Sun, sun, sun!

The weather has been so AMAZING lately! Sunshine and upper 70's most days the last 2 weeks! We have had lots of outside time and are really enjoying it. Amelia and Bayard both LOVE to be outside. The beans and nasturtiams on Bayard's "fort" in the backyard are slowly growing. It seems the mice were not able to eat ALL the seeds.... I will try to get a picture of that up soon. The flowers are just blooming everywhere. I adore this time of year.

Anyway, the kids are doing well. Amelia continues to grow and change, her new word is "bubble" and she carries at least one bubble wand around much of the time. Pretty funny. She took her first big spill a few weeks ago... check out the scab on her cute little nose!

Bayard started soccer a couple weeks ago and is enjoying it, however, this week he said "Mom, I don't know if I want to do soccer again, there is just so much running." This is particularly funny coming from the child who also says "Mom, one of my favorite things these days is just to run. I like how my body feels when I run. I think I am definately the fastest person in our family." He will then run laps...living room...dining room...kitchen....hallway.....living room....dining room....kitchen....hallway.....living room.... and so it goes. Often the running experience is augmented by the wearing of a cape which Bayard says "flows behind me in the wind."

Check out the recent pics.... This one of Bayard is in the backyard on his rope swing... a HUGE hit the last couple weeks. The family one is from Mother's Day. We must have taken 20 pictures trying to get it right! It still isn't great, but, it was good enough for the 6 month report we had to do for the adoption agency. Yes, Amelia has been with us for 6 months. Amazing.

Walking, running, easter egg hunting....

Well, Amelia started walking about a week ago and there is no looking back. She is highly mobile and seemingly enjoying it. She is growing like a weed! Bayard is a running, jumping, climbing, bike riding, cape wearing, poem reciting, 4 year old. Poem reciting you ask? Yes, Bayard has started making up poems and reciting them regularly. A couple nights ago we were on our nightly after dinner family walk and he asked "Daddy, what is a poem?" "Well, Bayard, it is like story with rhymes and words that sound good together." "I think I will make up a poem right now. " And he did... here is his first poem...

The Car Goes Far

The car goes far

The car doesn't go far

The car goes far

Yes! The car goes far

The car doesn't go far

Not bad for a 4 year old! He has continued to develop his craft and is currently enjoying the use of alliteration (we introduced the term the other day after he made one up with a great deal of it and now he has taken it on a challenge to put rhymes and alliteration in!)... He has continued the theme of repetition in much of his "work" as well. Funny kid. We think he is rather clever. We are his parents after all!

We are continuing to enjoy spring. Bayard and I have been working on a fort in the backyard. We put up some tall bamboo poles and arranged them much like a tee pee. We have planted nasturtiums, sweet peas, and sugar snap peas in hopes that all will grow up and all around the tee pee and make a cool hideout. Bayard wanted lots of plants he could eat "so I can have snacks in my fort if I get hungry," so we also planted some strawberries nearby. We are also hoping the mammoth sunflower seeds we planted make it and don't get thwarted by the dog, the mice, the birds, or the slugs! Time will tell. Portland gets greener and more vibrant every day!! Ah, I love spring. I even look forward to the rain now. It seems I have adapted to the climate after almost 9 years in Oregon. Wow. 9 years.

Well, I am going to get off the computer now... so, I will just attach a few pictures and get rolling along....

Spring!!!!!!

Wow, the weather has just been so nice (yes, still a great deal of rain, but it SMELLS like spring and is warmer!), the crocus and daffodils are blooming, the lilacs are peeking out, and the trees are starting to bud. Portland has to be the greenest and most vivid place on the planet in the spring. Maybe that is just in sharp contrast to the gray winters.... whatever the case, it is just energy-giving!!!!

