On the Move




I've spared you some (though probably not enough) of this next bit. We have three floors so going up or down takes quite a while, and is a big accomplishment, as noted by Joss herself.

Giving Thanks

Oh, so many reasons to be thankful this Holiday season.

Obviously, we have expanded our family and in turn, have had our hearts expanded. We're a few days short of the six-month mark of our adoption day. Is it that short a time? Is it that long? My life is now so harried, the hours often so endless and yet so overly full that I cannot imagine what it was that I did or thought important before last May.

I know that I now get more done during nap time than I used to finish in an entire day. Motherhood has made me a more efficient, if less perfect housekeeper. (Not that I was ever anywhere near perfect, but I now settle for "clean-ish" rather than strive for clean.)

As she grows more independent, I get more time to myself to work at the computer. I was overwhelmed and exhausted this summer and most of the fall. It's only been the past month that I've "woken up" and felt I can get back to some of my own work. My desk is astoundingly clear for the first time since May. As Joss is sleeping and eating better, so am I. My smile is coming back. Not that Joss took it away, I have just been so tired and so worn. My heart has been joyful, my mouth just too exhausted to express the emotion.

We spent the Thanksgiving weekend with our friends and their family. We are more than lucky to have Kim, Craig, and Kyra in our lives. Three-year old Kyra was generous with her toys and played sweetly and gently with Joss.




Joss was thrilled to have a big sister to watch and imitate, and then hug at every chance. She watched Kyra closely and I think this was a big learning trip for her. Her speech is improving already.


And then there is LaLa, the quintessential Grandmother who showered kisses and hugs and lessons, oh, so much love upon both girls. Joss ate it all up.



Kim's brothers Andrew and Travis patiently took the offered objects from Joss, then handed them back to her. Over and over again. It's one of her favorite games and they played it beautifully. Joss never lacked for company or stimulation this weekend.

Sophie, a giant and gangly Labradoodle, did not once walk past Joss without giving her lots of kisses, much to Joss's delight. She kept signing "horse" when she saw Sophie.

This weekend, we gave thanks for friends and family. We ate, we drank, we talked, we danced.



We're grateful for Good Health. Joss went to the pediatrician last week and weighed in at a bit under 17.5 pounds. She's still nowhere on any weight charts, but the doctor pronounced her in great health and was quite pleased at the weight gain.

She's 28 inches tall. She looks taller, but I think it's her perfect, and I do mean perfect, posture. She inspires me to stand straighter.

We're grateful for good humor. Joss keeps us laughing. She's a funny child. Goofy actually. I have no idea where she will end up one of these days, but I think this sense of fun and humor will serve her well no matter where she goes.

And we're grateful for home.

Though we had a great time, we were all happy to be back after the long drive. What was amazing, was to see how happy Joss was. At one point, she toddled back and forth between John and me, hugging him, hugging me and just, for lack of a better word, purring. I can't be sure, but I think she's really starting to understand that this is her home and we are her parents and we won't take her somewhere and leave her. That we will always bring her back with us. I think I saw relief in her that she was here with us.

I had actually thought that this was behind her, but when I saw how immense her reaction was at being home, it seemed that the memories and insecurities are not quite gone.

They are being put to rest though. I hope.

Last, but never least, I'm thankful that I've found my life partner in John. We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary last week (which we completely forgot! Steff sent us belated wishes which reminded us. Guess our priorities have shifted). Even after all this time, I find I'd choose to spend time with John over anyone else. The four-plus hour drive each way, we spent talking. Not even about anything in particular. Just chatting. He hasn't bored me yet, he still makes me laugh.

Among the many gifts he's given me, and I don't mean rings or cars or any of that, but unwavering friendship and love and emotional support, he's now giving me the opportunity to stay home with Joss. I'd always thought I needed some sort of help when the time came to have a family, but now I see that I am too selfish to give up a moment of time with Joss to a nanny. At least for now. I'll be just as happy to see her go off to school one day, I'm sure!

It's good to have a day to remember our blessings, both large and small. Especially 17.5 pounds small.

With Thanks,

She is ...

... without a doubt, my child.

I do have a bit of an obsession about brushing my teeth. I think I may have passed it on.




I used to walk around our house either with my eyes closed or with a mirror, looking down and therefore, up into the ceiling. Just to see how different the world could be. Maybe some of this is normal, but I'm not sure. When I've asked my friends if they used to do this, they give me odd looks.

It was always fun though.

Squeaky Shoes and More

Anyone who's adopted a baby from China knows about squeaky shoes. The shoes have a tiny squeaker in the sole so that it's not only fun for your newly walking toddler, but helpful for you as you know where the mischief is happening.

