Referral Anniversary...

This past Friday, March 4, was the 2nd anniversary of the date that we first saw a photo of JIANG, Xin Mei. Wow, has life changed! We've been so lucky to have this little person join our lives. Maya keeps us hopping.

Whenever I pull out the referral photos or videos of us when we met her in China she always says 'Baby Maya is so little. She's so cute! She's my friend...' I had to take a photo of her with her referral photo to show just how much she's changed.

Getting Rid of the baby stuff...

Maya has decided that she's a 'big girl now' and so doesn't need baby things. Her high-chair and booster chair were dismissed by her before Christmas so have now been sold. Her crib, play pen & baby picnic table are next to be sold. Her 2 strollers, her cloth diapers and lots of toys will be sold before the summer is out. These days, she wants her tricycle, her ice skates, and her sticker book. She even asked me for a pair of roller blades today! My how quickly things change...

Broken Hearted no more...

Maya had her 1-year post-op visit with the surgeon this week. It was supposed to be in November but her surgeon broke her foot in the same way that I did in 2000 so was off work for a couple of months recovering. I remember that feeling...! Anyway, Maya was a champ. She behaved well, she did everything she was asked to do, and even told the technicians what they were doing to her. It was a breeze! What a smart kid this one is!
BTW, she's VERY healthy and there is no longer a hole in her heart...

Big Girl bed...

It's been a wild weekend of changes. Maya's potty training successes have prompted us to make some other changes in our/her life. It was time to start transitioning Maya out of her crib and in to a big bed. Tying this big-girl bed in to her big-girl underwear, etc, etc just seemed to fit timing wise. We decided to do it in stages instead of all at once. Stage 1 was to remove the side-rail & drawer and put the mattress on the floor. Stage 2 will be to remove the rest of the crib and put her on to a full-size mattress. The final stage will be to put her in to an acutal bed. We did stage 1 on the weekend, with Maya's help, and she couldn't be happier. Within seconds of the bed hitting the ground, she was on it and reading 'Go Dog Go' to her dolls (with surprising accuracy on the wording). Bedtime was a breeze that night. She only rolled out of bed once the first night and not at all the second night. So far, the transition has been great!

Big Girl party...

The FCCBC Chinese New Year Dim Sum party was this past weekend and was a lot of fun. Of course, Maya thought it was all for her as she had successfully used the potty for #2 the night before and was now wearing big-girl underwear (training pants). She very proudly put on her mandarin dress and was at the door, ready to go, when the time came. The event was packed with over 100 familes (~400 people), all who had adopted children from China. The leader of the CNY events and parades is always the 'God of Good Fortune'. This year, John was asked to play this role and got to wear the costume and greet everyone as they came in. Maya thought it was quite entertaining that daddy was wearing a dress but was more interested in 'her' party and all of the crafts she got to do. It's all about her, you know...

God of Good Fortune

God's family

Potty update...

Potty training with Maya has been going well. She's almost perfect with going #1 without mistakes but wasn't interested in going #2. We spent all of last week encouraging her to try and telling her that she would get 'big girl' underwear (like her friends) when she did it. On Friday, she decided she would do #2 on the potty that day. Sure enough, she did the deed that evening. After finishing our happy dance, she wanted to put the underwear on immediately and to do so by herself. I gave her the underwear and I grabbed my camera to capture the moment. What fun and what smiles she had!

The next day, we were due to go to an FCCBC Chinese New Year Dim Sum celebration. As everything tied in well, I told her that we were going to have a big Dim Sum party for her to celebrate her being a 'big girl'. The event was ~400 people with Chinese Lion Dancers, The God of Good Fortune (who was actually John - separate story...), Chinese singers, fan dancers and lots of crafts. Her eyes grew huge and she was astounded that we were throwing a party... for her! She was so excited and couldn't wait until we could go to 'her' big-girl party.

It's potty time...

Suddenly, Maya has decided the potty is a good thing. No warning. No recent attempts. Only minor discussion. 5 times sitting on the potty yesterday & she was successful 3 times doing a #1. At daycare today, another 3 successes. We're hoping that these successes will continue all week and maybe even get a #2 success. If we do, then it's on to training diapers and, possibly, underwear. Wow!