Amelia is working on walking. She is taking lots of steps, but crawling is still more efficient for her. She did not tolerate day care very well, so, I quit my job at the hospital and am home full time with her now! She seems pretty happy about that. And so am I. I am still doing the private practice, but that is just evenings and occassional weekends, so, no day care required. Big changes! She loves to be outside and is saying "bye bye" , "da da", "ba ba" (which we think is Bayard), "ma ma" and is adding to her signing vocabulary too. She is funny and very determined-- she doesn't often show frustration, she just keeps working on something until she gets it, then, she just looks so proud of herself. Pretty cool. She LOVES to eat. The kid will eat almost anything you put in front of her and she is really digging the sippy cup of water. She is throwing some hissys lately when things don't go her way-- which is great! It is nice to see her expressing her likes and dislikes more strongly instead of just going with the flow so much. She loves the swing at the park by our house and is quite the climber! She also thinks Bayard is very cool, but is not afraid to shriek at him if she doesn't like something he is doing! She continues to be a joy, and a fantastic sleeper! WAHOO!!!

Bayard turned 4 and got a 2 wheeler for his birthday. He is really enjoying it. We weren't sure as he hasn't been a big bike guy up to this point, but, he seems to have embraced being a "big guy" and is excited to have a big kid bike. He only wanted 4 and 5 year olds at his pirate themed birthday party (treasure hunt, pinata, and lots of swordplay and swashbuckling as the kids all came dressed as pirates)-- and is showing a strong preference for BOYS as friends. He still likes to play with Kassy across the street, but sees her as an exception. He is definately moving into boyhood more and more. Very cool to watch. The little boy is moving on out.. here comes the big kid. He is still enjoying swimming and is currently working on the backstroke. He wants to sign up for soccer again and thinks karate would be "cool." He gave away all of his kid plates and cups to some littler boys he knows and only wants to use "grown up stuff" at mealtime. "Thomas and Bob the Builder are for babies mom." Wow. When we decided that I would stay home with Amelia, Bayard said "I think that is good mom. I think she just got confused again like she was in China. If you stay home with her everyday, then she will know that we really are her family forever and she won't get confused anymore. " Ahhh. I love that kid.

Ok... I have a workshop tomorrow night and I need to get some work done for it! The pictures are just ones from this month and some from Bayard's birthday. Enjoy!

Whoa! Time does fly....

Well, it has been over amonth since I last posted. Whew! In that month, we have battled sickness (ah, winter...), I started back to work 2 days, which means Amelia started day care 2 days, my private practice is growing (yeah!), Amelia turned 1!!! and Bayard is about to turn 4 (on the 20th!), oh, and our 31 yr old furnace called it quits. We have been living with space heaters for over a week while we await the gas company to put in a line to our house! AH!

All is well though. Amelia is weathering day care pretty well-- each time she goes it gets better. Last week was the first week she spent two full days (the week before we did 2 half days). She is very clear (ie: screamy!) that staying there without us is not in her plan for the day, but she settles in and we have a wonderful care provider, so we know she is getting her needs met and will adjust. If you want to check out the school ... http://www.growingseeds.net/ . We couldn't be happier with them. Bayard is in the preschool room and is able to go and visit Amelia during the day in the baby room. Nice.

Amelia is right on track developmentally and seemingly, attachment wise too. What a gift! She is funny and currently loves pointing at everything. She loves books and likes to do the sign for book and then have you read to her. She is signing quite a bit (book, daddy, milk, dog, all done, more) which we think is pretty cool. Bayard is growing up so fast! 4 is a big birthday. He is definately seeming more and more like a big kid. He is funny, creative, bright, silly, thoughtful, and truly seems to enjoy his role as big brother. At school they are wrapping up learning about volcanoes and moving on to learning about Egypt which he is excited about. He was telling me that he really wants to "know more about mummys and sphinxes." They studied honey bees last summer and he was telling me yesterday that "not just bees have a proboscus mom, some butterflies do too, but they just eat the nectar, they don't make honey with it like the bees do." Whoa! He cracks me up.

Ok, well, I guess that is the wrap up for now. I will try to be better about keeping up here....

Christmas, New Years, and 2 front teeth...

