Pierogis, Fireflies, and the Park of Roses

Maliana ~

I was so incredibly proud of you on Monday of this past week. After not having been to speech therapy in two weeks due to illness and the Memorial holiday, I completely expected you to be the most ornery and uncooperative 3-year-old Miss Ashley had ever seen. Instead, you surprised both of us by working really hard throughout the session and making obvious progress in your ability to say various sounds we’ve been practicing. I sat on the edge of my seat as I watched you hammering out the exercises, holding my breath, saying the words silently along as a means to somehow coax them a little bit easier out of your mouth, and yes, I cried too. You know me. Mama the Crier. After therapy, you were hungry and so we went to Cici’s for dinner and celebrated with all the pizza we could eat. You once again surprised me by counting to 30 all by yourself at the table! What a wonderful way to start out the week with two big surprises from my favorite munchkin!

Later this week, the best way to describe you was Miss Cool. I took you to the library on one of the steamier afternoons after school and we picked out some new summer reading for you. While there, you insisted on wearing my sunglasses while playing on the computers…what a character!

the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades

These particular sunglasses you have taken a major fondness to, telling me in the car one day that I need to go buy more because they were yours now. Man! Those are probably my favorite pair I’ve had in my life! Well, at least no one can say you don’t have good taste! Ha ha. Going along with the “cool” theme of the week, you also told Daddy on the way to school one morning that you wanted to have short hair like him. Upon further investigation, you actually want hair short so you can spike it like him. You seem very serious about this, but sorry dear; this is one battle that I must win. I’m just too in love with your little pigtails to go chopping away at your hair – in spite of Daddy chiming in that “Well, it would be cooler for summer.”

Thursday this week, I got a little “mommy time” and headed to book club with some of the other moms from the Fu Social Group. These moms have all adopted from China so it was nice to be around women who have shared this experience, seem pretty like-minded, get to read and discuss some good books, and have fun conversation too. It was much-needed downtime for me. While there, you and Daddy got to have some much-needed time together too and headed over to Memaw and Papaw’s house. You loved seeing them and they surprised you with some new matchbox cars, which was a nice treat.

happy girl

Friday was a rough day. Daddy and I had an appointment with an attorney to discuss creating a will and a trust for you. It’s been something we’ve been putting off for a while because of what a difficult thing it is to think and talk about. I only cried twice, which was pretty good considering. The attorney is really great too, so that helped. Uggh. I’ll be glad when everything is written up and we don’t have to think about it anymore.

Once home from the attorney, I needed to blow off some steam and so I went running. You wanted to come with me, so we headed off down the trail, with you chatting away. As we passed the swollen creek from all the recent rain, you asked if we could go creekin’, so I promised you we’d try to go next week. Maybe if I write it here in print, it will hold me to this promise. I was happy to hear that you enjoy doing stuff like that since there’s no better teacher than a kid outside, exploring nature.

Saturday morning you and I had a dentist appointment. But as we sat over breakfast, you made me smile by asking, “How was your work Mom?”…when I told you that I didn’t have to go to work on Saturday, you put your head in your hands as if to say, “Duh!” then tried again asking, “How was your run, Mom?” You are so sweet, trying to make adult conversation with me at the table. Very cute.

At the dentist, you did pretty well at first but got quite freaked out when they tried to clean your teeth in the room next to mine, without me there with you. I did not like that at all, especially when the hygienist called me over because you were upset and asking for me. I saw a single little tear rolling down your cheek and I felt awful. I’m still not sure why they thought that was going to be a good idea. You’re only three for crying out loud! After that, you came back in with me and sat on my belly while they finished cleaning my teeth. We tried again with you, but you were too upset for them to get anywhere near cleaning your teeth. That’s okay. We’ll just give it another go in 6 months! Maybe that time, we can coax Daddy back into the dentist chair too.

1st spin-brush to keep the plaque monsters away!

Coming home from the dentist, you and I were talking about all sorts of stuff. Every once in a while (on a daily basis actually), I randomly just stop everything, make sure you’re paying attention, and tell you I love you. Well, I did this in the car on Saturday, and you got all silly and said, “Nahhh!”…so I came back with “Yes I do! And there’s nothing you can do to change it! You’re STUCK with me!” Well, you thought this was hilarious for some reason…laughing the rest of the way home.

