You are my favorite entertainment...

Maliana ~

Lately, I have been thoroughly enjoying watching and listening to you. Your little mind is fascinating to me. You have been putting more and more words together lately and seem to always have a story about something, sometimes we understand and sometimes we don’t, but it’s always interesting. As simple a phrase as “heavy boots”, “Dad’s car” or “more oatmeal” is exciting for me, and even more when you say something like, “I love you Abby, be right back” as we leave the house. Every time you do something new, it’s a reminder of how far you’ve come in such a short time. It never ceases to amaze me. I guess that’s what being a parent is all about.

You had Dad and I laughing this weekend too (as usual). On Saturday, Dad and I were discussing the grocery list for the upcoming week. All of a sudden, you grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and began “writing down” all of the grocery items. So, we began telling you what we needed. We’d look at you and say, “ooh, diapers!” and you’d say “Oh!” and furiously “write” it down on your paper. The more you liked something (e.g. ice cream, popsicles, etc), the crazier you would get and more animated you would be in adding it to the list. It was hysterical! Then, on Sunday, I had woken up with a really stiff and sore neck. You began jumping on me and insisting that I get you your oatmeal, however I was in a lot of pain. Dad kept trying to explain this to you, but it was a bit hard for you to understand why I couldn’t just get up like normal. Finally, something must have clicked because you ran into your room and got your doctor’s kit, brought it back in, and proceeded to “work on me”. It was actually pretty painful, however I couldn’t help but smile as the sentiment was really sweet. Your heart was in the right place, (even if your body was bouncing up and down on my chest ~ ouch!)

We had Gotcha Day pictures formally done wearing the matching traditional Chinese outfits we bought in China on Sunday morning too. They turned out very good and I cannot wait to get them picked up…all of this in spite of having a difficult morning (to say the least). You already know that my neck was stiff, and for some reason you had picked this morning to get up at 6am (instead of your usual 8am). Then, you were trying to help us get ready and instead spread baby powder all over the bathroom. You fell asleep on the way to the portrait studio and we had to wake you up so you were still tired and grumpy once the session started. The rubber bands for your hair kept popping whenever I would try to fix your ponytails at the studio, (but, luckily the last two finally worked ~ whew). Then you only would cooperate with about 9 out of 30 shots we were supposed to have done that day. Talk about one thing after another this morning! We did it though and it all turned out fine. The day got better after we changed clothes and had lunch at Noodles & Co. (guess who picked that place!) You loved your penne rosa with spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms (mushrooms are your new favorite food). Then, the three hour nap later in the afternoon did us all wonders, it was the perfect medicine.

Along with the above craziness that is our life, we went to a wonderful cookout with friends (both couples going to pick up their daughters in China this month and next), as well as some late night ice cream with Shawn and Jen (Niubei’s parents) on Sunday, which rounded out a terrific weekend. We are so fortunate to have you in our lives making every day an adventure, but also to have begun some truly beautiful friendships through our experiences with adoption. We are blessed.

Love,
Mama