Amelia is working on her two top teeth... wow. She also has a cold. So, snot and drool galore at our house right now. She has also gone from wearing 3-6 month clothes in China to now moving into some 12-18 month ones! A little grower she is.

Christmas was fun... check out the pictures. Christmas jammies courtesy of Aunt Trace... so cute! And what a nice suprise!

New Years was mellow for us... all of us in bed before midnight.

OK, a little girl wants my attention and is making her way under the desk to check out the many cords.... more later...

Christmas Eve

Here a couple of quick pictures of BWJ and AFJ before we head over to a friend's house for a party on the 23rd. The Christmas outfits came from Nana (G'ma Jeri) and are very cool!

Excitement is growing for Bayard's 4th Xmas and Amelia's 1st.....check back for more tomorrow, including the awesome Xmas PJs that came from Aunt Trace!!

Bayard the rock climber and more...

So, yesterday, Bayard and a friend of his went with "the dads" to a local bouldering gym to tackle the kid climbing wall there. Travis said it was pretty cool, a big climbing wall just for kids with a good sized area at the "summit" and a big wooden, well shellacked (sp?), slide on the other side for a quick descent... check out the pictures...

And, update on Amelia... she is using signs for "all done" and "milk"... we think she is pretty smart! Check out some recent pics of her too!

Just more pictures...

ONE MONTH!

One month ago today, we met Amelia. It is incredible that it was only that long ago. It is hard to imagine our family without her. She grows happier and more animated everyday. Bayard is truly a wonderful big brother... a little something from today...

Bayard, Amelia , and I were in the kitchen today and this is the conversation I heard…

Amelia, you were born in China. Before you were here, I would ask my mom everynight, “Is it morning time in China?” and she would say “it will be pretty soon” and then I would say “Is Amelia getting up now? Is she having breakfast now?” We would talk about all the things you might be doing. Now you are here with our family, so we know what you are doing all the time! I am glad you are my sister. You are going to be in our family forever!

This was followed by a small crisis when Amelia took one of his dinosaur magnets off of the refrigerator..."she has my special magnet! that one is special! she can't have that one! Mom! help!" I reply... "What's your plan Bayard?" BWJ: "We need to put those up high where she can't reach them! She can have the letter ones. I will put those down low for her. There you go Amelia, you can play with those." Ah, disaster averted by the problem solving big brother.

So, life is good. Here are some pictures from today and yesterday...

Back to normal....

Well, Travis went back to work today and I am home with "the kids"... it has been great! Wow, transition to 2 kids is SOOOO much easier than transition to 1! It doesn't hurt that I am not recovering from pregnancy, labor, delivery, and major emergency surgery all while caring for a newborn... starting at 9 mos old having never been pregnant is actually pretty nice! She is more of a joy each day and Bayard continues to do really well.

It just hit us last night that we missed much of November and Christmas is just around the corner! Those "east coast" gifts have to get moving if they are going to make it in time! Hmmm, we have some work to do!

Speaking of work... I need to get some done while "the kids" are resting/napping...

Ah, sleep. And siblings.

So, Amelia slept from 7:30-4am, then had a bottle, and went back to sleep until 7am! WAHOOO!!! Life is much better when not starved for sleep. Bayard is so cute with her. I asked him how it was going for him with Amelia here...

"Not so good mom"
"Why? What's up Bayard?"
"I just don't get enough time with my sister. You and Dad get to spend lots of time playing with her and I don't. I want more time to play with her."
"I think we can work that out Bayard."

Funny kid. Not at all what I expected him to say. He is really helpful with her. He entertains her and SO wants to be a part of taking care of her. She is big enough to actually interact with him, so that is nice. He was playing peek-a-boo with her tonight while I was making her dinner and she was VERY impatient! He had her smiling and even laughing. At the same time, he was feeding her the much loved Cheerios. Pretty cool sibling stuff. Bayard starts back on his regular school schedule this week which I think will be good too.

