Just a few, here is the whole load, http://www.flickr.com/photos/44829320@N07/
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
And the pics
We uploaded a ton of Birthday pics to the flickr site. Even got some of our Build-a-bear pictures in there. It was strange, when we got there Ying immediately ran to the Hello Kitty section of the store and started going through those. She ended up with the Hello Kitty Frog.
Just a few, here is the whole load, http://www.flickr.com/photos/44829320@N07/
Just a few, here is the whole load, http://www.flickr.com/photos/44829320@N07/
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Birthday Event
Today is Ying's 3rd birthday. We had her birthday party yesterday at Pump-it-up. The kids had an extremely good time. Matt of course hit the ground running and did everything he could for the whole hour. Ying was a little more reserved initially, but her cousins drug her around the area and she started getting into it. By the end she was going through the obstacle course by herself pretty well. I have not put the pics on the computer yet, so nothing to post here, :( I should get some put up tomorrow hopefully. We had about 40 people at the party yesterday, pizza and cake after the playtime was nice, and she got tons of presents. She was very into that, and Matt was exceptionally good during the process. I was afraid he may not behave when he saw all the presents he wasn't getting, but he was excited and acted great. I talked with him about it before the party to let him know these were sister's presents, and she would be opening them all, but when we got home they were all going to get to roll around on the ground and play with everything.
Today is her actual birthday, we didn't even take her presents to the party yesterday because we knew she would have enough to do with the guests gifts. Robyn has started the tradition of doing a Build-a-bear on their actual birthdays. So we have done that with Matt a couple of times, and now Ying will be going today for her first time. I'm sure she will love it, afterwards we will go home and do the cake/gifts thing.
Other news! Ying and I went to our local elementary school Friday to get started on her speech therapy. They attempted a hearing test, which we had already had about 6 of at the ENT. They weren't able to get the headphones to stay on her, and she got bored. The lady looked at me and just said "She can hear right?", and I assured her that she could, lol. There were 2 therapists there, and one of them seemed to be Chinese. I didn't ask, but she did make reference to the fact that Ying looked like she was 'northern Chinese' so I just assumed she probably was. I love filling out forms for Ying BTW. Its so easy, most of it I get to leave blank because we don't know anything about her birth, or early developmental stages. :P The evaluation didn't take long, and they wanted to review the formal evaluation that we had already done, because it would meet the requirements that they needed to start scheduling regular sessions. The main instructor was very surprised how receptive she was to them, and seemed a bit amazed that she had picked up as mush of the language as she has. We should start doing 2 times a week for about an hour a day when we start. I'm hoping this will get us on the right track and provide us with some exercises we can do with her to help move the process along.
I will try to post the B-Day adventure pics tomorrow, :P
Today is her actual birthday, we didn't even take her presents to the party yesterday because we knew she would have enough to do with the guests gifts. Robyn has started the tradition of doing a Build-a-bear on their actual birthdays. So we have done that with Matt a couple of times, and now Ying will be going today for her first time. I'm sure she will love it, afterwards we will go home and do the cake/gifts thing.
Other news! Ying and I went to our local elementary school Friday to get started on her speech therapy. They attempted a hearing test, which we had already had about 6 of at the ENT. They weren't able to get the headphones to stay on her, and she got bored. The lady looked at me and just said "She can hear right?", and I assured her that she could, lol. There were 2 therapists there, and one of them seemed to be Chinese. I didn't ask, but she did make reference to the fact that Ying looked like she was 'northern Chinese' so I just assumed she probably was. I love filling out forms for Ying BTW. Its so easy, most of it I get to leave blank because we don't know anything about her birth, or early developmental stages. :P The evaluation didn't take long, and they wanted to review the formal evaluation that we had already done, because it would meet the requirements that they needed to start scheduling regular sessions. The main instructor was very surprised how receptive she was to them, and seemed a bit amazed that she had picked up as mush of the language as she has. We should start doing 2 times a week for about an hour a day when we start. I'm hoping this will get us on the right track and provide us with some exercises we can do with her to help move the process along.
I will try to post the B-Day adventure pics tomorrow, :P
Monday, August 23, 2010
Adoptiversary....Its a word now!
