Meeting Uncle Micky

Steve's brother, Micky, was in town for business in February. This was Sophia's first chance to meet her uncle. We had a wonderful dinner together with Steve's parents.

Katie's Birthday

Katie celebrated her 11th birthday this weekend. We planned an animal theme party. She had her two best friends, Ryan and Casey, over. We went to the National Zoo to see the new Asia Trail and then came back to the house for dinner and ice cream cake. Casey slept over. It was a wonderful day.

We gave Katie a skateboard for her birthday. Katie and her dad went to the skateboard shop and picked out her own special board. She is already very good on it. Soon she will be doing all sorts of tricks.

On Sunday we had a brunch with her grandparents. It was nice to have Katie with us on her birthday. Katie enjoyed the weekend and I think she was grateful to spend time with her baby sister. Katie adores Sophia and Sophia is totally enthralled with Katie. They have a special bond.

Some of our favorite things

Sophia is truly a blessing. She is a very happy child who loves to laugh and play. She is very smart. Her vocabulary is amazing. She has about 85 words which she either signs or says. She clearly understands what is asked of her. She is learning to count... it goes something like this ... 1, 2, 5, 8, 9.... but it is a start.

She loves TV. She will turn it on herself. We have to limit the TV time because she could watch it all day. She loves Elmo, Noddy, Barney and The Wonder Pets. The Wonder Pets is also one of Steve's favorites too!

She enjoys playing with her baby dolls. She puts them in a stroller, tries to dress them, feeds them in her high chair, puts them to sleep and hugs and kisses them.

She loves being outside and playing with the older kids. She adores her big sister, Katie. Katie is super with her. It is so fun to watch them interact. They are both totally in love with each other. Sophia is getting to be a very active child. She loves to climb. I have signed her up for a mommy and me gymnastics class which starts in April.

She also likes to cook. She helps me make dinner at times and loves when we make special treats together. We have made playdoh, cookies, muffins, pudding, and pretzels. She is getting good at pouring the ingredients into a bowl and loves to stir. She has recently learned that tasting the things as we cook is fun.

Sophia is quite the reader. She sits and reads her books, either alone or with us. She tells us a story at bedtime after we finish reading her the story. Books about animals are her favorite right now.

Sophia enjoys helping out. She helps me unload the silverware from the dishwasher. She helps wiping the table down after dinner and throws things away in the trash. We have had to start to check the trash though because Sophie really likes to toss stuff out. She feeds the cats their dry food (although sometimes more is on the floor than in the bowl.) Sophie also loves to take baths and asks to brush her teeth.

Sophia's likes a wide variety of food. She reaches for the pickle jar first thing in the morning. She still loves fruit and vegetables. She now is able to hold an peeled banana and eat it. She has recently discovered how good pasta with sauce is. This child also loves grated cheese. (See, she is her mother's daughter!!) We are trying to avoid all milk products. We still don't know for certain if she is lactose intolerant. We will wait until she is two to see if she outgrows it.

Sophia is typically an early riser. She is a good sleeper. She has stopped taking a bottle of milk at night. She goes to bed with a bottle of water instead. She still likes the bottles of milk during her morning and afternoon naps. It is something we are working on. She loves drinking juice from a sippy cup but has not taken to milk from a sippy yet. I think we have about eight different kinds of sippy cups hoping to find one she likes to drink milk from. No luck yet.

We feel blessed to have Sophia in our lifes. She certainly brightens our days and warms our hearts.

Six months together

February 14th

Sophia was placed in our arms six months ago today. It is hard to believe! In some ways we feel like we have known her forever and in other ways we feel like it was just yesterday. It snowed a bit today and in true Maryland fashion everything cancelled. Steve, Sophia and I were home all day together. We cherished every moment. Sophia helped make muffins as a Valentine's Day gift for her baba (dad.)

It was a perfect day!!!

Chinese New Year

We celebrated Chinese New Year three times this year. It started with the local FCC Chinese New Year party. This was a huge event with crafts, music, dancing and a show featuring maritial arts and a dragon dance. Sophia was a little young to appreciate most of the activities she loved the music and watching the dancing.

On February 17th we went out to dinner with a group of fifteen of our friends. They all study maritial arts with Steve or are spouses of Steve's training buddies. We went out for Thai food. It was delicious. The best part, however, was spending time with everyone. Sophia was presented with a red envelope, her first one since she has been home.

On Sunday, February 18th, we braved the cold and wind and headed into DC for the Chinese New Year parade. There were tons of people and the parade was very short but I am glad we went.