After the emotional roller coaster of the dentist visit, you and I took a long nap that afternoon. Daddy came in while we were sleeping and snapped this picture.

this is where you love to jam your feet whenever we sleep together

Refreshed after our marathon nap, all three of us headed out for a late dinner at a local Polish restaurant, Babushka’s Kitchen. We sat on the patio and you discovered you like pierogis, but not necessarily sauerkraut.

let's see what a pierogi tastes like

wide open mouth of approval

After dinner, we went down the street to the Park of Roses to play on the playground and to take a stroll through the roses that are in full bloom right now. They were gorgeous and smelled fantastic. As we got out of the car, you asked, “Mom. Dad. Can you smell the rain?” This in particular tickled me because I am always asking you to come outside and smell the rain if there is a storm coming, or I’ll ask you if you can smell the trees, flowers or grass as we are running on the trail together. When you asked us that question, it was just another cool confirmation that you are paying attention to those little details of life that make it beautiful.

You also made another major discovery in the life of a kid tonight…the fun of chasing fireflies! They had this perfect clearing in the park where it looked like the lightening bugs were performing a light show for us. As you ran from spot to spot, chasing their little glowing butts, it reminded me of doing the same thing when I was a kid. It felt magical and had me grinning from ear to ear as we helped you capture them one by one, then watch them fly away again. I felt thoroughly content and relaxed, albeit exhausted, once we got home.

working in their gigantic sandbox

sliding

saying hi to Uncle Dustin

perfect little seat in the tree

monkeyin' around

silly family shot with some of the roses

literally, stopping to smell the roses

being soothed by the fountain

on the hunt for fireflies

chillin' with Daddy at sunset in the gazebo

Sunday morning you and I worked on a gift for Daddy for Father’s Day, which will be revealed about a week from now. All I can say at this time is that you had a ball making it! A little later, Audrey came over to visit. We were going to go out to eat, but had a slight change of plans and ended up heading to the airport to welcome home some friends of ours who were bringing their baby home from the Marshall Islands. It was fun to be in the midst of all that excitement while we anxiously watched the gates for the first glimpse of baby Tyler and his mom, dad, and big brother Collin. I always enjoyed going to airports and wondering about the people there, where they were going or coming from, who was waiting for them, etc, etc, etc. Now, being there to welcome someone home from the airport has forever been changed and has become all that much more precious to me ever since you came home. I get it on a whole new level now, one that I never understood before July 16th 2009. It’s always an amazing experience to share and I’ll do my best to never miss a homecoming again if I can help it.

You were in rare form by the time we left the airport, tired and slaphappy. Lunch was interesting since you were so ready for a nap, which you immediately took once we left the restaurant. Once home, you slept for a while which allowed Audrey and I to chat uninterrupted. Then, when you woke up, we all played and you had Audrey and me laughing so hard at you and all of your antics. One example from earlier in the week of these particular antics included one of your toy microphones, which you pulled out, stood on your bed, and proceeded to yell, “Hi! I’m Mali! My Dad’s downstairs! Thank you! Good night!” Ha ha. What a character you are!

taking a bite out of burrito baby

And, if the week started with my doing the figurative cartwheels of a proud mama, it ended on much the same note. I was ecstatic to watch you wake up with a dry diaper for 3 mornings in a row this week, even waking me up one morning at 4:30am so that you could go pee in the potty! I couldn’t believe it! Overnight, you seem to grow up more and more…it’s super exciting and awesomely humbling all at once.

Love,
Mama

It's festival season again!

Maliana ~

It was very hard to get up to go to work today after another jam-packed weekend. Really, every day I fight the urge to call in sick and stay home with you, especially now that the weather is nice and there is so much fun stuff to do outside!

Last week started with your helping me take Abby to the vet. You are getting to be so helpful, insisting on holding the leash in the lobby, while we waited for the vet. When we got in the exam room, both the vet and her assistant remembered you, even asking about how many more surgeries you would have, and remarking on how much better your speech is now. The assistant even remembered your pigtails from last time and the vet made a comment about your squeaky shoes. You definitely make an impression!

While we had a good evening after taking Abby to the vet, you were an itchy mess that night. I think it was the darn antibiotics you were on for your ear infection. At 1am, I wound up giving you a bath since you simply could not stop itching and were miserable. Then I completely coated you in calamine lotion before trying to get some more sleep. It seemed to ease up your discomfort, thank God!

