Monday, January 23, 2012

Celebrating The Year of the Dragon

After celebrating Chinese New Year five times without our daughter, the celebration this year was a revelation to Gary and I.  Seeing the festivities through Natalie's eyes made it so much more fun for us.  The Year of the Dragon is considered to be the luckiest in the cycle of 12 zodiac years.  Considering that it is our first full year home with Natalie it definitely feels very lucky to us.
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Natalie was too excited to be still for photos.
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The celebration we attended this year was an international one - not just Chinese.  We got to sample many different cuisines.  Natalie's favorite thing was the noodles - surprise!  Her second favorite was a Korean rice cake which you will see her holding in the video at the end of the post.
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The event took place on 1/20/12...exactly two months after the date we arrived home from China.  It is amazing how much all 3 of us have changed during that time.  Gary and I are both wrapped around Natalie's little finger and delighting in all of her smiles and laughter.  We, like most parents, think she is the most amazing child in the world.

Natalie has come so far out of the shell that she was hiding deep inside when we first met her.  She still wants Mama and Baba close by (which is a sign of good attachment), but she is becoming a little more adventurous and more friendly to new people.
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Natalie's very favorite part of the evening was the entertainment section that featured Irish Dancers.  The edited video below is more about Natalie's reaction to the dancers than the dancing itself.  I'll have to make another video of the full dances.  They were so fun to watch. Natalie definitely thought so - she was clapping, cheering and at times doing her own little jig.  At the very end of the video you can hear Natalie shouting "Yay!"

1 comment:

JacksDad said...

It's so much fun to watch your family. I hope that this year is as much fun as possible!