It's been 2 months...

Sitting in a lawn chair on the patio...
she loves sitting in that chair.

Two months....it seems like a lot longer than that ago that we brought this cute little squirt home! But, two months ago today she became our daughter. Wow. We've made such huge advancements...I thought she was getting so big, until I met a friend yesterday with her niece who is the same age as Megan. Hmm, yeah. Megan is small...very small in comparison! Not that that is a surprise...I think she's always going to be small. I just wonder when she'll peak in her extremely fast growth that's been experiencing lately. Doctor appointment in a few weeks...guess we'll find out how much she's gained in a month!

The Big Girl Things we do...

What a busy--big girl week!!!

Isn't she grown up sitting by her table?
(she has been known to tip over, though.)

Yes, and we like to stand sometimes too!
(By ourself, of course!)

We have started drinking from a sippy cup. Her bottle is still her first choice, but when offered the sippy (and we are thirsty) we'll drink from it! WOOHOO! We still have some that goes down the chin, but overall...we are swallowing!!

We also are now signing "more"...and she completely understands "eat", but hasn't signed it yet. She also will raise her hands up above her head when she is "all done" eating. Talk about cute! OH MY GOSH!!!

We have a toy box that when the different shapes go into the box, it will sing. A couple of weeks ago I began working with her by setting the shapes on the side of the box where she would then knock them into the box. Well, earlier this week (or was it late last week?) she began pulling them OUT of the box. She has been attempting it for sometime and would get SSSOOOO frustrated because she couldn't them out (there's an edge on the opening). Well, now she can. Then she promptly throws the shape across the room. Heck, right now, she throws EVERYTHING she gets in her hands!

And what else...how could I forget the biggest one of all??? SHE'S SLEEPING IN HER CRIB!!! Celebrate!!! She has so much room to roam in her crib and she takes advantage of every inch all night long. Mom gets to sleep in a bed (not her bed, mind you, but one that is quite comfortable none the less). WOOHOO! She started with naps on Monday...and by Tuesday night we figured we'd try it...and she did GREAT! She has an awesome singing crib toy that is quite relaxing and she enjoys listening to that while she is falling to sleep.

(Yes, she's in her pjs again...it just seems like the time of day she's most cooperative to both play and let me take photos of her...6am...previous post was in pjs too...she has so many cute outfits, I need to take more photos during the day after she's dressed! And that's also why her hair is always askew...in case you were wondering if we were going for a retro look! haha. We're not.)

We ARE Sassy...

Making Ornery Eyes...
which are then followed by...

Smiley Megan
as she smiles at us making the same face back at her

I don't know how we're going to survive the terrible twos (or threes as I've heard of late)...because I SWEAR to you we've already entered them. We definitely have a spicy one on our hands! WHEW!

We went to get her pictures taken for the first time professionally...what an interesting experience. She'd been a toot all weekend, but we attributed it to the 2 teeth she's cutting. Well, at least one of them have broken the skin--a little, anyways--but we were still being a little pill! Pretty much the only face she would give for at least the first 10 minutes of the session was what I call the "ornery eyes" (otherwise known at "angry eyes"...I always think of Mrs. Potato Head telling Mr. Potato Head on Toy Story to make sure to pack them before his journey to get Woody.) Whenever we make the face back at her, she lasts for a few more seconds, then breaks into a smile. The little toot...and usually throws in the rolling of the eyes at some point too. I knew God would give me kids with an attitude (and Ian sure had one!!!)...but man, I just don't think I'm up to this!!! It is exhausting!

<<HAHAHAHA>> and to think we thought she was laid back! Boy did she fool us! And the director said she was lazy...well, she needs to come to my house..the kid does NOT sit still (well except the store carts, but then she's still usually rocking side to side while she looks around)!!!! I always ask her if she has wiggles in her butt...because she is always wiggling.

(And by the way...YES, we did get one of the poses of her making this face at the studio...we HAD to. Good ammunition for when she's a teenager! Yes, I'm a mean mom.)

What's up???

A few photos from the last couple of days....

Standing in our crib...now, if only we'd sleep in there!

Megan loves her wagon
She has started to put her ballerina leg (always the left one) up on the ledge.

