Nothing Like Fall Fun!

Maliana ~

We began the week by celebrating Double Ninth Festival, eating veggie mu shu and drinking chrysanthemum tea ~ yum!

you weren’t too sure about the tea but liked the sugar rocks

real chrysanthemums!

You and I also went out on a couple of our “dates” too…once to buy Daddy a birthday present. I let you go to $5 and Below and pick out anything in the store, specially from you for Daddy’s big day. Of all the things you could have chosen, you picked a snazzy hot pink and black belt, which was all the more awesome because it actually fits Daddy! Looks like he’ll be standing out even more at the office now!

that's hawt

Another of our dates was to the library, one of our favorite places. You made a friend when you plopped down with another little girl who was just learning to read, so she read you some of her short stories. You played some of the computer games, we got “coffee” (cocoa) and cookies, then took our books outside where we read on the park bench before hitting the playground and coming home.

maybe you'll be like Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina and work in a library?

And finally, it wasn’t really a date, but you asked me if you could come running with me one morning this week, pleading your case by saying, “I missed you all the day.” Even though it was only 9am when you said this, how could I resist? We had a great run together, looking for squirrels off the trail, watching the leaves swirl down from the trees, then crunching them underneath the jogging stroller.

Thursday, Daddy and I attended a meeting for the new cleft lip and palate support group that some other moms, doctors, social workers, and I are putting together. It went well and you did amazing at entertaining yourself through the whole thing. Before leaving the hospital, we went upstairs to see Niubei since she had surgery earlier in the day. She has been through so much so it was nice to help make her smile, get her to do her famous wink, and you even shared your Spiderman sticker with her and were my little ‘Vanna White’ when we read her a book.

happy to say that as I write this blog...Niubei is doing much better
and will probably go home soon! yay!

Friday was extra exciting this week since it was the start of a 3-day weekend! Woo hoo! We’ve had an October heat wave lately and when I picked you up at school you were a big sweaty mess...so I threw you in the tub once we got home. Of course, not before you exclaimed “Holy Shit!” when you saw how full the tub was…then exclaiming “Holy Shit!” again when I made you a big plate of noodles for dinner. Uh, all I have to say is, “Thank you Daddy” for that one. I corrected you and told you that we don’t say “Holy Shit” but rather, “Whoa Boy!” (But, I guess it just doesn’t have the same oomph). We’ll keep working on it. The good news is that by the end of the weekend you had morphed into saying “Holy Cow!” (which sounds more like “Holy How!”) and “Holy Schnikeys!”…both definitely better than where we started.

Daddy was at a golf outing until late Friday night, so you, Lao Lao and I went to the Italian Festival. Of course, your favorite part was the choo choo train that winds through all the crowds. You waved at everyone we rode by, even yelling to one person with a dog, “That’s a pretty doggie!” It was cute to see peoples’ reactions to you as we chugged along, as well as later when you heard some kind of polka-ish type song that you liked and you clapped and danced your way up to the stage. I’ll have to start calling you, ‘Maliana ~ Spreader of Smiles’ from now on.

all aboard! choo choo!

You also have this funny little chipmunk laugh now. It can be heard when you laugh at someone else, but typically it’s heard when you say something in which YOU crack YOURSELF up. It is really cute and a new phenomenon where you make yourself laugh now. It’s just another sign of your personality and sense of humor changing and growing up…pretty neat.

Saturday we went to a cookout at a friend’s house that we haven’t seen in a long time. It’s nice to have friends that you can just pick up right where you left off, no matter how much time has gone by. There were a ton of kids there, including your cousins Joey, Alex, and Sammy, so you had a blast! You all played together until well after dark, then as we watched the OSU game via projector on the side of the house, all of the kids were set up on blankets and lawn chairs in the garage to watch ‘Night at the Museum’. It was a great set up. Daddy and I both talked about how nights like these remind us of the fun we had when we were kids. It was a warm fall day, but a cool night, leaves changing to all shades of gold around us, with a spectacular sunset, a hint of fire smoke in the air, and tons of OSU excitement as the adults got ready for the game and the kids ran carefree through the grass between neighbors’ houses. Each time I see you running and playing with a group of kids, I always stop and think of how cool it is to be a kid. I hope you can look back and remember it fondly too, when you get old like me. Ha ha.

Officers Maliana and Sammy, at your service

this better not be a premonition...looks like you two stole
a cop car, crashed it, and are trying to flee the scene

daredevils

beautiful, right?

kid-zone ~ watching the flick in the garage

Sunday brought Daddy’s birthday. Unfortunately, our gift for him is still in transit and will be here later in the week; however, we still had a super day. We sang him ‘Happy Birthday’ when he woke up, then headed out to meet Memaw for breakfast (where you told the waitress exactly what you wanted even before I had time to look at the menu), and on to Dill’s Greenhouse for their Fall Fest. You were crazy at the Fall Fest, so excited to spend time for a second day in a row with your cousins, running here and there with intermittent squealing and the biggest grin ear to ear. Daddy was beyond happy that all of his side of the family was together. We definitely need to make a point to do that more often.

posing for Memaw before leaving Cracker Barrel

in front of Dill's corn maze

and off they go!

you and Sammy sharing a giggle

cousin love

so excited the wagon is back!

woo hoo! hayride!

hittin' the hay

found one!

can you be any cuter? nah!

all the girls

birthday kisses from Daddy

wait for me!

once again...daredevils!

the Wilkinson boys and their girls

making corn angels

watch this Mom!

corn, corn, everywhere!

following in Papaw Rick's footsteps

You did great playing with your cousins and any other kids that were around. Even your Aunt Beth made the comment about how well you do playing with other kids, what a natural you are, especially for being an only child. I had to agree. You are an exceptional kid.

