Work? I Have a Job?

It all melts away once I get home.

Mid-Week Jia Fix

Headline on MSN.Com - build a $100,000 blue eyed, athletic, cancer-free baby. I'd give everything to build a cancer-free baby - but blue-eyed? Over-rated. I'm blue-eyed. Many of the people I love most dearly in life are blue-eyed. But my brown eyed baby is the most beautiful human I've ever seen. When I ask her where her Buddha belly is when she's in the bath, she points to her belly. When she claps just at water's edge and throws water over both of us she laughs out loud. Whew. I'm in awe.

First Pair of Real Shoes

5 Steps - oh yes. She looked at me, smiled, let go of the table and walked right into my arms! Jia had walked 3 steps for her Aunt Lisa this past week and so she is just moving right along! She was soooo proud of herself. And I swooped her up and kissed her like she'd just won a gold medal! And then promptly called her Grandpa to brag! So Grandma and I took Jia to StrideRite this weekend to get her first pair of real shoes. (Thanks mom). Tell me these just are the cutest things ever! We've had another great weekend and Jia and I took an HOUR nap together. She's taking longer naps now that she is so active. The mom is reaching a whole new level of tired but I was bragging to T about my great biceps. We got a humidifier for her room since she has a cold (and now so do the mom and dad) - and she has slept great all weekend. But now it's back to work for me so that will likely stop. Seems to be the trend. She can probably sense my stress. Anyway - hope everyone had a great weekend!

Random Tuesday

Aunt Lisa drops Jia home on Monday and Tuesday due to her hectic schedule of running her own children about town to various activities (it's tennis on Monday and Tuesday). She and her girls Melissa and Rachel took a moment to come inside and play with Jia at Jia's house and Jia was so excited. She seemed so comfortable and content to have her family visiting on "her turf"! A couple of the other pictures I've posted show her walking with her daddy. Jia gets really pumped when her dad gets home from work. She wiggles and jumps and squeals and her dad walks her all around the house as she laughs out loud. This little one can MOVE! She crawls so fast now! I think she'll probably skip walking and go straight to running! We're having lots of fun! I ran into some folks from our adoption agency a couple of days ago and we were lamenting the increasing wait for China adoption but they asked if it was worth the wait! Oh please, life has improved dramatically and continues to do so everyday. This is coming from a fiercely independent couch potato who's world was absolutely rocked by parenthood. I truly can't imagine not having Jia - seems like a cliche - but it is true. I love her so much - even between 1:30 am and 4 am Monday mornings. (Did I write that out loud???) heh. P.S. - Happy Birthday Mom - You have been such wonderful support and help I just don't know how I could have pulled this off with out you. I love you!

Great Weekend - Sore Mom

The boat excursion was wonderful. Due to high winds we chose to stay docked. The small adjustments we make as parents are just that - small. Jia thrives outdoors. She is definitely her daddy's girl. The friends at the marina were very excited to see Jia. She has changed so much since many have seen her. (And she did have an outfit on to die for....) But we went to the little park and played on the swings, we saw a loon (Terrell identified this creature, not the mom) and Jia wiggled her mom to absolute exhaustion! The thing about a boat, even a 37 foot sailboat, is that it is compact space. And there are far too many things to bump one's head on. Trust me, I know. We call them boat bites. And after every weekend (pre-post Jia - doesn't matter) I come back with lots of bruises. Jia made it through the weekend with only one bug bite. And it is the mother of all bug bites. Jia has always reacted strongly to insect bites. But this bite freaked me out. At first it only looked like her typical reaction to a bug bite - ugly red, little white bumps, but when we got up this morning there was a huge bubble and I immediately called Aunt Lisa. She advised to "take the bandaid off" - it reminded me of Terri Garr's line in Young Frankenstein "Put the Candle BACK" - so I did that post haste and put some antibiotic cream on the ugly sore (by now the bubble had burst) - and she is fine. It never did seem to bother her but it freaked me out! Anyway - she slept a bit and I slept less. She's a little rolling log. I slept with her in the V berth as we assumed this to be the safest place. We went through our typical nighttime routine - bath, lotion, bottle - and tried to put her to bed. But oh, no! She is now mobile and has a choice. So the V berth can be closed off and I thought I'd just put her down and have a little martini ( I'm totally paranoid and won't even have a beer until I know she's safe and then just a bit- another small adjustment) but all she wanted to do was squirm and giggle and laugh the night away. At some point, after hearing all of this through the door, her dad asked, "do you want the shape sorter"? (NO) - 'Keys?" - (NO) - I'm trying to get her to sleep! I laughed so hard. Anyway - after about an hour and a half she finally fell asleep and so did the mom. All night I worried I'd roll over on her. She's like a rolling log to sleep with. I woke up at one point and we were both horizontal in the bunk! Yikes. Not comfortable (for me). I gently shifted her position vertical and tried to go back to sleep but she kept rolling toward me to grab my face or my hands. Oh - how wonderful. But what this means is that at 8:54 Sunday night (present time) I am utterly exhausted so I'll leave this post with some pictures and a good night to all.