Ballerina in training? Yes?

Prayers are Needed...

Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter, Maria Sue, has been killed in a tragic car accident at their home. You can read more here and here. He and his wife have adopted 3 girls from China. As you can imagine, their family and friends are absolutely devastated. I simply cannot imagine being blessed by a delightful daughter from China for the Lord to take her only a few short years later (I think she was around 5 years old.) Maria Sue is the daughter the Lord placed on Steven's heart to adopt after doing humanitarian work at her orphanage. He was not planning on adding another child to their family. And she stole their hearts.

The Chapmans are very well known within the China adoptive community and have a foundation that grants scholarships to help families adopt from China. Pray for them at this horrible time of loss.

Fun with G&G

On Saturday, as Daddy & I were getting the house ready for the party, Megan went on a stroller ride with Grandma V & Grandpa C. Since we were outside cutting Daddy's hair when they got done, they played on the patio in the shade since it was so nice outside. Daddy's so talented, he took this while I was cutting his hair!

Megan's 1!

Daddy & the birthday girl!

Mommy & birthday girl

Yesterday was Megan's birthday! She has changed so much in the past few weeks. She LOVES to roll all over and can get across the room in a matter of minutes. She also loves to make noises...Daddy has been saying "GGRRREEEAAATTT" (think Tony the Tiger). Well, guess who attempts to imitate him! It really sounds like that what she is saying after Dad says it. It's too cute! She sometimes says mama...but mostly likes to say na-na-na-na-na. She's attempting to crawl...and LOVES to stand. She's also really nosy--she wants to know everything that is going on. She's doing better with table food.

Here is video of Megan with her birthday cupcake. I fully expected her to simply look at it, but she got quite into it! (Okay, having problems with Blogger...but it's fixed now!)

Whew! What a week!

Bethany & Megan

Thankfully...the semester is officially over. I stayed up late (well, late for us now! It was only 10:30ish.) to finish up the final papers and get the grades submitted. What a relief. Now, I feel like I have my life back!

We did have a short play date yesterday with Stacey & Bethany to introduce the girls to each other. Stacey & Bethany live a few blocks away. They came home a couple of months before us and Bethany is just a few days younger than Megan. They did finally warm up to each other about the time they had to go home! But, we'll be scheduling another one soon! It was encouraging to me to see how far Bethany has come over the past few weeks...things Megan is not doing yet...but should soon!

The last couple of nights of sleeping have been pretty good. Last night Megan went to sleep late (I think it was 8pm), but she slept really good by herself. I think we figured out that she needs to be held for about 3o minutes after she falls asleep, then we can put her in bed and she'll sleep good. Last night, in fact, once Keith put her down, she didn't hardly stir...and didn't wake up until 1 am! I thought I had died and gone to heaven...unfortunately I wish I could have gone to bed at 9pm..think how much consecutive sleep I would have gotten! Ahhh, to dream. The day will come...I know it will!

Mothers Day and other Things

Well, our first Mothers Day with Megan was...uneventful. Unfortunately, I had so many papers to grade that I wasn't able to get done the week before that I spent the entire weekend doing just that--grading papers. So, Dad had Megan duty pretty much all weekend. Next year, we are hoping to be able to go to the zoo or park or something more fun than grading papers all weekend!

This video clip is Megan talking (which she does a lot of now). The funny part is that it took an hour for us to get this clip! (You should see each of the previous tries!) She is such a turkey...as soon as sees the camera, she will get quiet and just smile (which you'll see at the end of the video). Yes, it's dark--because unfortunately, my living room is dark--and we had to be sneaky! In fact, the rest of the story is that every time I heard her talking, I'd sneak from the office up the hall with the camera and try to catch her. She must have supersonic radar because she would get completely quiet even though she didn't see me!

The formula issue has been resolved (at least she's still drinking this new kind!). If only the sleeping would improve, but it's only been 6 weeks since we got her. So considering that...and the many beds she and I have slept in together in those 6 weeks, she really is doing well. I think the problem last night was that she was hot...I don't know how to keep her from getting hot, while not getting chilled. She had a lightweight sleeper on with absolutely no covers and yet this morning there was a HUGE wet spot from her head (yes, her head...not lower!). And it happened between 4:30am and 6am! In fact the sleeper at the base of her neck was all wet. So, any ideas on how to keep a sweater from waking up because they are hot...I'll take 'em!

