A snow bunny that does not like the snow!(too much)

Get this white stuff off my mitten!
Drooly bug
A smile!
When we say "Lucy smile" she does this....


So as cute as she is, she has been a naughty one for me. I can tell she is almost two. She gives me this look that makes you laugh no matter how frustrated you are. She knows it too. She smacked me at least 5 times today in the face(did it all the time in China) and would not listen to her Speech Therapist today. eye yi yi!!! I love her but I wish she would be a good girl all the time. She is defintely a little stink bug. I am trying my best to be consistent with her but I think her goal is to crack me. She has been taking a long nap today so I have time to fuel up and get ready for round two this afternoon!

PS - Her ENT appt went well yesterday. Her tubes look good and she also had a hearing test that was positive as well. :)

Silly Lucy

L




Lucy is just awesome. She is the funniest little kid ever. She is constantly trying to make us laugh-and she succeeds! She is growing like a weed, trying her best to make words and still uses her signs. She know so many animals now and the noises they make. Little smarty pants for sure. She now says-mama, yaya(for dada), grmma, ina(for china) and yaa(for yes), nana(for banana)

We have been getting her caught up on her immunizations.(all of them all over again) She cries now when she just sees the nurse. poor thing. I keep telling her mommy cries too when she gets shots. So we have that to look forward to every few weeks. I hope the next visit John takes her. Why do moms always get stuck with the jobs like that??? She is now in the 50% percentile on her height and weight and we can begin to switch her from formula to whole milk with a vitamin supplement.

She has a cleft team appt in March and if that goes well, surgery on her lip in May. Seems so far away, especially since the long-dreary-cold winter has just begun. boo hoo. why do we live in ny?? Next stop, the ENT to check her tubes this week. guess who is taking her?? mom of course.

anyways, we love her to pieces. It is so great to see some of the family and our congregation loving her so much too. She loves it all.

Random pics of a happy little girl.

As you can see from these pics, making bread with Nana and Papa is making her look so Italian.

daddy day care

i called in sick this morning (cough cough, wheez wheez) and am playing the part of mr. mom. michael keaton's got nothing on me. so, for prospective fathers out there, i want to tell my morning story.
she woke up happy, which she normally does. after a quick shot in the potty, she was ready for milk and a 'nana. yes, she asks for it by name and sign now. genius. that apparently is the magic combo to get her battery charged. here she is winding up for the day:



we have been having a good day, i would say. we have not read any books yet, she cannot stay still for 3 seconds. for a change of pace, i threw a tutu on her, which she thought was fun. it is so cute to see this chubby little ballerina running around. she is such a doll, esp when we leave her bedhead alone. which i have left alone. i am just glad that during these past three months hair has decided grow on that dome. funny enough, she is really starting to look like an old italian man. thining, disheveled hair, gut hanging out with drool around the collar - i love it. she's going to fit right in!








she did watch some cartoons, but again, that lasted about a minute. i don't know if its a short attention span, or she really does not care for tv?? i hope its the latter. she does not need tv just yet.


oh snack time was a riot. as she is beginning to realize, daddy rocks. (those are her words, not mine.) first oreo day! lets see if she ever gets that from her mom! needless to say she was happy, and she wore out the sign for 'more'. now normally i cannot stand a sloppy eater, and am constantly wiping her up - but this moment of glory had to last a little longer, at least until the pictures were taken. at which point i brought in a snow ball for her to play with. she is amazed by snow.


we have only had this little one in our life for about 3.5 months, which it seems like a year - in a good way. we have seen her grow so much. but i am brought back to reality of her true size when i see that she can stick her hand and half her arm into a toilet paper roll - amazing.




ok, this next little tidbit is for all new fathers-to-be. this is an honest 'nugget' of information i am giving here:
poop stinks. everyone will tell you that its different when its your own kid - don't fall for it. your beautiful little child will not drop some potpourri in the bowl - it stinks, no matter who makes it. consider yourself warned. you will dry heave, maybe even twice if the first attempt at putting it in the flusher didn't fully work out.



with that fresh in mind, i better go. she will get up soon, and i have a bunch to do yet.

Tagged

I was just tagged from fellow adoptee Emily. Here goes!!

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. Survivor
2. Friday night Lights(canceled though :()
3. Bachelor/Bachelorette (lame I know but entertaining)
4. Football
5. Little House on the Prairie
6. Nothnagle Showcase of Homes
7. ET
8. the news

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Went to work
2. Hid my laundry so my m-in-law would not do it
3. Made a present online for John
4. Watched TV on my computer
5. Ate way too many cookies
6. Dreamed about going on a cruise
7. Kissed Lucy way too many times

8 Things I look forward to
1. Lucy going to sleep
2. Lucy waking up
3. A date with John someday
4. My sister closing on her new house
5. My next day off with Lucy
6. Pizza and football tomorrow
7. No more potty training (Emily, I 'll keep this one)
8. A vacation in the fall somewhere that involves a beach