Well, both kids are in bed, so I need to take advantage and have some "me time"....

Oh, here are Bayard and Travis watching the Georgia v Georgia Tech game today...

How cute is she?!

Well, we are getting to know Amelia more each day, and she is adorable! Happy, smiling, today she giggled!

These pictures were taken in her room at bedtime the second day we were home. I know, those jammies are pretty girly. And how cute is she in them? Sleep is improving each night. We are hopeful for an even better night tonight! She is in bed right now.... sleeping, in her bed.... yes, we dosed her up with Benadryl... for the jetlag, and our sanity... we'll see. We head off to the pediatrician tomorrow morning to check in. I don't think she is going to have much to say as Amelia is looking really healthy and still pretty on track developmentally. Some mild gross and fine motor delays, but nothing really significant. She is still in the window of "typical development" just on the slower end for motor skills. Yeah! She is generally happy, smiley, and fairly easy going. She is quite clear about what she wants and will definately let you know if you aren't giving it to her, but she is quick to recover once it is resolved. She is also doing well on the attachment stuff. Much better than we expected at this point, so that is great news too! She still enjoys time with Travis, but no longer shows a marked preference for him. She is fascinated with Woobie (our Brittany Spaniel for those who don't know him). He on the other hand, showed little or no reaction to her with the exception of resuming the post he had at the highchair when it was last used and giving her face licks to check out the leftovers. She seems ok with that and watches him with great interest. Nice to have an 8 year old "baby/child seasoned" dog as opposed to a 4 year old "new to the kid thing" dog...

Bayard is excited to visit his school for a couple hours while we take Amelia to the doctor tomorrow. He is doing well with the adjustment. As well as can be expected I think. Some boundary testing and meltdowns over things like running out of juice or getting his arm caught in his jacket (things he took in stride before), but, all in all, big brother is coping ok and really likes to play with Amelia and is VERY sweet with her. First thing each morning he comes into our room (where she has generally been spending at least the last 2-3 hours of the night) and just talks quietly to her and rubs her back and sings her songs... "Hello to Amelia, so glad to see you, Good morning Amelia, so glad to see you"... So sweet.

OK, that is it for tonight. I am going to relish in some downtime while BOTH kids are sleeping!

We're home!

After 26 hours of travel, and two Thursdays (we gained a day on the way back), we are settling into home. Amelia and Bayard did great on the trip back. 3 plane rides, 4 different cities, and 2 different countries. Amelia got her "you are an american citizen" stamp yesterday when we arrived in LA. That was our last big milestone in this process. It is nice to be back, but, I kind of miss that "vacation feeling"... yeah, parts of the trip were challenging, but, there were no dishes to do, no laundry, no bills waiting to be paid, no bathrooms to clean, no garbage to take out... you know what I mean. Bayard, Amelia, and myself slept fairly well last night, Travis on the other hand is having a bit more trouble with the time change. We took turns with Amelia last night, she was still on China time and didn't really go to sleep until about 1am. But, she then slept til 8:30! Wahoo! I think a family nap may be in the cards for us this afternoon...

Amelia is the happiest baby the last 3 days! She is smiley and is liking sitting on the floor and playing with toys. She is fine going between me and Travis now. She has huge smiles when either of us walks in the room and says hi to her. She is able to sit alone on the floor and play while we are in the room doing something else for 5-10 minutes at a time-- that is pretty big progress!

Bayard has been going non-stop today. He seems to be really enjoying playing with his toys and just being at home. Although, as we were leaving China he said "I don't want to go home yet, I love China!"

All in all, we had a great trip. More pictures to come. I think we will keep doing this blog thing... so, keep checking in! Oh, thanks to all who left comments... it helped us to feel more connected to those of you back home. It was fun to think of so many people following our trip and our progress with Amelia!

