It's all about Baby K

My last post was all about G and so I'm going to take an opportunity to brag on Baby K a little.

You all know she's the cutest girl ever but did you know how incredibly smart she is? She's such a charmer. We've been doing baby signs with her since she was about 6 months old and now she has started verbalizing along with using her signs. There is nothing more heart meltin' than when she signs and says "please" at the same time. With the right person this will often get her just about anything that she wants-even if it is M&M's at 10:00am in the morning:-)

She recently had a well baby check-up and surprisingly had only grown a 1/2" and gained about 13oz. I would have thought it was so much more than that because we've gone from 12 month clothing to 12-18 month clothing. Of course she is so active now, that she most likely is just running it off. The pic below is like deja vu'-G wore the same dress to her well baby check-up at the same age.


"Oh really, this is the same dress?"

When was the last time you discovered your belly button? Well K found hers and it's incredibly funny to watch her trying to look at it. She uses one hand to "pull up" her little belly and the other hand to touch her belly button, all the while bending over to try and catch a look. Eventually she is almost toppled over trying to see.


"I can almost see it"

Last week we attended cousin J's birthday party at the park and I got some great pics of Baby K on the swings. The picture that I didn't get was the one where all the kids were sitting on a blanket and cousin J was opening his gifts and out of nowhere Baby K comes over and hits the birthday boy with a plastic bat. Not the best way to get yourself invited to future parties.


Just a swingin' at cousin J's party

I know it's only August and there is still time for Halloween costume shopping but I couldn't resist getting this for Baby K when I saw it. Guess what she is going to be.....

HI HO, HI HO, It's off to school we go.........

Wow, that was quick!! It seems like G just had her last day of school yesterday and now we're starting a new school year. While I'm looking forward to the consistency of the routine, I'm going to miss just hanging out with my girls and just doing whatever we feel like doing for the day.

It's been a month since my last post and lots of things have been going on. G went to summer camp for the first time this year. She did a two week camp thru her school called, "Sing, Spell, Read, and Write"-which she loved. She also did a mini-camp for cheerleading. The pic below was taken the last evening after they performed for the parents. I was impressed that they were able to learn so much in such a short period of time.


G at cheerleading camp

Last month we attended an adoptive families reunion for Baby K-this month it was G's turn. Each year on the same weekend in August we get together with the families that we traveled to China with. This year, eleven of the twelve families were able to be there and what a weekend. I am constantly amazed that even though the girls don't see each other but once a year that the bond they share remains strong. When we first arrived they were all a little tentative but by the time Sunday came around they were playing together like friends that they see quite often.

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since we made that trip. This was probably the first reunion that the girls actually verbalized their sadness over leaving each other. It was really sweet to see them hugging each other goodbye-I overheard, "I won't forget you until next year," and "I'll be sending you love," and the cutest of all, "Get your mom to send my mom an email and I will send you a letter." Yes, that last comment was put forth by G which means that maybe I use our email too often:-)

Here's a couple of pics from our reunion weekend:


G and her China sisters


G and friend at our China Travel Group Reunion


Our family

We got home from the reunion on a Sunday and then school orientation was Thursday, and the official first day was Friday. I almost can't believe that G is in first grade. Here's a few pics from that first day:




G and Mrs. Shaeffer

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me............

Yep, it's finally here....another birthday. Last year on my birthday we had just come home with Baby K from the RMI. In fact, we arrived home on July 22nd, the day before my birthday. I remember being so happy to finally be home that my birthday was just an afterthought to all the blessings that I was counting-a new baby, a safe return home, running water, consistent electricity, the impending start of kindergarten, iced coffee, Subway veggie sandwiches.....

Now a whole year has passed and once again I'm thankful for all the blessings that have been bestowed on me-two beautiful girls, a healthy family, good friends, way too much good food.....

The summer is flying by! My G has taken to the water like a fish this summer. My child who didn't even want to get her face wet in the bathtub is now jumping off of the diving board. I like that she has conquered her fear but now I'm a little fearful of her fearlessness:-)


G jumping off of the diving board


D-daddy, Baby K and Grammy at the pool

Last weekend we attended the Midwest Pacific Islands Reunion in Lexington, KY. It was a nice trip and a great opportunity to see lots of blended families like ours. The reunion was organized by adoptive families but the agency brought some of the CAA (Central Adoption Authority) officials over from the RMI. I learned that all of my letters have been delivered to Baby K's grandmother or BuBu in Marshallese (pronounced BooBoo). I can't tell you how happy that makes me to know that someone from her birth family knows how well she is doing. With any luck maybe we will get some correspondence back.