Formula problem resolved?

I sure hope so! She's drank more of this formula in the last 24 hours than she has drank over the past 4 days. Let's pray we're good! We're still attempting to use the sippy cup with water. I can't say it's going well...but I figure if we keep trying she'll get it. It appears she knows what do with it (as it runs down her chin), but plays more than drinks, but that's fine...we're getting closer. I did try a straw (as some people said their child figured out a straw early)...um, yeah, that was funny! All she did was chew on it! Go figure.

Well...we're supposed to get immunizations today...I have no idea how many shots it will be...but I'm sure that means it'll be a fun afternoon. Especially since last night wasn't so great--she was quite restless which meant virtually no sleep for mom (unfortunately).

The Spice has appeared

Who can deny this cute face? Spicy or not?

My little emailing buddy!
(yes she is standing by the couch mostly on her own)

Well, I wondered whether Megan was not feeling well (which is still possible, I think she's teething, actually) or whether her spicy-ness has appeared. I honestly think we're spicy...we're certainly beginning to express our opinion about things (if only Mom & Dad knew what it was she wanted!).

We are still having problems getting her to drink her formula. We've tried three kinds (all of which she has drank without any problems before!), changed bottles and nipples and still can't get her to drink more than 2-3 ounces at a time. (Yes, we've tried the sippy cup, and she still doesn't really get the point of it yet. Closer probably, but not yet.) If we are lucky, she'll drink 8-10oz a day...yes, that is right, A DAY! So, we're trying yet another kind, which I'm told tastes more like the Chinese formula. (Did someone taste the two and determine they were similar??? I don't want to know!) I even to Wal-mart at 5am to get it so we could try it (and yes, she went with me, as she was already awake). She drank 4 ounces, so that's more than I could get her to drink at any one time for several days. The verdict is still out if she likes it or not. She will drink some apple juice (which is really mostly water), but not more than 8oz a day either. I'm concerned about her getting dehydrated. We're going back to the doctor tomorrow, maybe he'll have some suggestions on how to manage the spicy-ness and get her to drink her milk!

Doctor Visit #2

The doctor's intention was for Megan to get immunizations, however, she has an upper respiratory infection. So, the doctor decided to wait another week. We have to take Megan to another appointment next week, so we just decided to combine them and get her immunizations then. I really don't know how many or what ones she is going to end up getting next week, but some shots.

So, the good news from the doctor's appointment...she now weighs 16 lbs 9 oz! WOOHOO! The doctor was even impressed!!!! Mommy was super excited that she hadn't lost her mind as she's been feeling like Megan was getting heavier! We've had to move the Exersaucer up one...because she's gotten so tall!

Some other new things we do...purse our lips for medicines (up to this point she's taken them fine...until yesterday!) We clap our hands on our own. We like to push up on our arms when we are laying on our tummy...hopefully that means we're close to crawling. We are much more engaged with our toys. Heck, now we can pick up toys that we had no idea what to do with when we were in China! Oh, and today, we've had an attitude about what we'll eat and what we won't! I don't know if that's because she's not feeling herself or she found herself (aka her spicy-ness is coming out!). I'm thinking it's likely the latter....which will make life interesting!

Family Fun

A few photos from this week visiting with family....

Nana Lin & Grandpa Steve with Megan

Cousin Ashley & Megan

Grandma Patty & Grandpa Gale with Megan

Auntie Tosha & Uncle Clark with Cousin Brooklyn, Megan & Mommy

Auntie Jodi and Cousin Brady with Megan

Uncle Greg & Auntie Katie with Megan
(don't tell my other aunties...but I think she might be my favorite!)

One Month Ago

April 1

On April 1st, Megan officially and legally became our daughter! On the one hand, it seems like yesterday...but really, it feels like she's always been with us!

April 30

Things she does now...rolls over...stands....LOVES to jump...talks like crazy (well, in baby language anyways!)

