Preparing for our one year anniversary

It's been over three weeks of new beginnings and busyness in our home. B. started a new job, still in town; and I started teaching fall classes without much of a break between summer and fall classes. I've been overwhelmed by the amount of "kick-off" work I think I need to do and how the home schedule (feeding, playing, sleeping) is with Iris. I'm truly leaning on God's power through the Holy Spirit to help me accomplish what I can. Needless to say, transitions are usually tiring and uncomfortable.

It's noticeable how Iris is starting to respond to verbal commands with understanding of what we're saying. For example, I ask her to get her shoes before she goes outside and she goes over to where the shoes are. She is fascinated with her shoes, as well as her parents' shoes. She wants to put them on and take them off multiple times. Her other concentrated effort goes into buckling herself into things- high chair, car seat, stroller. This would make it easier for us to get her ready to go somewhere (or eat). She points a lot to things and makes a noise that sounds like a request to get something to her. We (the parents) just have to guess what she really wants through trial and error (e.g. a book among her large piles of books). She is starting to use Da-da and Ma-ma when we are around, as well as for other things or people, but I'm going to take the "Ma-ma" enthusiastically as her calling for me.

As she gets closer to two years of age, she definitely shows signs of temper tantrum-like crying and refusals to do something she can (e.g. walking somewhere) because she doesn't want to. Still, overall she is a very happy, sociable, smart, and active toddler. Iris's appetite is also doing well, and here is proof at the strawberry patch (the strawberries were soooo sweet!) we visited:

Some August events:
Iris was stung by a bee! Dada acted quickly and took out the stinger, soothed her and put a baking soda paste on her finger as a salve for the poison and pain. Iris screamed very loudly! (Mommy was gone at the time).

Iris met her Uncle J. and Aunt L.C. for the first time. They'll be visiting us soon, so I hope she can get to know them better.

Brian had a week off between jobs and completed outside chores that was probably equivalent to three months worth of pruning. We now have a rock pathway in the backyard that leads to our vegetable garden.

Ho Gao (our dog) continues to sleep a lot and is pretty much deaf, but Iris is starting to pet H.G. more.

Iris is starting to drink from a plastic (non-sippy) cup without totally spilling the liquid down the front of her torso. She smiles almost after each swallow.

Active Iris

We've been thinking about what we were doing one year ago: The Summer Olympics began, Cindy was in hot Visalia drying peaches (YWAM), Brian was busy getting the final documents and money in order for our trip to China, and we were waiting for our travel date to meet our dear little Iris. A year makes a big difference!

Lately, Iris continues to show signs of understanding us, but not saying words that are distinct. The most adorable thing that she started doing a couple of weeks ago is before meals with Mom, she puts her hands together and a speaks "quiet words" as if praying. I wish I could capture it on camera, but I'm praying along with her. You'll just have to imagine this. Afterwards, I say "Amen" with a fond smile to her.

Another of her new habits is trying to put on her own shoes, as well as mom's. She even can walk with mom's shoes/slippers at times. Here are a couple of pictures:

Anniversary of First Call/photo

It was just a little over one year ago that we first got to see and know our little Iris through a thin file of photos and medical records. My how she's changed! She is walking and almost talking. We marvel at how her face appears to understand some phrases we say, such as "Go find Ho Gao(our dog)" or "get the book over there." We have enjoyed her smiles, and are getting used to her grunts and cries for communicating some of her wishes. No real words, except "uh-oh".

Grandma from AZ is visiting and helping out so much. We all went to to Angel Island for a change of scenery. Iris experienced her 2nd boat ride with us on the ferry to the Island. She was pretty quiet most of the day in her stroller, but preferred being out to walk about.
She also likes mom's hat a lot (see her wearing it in the above photo), but forgot to tell us that she dropped the hat on a trail near the picnic area. Oops! One cap missing!

At home, she has been interested in spending time in the backyard. Here's a video of how she likes relaxing in a chair with a magazine, and oh yeah...there's another hat.

Busy work week

This was the first week of Iris not waking up with either of us. So, who stayed with Iris three mornings this week? A friend (Azar) and temporary nanny came to stay with us because we both had to be at work by 8am. Iris and Azar got along very well. This was very strange for me because Iris would reach for her in the afternoon when I returned. I know she hasn't forgotten about me, but it still rattled my mommy bones not to be the main connection to my daughter. What was of great comfort was that God was keeping Iris healthy, happy and safe while I worked all morning (3 days/week). This will continue for a few more weeks. In fact, Grandma is coming to stay with us for two weeks for the reason of taking care of Iris in the mornings and late afternoons that we can't be home. As with many parents, I wonder if we're working too much outside the home.

On Thursday, Iris met up with an aquaintance, Alina, who is only about 10 days younger, but much bigger in size and weight than Iris. They enjoyed time at the park in Sebastopol, while mommy (me) walked and talked with a couple of other friends from work.

Well, we're looking forward to the July 4th weekend when we'll be together as a family and spend time with my family in the East Bay on Friday, as a well as getting together with families that also adopted from China. The weather is sunny and nice, and isn't that great?