First Haircut- Feb 5th

We got Sophia's haircut today. Her hair was by no means long but was growing in very uneven and wispy. She now has a very cute and stylish haircut. We brought her to a Vietnamese Barbershop. They did such a great job. Sophia sat there without crying up until the very end when they used the blow dryer.

First snow

We don't get much snow down here in Maryland but we did get enough to go out and play in it on Sunday, January 21. The snow was covering the grass and sidewalks so we got Sophia bundled up and Kaegogi harnessed. Steve's coworker let him borrow a small sled for Sophia and Kaegogi pulled her on sled. Actually Steve did most of the pulling but don't let Kaegogi or Sophia know that!

Sophia was unsure of the snow. She fell face first into it right away. The bulky snowpants, coat, mittens and hat, not to mention the big, heavy boots are hard to manage for a tiny 13 month old!! She was not at all happy. However, true to her spirit, she stopped crying right away and gave it another shot. She loved being pulled by Kaegogi. Her face lit up as they slid down a small hill. Overall, the snow was a lot of fun. We hope to get more snow so we can go sledding again. Maybe this time we will have enough to build a snowman.

Christmas

Our first Christmas with Sophia was amazing. Throughout the whole adoption process and the painful wait it seemed like the day we would hold Sophia in our arms would never come. Sophia has been a gift since the moment we met her. To have her with us this Christmas made the day even more special.

Nick and Katie spent Christmas with us. It was so nice to have the whole family together. Christmas Eve was spent with Katie decorating a gingerbread house while Sophia decorated the cookies we left for Santa. We went to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve then got the kids to bed early. Santa visited in the middle of the night so when Sophia awoke at 5:00 AM her gifts were there waiting for her. We woke up Nick and Katie about 8:00. Nick got a Wii from Santa and Katie got a bow and arrow. We then openned up the gifts we bought each other. It was such a nice morning with everyone sitting on the floor marveling at the gifts.

After Sophia's morning nap we all headed to Grandma Bev and Grandpa Skip's house. We had a lovely day with them and Grandma Beadle. We openned more gifts and then had a wonderful dinner. It felt so good to be all together for Christmas. This is a day I will always cherish.

Nick stayed down for a few days but then had to head back to NJ and back to work. Katie was with us the entire week. We traveled to Connecticut on Thursday. Anne's brother, George, and his family met us at Anne's mom's house. It was nice to have Anne's siblings, George and Linda, and their families home with Grandma Barb. The kids (now six of them) all enjoyed playing together. We went out to a restaurant for a wonderful steak dinner before returning to Grandma Barb's to open yet more gifts.

Grandma Barb enjoyed spending some time with Katie and Sophia. It is always nice to go "home" to be with our family. Being with family is the best gift anyone could ever give.

Up and about

Sophia is a joy. She is up and about all the time. Once she started walking full time (on Thanksgiving) she has not stopped. She is a little helper. She helps us load (or should I say unload) the dishwasher, she closes doors for us unless it is the refrigerator door. When the refrigerator is open, she picks out what she wants to eat and brings it to us. Now that she can reach the snack draw she grabs the goldfish or animal crackers and brings them to us signing "more cookie."

Speaking of signing, this girl has quite the vocabulary. She signs a new word every day. The one that has surprised us the most is sleep. She will cry and sign sleep when she is tired. It is amazing. She doesn't miss a thing. She is like a sponge. She has a favorite book called "Moo, Baa, La La La" She hands us the book so we can read it to her. She makes the sounds of the sheep, cow, and dog as we read it to her. She also signs the words cat and duck when she reads that book.

Every day with Sophia is a joy. We can not wait until Christmas so the whole family could be together. Nick and Katie will both be with us this Christmas. We are really looking forward to some great family time.

Thanksgiving

We had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We are thankful to have Sophia home with us. We are thankful for our family and friends who have supported us through the whole adoption process. We are thankful for our health and the health of our family.

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving day with Grandma Beadle, Grandma Bev and Grandpa Skip. We shared in the cooking so we were all able to sit down to a wonderful dinner without being totally worn out.

Welcome Home Party in Connecticut

Anne's mother had a wonderful welcome home party for Sophia on November 5th. Sophia made her long awaited debut. She was welcomed by Anne's extended family and friends. She won everyone's hearts as she greeted guests with big smiles and lots of hugs. She settled right into the family and rested comfortably on cousin Paul's shoulder. She received many wonderful gifts. It was so nice to see everyone and share our joy with our family and friends.

