Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Motorcyle Mama
Kaeli's friend Tom came by this past weekend on his motorcycle, and Kaeli got to sit on it and sound the horn, which she got quite a kick out of. A local neighbor also came by to "kick the tires" with Tom and share motorcycle stories for awhile.
Kaeli and Her Train Hat
YeYe was able to score a major coup on their train trip home from California - he got the LAST Amtrak California paper hat on their train for Kaeli! Kaeli has enjoyed wearing it, both with the brim in front and in the back (the cool option). She is also wearing her new Getty sweatshirt, from the museum YeYe and NaiNai visited on their trip.
Day of Fun (continued)
After the playground, we piled into our cars and drove west to have lunch at Chang's Mongolian Grill. True to form, the two girls were fairly nonchalant around each other at the Japanese Garden and playground, and then were best buddies at the restaurant. They had to sit next to each other and giggled and chortled and sang and jumped after we finished eating. When lunch was over (and the volume level was rising!), we went outside. Madison and Kaeli jumped and sang and played ring around the rosie. Then they joined hands, waved good-bye to us, and took off down the sidewalk... We probably spent half an hour following them around the business complex watching them giggle and dance and hug and chase each other - it was an absolute delight!
Weekend Fun
Laurie came down from Seattle to spend the weekend with MaMa and Kaeli while YeYe and NaiNai were in California at the Getty Museum elderhostel. The three of us went for a hike in Forest Park, and Kaeli has now decided that "a walk in the woods" is a great thing to do!
We saw lots of trees and flowers and dogs, and even a man walking his dog and two miniature goats!
We also went to the Japanese Garden with Amy, Baba and Madison. The two girls hiked all around the garden and looked for fish in the ponds.
Kaeli posed on one of the Chinese sculptures in the garden with MaMa. (Yes, those are CHINESE "Fu Dog" Lion sculptures, also known as "Lions of Buddha". They are highly admired in Japan, hence their being in the Japanese Garden. In Japan, they are called shishi, which means lion in Chinese. Please see http://www.foo-dogs.com/newfoo/eLions/fd1.htm for more information. )
After the garden, we went to a playground where Kaeli and Madison were able to run off more steam. They enjoyed going down the slide together.
I love these two silhouettes of Kaeli and YeYe on the last day of kite flying. The weather was my favorite kind - gray and stormy and cold! Kaeli and YeYe braved the elements to get a last session in, and had a great time!
This is our second visit to Camp 18, a wonderful huge log building in the Coast Range between the beach and home. We stopped here for breakfast on the way to the beach and on the way back. The first time we visited, Kaeli would have nothing to do with "the man" - she kept saying "go away, man!" to the sculpture. On our way home, she finally agreed (reluctantly, though) to sit on YeYe's lap on the man's lap, and then by herself. Her smile in the second picture with YeYe clearly shows her
exasperation with having to humor MaMa who insisted on having a picture taken with "the man"!
This is our second visit to Camp 18, a wonderful huge log building in the Coast Range between the beach and home. We stopped here for breakfast on the way to the beach and on the way back. The first time we visited, Kaeli would have nothing to do with "the man" - she kept saying "go away, man!" to the sculpture. On our way home, she finally agreed (reluctantly, though) to sit on YeYe's lap on the man's lap, and then by herself. Her smile in the second picture with YeYe clearly shows her
exasperation with having to humor MaMa who insisted on having a picture taken with "the man"!
More from Ocean Lodge
The Ocean Lodge at Cannon Beach - a grand place to stay! They have comfortable rooms with gas fireplaces and jacuzzi tubs, and a kitchenette and warm terrycloth robes. They have an upstairs library and a breakfast room with delicious bagels, hard-boiled eggs, fruit, cereal and tea and coffee each morning. Kaeli enjoyed playing with the Lincoln Logs in the library.
YeYe brought along two small kites, and he and Kaeli went out several times to fly kites. Kaeli really enjoyed it and insisted on helping to hold the strings.
Kaeli here is monitoring the kite while YeYe surpervises.
March Trip to Ocean Lodge, Cannon Beach, OR
In March, YeYe, NaiNai, JioJio, Kaeli and MaMa all spent four wonderful days at the Oregon coast. We stayed at the Ocean Lodge in Cannon Beach. This first picture of YeYe and Kaeli feeding gulls on the deck shows Haystack Rock in the distance. Kaeli was quite taken with seeing the gulls up close and being able to feed them!
Kaeli and NaiNai went for a walk on the beach and "put their feet in the water", according to Kaeli. NaiNai hadn't planned on it, but it happened anyway! We had a few mornings of beautiful (but crisp) sunny weather. The Ocean Lodge has a beautiful setting, and we had three rooms for the five of us. Kaeli enjoyed scooting between the rooms after saying "Back in minute!" and shaking her finger at whoever she was leaving.I love this picture of Kaeli in her pink hat and blue boots!
