or yours. She will sing if you sing (warm-up scales). She enjoys zipping and unzipping things. She likes to feed the dogs food from their bowl one kibble at a time (and splashing in their water).

She plays piano, guitar, dances and bebops to any tune, even the "hold" muzak on the telephone. She chortles if you squeal when she bites you. She still grabs my glasses off my face (she's been doing that since we got her), and if I put them up on my head, she pulls my hair to get me to lower my head. She has quite a grip and we have to keep her nails trimmed in self-defense.

Out: Vavavava, Mamamama, Bababababa
In: Dah! (the perennial favorite, dog, which she uses for Reese), Ta (Talley, the other dog), Cah (for Skotty, the neighbor dog), MamMam and Ma (for the grandmothers), Yeah!, Ha (Hi), Guhgah (Good girl, with a British accent courtesy of Donna from England), Uh (Up), and "oh!" -- she has said that for months, accompanied by a brief look of joyful surprise.

We are hoping she branches out in to other vowels in the coming months, such as the very useful "ee" and equally useful "i."

She enjoys looking in her training potty every 4 seconds to see if she's produced anything, and just today reached back to flush it. In case we forget some day, she has always known what to do on the potty. The only impediment we had to potty training was first, getting her to crawl (and walk) so she could get to the potty. The next will be clothing -- they just don't make pull-up diapers in so small a size! (She still doesn't crack 20 lbs so we have the car seat in the rear-facing position.)

Since her first birthday, she has been doing a lot of walking. She will still drop and crawl periodically but her walking has been more frequent. She walks like a penguin or a chafed cowpoke after one too many sarsparillas. She races up the stairs and is doing a pretty good job of reversing the action to get down, although it requires a lot of spotting by her climbing partner.

She no longer kisses like the dogs (licks) but I am sure she is studying them for tips and other tricks.

Illegal Alien

2008-01-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

No, not Grace. She has her certificate of citizenship.

Most of you have heard by now that G's daddy found a stow-away from China in Grace's diaper: Ascaris lumbricoides , AKA a roundworm. Round, and long -- 5 inches long. After a week to identify it (no thanks to Labcorps, who had to ship it to three states and as many labs to get a definitive ID) and another 4 days to have the meds shipped here, we will finally be able to rid her of this parasite that has been sharing her yogurt and goldfish crackers since China and who knows for how long before we joined her.

Poor baby -- our little wiggle worm, we used to call her! All the restless nights may have been a symptom. I'll never look at ramen noodles the same way again...

For those who are wondering, it's extremely unlikely to be passed along to others unless there are some exceptionally unhygienic diaper changes. There's lots of hand washing going on Chez Grace. Further, dogs don't give it and dogs don't get it (not this variety, anyway). It is common in warm climates where human waste is used as fertilizer. Yummy. The good news is that it's a quick treatment and she should be A-OK in 24-48 hours.

I would post a picture but we couldn't figure out which end of the worm was the smiling end.

Say "Cheese"

2008-01-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

Exiting the grocery store, I gave Grace a mesh bag of little baby gouda cheeses to hold to entertain her. I clicked her into her car seat, got behind the wheel and headed out. Upon arriving at home, I opened the back door and reached toward Grace's hands to extract her from the seat. That's when I noticed the half eaten gouda. Half a round of cheese, half the wax casing, half of the plastic wrapper. Full grin.

Ready to Catch XueFlakes...

2008-01-02T22:43:00.000-05:00

Or any stray ice cream cones.

Notes on the previous posts...

2008-01-02T01:17:00.000-05:00

In the pictures that follow, you'll see a series called "misc." and some others that look like Xmas photos (elfish outfit; blue room). These were staged a few days before Grace's actual birthday, in her party dress and in her Christmas elf outfit, in case the actual days would end up too hectic to think about photos. Nice plan, but even this foresight didn't anticipate her crabby mood (not enough napping that morning) or the flat, grey light that enveloped the house and outdoors. It was cool out; too cool to stage a party dress in the grass shot for a multi-baby pic (I know two other babes from China from the R. Queen blog -- they live across the nation but are roughly the same age and we all coincidentally bought the same dress so we are trying to photoshop the girls together) -- more artifice!

Grace was not satisfied with the horse, the penguin snow globe (which Mom dropped a day or two later...oops), the phone, or any other object besides the one she really coveted -- never let your daughter play with the camera just prior to a photo shoot and then expect her to happily relinquish the camera....

Another mystery revealed/insider tidbit -- see the shot on Christmas Day where Grace is surrounded by a green tin of unshelled nuts and Reese? I gave her the tin while I
worked to finish a turkey in the oven that started out as a well-intentioned effort by Daddy to deep fry it -- a pinhole leak in the frying pot made us turn quickly to Plan B. Anyhow, Grace tipped over the bucket of nuts and instantly both dogs dashed in for almonds and ran away; gargantuan squirrels that they are. (Did I mention that Reese cried every night last year until I would crack an almond for her? Weird dog.). After crunching into the nuts and getting half shell/half nutmeat, the dogs gave up. Reese lurked around waiting for nuts to fall out of their shells and Talley disappeared. Fast-forward 12 hours later...late Christmas night...dog vomit on the carpet in the room where the birthday party is to be held just a scant 20 hours later...No telling which dog left the birthday present...See the shots of Grace with curly balloon ribbons in her hand? She is sitting/standing in the very spot! Ah, the exciting life this little star leads. Tune in later for more behind-the-scenes scoop.

misc.