Tomorrow will mark the 9 month milestone of our little Ying joining our family. This isn't a major milestone, but it helps put into perspective how far she has come in such a short period of time. Adoption folks have a few events they celebrate outside the normal birthday, and holidays. 'Gotcha Day' is a big one, and for us it was November 24, 2009. I'm sure our family will always remember that day now, it was an awesome day. We were very nervous and excited to see this kid we'd only heard about, and seen pictures of. It was one of the most stressful things I have ever done. Even with the information we had on this little monkey, there was no way to know if everything was accurate, or if there would be further issues to deal with. For us, there weren't, it was perfect, she was exactly what we were expecting, and more. She is also turning 3 this month, her birthday party is on the 29th, and her actual birthday will be on the 30th. This will be her first birthday with us. All we had last year were pics of the cake and gifts we sent to the orphanage. This year we get to take the pics and send them to China. I'm sure all her caretakers back in China will love to see more pics of their little Ying. The other date that is often marked is the day when you exceed the time spent with your forever family vs being in an orphanage with caretakers. Not a huge deal, but many people celebrate this date. Ying still has about 2 years left until she hits that mark, I can't imagine what she will even be like by then, :)
As stated above, after next Mondays birthday we will have a set of 3 year olds in the house. At 3 we are both potty trained, for the most part. Matt still uses a pullup at night, but he has been mostly dry the last several days. Last night was the first time he actually woke up(around midnight) and asked to go to the potty. Ying on the other hand apparently just holds it all night. She has been waking up dry every morning for as long as we have had her home, so she has been wearing big girl panties for quite a while. She doesn't seem to think she can get out of her bed if her door is closed, which is fine with us, but still kind of odd. When we open the door after naps, or to get up in the morning she hops right up. The pre-school teachers seemed surprised they were potty trained and in underwear, which we thought was odd, because we were under the impression that we were behind the curve on potty training. At least now when we hit 4 years old we can go on the Disney Cruise and they will qualify for the day care program! Kids, into wonderland, Mommy and Daddy off to do WHATEVER WE WANT!
We went to a birthday party this weekend and Matt was fearless. It was at a place that head some foam pits, and trampolines, and a zip line. The kids would get hooked up in harnesses and could chose a few different things to do.
There was a big foam pit that you could run up a ramp and jump into. Matt loved it, Ying would get on the edge and just lower herself in carefully. Mat also got hooked up to some bungees and jumped on the trampoline. Ying tried it too, but she didn't weigh enough and the bungee straps just kind of suspended her in the air, lol. She did enjoy just jumping on the trampoline though, so she was quite content. They also had a zip line, and Matt of course let them hook him up and swing him back and forth on it. He loved it, mainly because it was dangerous, :p Ying's birthday party is going to be at Pump-It-Up this weekend, which will be alot of inflatable moon bounces and slides, so he will get to run wild there as well. Ying will likely want mom or dad to go through most of the mazes and slides though, :) She is a little ore cautious about things, and isn't fully up to par with Matt's physical abilities.
Next post should be birthday pics and info, yay!!! We have less than 2 month until Disney too, and Matt is getting excited(Mom and Dad are too), and Ying has no idea what we are talking about yet, :) We still attempt to post everything to Flickr, and just got our Mac back last week, so we have just started upload pics again.
As stated above, after next Mondays birthday we will have a set of 3 year olds in the house. At 3 we are both potty trained, for the most part. Matt still uses a pullup at night, but he has been mostly dry the last several days. Last night was the first time he actually woke up(around midnight) and asked to go to the potty. Ying on the other hand apparently just holds it all night. She has been waking up dry every morning for as long as we have had her home, so she has been wearing big girl panties for quite a while. She doesn't seem to think she can get out of her bed if her door is closed, which is fine with us, but still kind of odd. When we open the door after naps, or to get up in the morning she hops right up. The pre-school teachers seemed surprised they were potty trained and in underwear, which we thought was odd, because we were under the impression that we were behind the curve on potty training. At least now when we hit 4 years old we can go on the Disney Cruise and they will qualify for the day care program! Kids, into wonderland, Mommy and Daddy off to do WHATEVER WE WANT!
We went to a birthday party this weekend and Matt was fearless. It was at a place that head some foam pits, and trampolines, and a zip line. The kids would get hooked up in harnesses and could chose a few different things to do.
There was a big foam pit that you could run up a ramp and jump into. Matt loved it, Ying would get on the edge and just lower herself in carefully. Mat also got hooked up to some bungees and jumped on the trampoline. Ying tried it too, but she didn't weigh enough and the bungee straps just kind of suspended her in the air, lol. She did enjoy just jumping on the trampoline though, so she was quite content. They also had a zip line, and Matt of course let them hook him up and swing him back and forth on it. He loved it, mainly because it was dangerous, :p Ying's birthday party is going to be at Pump-It-Up this weekend, which will be alot of inflatable moon bounces and slides, so he will get to run wild there as well. Ying will likely want mom or dad to go through most of the mazes and slides though, :) She is a little ore cautious about things, and isn't fully up to par with Matt's physical abilities.
Next post should be birthday pics and info, yay!!! We have less than 2 month until Disney too, and Matt is getting excited(Mom and Dad are too), and Ying has no idea what we are talking about yet, :) We still attempt to post everything to Flickr, and just got our Mac back last week, so we have just started upload pics again.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Metamorphisis?
Matt asked me what metamorphosis meant last night when I was putting him back in bed. I was trying to figure out where he heard the word, probably TV or something. It kind of caught me off guard, the words are usually much easier, or some word he already know like "dog". I told him it meant 'to change'. Many times he asks how to spell them as well, but he didn't, and I am glad, because I would have needed a pen and pad to write it out, lol. He is somewhat scary smart on occasion. Robyn can write out sentences and he can read most of them, even uses context clues and sounds out words to figure it out. He will randomly point out words on signs or buildings too, "That car says 'Yellow' on it."