8 Favorite restaurants
1. Any steak restaurant like Bugaboo Creek
2. Dibella's Subs
3. Basil's Italian
4. Mario's for brunch
5. The Distillery
6. Don Pablo's (but they closed)
7. Cheesecake Factory for Sun Morning breakfast
8. Wendy's

8 things I wish for (in no particular order)
1. 8 more wishes
2. Desire to excercise
3. Desire to eat more vegetables
4. Money for a second adoption
5. All my bills paid off
6. More time to spend with John
7. My sister to live closer
8. Selflessness to come easy

airing out our dirty laundry

Funniest thing - we were taking our laundry downstairs, and this cute little chinese kid popped out.

amazing photo

so our friend heather found a guy on facebook who works/plays with children in the luoyang childrens orphanage, where lucy was raised. among his 1,100 pictures of the children there was this beautiful picture of lucy in a black polo. it is the only photo taken in that room, and we couldn't be happier for it. notice the straw mat?

look at that little girl. it makes me sad yet so very happy. love that lil kid

reach for the stars, little one

She is just as beautiful as ever. We had a visit to our pediatrician yesterday, and the facts are in: we have plumped her up nicely. She is up to 34 inches, and 23 pounds - that's 7 inches taller and 7 pounds heavier. She is flourishing, and loving every pound of it.

We want to congratulate our friends Heather and Donnie Thompson - they have finally received LOA, so travel plans are on. We are excited for you, and cant wait to see the little man!

Lucy at 6:30am

she is so soft and sweet and kissable first thing in the morning - the last bits of sun for the year were peaking in her window and shining on her - had to take some photos

um, we were hoping for a cute kid???

she is really beginning to pick up on everything we say - she is very smart and remembers things after just one or two times telling or showing her. we have to watch our hand gestures when we talk to her, because she will relate the word with the hand motion, as if a new sign (sign language sign). we have added about 5 more signs to her library. beginning to mimic the sound of words, and her mouth moves when she looks right at us as we speak or read to her. she wants to talk, i know it. she says 'mama', 'on', and 'hi' quite fluently and is starting with 'oh-oh' now. we have a speech therapy evaluation on Nov 12. we are real excited to hear what they think about where she is, where she will be and by when. she has such a cute tiny voice. i love this little kid, she is too much and too cute, i can just chew on her little chub rolls....

Remembering the first day with our little girl!

She was so little and quiet! She is so chubby and noisy now and we love it.
Lucy is such a doll and so FUNNY!

I keep picturing a room full of Lucy's over in China and wish that we could bring them all home. They are not able to let their personality's shine. Lucy was reported to be quiet and shy in her orphanage. WOW! She is anything but that now.

I can see how people adopt again and again. If the process was not so expensive we would love to again. Maybe someday. Until then we are loving, loving Lucy Blue.

What didn't we do this week??!!

Lucy and I have had such a busy week. The weather was so beautiful and we had a great time. We went to the fish hatchery with Aunt Steph and cousin Mia. Lucy kept doing her splashing motion with her hand and wanted to jump right in the water. I am not sure who would of gone in after her because the fish were like in groups and they were big. Sorta gross but cool at the same time. We went to the playground at that park when we had enough of the fish. It was hot out! She does not like the swing at all. It only lasted for like two pics.

We also went to the zoo with grandpa. She was so cute. When we put her in the stroller we had to hold her hand while we pushed her. I wish we could post all the pics because her face was cute when she saw the monkeys and made the sign for them. Otherwise, she enjoyed being pushed and eating puffs and my dad and I oooed and awed at the animals. :)

The dress up pics above are from last Sat we went to Owego, Ny for my cousin's wedding on the river. It was also a beautiful day. Lucy danced and played and she did great for a two hour travel. We blew a tire on the way down( I will be a good wife and not go into the details) but still made it almost on time! We saw a lot of family since Lucy came home for the first time. They all loved her.

We also went to a local farm market to see oodles of pumpkins and the other slides and goats and such. She LOVED the slide. I was so nervous to go down the slide because I always get injured on those things. I managed to go down several times unscathed. My camera died about 20 minutes in so you can just imagine all the cute faces she made while we were there, with cousin Mia!



from 16-22 lbs in two months... how?


Outdoor fun with the puffy hat. She kept tugging on the ears. She sported her little boots and looked for rocks. Those tasty little treats.


Busy little bees we are. We even went to the doctors! We have to put drops in her left ear again. We visted grandma and grandpa and that was fun. I did not take any pics of multiple trips to Wegmans and just being out and about. We stayed home today. It was nice and we had fun. She loves to be chased and tickled. We looked at books and ate a lot, both of us!! She also likes to dance and laughs so hard when she thinks that I am going to sit on her. Smart and beautiful, Miss Lucy Blue!
I have so many more pics to post and things to write about. Maybe I can get to that this weekend! Only like 3 more weeks until I go back to work part time. I am enjoying all the hugs and kisses and her little sweet noises while I can.