And More......

To the Boat We Go!

No pictures to share with this post - I have dozens of recent pictures but I don't know how to download them to the computer I'm using. T took the laptop to the boat. Pathetic, I know. But we are headed to the boat this weekend and will be anchoring out in a beautiful little cove close to the marina. It will be our first time anchoring out since we've been home. It has always been one of T and my favorite things to do so I hope Jia loves it too! The weather is supposed to be perfect so we're going for it! T went out and bought Jia a different PFD (personal flotation device for the non-boaters out there) since she completely rejected the first one he bought. The first one really was huge and bulky (#1 rated for off-shore use for infant - my husband was making absolutely sure she would be safe in a hurricane!) but a PFD must be used to be effective- right? So he went out to find another Coast Guard rated PFD that may be more baby friendly. He came home this morning and looked at me and said "Don't say a thing - not one word!" He got her a purple Dora PFD! Heh heh. T can't stand Dora the Explorer but Jia LOVES Dora. Can you say already wrapped around his little finger?? He took her to West Marine and that was the one she picked out. It's Coast Guard rated so it's perfect!! What a dad!!

Wish us luck! I'm sure Jia will love it - I just have to chill out!

Yeah for Me.....And....Our Little Girl is Growing Up

We've had such a wonderful weekend. Sunday's are usually the only time I have to post to the blog but we pack so much in to every day! It was incredibly hot today so we decided to huddle inside. Jia is SO CLOSE TO WALKING! She stood on her own for up to 5 seconds numerous times today. That's new and remarkable! It's eerie that she seems to know exactly what she's doing and has an unbelievable sense of humor about it. She stood for several seconds, got this mischievous look on her face, giggled, and then fell into my arms. We both laughed so hard. We took a nap together upstairs in the big bedroom (master) and that was better than I can describe. You see, Jia has not been so interested in cuddling and napping together for the past 4 months. She had too much growing and learning to do. Now she'll settle (sometimes) just for a few moments and let her mom or dad cuddle and love her and she'll accept this love. She laughs out loud when her dad walks with her (holding her hands) throughout the house. Daddy has big adoration going on too. Jia is an absolute delight - what more can I say? These pictures show her putting an object into her shape sorter. Each time she successfully does this she raises her arms in celebration! The others show that our little girl is beginning to show some independence in crawling around the house. She is fast!!!! While my arms have been getting a work out the past 4 months I do believe my legs are about to get into shape!

Nothing is More Fun Than Grandpa and Grandma

Look at these remarkable pictures of Jia playing with her grandma and grandpa. She gets such a kick out of teasing with them. She giggles, squeals, laughs out loud, jumps up and down - you name it. Thanks mom and dad. Love you.

A Little Grouchy in the Morning

Jia is usually very happy when she first wakes up - she is so excited to face the new day. But then the mom tries to get her to sit down in her highchair and Oscar rears his head and she gets a bit grumpy. But Blues Clues always cheers her a bit as I try to coax some eggs into her. She had her 15 month check up Friday and she, as the doctor said, is amazing! The doctor was stunned at her progress and thrilled (relieved) that Jia now has a healthy appetite and is growing and developing as any 15 month old should. She is 17 lbs 10 oz and 29 inches long! Still itsy bitsy if you chart her on the US growth charts but hey, they aren't really applicable to our little beauty. She continues to be just plain gorgeous and we get extra special attention everywhere we go due to that fact. It's like a friend said, pretty isn't everything but it can sure make life a bit easier. Wait staff are more patient when the bomb of crackers, cookies, napkins and crayons cover the floor beneath her. I remember those days of waiting tables. I would see a family sit in my section and think, oh no, here comes the explosion! I don't remember being as forgiving as the folks who have helped us lately - although I did always try to keep that to myself. Probably unsuccessfully since my mom always has pointed out my lack of a poker face! And she is so right. It takes every muscle in my body to control the eye rolling and eyebrown raising as I sit in neverending business meetings! Anyway - enough about me. Enjoy the pictures!

Oh, and not parenthetically, today is our 4 months since Family Day. Four months ago China placed in our arms the most gentle, loving, tender, fragile child I had ever laid eyes upon. Oh thank you China - we owe you so much.