Kaili

Kaili is the name of the town that is the capital of the region where the babies in our group are from. Guizhou is the province, and the smaller region (county if you will) is called Qiandongnan. Kaili is kind of like the county seat. It was a 2.5 bus ride each way on windy roads, so we chose not to go, but we really wish we had. Tracey's motion sickness and Amelia still adjusting to us didn't seem to like a good mix for 5 hours in a bus. Anyhow one of the families with us had an adventurous uncle along with them who spoke some Chinese, so these are pics from him. After seeing these we really wish we had gone, but unfortunately it just didn't work out this time. Maybe we'll be able to go again when we get back in a few years.

There are two ethnic minority groups here and there is a good chance that Amelia is from one of them (Dong and Miao). We'll never really know though, Amelia's birth parents and exact town are unknown.

The 3rd picture above is the orphanage where the babies came from. All were in foster care for most of the time, but they all passed through this orphanage and spent some time there.

Many thanks to Mike Bergner for making the trek to get us this info!!

Faster Internet connection in Guangzhou = more pictures

First pic is BWJ and Amelia sitting together.

Second is loading up to fly from Guiyang to Guangzhou, "taking the 3 ring circus on the road".

Third is from back in Guiyang, at the big central square where they were getting ready for some big Communist Party c weekend event. You can see the statue of Mao in the back.

Here is one of Bayard and Amelia doing some "shoulder ride".

The other is what I call the "Last Supper". Its all the babies from our adoption group here in the lobby at the White Swan in Guangzhou. Pretty funny. Amelia is the second from the left.

Last Day in Guangzhou

Wow. What a difference a few days and a new city makes! If you have ever been to Savannah, GA, you can imagine Guangzhou (well, just the little island part we are on). Really, it looks so much like Savannah it is a little eerie. The big trees with the moss, the colonial style buildings. Lots of British and French influence. The hotel we are in, The White Swan (check it out on the web, it is a remarkable place), is on Shamian Island. The Island is very small, you can actually see from one end to the other. It is right on the Pearl River. We have an amazing view of the Pearl River and Guangzhou’s main city across the river from our hotel room. Each night there is a lazer show. Really, I have not been to Las Vegas, but I can’t imagine that it has much more neon than this place. At night, the dragon boats, all lit up, sail around the river for dinner cruises. Pretty cool sight. Oh, and they pipe in music to go with the laser show. Generally it is classical or, believe it or not, opera. Yeah, a little weird. Bayard and Travis took the ferry across to the main part of Guangzhou today. Travis said that part is NOT at all like Savannah, you are definitely back in China over there, no colonialism to make the westerners more comfortable across the river! After being in Guiyang, it has been a nice break to be here. The majority of the families who adopt from China come and stay at the White Swan on Shamian Island, so, it is like adoption Disneyland. The shops and restaurants cater to westerners and the adoption crowd. That is a bit weird too. The first morning we went down for breakfast it was pretty surreal to see all these Caucasian families with Chinese babies/kids. I am not kidding when I say the entire restaurant was filled with us adoption folk. There are 38 families from our agency alone and there are at least that many from other agencies. There are entire floors of the hotel filled with adoptive families. I felt a little embarrassed and apologetic for being a part of it. What do the Chinese really think of us, of this phenomenon? That, along with the t-shirts, and other commercialism around the China adoption experience during this part of the trip have felt a little plastic.