Tuesday we took advantage of the hot weather and cooled off by washing my car after school (completely your idea, I might add). I guess when a 3 year old is noticing how dirty your car is, it’s definitely time to wash it!



being cool with mom

After the car wash, you and I sat in the front yard on our lawn chairs and discovered the deliciousness of edamame. You not only like eating it, but you like saying it too (and it’s so cute). We actually ended up eating those little bean pods again later in the week when you, Daddy, and I went to Pei Wei for dinner. It’s always a relief when your kid takes a liking to something so healthy!

trying out our new hammock we bought in Hawaii

Thursday, you and I stopped at the farmers’ market at Easton to pick up some fresh strawberries to take to the hospital for Mia, Fred, and Michelle, and the newest addition of Mia’s little brother Freddy. This was the first time you have really seen a newborn of a close friend, one who we’ve been anticipating for a while now, and also have a somewhat rudimentary understanding of where he came from. You just sat there in awe, staring at him for a while, before you and Mia began playing hide and seek with the privacy curtain and being your silly selves. You girls chowed on the berries before we finally said our goodbyes. I’m still not quite sure why but you have such a hard time with goodbyes, refusing them altogether most times. No hugs, no waves, nothing. Poor Mia was trying her hardest to give you a hug but you just kept refusing. I think it’s because you simply just don’t like to leave if you’re enjoying yourself, thinking that if you don’t acknowledge the goodbye then we don’t have to leave, which makes sense in that 3 year old kind of way. I had to chuckle however when as soon as we got in the hospital corridor you looked at me and sadly said, “I want Mia”.

Mia's new brother, Freddy

you, me, and Mia

So, not only did we hit the Easton farmers’ market on Thursday, but we hit the North Market farmers’ market on Saturday morning too.



you like to stick your tongue out in pictures lately

see what I mean?

Then after that, we headed to the Columbus Arts Festival.

Daddy and I were heading out on a date night that night, so you asked if Lao Lao could take you home from the festival and wound up hanging out with her and Uncle Forge all afternoon and evening. You thoroughly enjoyed your time with them, going out to dinner, running errands, hitting your favorite playground, and even playing ‘nail salon’ with Lao Lao who let you paint both hers and your finger and toenails bright red. She sent me a text during the night that read “don’t worry, there wasn’t an axe murderer at your house, I just let Mali paint our nails.” Ha ha!

wow!

When we woke up on Sunday, you showed me a little pile of treasures you brought home from the playground, including a pearly purple button. When I talked to Lao Lao, she said you were insistent on bring this home to me, which you had actually explained earlier that it was for my pajamas. I couldn’t believe you remembered this, but I have a strikingly similar missing purple button on the pair of my owl pajamas (that match your pair) and you thought for sure that this was that button. I was pretty impressed that not only you remembered the actual button that was missing, but that you were so thoughtful as to insist on bringing it home for me. What a sweet kid you are!

I remarked on how super your nails looked and what a great job you did that morning too…to which you replied, “I know!” Nothing like a preschooler’s modesty!

Daddy went golfing on Sunday morning, so you and I took Abby running, relaxed for a while at home, and then headed over to Wai Gong’s for some pool time. You had a blast, as usual. Daddy met us there later and we all ate dinner together.

splashing with Uncle Blaize

getting used to the sprinkler

ahhh!!!

 

making paper airplanes

And finally this week, I figured out something you have been saying for a little while now, but didn’t really understand. A lot of times you will try to ask for something or be explaining something to me and refer to something as “hini”. I couldn’t be quite sure until this week when I realized that’s how you say “thingie”. I just think that’s so cute. And no wonder it took a while to figure out because even after I understood “hini” equals “thingie”…I still have to figure out what “thingie” you are referring to. Sometimes living with a 3 year old is like a perpetual brain-teaser…but at least you’re keeping my brain sharp.

Love,
Mama





Happy Memorial Day/Weekend!

Maliana ~ Whew! What a great big busy yet relaxing family weekend!

The shenanigans all began on Friday when I got home from work. We jumped in the car and headed to Cleveland where the adoption agency has their annual reunion, with a little carnival on Friday night at their offices, and then a huge party at the zoo the next day. It was so nice to see all of the families there, and get to see several of the girls from our own travel group, (Joy, Christina, Ruby and Willow). You are all getting so big! There’s such a great bond and sense of camaraderie with all of the people that we traveled so far with, it’s a neat feeling to be together again. We got to see several of the staff at EAC who helped us find you, and we were delighted to see you warm up to Uncle Zhou quite a bit more this year than last year. I think his miniature lesson with you on the proper Chinese way to hold a ping pong paddle helped you realize “Hey, this guy is pretty cool!” And when it comes to table tennis, Uncle Zhou definitely doesn’t mess around. He schooled Daddy big time! Ha ha.

striking a pose by the "wall o' referrals" at EAC

in the bounce house with the twins, Ruby and Willow

girlfriend got attitude

lesson on the Chinese grip in table tennis

the face of determination

Uncle Zhou's my friend!

