A Busy Week of Playing

We finally got a haircut! I deliberately waited until it was really in her eyes and bothering her. She had told us in the second Skype visit we had that she wanted long hair and didn't want it cut. I'm sure, looking at pictures, that Chung Yi let her grow her hair as long as they could handle it, knowing she was coming with us the end of December. But in the earlier pictures from when she first went there, it was SO short! Basically a boy cut, so she's been very attached to her longer hair.

From the look on her face in the chair, you'd think she was not having a good time, but she was! Anne was wonderful with her and she really did have fun. Not a tear in sight!



Here she is in her car seat, smiling, right afterwards. I had the window down a bit and the wind was blowing in her face, which she loves. She was a happy girl!


This is her proud smile after making her bed by herself (well, with a little help). We're working on the chores chart and getting Awesome stickers. One of those is making the bed. She still isn't sure about the bed. I know she slept on the floor on a mat with a comforter. She still wants to sleep on the floor in her room and has made a pallet with an extra comforter. She tells me her new bed makes her back hurt. Hmmmm....hard to tell if she's heard someone say that or what? I'm still working on sleeping in the bed though, between the sheets (which is only partially successful). We'll see...


Speaking of sleeping - last night was just one of those nights, I suppose. I guess we were too late to bed to begin with, but she was in our room at 2am. I got her back to sleep about 2:50, went back downstairs, but she was screaming by 3:30. This went on all night. I tried everything I could think of, at that time of night. I stayed in her room, with my hand on her back till she went to sleep, then went to the playroom bed (which is on the same floor). That didn't work. I tried sitting in her chair. That didn't work. When she came to the playroom bed for the 3rd time, I just let her sleep there with me.

Which meant that I didn't sleep! She wiggles. She kicks. She squirms. All in her sleep! And she has a way of finding the center of the bed, no matter what size bed it is! So, after an hour of that, I picked her up and put back in her bed. I think she was just so tired, she stayed there. But it was also about 5am by that point.

This morning I let her sleep till 8:00, not necessarily because I wanted to, but because I couldn't get up any earlier!

I think that's what is so wearing - it's not the getting up in the middle of the night to get her back to bed. It's the staying awake for 30-50 minutes in the middle of the night while she goes back to sleep that does it to me! I'm hoping it gets better soon.


I heard this hysterical laughter coming from across the room. When I got up to look, this is what I found. Joy was in Katrina's crate, with her bowl which had cake in it. She had somehow managed to get Katrina to come in with her. I'm sure the cake played a part in that. Don't you think?



These are photos from yesterday after the snow storm. Joy and Tim made a Snow Woman. It's hard to see the detail in the photo, but she's really quite wonderful. It's a Chinese woman, with hair buns on the sides of her head, sitting on her legs. They had a great time!

Albuquerque Zoo

We spent a few hours at the Albuquerque Zoo while Tim was seeing customers this weekend. It is really nice! I highly recommend it if you have kids (even if you don't)! It is structured so that kids can run from exhibit to exhibit without you worrying about them. Lots of little hills so they get worn out! The exhibits almost all have viewing areas where the kids can stand and see inside so you don't have to pick them up at each one.

We had a great time and here are some pictures!





On another zoo train. What you can't see is that the temp had dropped about 20 degrees between when we bought the tickets and when we got on the train. It was really really cold! Joy was so good - she didn't cry or complain. She sat in my lap for the train ride and enjoyed it as best she could. Of course, the parents on the train were grousing because the train went about 10 miles an hour, even past the stuff that was under construction or just plain nothing there! We were asking, rather loudly, for the train to speed up through those spots. Of course they couldn't go any faster, but it made it seem longer and colder than it needed to be! Joy and I were just saying out loud, "I am not cold! I am not cold!" and making the kids in front of us laugh. They soon joined in our chant and the ride went much faster.


The two polar bears were wonderful! You could really see them up close. They were waiting to be fed and pacing back and forth.

Ellie the Puffer

All it took was a very special humidifier in the shape of an elephant. Who knew?

Last night, Joy spent the night, or most of the night, in her own bed in her own room! Yippee! And we haven’t been home 3 months yet! I was surprised!

We have been working on it, since day one, really, mostly by saying that she isn’t old enough or big enough to spend the night up there by herself. Last week, she started saying that her bed was really nice. Then it was that could she sleep on it during the day? She had spent a few time-outs up there alone where I know she just went to sleep for awhile. Yesterday, she started saying that maybe she’d like it in her room at night. So I was thinking, we need a humidifier for that room if she’s going up there.

