Pwease, Pwease

This is a story from a few weeks ago...I'm a bit behind on blog posts.  

Sunday night I gave Natalie a new toothbrush that better fit her tiny mouth.  I always brush her teeth first and then let her have a turn at trying it herself.  We use baby toothpaste that is safe to swallow.  The grape flavored toothpaste must taste delicious because after Nat brushed her teeth she signed for more.  I am trying to encourage verbal word use, so I asked her to say "Please" a word she had never said before.  She said it so cutely and must have seen on my face how adorable I thought she was.  After 10 seconds of brushing she held out her toothbrush and said "Pwease, Pwease".  How could I resist that cute entreaty?  So more toothpaste was put on the brush...10 seconds later "Pwease, Pwease".  I knew I was already trapped into a cycle that was surely going to end in a tantrum, but wanting to encourage excitement and joy towards dental care I let her brush her teeth a few more times.  Sure enough when we told the toothpaste bye-bye for the night Natalie had a small fit.  The next morning I cut the whole routine short and only allowed her one round of teeth brushing.  A tantrum followed.  I didn't have time to let her ride it out like I usually do because I had to get ready for work, so I grabbed the kitty cat dress you see below and showed it to her.  She fell in instant love with it and was so happy to put it on along with her favorite ever shoes.  Tooth brushing was forgotten and crisis averted.  We all made it to work and school on time.


Look!  I got stickers on my hands for using the potty.






Yay for my kitty cat dress!

Our First Outing As a Family of Five

A couple of weeks ago Gary and I managed to stuff ourselves, two giant Newfoundland dogs, a child in a large carseat, a stroller, diaper bag and drool rags into my little Toyota RAV4.  It was quite a tight fit, but it felt wonderful for all 5 of us to be going on a little adventure together.  We drove to the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge.

Our first family portrait.  We hope to get a better one soon!

The Bridge was built in 1899 and was originally used as an railroad bridge.  It completes a 15 mile trail system known as the Arkansas River Trails.
 


Natalie munching on her cereal snack


Pretty Boy Louie


We also walked around the wetlands trail which is nearby.



Katie and Louie are so big and high maintenance that despite the fact they they are not quite human I definitely consider myself to be a mother of 3.  It's honestly not always easy. Before Natalie came along I never even noticed how much floor space Katie and Louie take up.  I would just step over them when necessary.  Now when I am in the kitchen Katie, Louie and Natalie are usually there too along with Natalie's doll stroller and other toys scattered about.  It is really chaotic, crowded and noisy at times.  Although I do sometimes get stressed and exhausted I wouldn't change a thing.   It's difficult but not as hard as I thought it would be.  My fear of not having enough energy to keep up never materialized.  Somehow I always manage to get the necessities covered.  

Back in 2008 I posted on this blog about how we originally started out as a family of five.  It feels so right to be back at our starting number.

A Trip to the Park

Here I come Mama!


Look! I'm a big girl going down the slide by myself.


Yikes!  It was almost a crash landing that time.


Hi There!


Aren't you coming into the tunnel too?


See you later


Sharing the slide

"Dolly, Dot Dolly"

When Natalie and I went to the doctor's office recently I had to take a picture of her with her doll when I noticed the similarity between them.
  
  (by the way, the thing around Natalie's leg is the doctor's paper id anklet)

Natalie has another doll that is the same kind as this one just with a different dress and hairstyle.  She calls the other doll "Dolly" and this one "Dot Dolly" :)


"Dolly" has been with Natalie since the night we became a family in China.  At night she sleeps with one arm around each doll.  Often during the day she will request "Dolly, Dot Dolly" and we will go on a hunt around the house to find them.

November 7, 2011 Natalie met Mama and Baba and was then introduced to "Dolly"

First Hairdo and First Boyfriend

When I picked Natalie up from school yesterday I was surprised to see her hair pulled up on top of her head.  One of her teachers had decided to give her a new look.  It looked so hilarious that I couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes when I saw her which of course cracked her up.


Today when I picked Natalie up she was sporting the same hairdo again.  I think her teacher has created a style-my-hair-monster.  Natalie is such a creature of habit.  With most people it takes a few repetitions of an activity for it to become a habit - not so with Natalie.  She remembers everything that happens and will ask for a repeat the next day of something you were planning on being a one time event.


The other big news at school is that Natalie has her first beau.  I've been told that J.H. will seek Natalie out when she is by herself and will sit beside her.  When the children walk down the hall J.H. and Natalie will often hold hands.  They also like to hold hands during dance time.  Here is Natalie giving her boyfriend a good bye hug.


I'm so grateful that she is making friends, loves her teachers dearly and has such a wonderful time each day at school.  She seems to be completely at ease there and 100% confident that I am going to pick her up at the end of the day and bring her home to our Happier than Ever Haus.

