Busy, busy May

For those of us with school-age kids, the month of May is traditionally a crazy one.  Multiple band, jazz band, and orchestra concerts, piano recitals, baseball games, homework, projects, finals, etc., etc., etc.  We are experiencing and enjoying all of that with Erica and Ian this year, and have had the pleasure of sharing some of it with family visitors.  Mark's mom and dad were here for a week, and his brother here for a weekend, both meeting Audrey for the first time.  She warmed up to all of them very nicely, and we had a great time together!

Audrey also continues to be busy, busy.  She is a girl on the move, but has also started to sit and 'read' for longer periods of time.  She loves her books, and reads each page aloud.  We are not understanding what she's reading, but she has lots to say! :)  Her vocabulary is exploding, and she is putting more words into phrases.  Mark is the lucky recipient of, "Hi, Daddy!" multiple times each morning, and she tells every little child she sees, "Hi, baby!" whether that child is a baby or not.  She will also tell Erica and Ian, "I get you!" as she runs after them.

Ian finishes school tomorrow, and Erica has about a week and a half left.  I can't wait to have all three kids home for the summer, and enjoy some down time together.  We are all excited about the idea of taking Audrey swimming, and hopefully she will love it!  Stay tuned! :)

Audrey at 22 months

Audrey is 22 months old today, and I wanted to share a little bit about her at this stage.

Audrey likes..

• ice cream.  This would be a love, actually.  She has been known to ask for it at breakfast, but was not successful with that request.
• her brother and sister, who adore her in return.  They play with her with great patience, are gentle with her (ahem - most of the time - Ian!), and they all crack each other up.
• to swing very high on the swings.  Her initial fear of the swings is gone, and she prefers them to the slide now.
• to go outside.  She stands at the sliding door and yells, "Side! Side!" hoping that someone will be willing to accompany her outside
• books.  In the last couple of days, we have watched her sit on her own, and 'read' out loud to herself.  So cute! :)
• to say 'hi' and 'bye' to people, and to blow them kisses.
• her blankie and Purple Bear.  No matter where we lay her down in her crib, she collects these two necessities, shoves them in the same corner every time, and plops herself down on them, face first.  She is very willing to go "Night, night" each naptime and bedtime.  Yay!
• to eat.  She is very opinionated about what she will consume, but she does like to eat.  She still likes the toddler regulars of fruit, cheese, yogurt, goldfish crackers, Cheerios, chicken, etc.  She is less enthusiastic about vegetables than she has been, and she really loves garlic bread, chips, cookies, and granola bars.  That's our girl! :)
• playing in the bathtub.
• talking.  The developmental assessment team told us she should be saying at least 50 words by her birthday in July.  She is at 55 now. :)
• Elmo!  She likes watching Elmo, as well as pushing her little toy Elmo around in the toy stroller.  She gives him a hug each and every time she picks him up.
• anything electronic, especially if it has buttons.  Loves the remote, cell phones, the Wii controllers, etc. 
• Scamper, the cat.  She tells him, "Hi, Kitty!" every single time she sees him, and likes to pet him as well.  Her sensory aversion to him from our early days home is gone.
• stealing Ian's seat in the family room, no matter where he has been sitting.  If Ian gets up to leave the room, and Audrey is around, she makes a beeline for where he has been sitting.  She is sneaky! :)
• music and dancing.  Fortunately, she lives in a home with music being practiced most every day, so she is in luck!
• watching Ian and Erica participate in their sports and band activities.  She is a good little spectator, and loves to yell, "Yay, Iam!" or "Yay, Erica!"
• to imitate people.  She imitates facial expressions, vocal inflections, activities, etc.  And she is good at it! :)
• seeing dogs.  She say, "Woof, woof!" every single time she sees a dog being walked outside.  And there are LOT of dogs being walked these days! :)  When given the chance to pet a dog, she is a little less enthusiastic.

Audrey dislikes...

• the 'getting clean' portion of her bath.  It results in screaming most every time.  We won't be sad when she grows out of this phase!
• getting her teeth brushed. Same reaction as getting washed up in the tub! 
• lima beans.  I don't think she has actually swallowed one since she's been home, though we've tried many times.  We'll keep working on those. :)
• being contained or held when she really wants to get down and go!  She's strong (and strong-willed! :)) and just likes to do what she wants to do.
• getting in and out of the car too many times in a day.  I try to limit our errand-running, so that she has plenty of play time at home or outside.  She will definitely let me know if she has reached her limit.

I'm sure there are many little details I've forgotten, but this gives a pretty good picture of Audrey at the moment.  There are many, many more happy moments with her than frustrating ones.  She is just so much fun, and so funny.  We are still amazed that God has given us the privilege of being Audrey's family.  Lucky us!

Baking Cookies

Audrey is an excellent helper in the kitchen! This was our first experience baking together, one which I know will be repeated many, many times in the years to come. She was thrilled to dump the flour and sugar in the bowl, and clapped for herself and said, "Yay!" after each item was poured in. She was also happy to sample her work after dinner! :)

4 Months Today....We've Come a Long, Long Way

We met a scared, sad little Fangying 4 months ago today. We are so blessed that she is now a part of our family. She brings joy to each day! She is happy, healthy, funny, sweet, spunky, and is now also a good sleeper! We love you, Audrey!

Easter 2010

 

 

 

 

 

2 months with Audrey

This second month with Audrey has flown by equally as fast as the first!  We are amazed at how much she has changed - both physically and emotionally.  She has gained 1 1/2 pounds since we've been home, her hair has grown, her feet have grown, and she is starting to outgrow some of the first clothes she wore in December.  She is still happiest when she is with Mom, but she is also much more comfortable being down and playing with her toys than she was.  And....maybe best of all....she has slept through the night for the last 3 nights in a row.  I don't want to jinx that, but it has been great!

Audrey's days are pretty routine at this point.  She still has a bottle in the morning (whole milk), and has breakfast a while later.  We are generally home in the morning, doing fun things like laundry (she loads the dryer beautifully!), or we sometimes head out to the indoor playground, grocery store, or library, and head home for lunch by 11:30 or so.  She naps in her crib from about 12:30 or 1:00 to about 1:45 or 2:00.  Her naps are not terribly long, but she is up and happy, and ready to go get Erica and Ian from school by 3:00.  She loves when they get in the car, and is very excited to see them!  She snacks with them after school, plays until dinner, and then entertains us all at dinner.  She has another bottle at bedtime, and is generally asleep by 7:30.  At night, sometimes she goes down right away, and sometimes she flops around for awhile, but she is sleeping well in her pack'n'play at night.  We know she will move to her crib at night sometime, but she still wakes up looking for us, so we will keep things status quo for now.

During the day, Audrey is a happy, happy girl.  Her facial expressions are hilarious, and she turns into quite the comedienne at meal time, when her full audience is assembled.  She is talking all the time, and her English vocabulary is growing each day.  Her clearest words are up, help, meow, and hi.  She can say many other things, and will imitate most any word we say.  We also heard her first two-word sentence today: "Hi, kitty."  It was so cute. :)  She is also eating well.  Broccoli is the veggie of choice, and she will eat almost any fruit: banana, apple, grapes, strawberries, peaches, pears, cantaloupe, and honeydew.  Oh, and grapefruit! :)  She also loves yogurt, cheese, crackers, and any cookie that might come her way.

We can't imagine our family without Audrey.  She is a joy, and watching Erica and Ian with her is the best.  They are both so kind, gentle, caring, and loving with her.  We are having so much fun together! 

Audrey tries grapefruit!