Fun at Nana's

We just got back from Nana's house yesterday. One of the days we were there, Megan began splashing in her bath...for the FIRST time! It was so cute! Every day after that one, the splashing got bigger and bigger and bigger! In fact, the last bath at Nana's...the floor and window were SO WET simply wiping up the water would have cleaned the floor! It was too cute.

Quick Update on Megan

Megan did great on the plane on Thursday, although when she got up she was a bit on the crabby side which means she's not feeling well. I was really concerned that it would be a very long and painful journey. But, she fell asleep at the airport as I was waiting for our flight...then woke up before we boarded...then fell back to sleep and slept the entire flight! Our layover was very short (as in we almost missed our flight!!!!) and she was pretty content on the short little 35 minute flight into SD. She's handled all the family events well...the next 2 days are pretty laid back, which is when she does the best.

I didn't bring the cable to upload photos while we're here...so you'll have to wait until I get back. I have the CUTEST video of her splashing in her bath on Saturday morning....she's never really been a splasher...but she is NOW! I'll upload it this weekend...

Poor baby girl

Yesterday...when the not feeling well started

Now THIS is tired! 5:30am this morning

My poor Megan is not feeling well. We don't know if it's a cold or new teeth coming in! Last night was really bad...and she was up at 4:30am...yes, you read the correctly! I did get her to go back to sleep for...wait for it....10 more minutes! (I think it took 30 minutes to get her to sleep those extra minutes!) We've got runny nose, watering eye and general fussy-ness. She had a fever last night, but that's gone today. She needs to get feeling better today...we leave tomorrow for SD to meet more family! We need the happy Megan back!

So...what's new???

This ducky tub makes bath time really cool!

Aren't I cute in my Kitty towel?

Look at me standing up...I'm such a big girl! (And yes, Mommy's legs are long!)

Well...just a few things. Megan giggles more for Dad than she does Mom for some reason, but Mom is the only one who can feed her "properly" (or so she thinks!). She will go to sleep for either of us, but right now I'm the one who is sleeping with her every night. She really only has night terrors for the first few hours she's asleep (like 7:30pm to 10pm), but does still thrash about. I swear, I move her over and before I know it, she's smashed right next to me again (and we're BOTH sweating!)! She LOVES to play peek-a-boo! She's doing better at sitting up. She has found her tongue...which we have been seeing a lot of lately (and we LOVE it)!

We are starting to enjoy our baths...in China, she wasn't too sure at all. But, then Mom & Dad didn't really like the bathtubs/sinks we had to use...they were entirely too slippery even with a towel in the bottom! But, the ducky tub...oh my gosh...she's big stuff in that! And loves it!!! We LOVE to stand...and we're getting better about rolling over. The tummy to back...EASY street...back to tummy...I mean who REALLY wants to lay on their tummy? (I think that's what she wonders as we try to make her roll on her tummy, besides what is she supposed to do with the arm anyway!)

Boy do we talk (aka scream!)...especially without the paci in her mouth. We've been limiting the paci to tired, sleeping and a bit on the crabby side. She's had barrettes in her hair, but they have so little to hang on to, they don't typically stay in long...or Mom has to consistently "re-install". Hopefully that won't last much longer! We need barrettes!!!!

Well, she turned 11 months old on Friday (yep, bad Mommy didn't get that posted! But late is better than never! Besides, it's not like we forgot...we didn't...). She has changed so much over the past almost 3 weeks...it's almost unbelievable that she is the same kid!

What a Special Present

Four years ago today, we said goodbye to our precious Ian. This birth week has been the most unique since we have just gotten home with Megan.

As a special present today, we got to hear Megan truly giggle for the very first time. So, here's the clip of her going crazy in her ExerSaucer and what about the game was so funny, I don't know, but she found something really funny about it.

It is so precious!!!! I had to share!

Being silly!

Today as I was working in Megan's closet, I found these sunglasses I forgot I had for her. She was in the Bjorn, so taking pictures was a bit difficult, but she just looked SO CUTE!

Photos

In our high chair at home...

We LOVE our Exersaucer!

The last few days have been pretty busy...but here's a few photos. We went to the doctor where they took lots of blood. He pretty much gave her a clean bill of health, pending the results of the blood tests. They'll test to determine if her immunizations given in China are truly effective or not. The ones that are, she won't need again. Hopefully most (if not all) won't be needed again! She now weighs over 15 lbs and is 26 inches long! That's progress!