2008-01-02T01:11:00.000-05:00

Cake, the series continued....

2008-01-02T00:57:00.001-05:00

The Big Move

2008-01-02T00:51:00.001-05:00

Moving in for the Kill (cake)...

Birthday Girl Turns One!!!

2008-01-02T00:37:00.000-05:00

Grace didn't quite know what to make of the cake. A fistful in each hand, she leaned forward, mouth open, to reach what she could no longer grab...got it all on video! She enjoyed visiting with the other kids and picked up some great habits -- began walking more after they left. She's very impressionable. I plan to drop her at the nearest physics lab to see what else she can pick up! Even so, she is still mostly crawling; you can tell by the knees of her pants and the tips of her shoes. Favorite present (mom and dad's favorite, that is) -- "Walter the Farting Dog." It's a book. (Thank goodness, as we have enough live farting dogs in this household already!) Thanks, Sarah!!
Hair is straggling. She is having a bad hair month. Latest new "words" are "good girl" and "again," although it's really just tonal mimicking rather than any real pronunciation. Still, we think she's brilliant. Loving our baby on her first birthday celebration. Pics follow:

More from Xmas

2008-01-02T00:35:00.001-05:00

The First Noel!

2008-01-02T00:21:00.001-05:00

Gracie was great. Very cheerful. Biggest hit of the day -- no, not the paper or the boxes -- it was a big green jingle bell someone put in with a present. Later, we tied it to her birthday balloon. See pics of Christmas Day below:

Frosty the Xue-shirt

2007-12-20T22:49:00.000-05:00

The xue fell last week. I missed her first day in the real stuff as I had to go to work. When I came home, we went outside and made xue-angel hands on the top of the picnic table. Then we made xue-balls and threw them to Talley, who ate them. Grace is intent on crushing the xue-ball in her fierce grip, willing it to collapse into something dense and hard. I think she may be strategizing an improvement for the next generation of Super-conducting super-collider.

[Note the really great rocking horse from Pap.]

More Amazing Grace

2007-12-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

Grandma "Honey" visited last week to help out and spend some time with her granddaughter. Gracie nicknamed her "MamMam." And since Mommy was out of town for three days, Grace has started to substitute "DaDa" every time she would have called for "MaMa."

We were also treated to great visits by Aunt Elaine and Uncle Lee, bearing gifts of pink Harley-D. clothing (thanks! She would also like a Hog, please), and Todd, who coined the "raised by a pack of dogs" comment. Todd brought her a doll, her first (other than the one the pawn shop lady gave her) -- she pulled it in next to her cheek and ear and nuzzled it close. Awwww...

Next week is Grace's first birthday. It's hard to believe this much time has passed.
She is loving the books and other toys everyone has given her. She also gets great joy out of running her hand along the handrail as we carry her up the stairs. And standing at the back sliding glass door yelling "TAAAAA!" at the top of her lungs. That would be Ta for Talley, the dog we are most likely to be yelling at/for....

Here are some more pics (photo credits to MamMam). Stories to follow.

Wolf Child; Raised by Dogs

2007-11-27T23:54:00.000-05:00

How many different dogs can you count in the following pictures?

Walking--almost! Climbing stairs--full tilt! 3.5 teeth and counting. More pics and a few stories to come...

Funniest comment to date from a friend who did not put this on the blog so I will:

"Thanks for the blog link. I've now caught up on the past 5 months of your life [...] and was a little astonished to not see one photo of you or your husband holding her, cuddling her, etc. Are you photophobic? I know that Grace is darn cute, but from all the pictures, I would guess that she is being well cared for by a group of dogs."

[With apologies to my husband, who cares for her very well.]

And there were five different dogs -- although a yorkie, a pit bull, two beagles and another dog-of-indeterminate origin were all lurking just outside the shots for a grand total of ten. She's not afraid of any of them.

The Many Faces of Grace

2007-11-03T00:49:00.000-04:00

No photos right now; just a musing on how hard it is to capture any particular expression she has --she is in a constant state of motion and emotion. I hope we get all of them on film before she gets any bigger....

On that point, she is now well into 9 month-12 month clothes. Thankfully, our dear friends and neighbors (no names but you know who you are) and family are keeping her well-clothed and shod. We are so lucky to have the support of all of you. And to those who send gift cards, rest assured we are putting them to good use (mundane essentials like formula, diapers -- but all of us appreciate those things). We have a library of board books and some precious ones we'll save for her later years. We have blocks and blankets, homemade quilts and rockers to take her into
her elementary school years!