We were at Target last night with Daddy, and she saw this cute elephant humidifier, where the steam comes out of its trunk. (Hmmm, wonder how we happened to be down that aisle?) She just lit up and told us she wanted to sleep in her room “tonight with elephant”. Okay-dokey! She also said that she wanted Daddy to sleep in the bed in the playroom and Mama to sleep downstairs. Hmmm – I’d hate to think that a 5 year old could be that manipulative, but I think she wants to keep us separated…

So that’s what we did – she slept in her bed (with me on the floor beside her till she fell asleep) and then Tim went and slept in the playroom bed. Until about 3am.

Then she appeared in my bedroom with tears. She said she was scared. We cuddled a minute and then went back upstairs and got back into her bed. We also had to check in on Daddy and make sure he was still there (and awake, sorry Tim). She fell right back to sleep, with the turtle night light and the cd back to the beginning. Tim said that she was in his bed about an hour later. He came downstairs shortly thereafter.

Joy has the most amazing way of sleeping – she pushes the pillows off to the side, then gets sideways in the center of the bed (no matter how big or small the bed is), and kicks until she’s asleep. Makes it hard to sleep in the same bed with her!

This morning, she was all bright and cheery and happy to be alive. Her elephant was still puffing, and she wanted to show me first thing. I’m hoping that the novelty won’t wear off until we’re happy sleeping in our room alone!!

I'll try to get a picture tomorrow of the humidifier and maybe her in her bed, if I can get her to sit still long enough.

A Spiritual Birthday Party!

Last Saturday was Joy’s baptism. We had told her that we would have a party for her afterwards, and ended up calling it her “Spiritual Birthday Party” because she was so excited about having a cake! Of course, she wasn’t sure if she was going to share any of her cake with the people who would be there…

It was a lovely service and a great party! There were lots of kids to run around with and the church was empty so they pretty much got to play everywhere. Joy told me later that they played hide and seek and she really liked that! She also got to meet more friends and play with cousins. It was very nice and I’m sure she’ll remember it when she’s older.

I think she’ll remember the service too. She loved that Daddy held her over the baptismal font. And she loved the candle too.

It is very clear to both Tim and me that God has already written on her heart. We are blessed that her foster family had already taken her to church. She knows who Jesus is and wants to say grace at meals, reminding us if we forget. Praying clearly calms her and changes her attitude almost instantly. She loves to sit with us in church. Now, if we could get her to go to Sunday School, that would be great!

All in all, it was just want we wanted - surrounded by family and friends. Thank you to all who came, to all who helped get food ready, and everyone who ate enough so that we didn’t take home leftovers! And a special thank you to Jie-jie for coming all the way from NYC and spending time with her - she loved it!
Here are just a few of the pictures we have. If you have some good ones, please send them our way!



With Big Sister

A Week of Firsts

Visiting Nai-nai


We finally got to Houston to visit Nai-nai (grandmother in Chinese)! We could only stay a few days, but it was a great visit. We got to climb trees, go to church, meet a bunch of people, get presents from Nai-nai, and get special kisses from Maggie, a very special dog!





We also got to eat ice cream!



First Day at School
We also started preschool this week. Joy has been asking to go to school for about a month (remember we've only been home 2 months!), but we were worried about her frustration with the language. She had been getting pretty worked up when we didn't understand her. But, after doing so well at Little Gym the last few weeks, we decided it was time.

Fortunately, we were right! Joy has been 2 days and she loves it!! The first day, she told me to stay with her, but that was before we got there. Once she got in the classroom and realized she was going to be okay, she gave me one of those "you can go away now" looks - so I said goodbye and told her I'd be back in a little while. I looked in on her a few times and she was always invovled and seemed fine. There were no fingers in her mouth! So I left.

When I did come back, about 5 minutes before the end of class, she gave me The Go Away Look! When class was over and we had to leave, she was fine for about 5 minutes. Then she decided to be mad at me because we left! She was mad for about 3 hours!!

We have to get up awfully early to get to school on time and this morning I was really worried she wouldn't get up. We went to church last night, so it was a late night. She was sound asleep when I woke her. After grumping for about 3 minutes, she opened her eyes and laughed. The first words out of her mouth were "Go to school!"

Okay, that problem is solved!

I had laid out her clothes upstairs on her bed (she's still on the futon in our room, but we're working on that....more on that later), and she went up and brushed her teeth, got dressed, and brushed her hair all by herself. I went up to help her put a ponytail in and she was all smiles.

She had a great second day as well. The teacher told me how much she participated and was "a lovely girl". Thank you - we think so as well!

Here's a picture, not a very good one of her in her First Day of School outfit and another one of her new shoes (of course she got new shoes for the First Day of School!). They are the kind that light up when you step hard enough in them. She loves them!



Next - Joy's Baptism this weekend and some vocabulary words