Monday, February 27, 2006
Kaeli & Madison at the Children's Museum
Kaeli and I met David, Amy and Madison at the Children's Museum this past Sunday and spent a delightful couple of hours exploring all of the great areas to play in. Kaeli and Madison really enjoyed shopping at the Kid City Market and playing in the water at the Water Works, and also going down the slide in the Dig Pit room with tons of shredded blue rubber bits to shovel around. We had lunch afterwards at Big Red's, where Kaeli and Madison enjoyed playing "peek-a-boo" around Amy. Then we headed home, where Kaeli took a good long nap to recoup!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
We had a great Chinese New Year celebration on January 29th at Jin Wah, a Chinese restaurant in Beaverton. There were almost 200 people attending, which made for quite close quarters in the room provided! There were dance performances (in a tiny cleared area) by several Chinese school dance groups, and face painting and tables with things for sale. NaiNai bought Kaeli a case of flashcards of animals with the words in Chinese, English and PinYin. YeYe took Kaeli over to the face painter, who painted a wonderful butterfly on her face. Madison later got one, too.
Smile for the Camera!
Kaeli and Madison sat next to each other at the table at Jin Wah for the Year of the Dog New Year's Celebration banquet held by our adoption agency, A.S.I.A. They had a great time eating and visiting with each other.
Kaeli and Ice Cream
Kaeli definitely likes ice cream - and wears it with glee! When she first tasted ice cream, WAY back last January, she was not at ALL impressed with it and made faces. But she has changed her tune and now loves to eat it.
JioJio's Birthday Cake
Kaeli supervised the removal of candles from JioJio's birthday cake. JioJio was celebrating his 45th birthday! He was able to come down and spend some time with us over the weekend.
JioJio's birthday was also the day of our one year home study update. This is the final update to be sent to China. China will consider the adoption finalized and closed once they receive this report. Kaeli had a great time entertaining Marci, our agency representative, and Marci gave Kaeli stickers which she promptly put all over her hands.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Christmas 2005 -
This was how Kaeli spent the first part of Christmas - snuggled with Frog on the couch. She came down with an intermittent fever and tummy problems on Christmas eve, and wasn't her normal happy cheerful singing self on Christmas Day. She did rally a couple of times and was able to feel well enough to open presents in spurts, but it was not at all what we had expected Christmas to be like! MaMa got sick before lunch, and NaiNai got sick two days after Christmas. JioJio had to head back to Seattle for work, so YeYe was the nurse and caretaker for the household for most of the week between Christmas and New Year's, when Kaeli and MaMa were both supposedly on "vacation".
Kaeli is back to her normal chipper active self, and back at school. NaiNai is on the mend, and MaMa is still working at getting better. YeYe, thankfully, never caught anything! We hope to ALL be healthy soon!
This was how Kaeli spent the first part of Christmas - snuggled with Frog on the couch. She came down with an intermittent fever and tummy problems on Christmas eve, and wasn't her normal happy cheerful singing self on Christmas Day. She did rally a couple of times and was able to feel well enough to open presents in spurts, but it was not at all what we had expected Christmas to be like! MaMa got sick before lunch, and NaiNai got sick two days after Christmas. JioJio had to head back to Seattle for work, so YeYe was the nurse and caretaker for the household for most of the week between Christmas and New Year's, when Kaeli and MaMa were both supposedly on "vacation".
Kaeli is back to her normal chipper active self, and back at school. NaiNai is on the mend, and MaMa is still working at getting better. YeYe, thankfully, never caught anything! We hope to ALL be healthy soon!
Friday, December 16, 2005
Gotcha Day! Celebration - December 13, 2005
On December 13th, one year ago, Kaeli and I looked into each other's eyes in person for the very first time. She was a tiny, wide-eyed toddler who was unsteady on her feet but very eager to stay in the arms of this strange person who was feeding her these little round delicious things called Cheerios. And I was an ecstatically happy, proud new MaMa who was thrilled and terrified about all the days and years stretching out before us that we would be spending together. One year later, I am still as enraptured, entranced and enthralled by this growing, blossoming, funny, active, smart little bundle of energy that is becoming her own person as I was when I first held her in my arms.
Laurie and her partner Dave were able to come down from Seattle to help celebrate our first year anniversary of Gotcha Day! We went to "school" early so that we could watch Kaeli in her ballet class. Kaeli saw Dave and Laurie and spent most of dance class standing in one place, pulling her tutu up and down on her stomach and smiling at us, while the rest of the dance students followed the lead of the teacher.
After school ended and Kaeli had her nap, Laurie, Dave, Kaeli and I got on the MAX light rail and rode the "choo choo train" into town. It was Kaeli's first light rail ride, and she enjoyed it.
We met Kaeli's Kunming sister Madison and her MaMa Amy at the Portland Chinese Garden, where we strolled around and visited and enjoyed the sights for the afternoon. It was almost like being in China again! The girls enjoyed chasing each other and screaming and giggling in one of the buildings - thankfully there were very few other people in the garden on such a cold day! We visited the gift shop, and then met Madison's BaBa David and went to the House of Louie for dinner.