He never sleeps either. Naps are almost gone for him sadly. He may take a nap 1-2 times a week it seems. He stays up late too. Ying will go to sleep at 7:30pm if we put her down, and she loves her naps. Matt on the other hand will stay up until 9 or 10. He will get to a point where he will actually want to go to sleep, but until then he is coming downstairs or playing in his room. We've taken the doorknob locks off their doors, so he can come and go as he wants. We attempted to put him back every time he would come out, but that just turned into a game. We have tried to let him sit with us on the couch and watch whatever we are watching, and that works sometimes. A lot of the time we are working out on the treadmill or a yoga mat and he will have to sit and watch us exercise. Usually he makes comments while we do that too. Robyn was doing jumping jacks and he asked "Mama are you trying to fly?" Generally we send him back upstairs before we are done and he will go to sleep, but some nights its really irritating.
Ying has stayed up a few times with us, but she is funny. She will actually exercise with us. I was doing a Jillian Michaels torture video and Robyn pointed out that she was doing all the movements with me while on the couch. She is very coordinated at some things, and others she seems to be completely retarded. We can turn the on-demand cable stuff on and set it to the kids yoga videos and she will do them all day. She loves it, and its really funny to watch her do them. Matt sits on the couch and watches her, I can't seem to get him to hop down and try it with her.
We are also prepping for Disney World. We're going in October, and everyone is super excited. Matt keeps talking about all the things he is going to show sister, and how she will be afraid of the fireworks. I have been trying to show them different Disney movies so that they will have a more well rounded experience. When we went last year, Matt didn't really know who half the characters were, so hopefully this year we will be better off on that front.
He never sleeps either. Naps are almost gone for him sadly. He may take a nap 1-2 times a week it seems. He stays up late too. Ying will go to sleep at 7:30pm if we put her down, and she loves her naps. Matt on the other hand will stay up until 9 or 10. He will get to a point where he will actually want to go to sleep, but until then he is coming downstairs or playing in his room. We've taken the doorknob locks off their doors, so he can come and go as he wants. We attempted to put him back every time he would come out, but that just turned into a game. We have tried to let him sit with us on the couch and watch whatever we are watching, and that works sometimes. A lot of the time we are working out on the treadmill or a yoga mat and he will have to sit and watch us exercise. Usually he makes comments while we do that too. Robyn was doing jumping jacks and he asked "Mama are you trying to fly?" Generally we send him back upstairs before we are done and he will go to sleep, but some nights its really irritating.
Ying has stayed up a few times with us, but she is funny. She will actually exercise with us. I was doing a Jillian Michaels torture video and Robyn pointed out that she was doing all the movements with me while on the couch. She is very coordinated at some things, and others she seems to be completely retarded. We can turn the on-demand cable stuff on and set it to the kids yoga videos and she will do them all day. She loves it, and its really funny to watch her do them. Matt sits on the couch and watches her, I can't seem to get him to hop down and try it with her.
We are also prepping for Disney World. We're going in October, and everyone is super excited. Matt keeps talking about all the things he is going to show sister, and how she will be afraid of the fireworks. I have been trying to show them different Disney movies so that they will have a more well rounded experience. When we went last year, Matt didn't really know who half the characters were, so hopefully this year we will be better off on that front.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The worst BLOG ever
Wow, no updates, no pictures, this blog is pretty awful I have to admit. I think I will start trying to do a regular update, I shall even put a reminder on my calendar, :P We have so many things going on, so its not that I don't have a ton of things to write about.
So fast update: Everyone is doing great! Ying's mouth has healed up well, and we are scheduled to get speech therapy lined up in the next few weeks. She is also having her first birthday with us on August 30th! She will be 3 years old, and she freaking knows and acts like it. Matt is also doing great. They both started pre-school up last week and LOVE it. Matt even asked to go on Saturday. They are in the same class together, and the teachers said they are doing well. We have been home with sister for about 9 months now, and the kids are doing great together. They used to be more like associates that saw each other at the play table or in the hall. They were much more civilized initially. Now it is full on brother and sister mode. "MINE!" "NO!" and "Sorry Ying."(which sounds nice, but it usually means she is crying at this point) Ying still isn't speaking alot, but 'mine' and 'no' and 'MATT!' are pretty solid for her.
I will post more Monday, as that will start my attempt at a regularly scheduled update day.
So fast update: Everyone is doing great! Ying's mouth has healed up well, and we are scheduled to get speech therapy lined up in the next few weeks. She is also having her first birthday with us on August 30th! She will be 3 years old, and she freaking knows and acts like it. Matt is also doing great. They both started pre-school up last week and LOVE it. Matt even asked to go on Saturday. They are in the same class together, and the teachers said they are doing well. We have been home with sister for about 9 months now, and the kids are doing great together. They used to be more like associates that saw each other at the play table or in the hall. They were much more civilized initially. Now it is full on brother and sister mode. "MINE!" "NO!" and "Sorry Ying."(which sounds nice, but it usually means she is crying at this point) Ying still isn't speaking alot, but 'mine' and 'no' and 'MATT!' are pretty solid for her.
I will post more Monday, as that will start my attempt at a regularly scheduled update day.