After we left the greenhouse, we headed to Sakura Japanese Steakhouse for a birthday dinner with Lao Lao, Papaw Rick, and Uncle Forge. You slept on the way there and then for a little bit on my lap, until the blazing flames from the grill woke you up (and freaked you out). Then once awake, you chowed down on edamame and after dinner got to feed the carp they have in their fountain, compliments of a really nice woman who worked there and took a liking to you. She set you up with a big cup of fish food, where you called out, “Here fishie, fishie, fishie!” and they actually nibbled it right out of your fingers, eliciting excited giggles and jumping from you each time.

Whoops!
and there goes the entire cup of food into the water...
oh well!

Garrabrants, minus Uncle Flint

And, as if all of this excitement wasn’t enough for the week, the extended weekend on Monday found us at yet another pumpkin patch, Pigeon Roost Farms. This place is a kid’s dream, with an enchanted forest, corn and soybean mazes, tons and tons of playgrounds and activities, goats, turkeys, sheep, cows, and camels (yes, I just said camels). It took you a while to get going, insisting on sticking with the toddler toy playground and wooden train they had at first, but then once you got going, there was no stopping you. You especially liked feeding the goats and we must have gone down the burlap sack slides a million times apiece. Of course, you resisted the slide at first, until Daddy tricked you into going down on your own. Then, watch out! You were blazing down that slide like a pro by the end of the afternoon. The look on your face as you came down each time was priceless.

oh no! I guess Daddy didn't look both ways

see, I told you! camels!

Daddy's turn

Mommy's turn

getting braver, on your own

look at her go!

look! no hands Ma!

this is why I take so many pictures...
I feel like if I blink, you'll be 5 feet tall and going off to college!

candy corn, gummy worms, and gum drops...oh my!

no trip is complete without a set of witch fingers

We went back to see Niubei again at the hospital on the way home from Pigeon Roost and got her to giggle some more, mainly because of you and Daddy’s antics. You guys are a regular comedy team. Her little brother Noah was at the hospital, a few months old now and getting bigger all the time. This was the second time you’ve seen him, so it was interesting to see you more curious about him. You wanted to hold him, and kept climbing on me when I was holding him, touching his head and intrigued by his pacifier. We ate a late dinner in the hospital cafeteria before heading home, with you being your silly self, cracking up the cafeteria cashier and a whole station of nurses before we left. You were so silly, the same giddy and silly you always are after you‘ve had a fun day.

I think he'll outgrow both you and Niubei soon!

Once home, we got you ready for bed and I love that now when you ask for something and I say, “Ok, but I just need one thing before we do that…”, you immediately pucker up because you know I’m about to bribe you for a kiss. It’s the best. You requested a book for bedtime that we got from Children’s Hospital the night of our cleft meeting. It’s “I Wished For You; An Adoption Story”. I read it to you once the day after bringing it home, and it really is a great story, addressing so many issues and questions you have or may have. One in particular that I didn’t realize you were aware of yet was skin color. In the book, the main character Barley Bear asks why his fur isn’t the same color as his mama’s fur, and she goes on to describe how there are all sorts of families, where some look alike and some don’t, but what really makes a family a family is love. You listened to this book very thoughtfully and at that point said, “Yeah, my skin is brown, yours is not.” I was surprised because I was not aware that you noticed these things yet, but maybe that was naïve on my part. You are a really smart kid. This little exchange confirms my suspicions that we are going to have some amazing conversations as you grow up and I need to keep in mind that you are probably perceptive of and take in a whole lot more than I realize. So, I apologize ahead of time for any dense moments on my part, and I want you to know that I welcome any conversation that you want to have, about ANYTHING, adoption related or otherwise. There is nothing too simple or too difficult to bring up to your Dad or me, no topic that is out of bounds. If it’s important to you, it’s important to us. Promise me you’ll remember that, ok?

Anyway, halfway through this reading on Monday night, you fell asleep curled up on my shoulder. I tucked you in and just watched you sleep for a while, whispering all sorts of things that I want you to know; how much I adore you, how smart you are, how sensitive you are, how funny you are, how you can do anything you set your mind to, how there are at least two more people out there in this world that you carry in your heart who probably love you as much as your Dad and I do but that you may never meet, how no matter where you go or what you do there is nothing that can change how much your Dad and I love you. I do this often, whisper these things to you while you are sleeping, hoping that they will somehow seep into your brain and permanently nestle there forever, so you will deep down always remember them, even in your darkest moments. Who knows if this will work or not, but for now it makes me feel better to at least try.

Love,
Mama