Re-Adoption

Today we had Megan's re-adoption. What is a re-adoption? It's basically a recognition of the adoption completed in China. We have to complete a re-adoption so Megan will have a US birth certificate and so that she will be considered the same as any US born child we bring into our family. (Some states do not recognize international adoptions and have been known to not give them "child" status in estate doings. Yes, it's horrible.) We had several family and friends join us for the special occasion. And we had several take photos for us...we're so grateful!


What made it being today extra special was that 4 months ago today, Megan was handed to us! And to not break with tradition, Megan slept through the ENTIRE thing! It was right at nap time, but she slept through every appointment in China too, so why not the final step in the process? That girl.

Tomorrow marks 4 months of her being our daughter. We are "celebrating" it with a road trip to visit family. It should be an interesting trip, we've not traveled this far with Megan in the car before.

A Future Fort?

This afternoon, Megan's ball went behind the table we have in our entry way. While she could simply reach in to get it, she decided maybe there was some exploring she needed to do!

Then she decided it would be a good place to attempt to stand up (holding on for support, though)!


The getting out wasn't pretty...in fact, it required a "Mom rescue"! She is really exploring her environment.

Uh-Oh

Megan loves to copy this phrase, only hers sounds like "uh-uh". So cute.

This morning I left her in her crib after she woke up...she woke up at 5:07am (yes, ugh), and when I peeked in, she was just laying there rolling back and forth occasionally talking. She really, though being pretty quiet. So, finally, about 20 minutes later, I heard a "I'm fully awake" squeal, so I went to peek. She greeted me...standing in her crib. This is a first. Every other time she's pulled herself up to her knees, but never went beyond that (hence the reason it was quiet, I suspect!). So...this is the new trick. I suspect she'll be using it quite frequently for a while...even though she is DOG tired, she'll still try to pull herself into a standing position. Little stinker. Yes, it's exciting! But, that means mom can't leave her in there for too long anymore! Crap.

We're getting closer to her feeding herself. However, in true Megan style, she's got to do it her way. If you put you hand out with a cheerio or goldfish on it, she'll look at it a second, then lean down to pick it up with her mouth--forget the hands! She also does it if you put it on the ottoman...leans over and picks it up with her mouth. I guess that's one step closer!

BTW--ornery face is back again...we're seeing it more and more...like when she's drinking her bottle! If it wasn't so darn cute...

Our Most Recent Talent

A few days ago, Megan started forgoing using her hands to pick up her paci when it fell and went right for picking it up with her mouth. I finally got it recorded this morning.

This girl is SO SILLY!

Her outfit is the cutest! The skirt finally fits, but I love this top. And the color looks so great on her!

Fun with Grandma & Photos

It's been a very busy week...it started off with Megan being up for several hours each night, but the sleeping at night has improved. We've also been VERY clingy this week...I think it's likely teething. She's spent quite a bit of time in her Lucky Baby Sling. It's been a LIFESAVER, okay, make that an arm saver!

Contemplating some trouble here

The show-down
(actually, a frequent scene at our house!)

Just being cute...notice the drool...a constant right now

Grandma came over to play the other day. Grandma can always get Megan to giggle and giggle and giggle. I was in the office and heard them giggling so I crept into the living room to record them. This is just a very SMALL part of the giggles...there were MANY more before I even got the video out.

14 Months Old

Crazy cute outfit--yes, that's strawberries for buttons!
(it is still a bit big, the pants were hard to keep up)

Our first "pooling" experience

It's actually tomorrow...but if the past week is any indication, I won't get to post then. I guess the past week has been occupied with figuring out when to catch up on sleep we're not getting at night! (It's been a bad sleep week for some reason). I swear every time we think we have a pattern figured out with the kid, she goes and changes it on us. We're in yet another change. She can pull up in her bed now (at least to her knees). Up until Wednesday morning, I assumed that meant she was awake and ready to start her day. But, I learned otherwise on Wed. We'd been up most of the night and at 4:30am she had pulled herself up in her crib after sleeping only 15 minutes in her crib after being rocked for much longer than that (and asleep in my arms). Thing was...she was SO TIRED her head was hanging...literally, hanging down it was so tired. (If I hadn't been so stinkin' tired I probably would have laughed at THAT moment...but it is funny now, BTW.) When I simply watched from the doorway, she sat that way for less than a minute, than laid herself back down. (She didn't go back to sleep, I'm sorry to say, but she did lay back down.) Crazy kid.

