Saturday, 9/18

Hi All - Let's see, what's new to report.  Gracie is doing so well. She has everyone doing pretty much as she pleases.  Had our first shower the  other night and that was pretty exciting. Her favorite place is outside and just like the boys, sand falls out of her shoes and clothes when I change her. So much for the cute little outfits staying clean. She typically pitches a bit of a fit when we bring her in.  Yesterday she was chasing the ducks and chickens w/ the chocolate lab, Snickers, as an accomplice.  Right now she is being chased by Josh and Zach and laughing so hard, she can't breath.   She has slept w/o waking me one time the past two nights. We are anxious to get her into the specialist and find out what the plan will be for her palate surgery.  My guess is that they will want to do the surgery sooner rather than later.  I keep hoping that somehow it will close on its own but I don't think that will be the case.  She says a variety of things but not very regularly. She seems to say, "bye", "ow", "mom", and I think she said "more" the other day.  We taught her to sign "more", which was probably a mistake because I'm usually signing "done" and she just keeps pointing to her hand... "more".  She understands almost anything we say, if you just show her once - like "hot" or "put on your socks" or "no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"  She has gained some weight & is filling out with a little of that toddler pudge that she should have.  Like any 2 year old I guess, one day she loves something and the next day gives it the big frown.  The other night I tried sweet potatoes on her (all dressed up w/ butter, sugar, and salt). She took a big bite and out of the corner of my eye I saw this orange glob go flying across the counter.  I had to turn away because it was hilarious. Take care all - Sorry, I can't figure out how to make this blog site send a message out when I post so if anyone knows how to do that, email me! 

Sunday, Sept. 12

Got a few minutes so thought I'd post a little note.  Gracie continues to settle in better every day.  Found out this week that she had one ear infection and fluid in the other ear so she seems to feel much better now that we are treating that.  Though we don't know Chinese and she doesn't know English, we communicate very well.  She reads hand signals and picks up things so quickly.  We crack up at her fake phone "conversations" and a host of other funny things she does.  Last night she came running into the kitchen and I wasn't really paying too much attention but knew she sounded excitedly triumphant about something.  When I looked at her, I saw that she had finally snatched the TV remote control when no one was looking and was concentrating on pushing every button. 

We know she will probably need surgery on her palate but will not know the specifics of that until after her appt at the end of this month.  Here are some  pictures of her and brother Ben in action.

Emperor "Chair-Head" and his Queen

Home one Week Gone By

Don't have much time to post because there are so many things to do now that we are home and have a 2 YEAR OLD to chase! I am amazed at how much one child can get into in 5.8 seconds.  In summary, the 1st week was rough.  We were all exhausted from jet lag and not sleeping much while in China.  The boys did so awesome while we were gone.  Many people tell us how well they did, and I don't think they're lying!  I got sick and then Gracie wanted to be held all night but would sleep only in short bouts and then wake to make sure she was not put down.  She is now transitioned to the crib- last 2 nights. I hold her hand while she goes to sleep and no more tears the last couple nights (from either of us) and she seems to sleep much more peacefully.  She now chases the cats and pays little attention to the dogs.  Her and Mocha (my Australian Shepherd) forged a new bond last night when Gracie had two spoons w/ ice cream and did not notice Mocha licking one of them clean!  Issues w/ eating have decreased also.  I have some great pictures but no time to load them.  The boys are so patient w/ her little flips btw "I like you" and "go away"!  She's just like a woman already, Dan says.  Anyway, bottle time and bed.  Forgot how the evenings disappear w/ little ones.  Her antics are quite entertaining & if we could just get her to play for 5 minutes w/ a real toy rather than anything in a cupboard or on a shelf, it would help.