What is she thinking?

It's been two full moons since we were all in China for the mid-Autumn Moon Festival holiday. We are getting into a good routine, but still I wonder what her mind is taking in with seeing visitors, the outside environment, and her parents. There is a moms' club that has playgroups, and I think Iris will enjoy being with little ones closer to her age group. At a recent gathering, she enjoyed taking legos and books out of a box, climbing to a stand with a play table to help, and holding a Spiderman ball (see photo).

She's trying to stand on her legs, but they're very far apart. My questions have been: What is she going to say as her first words? What does it mean when she holds her arms up and forcefully puts them down at the same time? Will her persistence in crawling around us to get what she wants translate into a lot of "I want this..." or "no" later? Will she ever like to play with her stuffed and soft animal toys?

For now, she continues to have new experiences, such as going to the oceanside. We went on a surprising warm November day on the coast. She seemed happy going for the little pieces of grass in the sand. What a sandy mess! Click on the video to watch Daddy dipped her feet in the cold water.

Fun with Iris

Meet Iris's new toys-the spiky kushes! We bought three of them in different colors, but it was just last week that Iris stopped being scared of them. I'm sure it's because of her new play helper, Paige. It's wonderful how Iris learns more readily from other children, even teenagers, because she probably knows that they're closer to her age. She continues to crawl, play, pull herself up, laugh, sleep, and cry (around nap time) as many infants her age do. It's official-Iris has two more bottom teeth, making a total of eight! Take a look:

We continue to introduce her to different food, such as melon and yogurt, as she'll be almost one in a couple of weeks. Whole milk is a-coming! She has a spoon at meal times, but still prefers to eat with her fingers. I realized that many foods that we eat also are eaten with our hands, e.g. wraps, crackers, sandwiches, etc. So, why would she be motivated to eat with a spoon? Anyway, I know that will come.

Friends and family continue to shower her with smiles and love. She even went on a hike in Sonoma with about 20 other people. We thought that she'd nap, but she was way too interested in where everyone was and looking at the lovely scenery. Our Creator God is good!

A New Day

Election day has come and gone. Yeah! As political history was made, dear Iris was just going down for the night. She sleeps well, but a "regular" nap time is still a struggle to establish. This week, I'm trying the "crying it down" method. It will probably take all week, but I hear the key is consistency.

Iris continues to thoroughly entertain us. Some of the fun things she does are: 1) sitting and moving her legs around to turn in complete circles; 2) pulling herself up to a stand near the coffee table and then, plopping down backwards to a sitting position; 3) her smile with a dimple when she's pooping (That's a helpful signal!). So, what's next? God only knows and He's been very good to us as a family so far.

Iris's babbling with loud squeals of delight continue, despite her parents efforts to get to say, "Mama" and "Dada". She eats well, so it's hard to know when she's really full. It may be a growth spurt, but she's developing a little "buddha tummy"! She seems to be interested in the electrical plugs and cords; generally, how things work. She loves eating with her hands, specifically with her pointer finger only. Through it all, I marvel at how wonderful God's grace on us in bringing this adorable daughter into our home. As with many things, we're taking it one day at a time and loving it.

First Halloween

Our annual trip down to the Petaluma pumpkin patch was fun. Cousins Matthew and Noah with Aunt Ruth met us there to find our way out of the corn maze. They also helped pick out nice round pumpkins to carve. Back at home, we enjoyed pizza and carved pumpkins as Iris slept. Of course, when she woke up, she was hungry!

It seemed strange to me to dress up our 11-month old girl in a Halloween costume. But thanks to Beth G., Iris donned a bumblebee costume on Halloween. She visited the H&R dept. at the JC campus because they were having a Halloween Open House. It was fun for Iris to see other children in weird costumes. In the evening, she stayed in costume to greet her Daddy and a group of trick-or-treaters. We didn't get many people that evening, so we're going to have to find a way to give away the candy we bought before we eat it all. Iris is sure not going to have any. She already has a restless energy that keeps her going. So, here are a couple of pics of our little bumblebee: