Thursday, December 17, 2009
Meeting Santa for real...
We weren't sure how Maya would react to meeting Santa but we had to try it anyway. What a trooper! She walked right up to him, played with his sleigh bells, gave him a hug & let him pick her up. This Santa was EXCELLENT and knew how to handle kids!
1st Haircut...
The time came to make that unavoidable visit to the toddler salon. My parents are in town for the holidays so came along to witness the event as well.
As cool as I thought I would be about it, I was actually a bit nervous. I was cutting off the hair that my baby was born with. The hair that belonged to another country, another life, another mother. It was a strange feeling to see it be cut away but the challenge of making a curious & fidgety 19-month-old sit still over-rode the sentimentality of the moment.
I started the appointment with a baby. The end result was an adorable little girl with a cute reverse bob...
As cool as I thought I would be about it, I was actually a bit nervous. I was cutting off the hair that my baby was born with. The hair that belonged to another country, another life, another mother. It was a strange feeling to see it be cut away but the challenge of making a curious & fidgety 19-month-old sit still over-rode the sentimentality of the moment.
I started the appointment with a baby. The end result was an adorable little girl with a cute reverse bob...
Ice Skating with Gumby knees...
I never knew they even had skates that little...
It was John's birthday and we decided to go for breakfast and then ice-skating with the whole gang. Everyone was very excited to go and we were excited to get Maya out on the ice for the first time. After a bit of work putting her in her garden gnome fleece, her banana nylon-shell, her helmet head and her mini skates, we headed out. Maya wasn't sure what was wrong with her feet and kept looking at them. Why was she tipping over so much? Why did everyone else's feet look funny too?
Just as we got to the ice our camera chip was full. NOOOOOOO!! We're going to miss recording it! We had recorded several videos and a birthday party the night before and at John's birthday breakfast that morning, that the chip was full. After a few frantic moments of deleting some pictures, we had enough room on the chip for 3 very short videos. Charmaine was a master at helping us record this special moment.
On the ice, Maya was confused for a moment. Why do my knees keep bending every which-way? Why can't I stand up? What ARE these funny things on my feet? I don't know if she ever got suitable answers to her questions but she had a BLAST skating. Despite her head hanging down (maybe the hockey helmet was too heavy and she couldn't lift it?!) she laughed a lot, got her little size 6 feet moving along like she was walking and had a great time. The only crying from Maya happened when we put on the skates and when we had to leave the ice. John & I cried silently from the burn of our backs while trying to hold her up... ohhh...
This kid is a natural athelete!! Another successful event and one we'll definitely repeat!
It was John's birthday and we decided to go for breakfast and then ice-skating with the whole gang. Everyone was very excited to go and we were excited to get Maya out on the ice for the first time. After a bit of work putting her in her garden gnome fleece, her banana nylon-shell, her helmet head and her mini skates, we headed out. Maya wasn't sure what was wrong with her feet and kept looking at them. Why was she tipping over so much? Why did everyone else's feet look funny too?
Just as we got to the ice our camera chip was full. NOOOOOOO!! We're going to miss recording it! We had recorded several videos and a birthday party the night before and at John's birthday breakfast that morning, that the chip was full. After a few frantic moments of deleting some pictures, we had enough room on the chip for 3 very short videos. Charmaine was a master at helping us record this special moment.
On the ice, Maya was confused for a moment. Why do my knees keep bending every which-way? Why can't I stand up? What ARE these funny things on my feet? I don't know if she ever got suitable answers to her questions but she had a BLAST skating. Despite her head hanging down (maybe the hockey helmet was too heavy and she couldn't lift it?!) she laughed a lot, got her little size 6 feet moving along like she was walking and had a great time. The only crying from Maya happened when we put on the skates and when we had to leave the ice. John & I cried silently from the burn of our backs while trying to hold her up... ohhh...