1st Birthday Celebration

Time certainly flies by when you are having fun. I still remember those very long days and months of waiting. The time to finally meet Sophia seemed as if would never arrive. Now that she is in our arms we are having so much fun the time goes TOO quickly.

Sophia turned one on November 1. We celebrated her birthday a few days early by having a small party with her grandparents. She enjoyed opening her gifts. She also enjoyed playing in her cake. She never did taste it but enjoyed having her hands in the frosting. She made quite the mess as you can see. This year's gift from China was a doll. Sophia loves dolls. She signs and says baby and then kisses all her dolls. It is very cute to see.

She also had a present for us on her birthday, as if just being with us wasn't enough!! She took her first real steps on November 1st. She was so proud of herself.

We have been blessed. Our dreams have come true. Sophia is doing so well. She is really picking up both English and American Sign Language. She is adjusting so well. She is always happy. She has bonded with all of us and knows we are her forever family.

A Sneak Peak

Sophia is going to be a panda bear for Halloween. Her costume arrived today so she modeled for us. She is one cute panda!!!

September Update

Some of you may have been wondering why we haven't posted.... it is because we are having too much fun. Sophia is truly a blessing. She is such a happy child, full of curiousity and joy. She loves playing on the ground with us. She giggles outloud when you chase after her and "catch her" giving her lots of hugs and kisses. She really loves her mama, baba, sister, brother, cats and dog. Her smile lights up the room.

She is almost ready to walk. She loves cruising along the furniture and pushing her wagon outside. She studies everything and copies whatever she sees. She knows many signs (mama, baba, milk, eat, more, all done, ut oh, baby, bye, and is learning wait) and a few words (mama, baba, bye bye, and ut oh) Not bad for only two months exposure to English and ASL. Can you tell we are very proud parents!!!

Sophia is quite an independent young girl. She likes to eat on her own. No baby food for this little one. Her current favorite foods are carrots, watermelon and tofu. Her favorite sign is eat!

Anne and Sophia took a trip to Connecticut to visit Grandma Barbara and meet her Aunt Linda, Aunt Tracey, Uncle George and all her cousins. Sophia enjoyed playing with her cousins. Stephanie (almost 5) became Sophia's sidekick all weekend. Stephanie, as young as she is, is the best babysitter!

We have posted a few of our favorite pictures from September. Enjoy. Anne and Steve

Pictures with my grandparents

From Wednesdays visit

A week at home

September 2, 2006

Sophia turned ten months old yesterday. She seems to be really enjoying her new home and family. She enjoys sitting on the floor in the living room and playing with her toys. She can even play for ten to fifteen minutes on her own. She loves exploring everything. You can see her look at the toy trying to figure out what makes it roll or play music. She observes all the parts and is starting to know which buttons to push or where to put the pieces.

Sophia also played in her crib before nap time. Aunt Leslie sent her a very soft and cuddly snuggly. She loves rubbing and cuddling with it right before she falls asleep. We thought she might put herself to sleep but she was having too much fun. After about ten minutes she cried and then needed mama in the room to settle her down. These are all baby steps but are huge milestones seeing she has only been with us for just over two weeks and home in her crib for a week. She learned to stand up in her crib. She isn’t able to crawl out but it will be something we are watching for. She is a quick study!!

We went to visit Grandma Beadle, Grandma Bev and Grandpa Skip on Wednesday. She enjoyed playing there. She even liked the big dogs. Bandit kissed her and Sophia laughed. She ate lunch in the high chair Grandma Beadle bought her and took a nap in the pack and play Grandma Bev and Grandpa Skip bought. She seemed very comfortable with everyone. She even sported the Orioles baseball hat Grandpa bought for her. Too bad it was too cold to go swimming. The cold did not stop Katie. Katie enjoyed the pool with her grandmothers for a last summer swim.

Katie had to go back to her mother’s on Thursday. Sophia is really going to miss having Katie around, as will we. Katie was a huge help and someone who could always get Sophia to smile. Katie will be down in a couple of weeks to start her every other weekend visits.

We went to a Chinese restaurant last night for dinner. Steve was craving Chinese food, as if we didn’t get enough of it the two weeks we were in China!!! Sophia’s fortune cookie, which she did not eat, read… “May you have a good appetite.” This could not be truer. Quite funny.

Sophia has slept until 5:15 or 5:30 AM over the past three days. She seems to be getting into a routine. We are thrilled. She is not going to bed until around 9:30 seeing she is taking two long naps (more than two hours each if we let her) during the day. We are trying to shorten the naps so she will get to bed a little earlier. However, we are going slowly. She has been through so many changes over the past three weeks.