When we got back to the hotel, we were all very, very tired. We met a few of the families from our travel group in the restaurant for a quick bite then headed up to bed. After being around these families again, it made me feel so grateful all over again. As we got ready for sleep, I paused a moment and made you really listen to me and said, “Mali, Daddy and I are so so so lucky to have you as a daughter, and we love you so much”…to which you replied, “I know Mom”, then gave me the biggest longest hug. All I could think was, “Good”…I’m so glad that that is such common knowledge to you already.

Saturday morning we got up early and grabbed breakfast at the hotel with Maya and her family (from our travel group). Then we all headed to the big zoo party. We all were running a bit on empty when it came to sleep, but we managed to make it through the day and have a blast in spite of being a bit delirious. We saw lots of animals, rode the train, and marched in our agency’s “Coming to America” parade through the zoo. You loved seeing the elephants this time, and thanks to our straight-forward anatomy lessons at home, happily pointed out which elephant was proudly displaying his manhood by saying very loudly, “Hey, is that his penis?!” You also loved the kangaroos we saw while riding the choo choo train, thankfully none of them were flashing us and needed no big announcements from you. Once again, it was really heartwarming to see all of these wonderful families again, and Daddy and I even talked to Ruby and Willow’s parents about trying to road-trip it up to see them, along with Maya and her family too, in Rochester this summer. Wouldn’t that be fun?! I sure hope we can work that out! Once leaving the zoo, you were “out” before we even hit the freeway, sleeping nearly the whole way home.

after breakfast at the Embassy Suites

bright and early at the zoo, still rubbing the sleep out of your eyes with Joy

checking out the elephants with Mom

riding on Daddy's shoulders during the parade

Maya was pretty pooped even before the parade began

family shot on our way out of the zoo

fueling up on kettle corn

last big burst of ornery before crashing in the car

Before heading to bed on Saturday night, I had another one of my really grateful moments after reading an article in Adoptive Families magazine. It was an essay about the fierce feelings of motherhood where a woman is pondering (during a conversation with her daughter) all the ways that having a baby changes your life and none of them are what the daughter expects. It’s a very tender and real account of how elated yet vulnerable you feel as a mother, fearing the worst anytime you see a tragedy on the news while cherishing and celebrating all of the big and small moments with your child. Everything takes on new meaning and nothing is the same again. After reading this article, I turned to you with tears in my eyes, told you I loved you, and gave you the biggest hug I could. Of course, when you saw my glassy eyes you wanted to know what was wrong, but by now you are used to my “happy tears”, hugging me a little longer than usual and then went on about your business. Not only am I glad that you know how loved you are, but I’m also glad that you’re already so used to how sappy your mom can be at times. That’s good, because I don’t see myself changing much in the years to come.

Sunday morning as we got ready, you yelled downstairs what you yell to me often right now, “Mom, I need you!” And this particular morning, I paused and took it in…realizing that you won’t be yelling this to me forever and I should savor these times when you readily admit to this. While it’s nice to see you do so many things for yourself and become more independent every day, it’s also nice to feel needed sometimes too. Especially knowing that these days won’t last, I try to remind myself of this and cherish every second I can, even when these requests come at slightly less convenient moments.

After putting on some nice breezy clothes, we headed into the heat to enjoy the local Asian festival. We brought a big sheet and set up camp under a tree near one of the stages and sipped bubble tea, lemonade, and ate a snow cone while we listened to/watched some of the entertainment. It was very relaxing and we met and chatted for a while with a really neat couple who came here from China nearly two years ago to study at OSU. You liked relaxing in the shade, listening to the music, looking at the dancers’ costumes, and were silly and laughing, wrestling with Daddy and rolling down the hill in the grass. Lao Lao and Uncle Forge came a little bit later and we walked around for a while until we had to leave. We didn't get close enough to the stage to get a real good shot of the entertainment, but I did snap these beauties...