This kid is a natural athelete!! Another successful event and one we'll definitely repeat!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Santa Claus Parade...
Dec 6 - We weren't sure whether this day would be a success but we decided to give it a try anyway. The parade was due to start at 1pm which is Maya's nap time so we were potentially putting ourselves in harms way. We brought the stoller and a bottle of scotch in case we had to put her down and sedate her (or us).
Luckily, the excitement of the day let her stay awake a longer, and in decent humour, and we made it through about 1/2 of the parade before we had to leave. No Santa viewing but at least we got to see some fun Christmas stuff.
It was a sunny but cooooolllld day so we bundled little Maya up in whatever winter garb we had. That consisted of a red/blue garden gnome type fleece, a banana yellow nylon over-shell and pink winter boots. She could barely move. :-) As Maya is still very sensitive to loud sounds, we brought her hearing protectors as well. (She LOVES those things and walks around the house with them on. Somehow wearing them affects her sonar or inner-ear workings as she walks in to things and tips over a lot, but thats another post)
Maya LOVED the music, the bands and danced and clapped her way through it. Maya HATED the sirens, loud trucks, bull-horns and some of the mascots. I was especially proud of how she connected with the bagpipes & my scottish heritage. Who says she can't be scottish-chinese?
Overall, the day was a success and we'll try it again next year...
Luckily, the excitement of the day let her stay awake a longer, and in decent humour, and we made it through about 1/2 of the parade before we had to leave. No Santa viewing but at least we got to see some fun Christmas stuff.
It was a sunny but cooooolllld day so we bundled little Maya up in whatever winter garb we had. That consisted of a red/blue garden gnome type fleece, a banana yellow nylon over-shell and pink winter boots. She could barely move. :-) As Maya is still very sensitive to loud sounds, we brought her hearing protectors as well. (She LOVES those things and walks around the house with them on. Somehow wearing them affects her sonar or inner-ear workings as she walks in to things and tips over a lot, but thats another post)
Maya LOVED the music, the bands and danced and clapped her way through it. Maya HATED the sirens, loud trucks, bull-horns and some of the mascots. I was especially proud of how she connected with the bagpipes & my scottish heritage. Who says she can't be scottish-chinese?
Overall, the day was a success and we'll try it again next year...
Broken Hearted no more...
We went back to Childrens Hospital this week to have Maya's post-surgical ECG and ultrasound tests done on her heart. We were so relieved to hear & see that her heart hole has completely grown over, the left side of her heart has already reduced in size and she's now considered to be 100% healthy & healed. Yipee!!!!
Over the past few weeks, we've reflected on how lucky we are to live in Canada and how lucky Maya is for that reason as well. In Canada, the only expense we incurred for all of these hospital & doctor visits, the testings and the surgery itself was parking. That's it. Maybe a Starbucks or two. Had Maya been adopted by a family in the US, there is a great possibility that the initial tests to discover the problem would never have been done due to expense, much less the surgery for it. As this was a 'pre-existing condition' that existed before she was adopted, I think it unlikely that any insurance company would have covered the costs of the doctors & hospital visits, the testings or the surgery. Definitely not for the Starbucks. Her heart hole may have gone undiagnosed, and likely untreated, for her whole life. We are so lucky to be here...
Over the past few weeks, we've reflected on how lucky we are to live in Canada and how lucky Maya is for that reason as well. In Canada, the only expense we incurred for all of these hospital & doctor visits, the testings and the surgery itself was parking. That's it. Maybe a Starbucks or two. Had Maya been adopted by a family in the US, there is a great possibility that the initial tests to discover the problem would never have been done due to expense, much less the surgery for it. As this was a 'pre-existing condition' that existed before she was adopted, I think it unlikely that any insurance company would have covered the costs of the doctors & hospital visits, the testings or the surgery. Definitely not for the Starbucks. Her heart hole may have gone undiagnosed, and likely untreated, for her whole life. We are so lucky to be here...
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