Three Years Old

We started birthday morning bright and early. Sophia woke up at 6:30AM and we kept our tradition of bringing her a balloon, a cupcake and her gift we bought her in China as she woke up. Sophia lit up when she saw us enter her room with the balloon and cupcake.

This year's gift from China was a jade bracelet. While she might not fully grasp the significance of this yet we hope that someday she see that we value her roots and honor her birth county and her birth parents.

After jumping, climbing and swinging at gymnastics we came home to a little party with our neighbors. The neighborhood children came over and joined in hitting a pinata to celebrate Sophia's birthday. Sophia was the one who ended up breaking it, with a little help from BaBa. She yelled, "I won! I won!" Everyone got tons of candy and goodies, just what we needed after Halloween!

After nap, Grandma Beadle, Grandma Bev and PopPop came over. We went out to our favorite Chinese restaurant. Sophia enjoyed her dumplings but could not wait to get home and open her "surprises." Sophia loved her Dora cake and blowing out the candles but really couldn't wait to finally get to open her gifts. She got a "school book" from Katie, a Clip-o table and set from Grandma Beadle, Grandma Bev and PopPop and a Dora bike from me and BaBa. She has wanted the Clip-o set from the first time she saw it on TV. She was so thrilled to get it, she couldn't wait to dig in and play. She tried riding her bike but was it was hard to do in the house. We will take it out tomorrow and let her really try it out.

It is hard to believe our baby girl is already three years old. She is growing up so fast. She is a chatterbox constantly singing and making up songs for everything. She loves to pretend. Often she pretends she is still a baby and I am the mommy. She says goo goo gaa gaa and pretends to fall as she attempts to walk. She also plays with her stuffed animals at night. She rescues them from different dilemmas such as falling into a waterfall. She loves creating different art projects and loves to cook. She is always a big help around the house. My favorite time of each day is the first thing in the morning and the end of the day when we cuddle. As old as Sophia gets she will always be my baby.

October Update

Well the Two's weren't so terrible but I am not sure about the Three's. Sophia has always been strong-willed but this month it has blossomed.

She had such a temper tantrum one Friday when I wanted to leave a McDonald's Playland that people knocked on the bathroom door asking me if everything was OK. No doubt the screams, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOO were alarming to folks on the other side of the door. We had had some trouble getting out of the house in the morning and when she decides she doesn't want to do something, it is hard to convince her to do otherwise.

We have tried a simple behavior chart and she gets a sticker for good decisions. She looks forward to getting these stickers in the morning and it made things much smoother. Thank goodness this was short lived. She has been much more agreeable recently.

We had lots of fun fall activities on our calendar this year. We went to Green Meadow Farm on a beautiful October day. Sophia was able to milk a cow and pet goats, pigs, horses, cows, llamas and ducks. We saw tiny piglets born just three days before. Sophia loves animals and enjoyed the day.

Anne went to a conference in Puerto Rico for four days. Sophia had some one on one time with BaBa. They had a blast. Sophia was so busy playing everytime I called that she didn't want to talk to me. Grandma Bev came over and spent Friday with Sophia. She took her to dance class and even got to watch her dance.

We also went to Boo at the Zoo again. Sophia loved the trick or treating and filling up her pumpkin with candy and other goodies. She also loved seeing all the animals. This year Sophia fed a giraffe. It was so cool. The giraffes were so gentle. Sophia let go of her leave as soon as the giraffe took the first bite but it was still fun. The Children's area in the Baltimore Zoo was open again. Sophia loved all the activities, she jumped on lily pads, walked over a bridge, walked like a bear, went through the otter and ground hog tunnels and slide down a great big slide. We walked for hours and Sophia enjoyed every minute of it.

We ended October with a small birthday party at daycare. Sophia picked out Dora plates, hats and treats for her friends. I created an art project making Dora and Boots face, on her request of course. It was a lot of fun. She was so excited squealing "i\It's my party, it's my party!"

And of course we had a blast on Halloween. Katie was here to go Trick or Treating with us. Sophia was a blue dinosaur. She was thrilled to be getting so much candy. Some of the houses in our development had tons of decorations, some of the scary. Sophia was so brave.

So another year over. Tomorrow Sophia turns three!!

September Update

September was another busy month. Katie headed back to New Jersey and Steve headed back to work after a wonderfully fun summer. Sophia continued to grow by leaps and bounds. She is getting so expressive. She loves telling stories and never ceases to ask why? She is curious and faces new experiences without hesitation.




Sophia started a ballet class in September. It is an Angelina Ballerina class. She is the youngest girl in her class of eight. She is so proud of herself when she walks into the door while leaving me out in the waiting room. The teacher closes the door so we don't distract the ballerina's. Sophia seems to enjoy the class. She also loves our little lunches after class.





We also took a trip to Connecticut to visit Grandma Barbara. It was amazing to see Sophia interact with Grandma this time. It seems like each time we visit Sophia is bonding a bit more. She loves Grandma's little presents. This time she got some great bubbles, beach toys, Dora dolls, clothes and a tent. When Grandma took a long time to get up the stairs Sophia went back a couple of times to check on her.






Sophia and I went to the beach almost every day. I am not sure why we didn't do this on other trips. Sophia had a blast digging in the sand and running in the water. We also took long walks and played on the playground there. It was a little cold but that didn't make it any less fun.

We spent a night at Aunt Linda's. Hollie had a birthday party which Uncle George, Gianna and Angela, as well as Hollie's friends attended. It was nice to see all the cousins play together. Sophia was spoiled by all her cousins. I don't think she ever got as much attention as she did on that day. Sophia, Grandma, Pat and I spent the night there. The next day we went raspberry picking. Sophia put more in her mouth than her bucket!

July/August Update

Where does the time go? It is now November 1st and I am just getting to documenting our wonderful summer.

The summer went by very quickly it seems. We had so much fun on our nightly walks to the park. Sophia is a social butterfly playing with other kids at the park. She squeals with delight, "There are my friends." She is outgoing and a leader. She attempts to lead games of tag but she doesn't quite get the concept of the game. She just likes to fun and say "You're it."

We took a trip to Maine for our second reunion with all the families who adopted their daughters with us. We affectionately call them Sophia's China Sisters. Jae and Mary were kind enough to have all six families at their house for the weekend. It was wonderful to spend so much time together. We went to the beach even though it was very cold. It did not phase most of the kids, I think all the girls went swimming. Katie loved the water. The girls had so much fun playing together and the parents enjoyed time together after all the kids were in bed. We are fortunate to have traveled with such wonderful families. I hope that we continue to stay close as the girls grow. We had so much fun this weekend that we are trying to plan a week at the beach next year.

We celebrated Forever Family Day on August 14th. This year we watch the video together of us becoming a family two years ago. Sophia loved watching the video of the first day we were a family. She loved hearing the stories about China. She thought the story about the day she pooped all over me was hysterical.