Yes, we're home!

We've been so busy...we didn't get to post a final message from China, like I had wanted. But, Tuesday was insanely busy. We were trying to get the last minute shopping done...packing...etc. It was crazy. Megan did not sleep well that night at all. She was up way too much...and decided at 3am that it was time to wake up despite our best efforts to get her to sleep a bit longer. We had to leave the hotel at 7am, which we did. We got to the airport to find out our flight had been delayed to 11am. It would then arrive in Beijing at 2:15pm, which was not enough time for us to get our bags, re-check in for our international flight, and get to the terminal (which is quite a distance from the terminal we arrived at). So, our guide did some fancy foot work and we had to buy tickets for another airline. It wasn't too expensive, thank goodness, and resolved our having too much RMB (Chinese money) that we thought we had. The flight left a bit before our original flight was supposed to arrive, so we had to hurry to get checked in, through security and to our gate. They had just began boarding when we got there...so much for having extra time at the gate!!!

We made it to Beijing at about 12:30pm as we were supposed to. Megan was starving!!!! In China, you cannot carry on ANY liquids, gels or anything irregardless if they are for the baby or not. I had done some strategic packing and put an unopened jar of baby food right inside one of our checked bags so I could get it out when we got to Beijing. Megan scarfed it down while we were trying to get checked in to our international flight. So, we were good. They did allow us to keep some tynelol and mylacon for Megan on our international flight, but that's it. We THOUGHT we'd have an infant meal on the plane, but for some reason we did not. So, that's meant we had 5 bottles of formula, cheerios and fruit puffs for the entire flight. After several prayers that she would not starve on the plane, we made it to Chicago with her sleeping all but 2 hours of our flight! It was amazing!!!!! Of course, when we got to Chicago, no vendor in the airport sold baby food. We went and had dinner somewhere that had french fries so she could have a little something...and she ate LOTS and LOTS of cheerios and fruit puffs! When I asked about baby food, one of the vendors gave me a look like "what a bad mom, she didn't even bring baby food for her child!" I simply said, we just got in on an international flight and we could not have any liquids on the flight. I don't know that she believed me, but whatever.

Our flight from Chicago home was a 50 minutes delayed leaving because the plane we were taking was late coming in. Then there were storms in our area, we thought for sure we'd be diverted, but thank goodness we were not. And somehow they made up time such that we were only 15 minutes late! There was quite the gathering of friends waiting for us! Megan was famous (yet again!!!!). We were very exhausted, but it was so good to be home. Megan had the very last bottle on the way home from the airport, then ate a jar of bananas when we got home. She was quite hungry!!!

Sleep since we got home as been evasive. While Megan is already on our time zone, she has caught a cold and her nose is so stuffy she can barely breathe. Since she feels the need to have the paci, she can't breath though her mouth if the paci is in, so she sleeps in our arms, but once we lay her down, she lasts about 30 minutes and starts fussing. Consequently, last night I finally got her to sleep at 3am, left her on my chest, and basically slept leaning up against a stack of pillows. I made it until about 6:30am, then had to pass her off to dad. I was absolutely freezing! Dad got to sleep a little longer...then she took her normal naps today. Her afternoon nap she slept on her back on the bed for over an hour. So hopefully she'll sleep tonight. Her parents sure need more sleep!!!!

I have to upload photos from the camera...so there's no new ones right now. Check back in a few days...hopefully we'll have more time to get straight with the world and get them uploaded! Caring for baby, sleeping and keep the house somewhat organized is about all we're getting done right now! Heck, we're even forgetting to eat ourselves!

More photos

Chloe, Tessa, Ann, Leah, Zoe, Olivia, Megan & Rashan

Photos

Miss Hot Stuff loves to stand now

Yep, she's a purse girl!

Our new friend, Ann

The classic red couch photo

Big girl, now...sitting in the high chair!

Monday in Guangzhou

We had our medical check today. They simply look in her ears and mouth, make sure she responds to a squeaky toy, weigh her, measure her and check her over for scars. Megan was not too fond of any of this what-so-ever. Photos later. She does weigh 6.6 kg now which is over 13.2 lbs! We've put on a half of pound (or so we guess, since we really do not know where she started)! This is good news!!!