We looked and looked, but there were no shoes tiny enough for Joss at the time. We finally got one pair that was the smallest we could find and were told the smallest available, with no idea whether or not they would be outgrown by the time Joss actually did walk.

They're still too big, so she occasionally trips over the toe or else they just slip off her feet, but she wore them the other day anyway.




Partway through the last bit, you can see her reaction as she hears Daddy singing. She does her little dance move and rushes off to find him.

It was nice today so we went outside to walk. I didn't have the camera on the right setting so the pix are not as clear as they should be. Too bad as it was a perfect cloudy day for photos.

In front of our neighbor's car

Goofy Baby
This is my favorite of her faces. It means that she's just too happy to contain herself.Walking with her leaves

And lastly, as opposed to a few days ago, when the spoon came into play, this was yesterday and a more usual mealtime with Joss. Utensils sit on the plate or are used to comb Ariel's hair, food gets moved around joyfully, and there are few signs of any sort of table manners. All in good time.

Something New

Never thought I'd see the day. Last night she started by picking up a piece of food, placing it on her fork, then tossing it down to the dogs, but this morning, got a few bites into her own mouth, and believe it or not, not a bit in her hair.

The other day, Daddy gave her a short, very short, lecture on table manners, mostly about what not to do. That included lifting plates up to toss over the side of the table, tossing food over the table, and putting food on our heads. Joss listened seriously, but with a few bits of tofu sitting on her head, the scene was so comical, I had to rush out of the room to avoid laughing in front of her.




Woo hoo! It didn't last, dinner was completely by hand, but it's a start.

Home

Isabelle and her mommy went home yesterday after 40 some days in the hospital!

A Toddler

I'm not sure what happened between yesterday and today, but Joss suddenly prefers walking to crawling. It's all so amazing that it takes my breath away. You can see how much more grown up she looks.

We celebrated by wearing a dress to go meet her brothers and sisters for dim sum in Chinatown. I didn't have to worry about her knees in the way of the skirt or dirtying up the knees ... too much.

Okay. It was me celebrating. I don't think she noticed a difference. She's just doing what is natural. At her age, it's natural for her to improve at everything. I'm trying to hang on to any physical ability I have and she's gaining almost without trying.

We try to enforce the "no eating and walking simultaneously" rule. She's found her way around this when it's snacktime in my room. She sits, tells me that she is "dow" so that I know she's being a good girl and sitting down. She takes one bite of pear, then drops it and looks at me to make sure I notice, and she quickly pops up to walk the circle around the room. By that time, she's done with her mouthful and she's back for the next bite.

I know, I know, but I have to pick my battles. I'll worry about the food in the mouth tomorrow. For now, she's at least sitting while she takes it. One step at a time, right?

She has a new cup with a straw that she loves. I'm hoping this means she'll drink a bit more milk or even water. The cup isn't that big, it just shows me that as big as I think she's getting, she's still rather tiny. The tights she has are the smallest size, but still a bit too big.

Joss spoke with Juju yesterday, giving lots of kisses, and this morning talked on her own (broken) cell phone to "Da."

She even listened to hear if he would reply.

Parts of today were a little difficult. Joss cried for reasons unknown to me. I'm quite sure they were not for lack of reason. She's growing, after all.

She fusses in the carseat constantly these days so the ride into town was not that pleasant. She screamed when I took a shower tonight and had to, for maybe two minutes, be physically out of contact. (Daddy held her right outside the shower, but it was too far away.)

On the other hand, there were numerous times today that I'd turn to see her puckered up to kiss me out of the blue. There is nothing I could ever have done to deserve such a gift. She fell asleep on the way back from the city and though I tried to get her inside and to her crib for a proper nap, I failed. She woke up, but smiled and kissed me immediately, the smile so pure that I cried.

Probably against better judgement, I let her stay up to see Uncle Jack, and then I had to force myself to put her down in her crib. She was snuggling in while we were in the rocker rehashing our day and I think I felt actual pain when I had to put her down.

But can you blame me?

Today

Joss is crazy about the necklace she got at the Halloween party. As soon as she sees it in the morning, it's on for the day.


She wears my hair bands as bracelets. John noted that I always have bands or bracelets on myself though, so I guess she comes by this naturally.

She loves her bunny. It's getting stinky so I hope it washes nicely.





















She's dramatic. She grunts and groans when she reaches for anything. There is quite a bit of fake crying, followed by a quick look to see if I am watching.

Joss wants to talk to her grandpa a lot. If I'm on the phone, she comes quickly over to ask if it is "Da?" (When she means Daddy, she says the same thing, but signs "Daddy.") If it is Grandpa, she says hi, then plants plenty of loud kisses on my phone before saying "ba" (bye).







































Her walking is much better. She can squat and stand easily as her legs get stronger and stronger. Occasionally, though, she just... falls.