Jia, minimalist

Jia repeatedly told me that she did not want to "dig out" her pumpkin this year. I suggested drawing on it instead with various colored markers, and gluing on some hair.

We glued on the hair, and I laid out an assortment of markers. Jia grabbed one and got to work. She told me she was making a "happy face" one. A half second later, she was done.

I said, "Honey, do you maybe want to make the eyes a little bigger?"

She made the left eye a tad bit bigger. Then she made the left ear a lot bigger.

"How about the nose? I think people might have trouble seeing it when they come to the door."

"No, I like it."

"Of course, so do I."

(click photo to enlarge)

Martha, eat your heart out.

An escape, with a dose of perspective

It is my first weekend away from the girls! I'm in a town about an hour away from my home, and I'm spending the entire weekend volunteering for the non-profit Children's Culture Connection.

Children's Culture Connection believes that children are the future problem solvers in every community, and it strives to foster connections between children on a local and global level. A proactive approach to peacemaking, if you will.

We are about to launch our War Kids Relief program which connects U.S. kids with kids in Iraq. This weekend we're trying to raise funds for this program and others. The founder, Dina, is both tireless and driven. She traveled to Iraq a few months ago to develop the program there. Yes, she actually went to Iraq. Her trip journal is here: Dina's Blog (also a link on the right). Her blog details other recent trips to India, Haiti, and Vietnam as well. Please read it if you want to be inspired and motivated. I know I am.

Early Halloween festivities

Halloween fun has started! Jia is her favorite food this year: corn on the cob.


I had to think of something for Willa that would not require a hat or hood (knowing she'd instantly remove it). She's a tomato.


We attended a Halloween trail walk at our local nature center this weekend. We had tickets to enter at a specific time. We arrived just in time. The place was packed. We were getting ready to enter when Jia threw a tantrum. Then I threw a tantrum. Then I noticed that a boy in Jia's preschool class, Felix, and his family were parked next to us. And they were staring at us. Then I remembered that Felix pushed Jia down when she was climbing the stairs up to the slide at school. Then I didn't care so much what Felix's family thought after all.

We calmed down and had a great time!

Tagged

I was tagged by Kathy at Journey of a Lifetime. I'm supposed to share seven weird facts about myself. Here goes:

(1) I attended a semester of university in southern France. My host family (which mistakenly consisted of a creepy older man) fed me ramen noodles every day.

(2) Also while living in France I was flashed twice, exactly one week apart. Needless to say, living in southern France wasn't the experience for which I'd hoped. (Loved living in Paris though!)

(3) Joe and I met while I was dating his co-worker. While we were dating, Joe was gutsy enough to tell him, "If you ever break up with Jane, let me know." We successfully made the switch, they still work closely, and we continue to be friends with him (and his wife too).

(4) Joe and I are 11 years apart in age. It never made a difference until our adoption. We initially planned on Korea but at the time we could only be 10 years apart in age, so we researched China instead. Isn't it funny how things work out?

(5) I love to travel. When we married, Joe and I made a list of new countries that we wanted to visit. One a year. Joe really wants to visit Ulan Bator when he turns fifty. Or should I say "wanted" to visit. We're realizing how tough that will be now, kids 'n all. Will it happen? We can hold out some hope, right?

(6) I have a particular fondness for Willie Nelson.

(7) With Jia's adoption, my focus was on getting her home. This resulted in an e-mail to my mommy friends after she arrived where I said, "Ok, I have her. Now what do I do with her?" Yes, I was quite unprepared.

I'm not going to tag anybody but I'd love it if anyone else wants to share some interesting facts as well!

Someday

Joe just returned from another week-long business trip. Where did he go?



(Isn't that the cutest font?)

What a fun place for a conference! We debated about all tagging along, but I think the characters would scare Willa and Jia has no idea who they are anyway. She hasn't seen any Disney movies yet. She becomes distressed when there's too much drama, so I don't think she can handle them.

Speaking of movies, does anyone have any suggestions for a good first film to see? We need something REALLY tame. Any thoughts are appreciated.

What timing!

Today is the actual six month anniversary of when Willa joined our family - and she picked today of all days to spontaneously hug me on her own! A real squeeze at that!

She also signed "more" very assertively the other day. It was for green olives of all things! That's my girl! (Poor Joe. The olive-hater in the family is getting out-numbered.)

Six months home!

In a couple of days, Willa will have been with us for six months! To say that time has flown is a complete understatement. It feels like we're leaping forward exponentially. Part of it is due to the pace at which she's developing. She's our first experience with a baby, and how quickly they grow!

She knows exactly what is going on and understands us well. I can ask her, "Where's the ball...or book...or block?" and she finds it right away. She waves and says, "Bye!" all the time. (She also says "bat" all day because we have lots of them around the house for Halloween.) And today, she shoved her teething ring in my mouth and said, "Bite!" She has said Mama and Baba for a long time now, and it's always lovely to hear.

She looks to us for reassurance. When she's scared, she instantly searches us out. She almost always looks at us to determine whether or not she should do something, like open (or break) a cabinet. And when we say "no," she shakes her head, and then does it anyway, of course.

Yes, she is also a complete stinker. She is horrendous when we change diapers or clothes or put her into her car seat. If we tell her "no" she fights even harder. She also has the amazing capacity to bite and pinch us at the same time! Alas, she thinks it's funny.

Speaking of her stinker-ness, her crib is against the wall that separates our bedrooms, and she has figured out that our room is next to hers. So when she wakes at night, she kicks the wall with all her might! She has really banged up her crib! After she learned how to pull herself up, she started to stand and whack our wall with her open hands, all while screaming at the top of her lungs! (However, two nights ago she slept through the night for first time! She didn't last night, but we remain hopeful.)

She gives kisses and if I say, "Hug?" she'll put her head down on my chest and smile. And then she'll do it again and again. She also loves to dance. She has danced from the moment we brought her home. Her birthmother told us she herself loves to dance more than anything else; what a wonderful thing to inherit!

Willa is truly what our family needed for balance. And for unlocking Jia's heart to us. Once we returned home, Willa seemed to trust us quickly, and accepted our role as her parents. From this I think Jia learned that it was okay for her too. Jia now looks us right in the eye, and can relax with us. She smiles and runs directly into our arms. That type of behavior was infrequent at best before Willa. I look at the kid Jia is now and I'm astonished.

Interestingly, Willa is now the same age as Jia when she joined our family. Eleven months old. I've been waiting for this moment. We really had no idea how kids were developmentally at that age. We didn't have a clue about what they knew, how aware they were of what was going on around them. We likely thought they were blissfully unaware of their surroundings. How wrong indeed. Knowing what we do now makes us especially sad for Jia and all she went through. What terror, confusion and grief she clearly felt. It makes us appreciate even more how very, very far she has come.