And today she learned to pull her hair bow out. Darn it. That 3 months of her being oblivious to what's in her hair was sure short lived! Well, I'm hoping she'll change her mind about taking them out as her hair continues to thicken and the bows stay in better.

Megan Kisses

Our new skill is to give kisses. It's not something we ever worked on and I'm sure the fact that she gets thousands of kisses a day had nothing to do with her desire to learn the skill. It started with her putting her mouth to ours when we asked for a kiss (this was just a few days ago!). But, now she makes a kiss sound. SO CUTE!

Here's a short clip of her doing it...I won't post the minute and half one of me trying to get it on video even though she is being cute. After that, I decided to lay off for a few minutes, then I turned on the camera (when she obviously wasn't paying attention!) asked for a kiss...and WHAM! Got it! (Much to my surprise!)

Happy 4th of July!

Megan has several patriotic outfits...dresses, of course...and here's the one she wore today.

Doesn't she look grown up with her arm resting like it is?

She's always making this face when I get camera out...it's hard to get a picture of her real smile (I'm guessing this will be a lifelong problem!). But it does show how big her top teeth are getting, usually I can't get a picture of those little boogers.


We went to Grandma & Papaw's for a 4th of July lunch. So we took a picture.

Uh-Oh

I had to show how long her hair is getting!

She has begun to clasp her hands together, it's SO cute!

This morning (at 4am, none the less) Megan pulled herself up onto her knees in her crib. Then at 5:30am she was sitting at the head of the crib reaching out and playing on the basket we have the monitor on. Guess we'll need to do some rearranging in her room! I've been waiting for her to do these things so I wasn't surprised. Last night was HORRIBLE for sleeping...she woke up at 3:15am. I tried to get her asleep for about 30 minutes--no go. Dad tried for about 45 minutes, finally got her to sleep...she was awake 15 minutes after he laid her down. Then she went back to sleep for me finally (probably took another 20 minutes), only to wake up 15 minutes later again. Needless to say...we're all tired at this house this morning!

Here's video of her crawling...she's really quick now!

3 months...

Three months ago today Megan came into our family. It seems like it's been longer than that! With as many changes as she has made over this short period of time, it seems like she's always been with us! She is crawling EVERYWHERE. She's also started this bear crawl thing in the kitchen (we are assuming because the floor is cold, but one never knows!).

Anyways, here is the best video we have gotten of it thus far. When she knows we're watching, then she'll stop. The little stinker. And the dogs are the inspiration to move around. She loves their tails, especially. They aren't so crazy about her now being able to chase after them.

A sad moment....

(Oh but this face makes it ALL worth it!)

...of realization that our days of having a quiet, tranquil child are O-V-E-R. Now that Megan is mobile, the girl never stops moving. And I mean NEVER. She's really mastering the art of crawling. Both last night, earlier today and tonight she moves so much she is drenched in sweat. Like almost need another bath sweaty (of course it being so hot and humid here doesn't really help the matter any).

She has also began practicing the extremely high pitched, ear bleeding, head spinning squeal/scream. She loves to "release" the worst of it when she is being rocked to sleep (even when she's ready for bed). It almost makes us jump it's so high pitched.

I stopped at the OshKosh outlet yesterday to see if they had any good hats. I truly cannot believe how difficult it is to find a hat that has a chin strap, with a brim that doesn't come down to her nose (and thus preventing her from seeing). I had found one at Old Navy, I wasn't overly crazy about it, but after checking a number of stores and not finding one, I got it. Anyways...these I got at OshKosh are absolutely adorable! And they were on sale (even better)! I wish I would have checked for other options of the wide brim hat...it is cuter on than I realized in the store. But then, we were coming up on nap time and my time was limited.

And these were just a FEW of the ones I took! I got some REALLY good ones!

Oh my...

Yesterday afternoon...Megan was being SO SILLY!!!! She was pouting at her table. I have no idea what she was pouting about, but it was absolutely hilarious! I literally was on the floor, tears coming out of my eyes I was laughing so hard. (If you know me well, you know tears and laughing is not really that far of a stretch for me!)

Anyways...so I had to get a video of it. Unfortunately, by the time I found the camera to video it, she was not pouting as much, but still pouting. Seriously...it was SO FUNNY! So, here's the best I have on video. And let me just say...we have a SERIOUS drama queen who LOVES attention! We are in such big trouble.

Crawling

Megan is changing so much! She's added biting to the list of things she likes to do...that is biting Mom & Dad, who aren't so crazy about the idea. She tries to bite Dad's toes and Mom's leg. Hopefully this phase will pass soon!