Today is very hot here...and we are very tired and ready to come home. Beyond ready to come home! We are leaving the room in a few minutes to take the classic red couch photos with our group of kids as well as entire group photo. The rest of the group is going on a dinner cruise, which we really want to go on, but considering our little Megan likes to go to sleep around 5:30 for the night, we didn't think it would be such a good idea. We had to go out last night late to get our laundry and she was a bear to get to sleep last night. I think it took over an hour...which is very unusual.

Well...we need to run...maybe I can blog more later, although I think I'm going to begin packing tonight. We already bought an extra suitcase for all our loot...so I need everything to find a home. Besides that's one step closer to coming home!!! Tuesday in our "swearing in" ceremony, described by our guide as an hour long with 59 minutes waiting and then we answer "yes" as a group. I still have a bit more shopping I need to do, but otherwise tomorrow will be hanging out at the hotel.

Snuggles with Megan

This morning Megan decided to snuggle with the elephant that plays a lullaby. This is yet another first.

She also had learned how to play peek-a-boo. I put the blanket over her face, said "where is Megan?", and she pulled the blanket off her face (and smiled, of course!). The problem with this is that when we are out and she's in the carrier, I cover her face when she's ready to go to sleep. Yesterday and this morning, she did try to pull the blanket off her face, but really only grabbed it and really didn't pull it off. So, we'll see.

It seems as though her true personality is coming out more and more everyday. And it's possible that her "cuteness" is really to get what she wants...the smiles come out and charm abounds. But, when we want something and mommy doesn't know what it is...man can we get fussy and mad! Oh my. And when she is hungry...LOOK OUT!!! She wants it NOW! She can put away the food, if she likes it. We did find out she's not too fond of pumpkin and not too crazy about a veggie mix of carrots, sweet potatoes and parsnip. But pears, oh boy, doe she love those. She almost ate an entire jar of pears after eating about a 1/4 jar of the veggie mix last night. The rice cereal here is in individual packets, and she is eating about a entire package every morning and still taking4 or sometimes 5 bottles a day plus cheerios or fruit puffs as snacks. We'll find out in the morning how much she weighs, surely she has gained weight.

We're going shopping today. Looking forward to it.

Saturday in Guangzhou

Mommy & a sleepy Megan at the Academy

Happy baby!

Completely tuckered out from playing with the stacking cups today!!

Okay...let's see...yesterday was pretty much a travel day. Our last day in Changsha, we did go to Hunan University to visit an Academy which some identify as the oldest institution of higher learning. It is 2100 years old...can you even imagine? It was pretty cool. They are a couple of really beautiful gardens there and we took some cute photos. Megan, as usual, was sleeping by the time we got to that part. I swear, our group thinks she sleeps too much...every time they see her, she's sleeping! She sleeps almost every time she's in the Bjorn. It doesn't usually take long either! Then she's awake in the room which prevents us from getting to nap when she naps (little stinker!!!)!

We arrived in Guangzhou about 7:30pm, which is way past Megan's bedtime. The new flight rules here mean no liquids, gels or anything in the carry on luggage. We were VERY short on time in the airport because it took longer to check in than the guide calculated (I think). Anyways, there was no time to get water for a bottle. We were able to get some inside the airport as we were running to our gate, but it was way hotter than we were comfortable giving her. So once we got on, we asked the attendant for cold water, and she didn't seem to understand. Or there wasn't enough cold water. So we tried blow on it, put in the open bottle under the air vent, etc. to cool it off. We were able to cool it off some and Megan didn't seem to mind that it was a bit hotter than usual. But, we couldn't take any baby food on the plane and she was really pretty hungry. It was a short flight (about an hour) so we were able to tide her over until we got to the Holiday Inn where we are staying. But it was probably 8:30pm before we could find the food and she got to eat. She was not crabby at all, though. She's such a good baby! She did fall asleep right away, though...and slept from 9pm to 3am without waking up (oh wait, she did have a bottle at 11pm). In fact, she did NOT move at all, she was simply exhausted.
Some firsts over yesterday and today....