On the whole, China is just so very different. I wish we had more time to really see more than just a few touristy areas. The people have been so warm and friendly, so patient with us in trying to communicate. They are very interested in Bayard and Amelia. Each person who has understood that we are adopting Amelia has had a huge smile and has looked happy for us and for her. I have been incredibly impressed with how the people use the parks. There is a wonderful park next to the hotel here. Each morning there is a large group of mostly older people (all Chinese, whether it looks like Savannah or not, we are still in China) all exercising in synch. Tai Chi it seems to be. There is piped in music and direction coming from speakers somewhere. The playgrounds tend not to have benches where the adults are to sit and watch, but equipment that is meant to be used by adults and children. There are always adults there exercising. I like the focus on keeping the body healthy. Shamian Island is quite clean and there is very little smoking here, unlike in Guiyang. A funny park story… so, we went with one of the other families here (they have 4 kids—8, 4, 2, and the baby- 10 months) to explore this little amusement park part by the river. They had the smallest rides I have ever seen! A little lady was sitting there, just waiting for people to come by to ride the rides. They looked like they had been there since the 50’s. I think she may have been working there then too. She was very nice and friendly and encouraged the kids to ride. So, all the kids, with the exception of the baby hop on this one ride. It is little carriages with covered tops and a bench for 2, meant to go around in a circle. She starts up the ride and White Christmas starts playing! The ride lurches forward and jerks around the track about half way and the lady starts picking up the ride and helping it along! The 2 year old starts crying and bails, the lady motions for the 8 year old to get off, and she keeps pushing it around the track while Bayard and Emma (4 year old) sit with blank faces next to each other in the little car! It was hilarious! The lady was so nice, she had the kids get off and let them ride each of the other rides (only 3 others). The others worked fine. And Western Christmas music continued to play! The kids had a great time. It was definitely a highlight!

Amelia makes progress in settling into our family every day. Today was our best day. She is pretty funny. She is smiling more and today actually seemed to really enjoy time with me. She has some similarities to Bayard as a baby which we find funny. She is VERY vocal (lungs are working just fine…), very quick to let you know when she likes or doesn’t like something, pretty social, enjoys being in a restaurant or somewhere where there is a lot going on, sleeps well (ok, the first year he didn’t, but since then…), is a great eater, and just seems to have a similar temperament. She has a very strong grip, strong legs and arms (she can pull herself to stand, but has very little torso strength!). She has a pretty good attention span. And she seems to like books. We are looking forward to getting to know her more. Bayard is doing well. He has shown some jealousy and has had a couple meltdowns, but all in all is hanging in there. He says he misses Woobie and school. He has said a few times “ I bet Kassy misses me.” For those of you who don’t know, she is one of his neighbor friends. Having Amelia has highlighted how big he is. And it has reminded me a few times that he is still only 3 and still needs us to help him adjust to his new role as big brother. He said the other morning “I think I will take the batteries out of my ears” as he was tired of little sister’s crying. At the same time, he is excited when she plays with him without crying and he just wants to hug her all the time. He and Travis went a bargained for a dragon shirt that I have no doubt he will want to tell everyone about. He is pretty proud of it. He has a heightened interest in dragons since being here. He is planning his dragon costume for next Halloween. He has also discovered “karate guys” and enjoys working on his karate moves. He gets ideas from the Tai Chi people in the park as well as the Jackie Chan movies he and Travis have been checking out on the TV.

Anyway, tomorrow is our last day here. We will be back in Portland on Thursday! (we gain a day on the way back). We have had a very interesting trip. We keep talking about coming back to China sometime when we can devote more time to seeing much more of the beautiful country that we haven’t really been able to see this time. We feel like we have gotten just a snapshot of this huge and amazingly diverse place.

More in person… it is time for bed. We are off to the US Consulate tomorrow to do our last bit of adoption paperwork. See you all soon!

Guangzhou

Well Guangzhou is very different that Guiyang. Its the 6th largest city in China, about 10 million people is what our guide said. We're staying at the White Swan Hotel which is very western, so much easier to navigate the surroundings. It actually feels like a vacation now. We;ve got a nice room, with a cool view of the Pearl River, the hotel is very large with a pool that Bayard loves to swim in. There are lots of western families with newly adopted babies so its kind of surreal....strange juxtaposition of western onto Chinese.

We've got to do a few more things with the US government leading up to our immigration finalization for Ameila at the consulate on Wed. Then we fly home on Thursday.

Things are getting better with Amelia. She really likes to be outside, go out to eat, be out where people are. She and Tracey are getting closer, but she still prefers me if we're both there. We're still working at it though and they;re having more and more happy times.

Ok this was just a quick post from the coffee shop, we'll write more tonight....