Here's her beginning to crawl. She started doing this earlier this week, then on Friday night at Grandma's house she really started taking off. So, we were able to capture it today on video before she gets way too fast!

13 Months Old

Megan is now 13 months old! She has made such progress over the past almost 3 months. She can now:

• Stand for a few seconds without holding onto anything.
• She signs "more" all the time...even when she's sleeping! (I've witnessed this.)
  
• She loves being outside.
• She praises the dogs when they go potty by clapping her hands saying "hey, doggie!"
• She can play by herself for quite a while (if she's feeling well).
• She now has 4 teeth (the top 2 have come in now). She's working on 2 more.
• She grinds/grits her teeth...yes, the top 2 are barely poked through and you can hear her grinding/gritting away. Funny thing is, I used to grind/grit my teeth when I was little. It's a horrible sound!
• She weighs over 18lbs! And is over 28 inches tall. That means since our updated information before we traveled, she's gained almost 6lbs and grown about 4 inches. That's a lot for 10 weeks

She is such a joy...even when she's whining all day (aka yesterday!). We love her to pieces. Every time I rock her to sleep and see her peaceful sleep I give prayers of thanksgiving for the little squirt.

On a sad note...please pray for one of my cousins and his family. My cousin, Nathan, committed suicide on Fathers Day. He was in his late 20s and newly married with a young child. I cannot imagine the pain, sorrow and frustration his wife, siblings and parents are feeling. Pray that God would bring them comfort and peace.

Are you carrying any sharp objects?

She was playing at the refrigerator while I was on the phone...I saw her lean forward like she was going to stand...and yep, next thing I knew...

Up against the wall...I need to pat you down!

Notice the look of "oh crap, now what? I'm stuck."
Yep. It took Mom's help to sit back down.

This the first time she's pulled herself up on something other than her LeapFrog table. I think we're close to walking! If only she could figure out how to move her feet...

Ball Throwing Fun...and other photos

Relaxing on Mom & Dad's bed while watching Signing Time video

(her favorite! And the only thing that allows Mom to take a shower in the morning!)

Here's a face that has been in hiding for a while...
(it was replaced with the ornery eyes)
But it's BACK!!! (with a vengeance too!)
See our cute teeth?

We're such a big girl!
(Daddy's on "catching" duty--just in case!)

Today when we were playing, Megan was really hamming it up while playing catch. So, I thought I'd turn the camera on...she's really getting good at throwing the ball now! And you can see the scrunchy smile we hadn't seen for a bit, but are now seeing a lot of.

(By the way....2 months ago today we got home...boy it seems like it's been longer than that since we got home!)

Updates

Megan is sleeping fairly well through the night now. For the past several nights, she has only woke up once sometime between 11pm and 1am. (Although last night she was up for about an hour during that time! She just wouldn't go back to sleep, although she was SO tired.) She wakes up again around 4am. As long as we go in there and rock her back to sleep, she'll then sleep until about 5am or 5:30am. We also began leaving her in her crib in the morning for a bit. Yesterday morning, it didn't go so well. (But it was my mistake, I know what I did wrong.) This morning she went in and out of sleep until about 6:15am! WOOHOO! I NEVER thought I'd be "sleeping" in until 6am! Last night I slept in my bed with Dad and I taking turns answering her cries. It worked pretty well, except we are both exhausted. Hopefully, we've turned a corner and tonight will go even better.

She's working on yet another tooth...top this time. Looks like the left side bottom has cut through, or almost cut through. She's really chewing on her paci and moves it to the right side.

Oh, I think she might be a lefty. All along she has favored her left hand to pick things up, do things with and throw things. And while she uses her right hand now so much more...she still favors her left hand. So...verdict is still out, but I wouldn't doubt if my parents finally have a lefty in the family! (Both of my parents are left handed, but all of us kids are right handed...I don't think my biology teacher could ever explain that one since left handedness is a recessive trait...meaning all of us kids should have been left handed--from a genes perspective. But we aren't...although I can do several things with the left hand including writing and eating--both of which came in handy in China while holding a sleeping baby!)

So...that's all I can think of right now...sorry, but there're no photos on this computer...so I'll put some up in the coming days...

For those so far away...

Here is a video of Megan playing on her Leap Frog table. She's grown up so much!!!! You'll also see her ornery eyes in action...followed by a huge smile. We also threw in a "all done" at the end for ya, too!

She is just the cutest darn thing!!!

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.)