• She rolled from tummy to back Friday morning
  
• As we were getting everything packed up, she turned from back to front (and about scared the crap out of us as we did not see her do it and she about rolled off the bed!).
• First airplane ride, of course. She did pretty good, but was quite withdrawn and quiet. We wondered if she was concerned we were going to leave her with someone else. Maybe she was grieving. Of course we'll never know.
• Grabbed my glasses for the first time.
• She's using her tongue...sticking it put some, of course we've been showing what to do!
  
• First french fry (She enjoyed sucking on that!)
• First time she's reached out for things rather than simply staring at them (last night it was the tag I took off the luggage and put on the bed--she grabbed it and was examining and tossing it to and fro).
• First time she really played with the stacking cups. I tried earlier, but she simply stared at them. I had tried putting one in each hand, but she had no idea what to do with them. But, today DH tried, he showed her how to bang them together, and she did it. In fact, she played for a good 30 minutes with those (that's a long time for a kid with no attention span!)
  
• She plays a mimic game that started Friday morning. I was holding her as we were waiting for our group in the lobby, and she starting moving her head side to side. So, I copied her. She was a little puzzled at first, but the started doing it again to see if I'd copy her. She loved the game. She even played it with one of the teens in our group.

Okay, I have a fuss-button right now..the naps today were too short...she's hungry and tired...Daddy's not any good right now..she thinks she's had enough Daddy time and simply wants Mom...gotta go...

Thursday in Changsha

I'm typing with one hand as Megan doesn't like to be put down at nap time. And silly me, I put her to sleep in my arms rather than the Bjorn so I could have both hands. Oh well. Megan (and us) slept better, but she still insists on going to bed at 5:30pm. Consequently, she was up to stay at 4:30am. Of course that doesn't count the several other times she woke up.

She woke up with a 100.3 degree fever, which is likely from teething...her bottom 2 are finally coming in. So the girls stayed at the hotel and DH went to the history museum.

Here are some photos...

Megan is sleepy...can you tell???


mommy & Megan

yummy carrots

Photos & Video

Lunch today! Happy baby!

This video was taken on Monday afternoon.

Bullet Points

Lovin' on Daddy VERY early this morning!

Someone being silly and wide awake at 5am!

We missed an entire day of posting, so here are a few highlights from Tuesday and Wednesday.

• We finalized the adoption paperwork on Tuesday and Megan officially--in the eyes of the Chinese government--is our child.
• We walked to a Friendship Store (a Government ran store so there is no bargaining). It was all high-end clothes and nothing we were looking for, so we walked back to the hotel.
  
• Megan did not sleep well at all. Well, let me rephrase that, she has frequently "night terrors" where while she is sleeping, she will cry out and thrash about. That means that Mom and Dad did not get much sleep. In fact, I just bit the bullet and put her in bed with me because every 45-60 minutes she would cry out and I would have to get up and pat her tummy or back, so I just gave up and put her in bed with me. Dad got far more sleep than Mom, but at 3am, Dad took over so Mom could sleep until about 5am.
  
• Megan finally fell in love with cheerios!
• She had baby food for the first time (with us, anyways)...I think it's carrots & apples..I know, quite the combo! She actually really loves it!
• We have cooled off her bottles to just warmer than room temp and she's good with it. Besides, she's much quicker at drinking it than when it was so hot.
• Megan is talking much more.
• She's strengthening her legs quite a bit now and loves to stand up now...and LOVES to bounce up and down!
• Her head is getting stronger and can sit better, if she wants to. Wanting to is the key!
• We noticed today that when a Chinese woman attempts to talk to her, she goes from the smiling, giggly self to a furrowed brow and serious expression.
• We took a taxi (yes, by ourself) to Wal-Mart. It was 2 story..and had some interesting things in it! We didn't stay too long, but we did need some more baby food and few "simple" toys for her (like a rattle).
• Wednesday we went to the Embroidery factory. Wow are they talented! There was a room of ladies working on different projects. Quite detailed work

Okay...that's the best I can think of with this tired brain...in fact, I'm punchy I'm so tired! And few photos from the last few days...

This is what happens when she rubs her face with this paci.
I guess the handle is quite flexible!