Baby K on the inflatables


Our friends from NY that we met in the RMI-and Baby K sleeping (just in time for the group photo)

While we were in Lexington we went to the Kentucky Horsepark and to a children's museum called The Explorium. I would have loved to been able to share some pics from the horsepark but I left both cameras and the video camera in the hotel:-( The park was 1200 acres and was home to retired racehorses, several equine associations and two different horse museums. The highlight of the visit for G was a tie between petting the foals and riding one of the ponies.

Both girls had a great time at the Explorium. There were age appropriate areas for both Baby K and G. Baby K had the most fun in the tot play area crawling on and off the tot sized furniture-hmmmmmm, I wonder what Santa might bring this year???? G loved the bubble room. I'm hoping you can see the bubble that she is pulling up around her in the pic below. (and no, Santa is not going to bring a bubble machine like that!)


"This chair is just my size"


G pulling the bubble up around her


In the Bubble Room at the Explorium

Happy Family Day Baby K

Yesterday was K's Family Day-it's been a year since she officially became a member of the Jones family. Hard to believe that she was once a tiny little baby-she is now 14 months old and running, climbing, and exploring everything!

We've spent a lot of time this week looking thru our photo albums and watching the videos that we made while in the Marshall Islands. I sure do miss all the family and friends that we have there:-(

Here is a look back at that day:

My favorite pic of the girls-we were in the courtroom waiting for the Judge


Our first family pic after the adoption proceedings-this is K's birthmom

And now look at my girls:

G and K on Family Day 2010


Just cute!!!!!

The Metro Richmond Zoo

We are fortunate to be geographically located between two great areas-Washington, DC and Richmond, VA. This week I took the girls and cousin J to the Metro Richmond Zoo.

It was a great place to visit and we're already planning a return trip in the Fall. It didn't have as many animals as the National Zoo in DC but there were opportunities for the kids to feed several animals and it had a couple of rides. You can see below that the kids got to feed the giraffes and birds.

I got a little turned around on my directions coming home and it took a bit longer to get back but the kids were so worn out that they slept all the way home and I got to enjoy an iced coffee:-)


The 3 Amigos as we began our day


"Come here monkey"


Feeding the giraffes


Grammy, cousin J and G on the Skyride


K watching the Skyride


G and cousin J feeding the birds


Two cute sisters

An update on K's physical therapy

Just a little update-K had physical therapy today and the therapist is getting ready to cut us loose! We had been going every week for the past 7 months and then last month she cut us back to every other week and now she wants to see us a month from today. If all looks well, then we'll be officially done with physical therapy.

To catch everyone up-K was born with congenital torticollis. (It sounds much worse than it actually is). Congenital torticollis can appear during the last trimester of pregnancy when the space inside the womb gets pretty tight. This causes the baby to lay to one side resulting in a tightened/shortened neck muscle.

Most often this is detected because the child will hold it's head at an angle to one side. In K's case, I became concerned because it looked like she had a little flat spot on the back of her head towards her left side. Her pediatrician suggested that we get an evaluation from a PT and she was diagnosed with a mild case of congenital torticollis. In some cases the head flattening is severe enough to warrant wearing a helmet to actually reshape the head and if left untreated this can actually cause disfigurement (all from a tightened muscle).

We were fortunate that K's was not severe and that we caught it early. We've been able to work with the therapist and do exercises at home that have lengthened K's neck muscle. The really amazing part of this process has been that I've actually watched the tightness move from K's neck down her left side. There is now just a little bit of muscle tightness left in her left knee area.

As happy as I am that we are almost done with PT, I'm really going to miss our therapist, Miss Leah. Not only is she a fabulous pediatric therapist but she has also passed along hints and helps from her own parenting experience.

I took both girls to the pool today. It was K's first time in the "big pool"-she loved it! I tried unsuccessfully to get a few pics with the camera on my phone so I'll try again next time with our regular camera. You won't be disappointed-there is not much cuter than 2 little brown girls in bathing suits:-)

The end of kindergarten

Last week was G's last day of kindergarten. It seems like the year flew by. Actually, it seems that every year has flown by since we became parents. That old adage about, "if you want to watch the passage of time fly by, then watch a child grow," is certainly true.

As apprehensive as I was about G going to kindergarten, it has been a positive experience for her. She has really come into herself-she made friends, learned to read, and most importantly, had something to call her own. She has done so well with making the transition from an only child to being the big sister and I attribute some of that to going to school.

For kindergarten, we chose a school that had a half day program so that G would have time at home with the baby. Next year will be a big change for all us as she heads to first grade and to full day school.

I leave you with some pics of her end of year school picnic and her first and last day pics.


The first day


The last day


G and a friend


G and her teachers


G up at bat


and no post is complete without at least one pic of my cute little monkey face