Our Little Sponge

These are some of the words Natalie has learned to speak since she came home 3 1/2 months ago.  She understands almost everything we tell her and usually finds a way to communicate her needs and desires to us even if she doesn't know the exact words.

Last Sunday Natalie was hungry when she woke up from her nap.  I asked if she wanted a cracker and received a head shake.  Bread and cereal were also turned down.  I happened to be holding her when I went to the stove to stir some broccoli that I was sautéing.  Natalie said "hot".  It was the first time I heard her say the word and told her she was right that the broccoli was hot.  We walked into the dining room and she started frantically pointing to the kitchen and saying "hot, hot".  I finally figured out that she wanted some broccoli, but didn't know the word for it.  She was improvising by saying "hot". I served her a small bowl of broccoli which she quickly ate.  She signed for "more" and ate a second bowl.

After her veggie snack, Natalie went into her room grabbed her closet door knob and clearly said "jacket" - another word I had never heard her use before.  She perused her jacket collection and chose her warmest one to wear around the house while she was playing.  It was probably 65 degrees outside that day, but Natalie didn't care.


It's amazing to me that after less than 4 months exposure to the English language Natalie speaks about 50 words and understands at least a few hundred.  She is like a little sponge soaking up knowledge every day. It's such fun to watch her problem solve and learn to communicate in her new world.

Hands & Feet

Since we met Natalie in China almost 4 months ago she has gained 2 pounds, 1 inch of height and a shoe size. Of course, Louie's giant paw still dwarfs her little foot.

Our four year old and our two year old currently weigh 131 and 20.6 pounds respectively.  Guess who's the boss?

I wish I had taken a picture like the one below when we first got home with Natalie.  Her hands have grown so much.  They look huge to me now compared to when we met her.

Strolling With My Baby

One of Gary's friends gave Natalie a doll stroller that their child had outgrown.  We gave it to Natalie and it was an instant hit.


She and her baby strolled around the house (both backward and forward) for about 20 minutes while I was preparing dinner.




Checking on baby.


Will you leave me in peace now while I play with my new stroller?

When I told Natalie it was time to wash hands and eat she got extremely upset.  I guess she wanted to stroll all night long.  Despite her protests we had dinner.  As soon as we were done she was right back to strolling until it was time for her bath.  This morning before school she told her baby and stroller bye-bye.  I think I know what Natalie will be doing for a good portion of the weekend.

We Are Family

Currently, Natalie's favorite book is Molly Moves to Sesame Street.  When she is looking at the book on her own I have noticed that she always gravitates to the page that contains the picture below.  We pretend that the people shown are Baba, Mama and Natalie.  I appreciate the fact that the father is orange, the mother is lavender and the little girl Molly is green - showing that physical homogeny is not what defines a family.

Yesterday, Natalie was laying on her stomach on the kitchen floor looking through this book while I was cooking.  When she got to this page she stared at it for a while, kissed it, and then laid her head down on it like she was snuggling up to one of us.


Just now as I was typing this post Natalie saw the below picture on the screen and said "Baba".  She came over and kissed the computer screen several times. It seems that Natalie is really starting to understand what it means to be part of a family and that she loves it just as much as we do.  Every day she has a little more confidence that when we leave her at daycare we will be reunited at the end of the day.  Until a week ago Natalie would break into tears of relief and desperately cling to me every time I picked her up from school.  Now I am greeted by a big smile, a hug and lots of unintelligible, happy chatter about her day.  She loves her friends, her teachers and all the fun things they do during the day, but I think her favorite part of the day is when she says "bye bye" to school and starts mentioning the other family members she wants to see "Baba" and "Doggies".

Grandparents Are Fun!

Last week Natalie got to meet more of her new family.  Her Grandmother and Granddaddy stopped by to see her on their way to her Greatgrandmother's 94th birthday celebration.

Natalie took to her Grandmother right away.


Granddaddy cheered and clapped for Natalie when she solved her stack and sort puzzle.






I think Granddaddy likes his new Granddaughter!


Grandmother reads Natalie's favorite book to her.


We all had a wonderful visit and are looking forward to spending more time together.

"Doggie! Woof!"

Natalie's Birthday Celebration

Last weekend we celebrated Natalie's 2nd birthday - her first one as part of our family. We all had a wonderful time opening presents, going out for pizza and then coming home for cake and ice-cream!

I was trying to show Natalie how to blow out her candles while keeping her from sticking her fingers in the flames.  She was able to grasp the concept but still needed a little bit of assistance.


Natalie enjoys gifts of clothes just as much as gifts of toys.  This skirt was one of her very favorites.


Natalie with her Mama and Grandmama


More purple - hooray!


Natalie writing her thank you notes.


Please overlook the strange outfit Natalie is wearing in the below video. She was fascinated by a skirt she received as a gift from her grandmother and wanted to try it on immediately although it clashed a bit with her black tights :)