 

 

an early salute to our service members for Memorial Day

Daddy's always up for a good toss in the air to get you to laugh

listening to the music while looking up through the trees at the clouds

 

We had dinner on Saturday night to celebrate Papaw Rick’s birthday and while our service was very slow, you kept the table entertained with your silly antics.

making silly faces with Uncle Flint

with Lao Lao and Inay Wanda

And recently, here is the latest “Mali-ism”…instead of saying you would like a lot of something, like “a lot of milk” or “a lot of popcorn”, you’ll say you’d like “big big milk” or “big big popcorn”. It’s pretty cute, even if technically incorrect.

Since Monday was Memorial Day, we celebrated our thankfulness for all that our military has done and still does to protect our freedoms the typical way most Americans celebrate this day, with a cookout. We were lucky enough to throw together an impromptu pool party and cookout with some of our dearest friends, Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina, and their littles Sam and Erin, who invited us swimming at their pool and to hang out at their house into the evening. On the way home, Daddy and I said we couldn’t remember the last time we had such a nice relaxing “do nothing but enjoy the moment” kind of day. It was the perfect way to end the long busy holiday weekend. You had a blast at the pool, laughing maniacally and loving every second in the water. I realized that I am also the typical "pool mom", saying "Slow down! Walk slowly when you're by the pool!" to which you replied, complete with eye roll, "I am walking slow, Mom!" Ha ha. It was so fun to watch you play with Sam and Erin and feel so comfortable with Joe and Tina. There’s nothing better than watching you interact with these friends, who so readily embrace you so sweetly. As the saying goes, Joe and Tina (Sam and Erin) are “good eggs”…truly truly “good eggs”.

goofy goofy goofy

here comes the sun!

new lifeguard on duty, and she means business!

hugs from Aunt Tina

hey Sam, you don't mind that I completely invade your room with my nakedness, do you?

uh Tina, that's not exactly what Mali meant by "stick 'em up!"

So, if that was our weekend…I’ll have to back up a bit and recap the actual week too. It started off a bit rough, staying home with Dad on Monday and paying a visit to Dr. Dan who said you had an ear infection. Poor thing. You never complained once about your ear, and Dr. Dan even said you must have a pretty high threshold for pain. Tough little cookie. We got you on some meds, and you seemed to be feeling better by evening. When I got home from work, we took you on our first family bike ride of the year, if for nothing else but to get your mind off being sick. It was nice to get back out on the trail again on our bikes.

By Tuesday, you were back at school and did great. After school, you came along with me while I went running, we played on the playground for a bit, then came home and ate watermelon and played baseball/catch in the front yard until Daddy came home.

Then you helped Daddy organize the garage once he was home. You really love to be helpful. Then later that evening, we went to the airport to welcome Joe and Tina home from Italy, where they had gotten MARRIED! It was neat to see them get off the plane and, as we well know, it's always nice to see familiar faces when coming home from a long journey. Hopefully we can all go back to Italy with them next time, maybe even celebrate their first anniversary there! Wouldn’t that be a hoot?!

We started packing for our big weekend on Wednesday night, with you insisting on packing your own random little toiletry bag, the whole time saying “Hurry! Gonna be late for our trip!” Like I said before, you love to be helpful!

Thursday was picture day for you at school. Poor Daddy called me after dropping you at school, saying it was so tough to get you in your dress. The teacher had to help fix your hair because, wow! Did you put up a good fight! Daddy said you kept insisting on wearing your AC/DC shirt for pictures, which I guess probably would have gone better with the temporary tattoos that we forgot to wash off your arms anyway. Perhaps next time we should just let you pick out your own outfit regardless. After all, that is the real you, right? Ha ha. As soon as you got home, you changed into your outfit of preference, green athletic shorts, orange surfer shirt, and pink slip-on tennis shoes. No one can argue that you definitely have your own style!

So anyway, in a nutshell, this week and weekend were awesome. In spite of a lack of sleep at times, an ear infection, and your strange unidentifiable rash that kept springing up (then going away) at different times, we had a lot of fun together. This family time together is so precious…the memories that are made are priceless. At one point this weekend, I thought I had lost my wallet and camera. I remember thinking at that moment that I wished it would be my wallet with all of my credit cards and identification that were lost, and not my camera. I’d be miserable if I lost my camera containing the huge memory card of pictures. It made me realize how much more important times spent together making (and capturing) memories are, than any material goods or inconveniences posed from having to replace a driver’s license or credit cards. I was thankful to have that realization. It made me realize that my priorities just might be in the right place after all.

Love,
Mama