The waitress there was wonderful! I explained that we were celebrating the first year anniversary of Gotcha! Day for the girls, and that they had been born in Kunming, China. I told her about the steamed egg custard dish that Dr. Susan and our guide ordered at every meal for the girls in China, and asked if there was something similar on their menu. The waitress said that it was "home cooking" for children and that she would ask the cook about it. Later she delivered a large bowl of steamed egg custard to our table, which the girls devoured! Kaeli kept asking for more "yello"! I think she was calling it jello, or she could have been referring to the color - I'm not sure, but whichever it was, she wanted more! As we were leaving, I learned that the waitress had fixed it for us herself, which was so nice of her!
The girls danced and ran around together, and had a great time, as did we all. It would have been perfect, however, if Kaeli and Madison's Kunming sister Alex and her MaMa Diane and BaBa Todd had been able to be with us!
Madison and her parents gave Kaeli tickets to the Portland Children's Museum, which we are looking forward to using soon! Kaeli and I gave Madison and Alex each a copy of Pi-Shu, a picture book about a panda baby in China, which Kaeli has and loves. Kaeli and I gave Laurie a wonderful hand-crafted book called "Good Morning China" which has lovely watercolors of the various activities people do in the parks in China in the mornings, which made both MaMa and Laurie tear up with fond memories - fan dancing, tai chi, ballroom dancing, games, painting, exercising and so on. There wasn't a picture of basketball bowling, though, which Laurie was disappointed about! (Laurie played a rousing game of basketball bowling in the Green Lake Park in Kunming with several Chinese men, who all cheered and clapped for her but still insisted that she had lost and owed them money - it was wonderful to watch!)
It seems like just yesterday AND a hundred years ago that we were traveling in China and meeting our daughters for the first time. Laurie and I both remember saying back then that some day we would look back on this trip with fondness and longing, and we were certainly right!!!
Here's to many more happy Gotcha Days, and every day in between, to come!!!
Love to everyone -
Kaeli and her proud MaMa
Laurie and her partner Dave were able to come down from Seattle to help celebrate our first year anniversary of Gotcha Day! We went to "school" early so that we could watch Kaeli in her ballet class. Kaeli saw Dave and Laurie and spent most of dance class standing in one place, pulling her tutu up and down on her stomach and smiling at us, while the rest of the dance students followed the lead of the teacher.
After school ended and Kaeli had her nap, Laurie, Dave, Kaeli and I got on the MAX light rail and rode the "choo choo train" into town. It was Kaeli's first light rail ride, and she enjoyed it.
We met Kaeli's Kunming sister Madison and her MaMa Amy at the Portland Chinese Garden, where we strolled around and visited and enjoyed the sights for the afternoon. It was almost like being in China again! The girls enjoyed chasing each other and screaming and giggling in one of the buildings - thankfully there were very few other people in the garden on such a cold day! We visited the gift shop, and then met Madison's BaBa David and went to the House of Louie for dinner.
The waitress there was wonderful! I explained that we were celebrating the first year anniversary of Gotcha! Day for the girls, and that they had been born in Kunming, China. I told her about the steamed egg custard dish that Dr. Susan and our guide ordered at every meal for the girls in China, and asked if there was something similar on their menu. The waitress said that it was "home cooking" for children and that she would ask the cook about it. Later she delivered a large bowl of steamed egg custard to our table, which the girls devoured! Kaeli kept asking for more "yello"! I think she was calling it jello, or she could have been referring to the color - I'm not sure, but whichever it was, she wanted more! As we were leaving, I learned that the waitress had fixed it for us herself, which was so nice of her!
The girls danced and ran around together, and had a great time, as did we all. It would have been perfect, however, if Kaeli and Madison's Kunming sister Alex and her MaMa Diane and BaBa Todd had been able to be with us!
Madison and her parents gave Kaeli tickets to the Portland Children's Museum, which we are looking forward to using soon! Kaeli and I gave Madison and Alex each a copy of Pi-Shu, a picture book about a panda baby in China, which Kaeli has and loves. Kaeli and I gave Laurie a wonderful hand-crafted book called "Good Morning China" which has lovely watercolors of the various activities people do in the parks in China in the mornings, which made both MaMa and Laurie tear up with fond memories - fan dancing, tai chi, ballroom dancing, games, painting, exercising and so on. There wasn't a picture of basketball bowling, though, which Laurie was disappointed about! (Laurie played a rousing game of basketball bowling in the Green Lake Park in Kunming with several Chinese men, who all cheered and clapped for her but still insisted that she had lost and owed them money - it was wonderful to watch!)
It seems like just yesterday AND a hundred years ago that we were traveling in China and meeting our daughters for the first time. Laurie and I both remember saying back then that some day we would look back on this trip with fondness and longing, and we were certainly right!!!
Here's to many more happy Gotcha Days, and every day in between, to come!!!
Love to everyone -
Kaeli and her proud MaMa
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