We finally were able to apply for Amy's social security card. So in approximately 10 - 14 days we should have a social security number for her. We almost didn't get it because they wanted a copy of her Georgia birth certificate, which of course we don't have yet because the vital records department is running behind and it will take another 9 months before we can get that. But thankfully we had a very nice person helping us and she photocopied the Chinese birth certificate & its translation, along with Amy's passport and is taking care of getting the paperwork processed. Now we have one last step in the paperchase and that is to apply to the INS for her Certificate of Citizenship. Yet another form and more money.
As you can see by the pictures today, Amy is definitely having fun playing with all of the pots and pans and other household items. She managed to pull every last item off of the shelf and surrond herself with them.
Amy can now tell you her name when asked, and if you ask her old she is she'll say two - even though she's not quite two yet, Dean started teaching her early - thinking it would take until March for her to get the idea. Guess we were wrong. She's one smart cookie.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
Today's pictures are actually from a few months ago - but they were so cute, I had to share them. They were taken at MMO. The one of her eating pizza was her first experience with "Pizza Day", which they have once a month. She apparently enjoyed it very much. The other one was also taken during a lunch and is just a great picture of her.
New words include: Okay, boopsh (boots or books depending on what she's looking at), all done or all gone, and more or more please whenever she has finished something and wants more of it, like the tangerines we've been getting lately. Those have been a very big hit.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
HAPPY THANKSGIVING from our family to yours.
This is our first Thanksgiving as a family and we have so much to be thankful for. One of the things I think we are most thankful for is all of our family and friends and the support and love that they have shown through the entire process of our becoming a "forever family". It's been 8 months today that we have been home from China, and I know I've said it before, but it seems like she's always been with us.
Although Amy hasn't mastered saying Happy Thanksgiving yet, she does managed to get out something that sounds like Happy Thank You.
Amy has figured out how to walk on her tiptoes. We first tried it in Kindermusik, but she was having a hard time with her shoes on. Then once we were home and she was barefoot in the bathroom she did it all by herself without any prompting. Her balance was quite amazing for doing it for the first time.
Here is today's "picture of the day".
Today was the Thanksgiving Feast at Mothers Morning Out. Dean and I went to have lunch with Amy. The teachers brought each group of children in, starting with Amy's class. They all looked so cute with their little Indian headbands on, and since they go in alphabetical order, Amy was the first child in the line. When she walked into the room, which is usually used as a play room, she just stopped dead in her tracks and looked around as if to say, "what are all these people doing here?" I wish I had remembered to take my camera to the lunch. But the pictures below will show you how cute she looks with her personally decorated headband on.
Mention the word flower and Amy starts sniffing whatever is in sight. A perfect example happened Saturday. I had gone to the quilt shop to pick up some fabric. When I came home and showed it to Dean and Amy, she pointed to the flowers on the fabric and sniffed them. She then did this with all of the remaining fabric - even though a couple of pieces didn't have flowers.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
If you haven't seen Monsters Inc yet, go see it. For those of you that have seen it, I think they studied Amy to develop the character Boo. Dean and I laughed so hard at some of Boo's antics in the movie because they reminded us so much of Amy.
With the exception of a cold, she has been quite healthy (and happy) for the past 3 weeks now. She has been having fun playing at MMO and Kindermusik, and of course with Emilie across the street.
We had Christmas pictures taken on Friday. At first Amy wasn't quite sure what to make of the photographers and interacting with the props they had (a big box wrapped like a present for her to stand in). But I think we managed to get some good pictures of her and of the three of us. Keep an eye on your mailboxes in December to see what develops.
Below is a picture of Amy's turkey that she made in school. They used their hands and feet - covered with paint and then cut out - to make the turkeys. The other picture is of Amy trying to walk in Dean's shoes. She's actually getting pretty good at putting on our shoes or slippers and walking around in them.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
Amy attended her first birthday party today. John, one of her playmates, turned 2 this week. We had a glorious day weather wise, so all of the kids were able to play outside and have a generally good time. The theme was Blues Clues. As you can see by the pictures below, there was a big Blue dog and the cake was decorated with Blue too.
Dean commented that Amy looked like a Chinese-Scottish girl in her little overalls outfit today.
She also ate 3/4 of a regular size waffle for breakfast at the Waffle House this morning. She probably would have eaten the entire thing if we had let her. There is definitely nothing wrong with her appetite. She feels like she has gained a couple of pounds, but you can't tell just to look at her. With all that she eats I would think that she'd be twice her size now, but I guess she must have a high metabolism or just burns it off that easily.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
We finally got back Amy's school pictures. Mother's Morning Out had a deal arranged with one of the local photographers in town to take class and individual pictures. So below is Amy's first school picture. I wish she had been smiling, but that was one of those days that she cried most of the day at MMO. At least she's not crying in the picture.
She has been doing great lately - talking up a storm. She can now say her own name and has also started saying Abbey - which is another friend of hers from school. It is amazing how clearly some words come out while others sort of resemble the word she is trying to say.
We found a wonderful park that we've gone to twice now. Amy really enjoys the slides there. In addition to a small slide that she went down a number of times, she also went down two of the bigger slides - one that curves around and the other that was a regular straight down type of slide. She laughs and really seems to enjoy herself on them. She even tried the balance beam that they had - 4 times. She actually did pretty well with it too. Maybe she'll be an Olympic gymnast.
She is going to her first birthday party this Saturday for a little boy that lives up the street from us. It will be interesting to see how she does when John is opening his presents. My guess is she'll want to play with the boxes - that seems to be one of her favorite forms of entertainment lately.
Here is today's "picture of the day".
Well October certainly flew by and now here we are already in to November. There seems to have been so much going on lately, it's hard to keep up.
Amy's vocabulary is expanding rapidly. It's hard to keep up anymore with all the new words she's saying. She is getting around great. Walking up and down the stairs, not quite by herself, but darn close. She gets upset if the gate at the top of the stairs is not closed and will go over and try to close it herself. I'm glad for this. At least she's not trying to take off down the stairs by herself yet. She also waits to hold either Dean's or my hand when crossing the street or walking through a parking lot. This is another good thing.
On Thursday, UTS (the company Dean works for) had a "sweet sixteen party" to celebrate the launch of version 16 of TaxWise. They made a big to-do about it and had cake and other snacks. Amy really enjoyed the cake and the goldfish more than anything else. One of the other programmers that Dean works with took one of today's pictures and e-mailed it to us, so we're sharing it with all of you.
Amy had fun trick or treating on Wednesday evening. We only went to about 6 houses, but by the time we were done she seemed to be grasping the idea that hmmm... when I go up to someones house, they give me candy. Lollipops and Raisinets were the big hit. Unfortunately we didn't get any more pictures of her in the ladybug costume, but she did manage to keep her antenna on most of the time.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