I am LOUSY at thank you notes. Ah, but you know that by now.....My current plan is to sit down at Christmas and properly thank all of you with a hand-written note (and somehow squeeze in a birthday party for Grace). I don't think I ever sent ones for our wedding gifts, though, so my deepest apologies to those for whom this is an unpardonable offense. Know, though, that Grace is getting great love from us and that your thoughtful gifts were very much appreciated.

We can't wait for the first SNOW!

Grace is gurgling, hiccuping and crying out in her sleep tonight. Par for the course. She is never a restful girl.

Fear the Turtle!

2007-11-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!

Grace stayed awake the whole time (and then some; too much excitement)

We trekked around the whole block, stopping in to show her in her finest Terps gear (apologies to all our North Carolina friends...they don't sell Heels/Wolfpack/Devils gear at the local Target! Or Steelers or Sox or Patriots or Bills)... and collect a bit of candy for Daddy.

Actually, when we got home, we added it all back into the bowl for redistribution as the neighborhood kids had cleaned out Ma and Pap (paternal grandparents who came for the fun and to help out while Daddy recovered from his piranha attack).

Here's our sweet baby eating marigolds and dissecting her shoe pompoms (courtesy of Grandma Honey) prior to the outing.

What's she up to?

2007-10-30T23:37:00.001-04:00

Everything! She laughs a lot -- sometimes it's a chortle, a burst of rapid-fire chuckling. Mostly she just grins. Suburban life is very amusing. Today, she enjoyed watching her stuffed animals tumble humpty-dumpty-like from the upper edge of her crib. Does it mean she lacks empathy or like her daddy, she enjoys seeing a well-executed PLF (parachute landing fall)?

We are at two teeth and counting. The Niagara rush of drool has abated, so perhaps we are between teeth right now. She uses the existing ones to masticate tortellini and the ear of an extremely patient dog.

Crawling is fast and purposeful -- usually the purpose is to get to the dog's dishes of food and water before the tall people notice. Lately, she has discovered the joy of hanging over the edge of her high chair after we have removed the tray but before we have released the prisoner. I think she is trying to test the gravitational pull of the pergo flooring, or the balance/load capabilities of the chair legs. I still have my money on civil engineer but daddy is pulling for LPGA pro.

She is not shy. Last week, she went to work with mommy to meet all her fans. High-level pols and other greatness doesn't phase her. I am pretty sure she was sizing up the offices to see which one she will take.

Words are still more like sounds -- although we get a lot of "Uh Ohs" now. "Mama," "Dada/Baba" have always been with us but "VaVa" arrived with the teeth (I keep waiting for the "Voom!"). A squeaky "Hello" seems to be getting a trial run.

Did I mention that she can throw a tantrum now and has lost interest in potty training? She still knows what the potty is for but will only use it if she is allowed to stand on the seat, Hunan style.

And lest we forget who is in charge, the fussing over the baby monitor (A.K.A. Grace TV) caused me to dash upstairs and miss the last pitch of the World Series. She is definitely a Sox fan, but her timing is lousy. I think she is actually a bigger soccer and football fan and was trying to signal as much to me.

Gotta go -- Grace TV is beckoning.

New Fall Photos - October 2007

2007-10-29T00:55:00.001-04:00

From the intense heat of a late Indian Summer to the (finally!) cooler days of autumn, here's Gracie, taking it all in. Oh and yes, GO SOX! (Another World Series Win today.)

Pics from Gramma Honey's visit 1st Week in October

2007-10-11T00:46:00.000-04:00

I Have a Mystery for You! (apologies to "Raymond")

2007-10-11T00:23:00.000-04:00

Question: What weighs 3 kgs at birth, 6.2 kgs at 3 months, 5.2 at 8 months, 7.2 9 days later and 6.8 kg one month after that in the U.S., having outgrown a clothing size in that same month and eating everything in sight?

Answer: Nothing. The scales in China don't appear to be calibrated.

It's Potty Time!

2007-10-11T00:10:00.001-04:00

It seems just yesterday I was balancing over the squatty potty in China while Grace dangled from the Baby Bjorn above, wondering why she had awakened to face a toilet stall door....

Too much information? Okay, I promise not to post any pics of Grace (or any of us) on the pot but I swear on my late Grandmother's peanut butter captain crunch that our daughter was "Potty Aware" at 8 months! Back in China, when we would have her in the hotel bathrooms and stick her over the toilet, she would compliantly pee. Now that we are going through enough diapers to build a 9-hole par 3 on top of the landfill, we are more diligent about getting her on the potty.

[I think they call the diapers "Cruisers" because they know you will have spent on them the equivalent of a first-class cabin ticket for Alaskan whale-watching departing from Key West by the time you get the baby potty-trained.] Nevertheless, I am ecstatic to report that we have achieved both #1 and #2 on the pot with great regularity (don't call between 10:05 and 10:07 am!). Once she has the dexterity and foresight to take off her own diaper, I feel certain we will have a potty trained baby!

More September pics

2007-10-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

September pics

2007-10-10T23:47:00.001-04:00