The Big Wait

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Changes...

July 2009

July 2008

July 2009

July 2008

It's another summer, and we are reminded daily of the changes in Jenny from a year ago, when we first came home from China. We played ball in the yard this past weekend, and I kept thinking of the short little wee one who played with such gusto a year ago. Now Jenny talks while she hurls the ball. Some of her best phrases: "gooo, daddy," or "my do it," or "camera" (sounds just like "grandma," so mom is often confused about the topic of conversations).

Monday, June 15, 2009

At the Zoo

In April, after Easter, we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. We saw some animals, had lunch, rode the Carousel, and then spent some quality time running wide open in one of the green spaces in the park. We saw Jenny start to leave toddlerhood behind, running instead like a big girl, all grown up. Really something.

Here, in pictures...

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter

Our first Easter with Jenny, lots of fun. The Easter Bunny was very good to our daughter. She found plastic eggs with lots of sparkly hair clips in them,

a wind-up chick, which Jenny is following across the living room table...

and hidden inside all that green grass..

some sparkly bead bracelets, also hidden inside an Easter egg...

After brunch with bunny bao, and a vain attempt at a nap (no way mom), we went out into the backyard for an Easter Egg Hunt. Jenny did really well tracking down all those brightly colored eggs. She packed them into her special "Peeps" easter bag, a very thoughtful gift from Kristen's colleague whose family--Chinese--comes from the same region as Jenny does.

Most exciting of all, we've discovered that we have our own batch of easter bunnies nesting just off of our back porch. Jenny and I saw momma bunny working on the nest a week ago. Momma stays close in the yard, and the nest has lots of rabbit down, but we haven't seen her near it since. The pile of grass, leaves and moss that marks the nest, however, does move from time to time, so we know the wee bunnies are inside. The cats' keen interest is another give away.

Happy Easter, everyone. Spring is really, finally here. Hurrah!

Bunny Bao

In preparation for Easter, we learned how to make bunny-shaped steamed buns, dim-sum style. Bunny Bao. Dave found the recipe on the internet in 2007, and we've been planning an Easter dim sum feast ever since. They are WONDERFUL!

Recipe features a yeast dough that rises for an hour, then rests for 15 minutes after the dough is cut into separate pieces. The buns are filled with scrambled egg and bacon with chives. Yum! We steamed them in a traditional two-tier bamboo steamer.

These are scenes from the week before Easter, our first run-through. Jenny thought they were good. This morning, when we made them for Easter brunch, she was even more excited to have bunnies on her plate!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Domestic life, and blowin the stink off

We continue to see signs of development from Jenny. She is now caught up from the delays that are typical of institutionalized kids, and is a typical toddler.

Jenny has enjoyed the kitchen cupboards since our first days home. First, she liked unpacking them; then came unpacking and repacking; then came the challenge of putting the lids on the tupperware containers; and now, she's into size sequencing. We came out to the kitchen recently, and Jenny was lining up the pots and pans in increasing size, and sizing lids to pans. Cool. Mommy enjoys doing that too.

Jenny's hair is growing longer and longer (remember that original spikey doo we all loved?). Mom finally was able to get pig-tails to work. (Daddy calls them horns-- she is a typical toddler). Between these and her new hair bands, Jenny is turning into a real fashion plate.

In other news, Jenny has a new "big girl" bed. Daddy put this together (it's the allen wrench and brute force kind of bed) and this is Jenny's first try getting in. As you can tell, she absolutely loves it. We got it for her after three consecutive mornings of unartful escapes from her crib--the kind of escape with the thud-pause-sob-at-6AM feature. Now she is a free range toddler. Heaven help us.

Jenny also enjoyed her first package of Ramen noodles recently. Jenny is at that stage where she is fairly picky about what she eats: even with the old standbys--some days she likes it, some days she doesn't. So we always feel a little triumphant when we successfully introduce a new food.

We spent one of the nice early spring days at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It was great to get outside and, as the title of the post says, blow the proverbial stink off. It's been a long winter. (Three inches of more snow today is predicted, but it should melt fast.) Jenny loves to walk (or run) through the gardens. The small walls around beds and stair cases were a special treat. There was not much to see in the way of blooming plants, but we had fun anyway.

We can't wait for warmer weather!

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Spring Fever Hits...Hard

Ah, in more ways than one. Jenny had a very mild case of walking pneumonia last weekend. Mom discovered this when Jenny woke up from nap with a fever of 103, flushed. Mom's first panic. One antibiotic and one albuteral inhaler later, she is back in the saddle. Mom and dad are still trying to catch up on sleep.

Another milestone from last weekend, Jenny learned how to climb OUT of her crib. She is getting out of bed every morning now, so yesterday mommy, daddy and Jenny went shopping for a toddler bed. Today, Jenny is having her first nap in her very own first bed! Very exciting!!!

And why is Jenny getting out of bed? To go potty. Yep, we are well into it, and she is doing great! She has a little potty of her own, but she also has a Baby Bjorn potty insert for the big toilet, which she prefers. She stays dry some, maybe most, days. Number 2, however, is not making it there yet. We have watched Elmo's Potty Time DVD together, very catchy tunes, mom enjoys as much as--no, more than--Jenny. We also found a cool book featuring Angus the Answer Dog, who answers all sorts of VERY interesting questions about going potty, including where all that stuff in the toilet goes when you flush (pipes and sewers), and why food that goes into you looks so different from the used food that comes out. Thank goodness for kid's books on potty training; otherwise, mom and dad would be clueless about what to do!

Last but not least, we had our first visit to the park since Winter descended. Only the big kid's equipment will do for our rambunctious daughter. Jenny did the stairs and the twisty slide on Friday over and over and over. She had a ball, and mom felt much more energized after some outdoors time.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

After a Long Hiatus

We are back....

Those of you with children, especially small children, already knew what we have learned over the past 7 months. Life is incredibly busy with small children.

What a whirlwind. Since last posting, we have celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, Jenny's 2nd birthday, Christmas and Chinese New Years. We have taken Jenny on her first 2 long road trips. We have shipped off our very first hand me-downs (what a strange passage). Jenny has met almost her entire new family. She has experienced snow for the very first time. We have started potty training. We've all survived (so far) her first real fever. And as February turns into March, we are looking forward to our first real Spring together. Family Day (adoption day) is only 3 months away. Hard to imagine.

Jenny is in daycare 4 days a week. She has thrived there, and we are very impressed with, and grateful for, the quality of the school and its staff. Kristen works part-time, still at hospice, and Dave is still at the Fund. We have our first black President (Kristen was lobbying in Springfield back when Barak was an Illinois state senator), and our first recession/depression since the 1970s. Life is wholly changed, yet most of the details remain the same. So far.

Dave and I spent our fall creating memories for Jenny, and creating photographic and video records of our many firsts in a form other than blog. I've missed all of our blog friends, and the far flung family of other foreign and chinese adoptive families. Even if we haven't been in touch, we think of all of you often.

Here, without much more editorial, are highlights from the fall.
First haircut...