Cupcake update...

How time flies! We have been ever-so-busy with our little lady! Sometimes weeks go by and we barely notice… We open our eyes and another month just went by just like that! Our girl is doing wonderfully! She has been learning so much and has grown in so many ways. We are definitely learning as we go along… Life is so different now! It’s so funny looking back, we were so naive… we used to talk about all the things we were going to do once our girl came home and the ways we were going to “implement” our new “life plan”(ha!) It has been a whirlwind …

Here’s a Cupcake update…

Chinese New Year

Baby girl can understand everything we tell her and she is able to respond in complete sentences.

She continues to be very independent. We want our Lil Cupcake to play and have fun, of course we want her to learn to do things but we want to take care of her. That’s what Moms and Dads do right? but she just wants to do everything on her own! Everything with our girl is a power struggle! We are sure it will serve her well when she is older but for right now… it drives us crazy! Sometimes we wonder if they lied to us in China about her date of birth and she’s just a little person passing by a two year old :0) She certainly acts like it…

She loves telling us what to do, when and how to do it! She’s a tough cookie! We have to constantly guide her and remind her who’s the Mommy and Daddy!

We have a girly girl Yeah! She loves clothes, shoes, accessories, baby dolls, princess stuff and she loves pink!

She is pretty much potty training herself. We really wanted to wait a little longer but after viewing Elmo’s potty training video she just asked to go potty and she did! At this point it’s just when she wants to go (of course we make a big deal out of it!)But when we ask her if she wants to try, her answers is always NO! So we don’t push the issue, at least not yet.  

Sometimes we feel a bit insecure and wonder if we are doing this parenting thing right. Dealing with a toddler with such a big personality (who has been home with us for only 5 months) is challenging to say the least.

We spent lots of time reading and preparing before Baby girl came home. We waited 10 weeks before we introduced her to family and friends, we are her only caregivers (although we have gone on a few short but sweet dates :0) we meet her needs on demand to promote attachment and bonding. We want our daughter to learn to trust us and know in her heart that we are always going to be here for her no matter what. However…. baby girl is so used to us dropping whatever we are doing and rushing to meet her want and needs that now she is acting like a little diva! (It’s cute now but of course it will NOT be cute when she’s gets older). We don’t want our girl to be a brat and we need to know where to draw the line, which is very difficult since she has been with us for such a short period of time.

On the positive side, our girl is healthy, sweet and loving. She is curious and loves to learn new things. She is spunky; she has a sense of humor. Our baby girl is very friendly and polite. She is just a bundle of energy!

Every parent thinks their kid is super smart but we think our girl is pretty advanced for her age…

She loves to sing and has a thing about music; it’s very easy for her to memorize lyrics just by hearing them once or twice.

She is able to identify colors and shapes

She is able to identify some letters and numbers in random order

She is able to count to 10 in English and Spanish (we have to learn the Chinese version to teach her)

She loves anything arts & crafts, books, playing with play- dough

She is able to cut with preschool scissors and we have to constantly watch her because she is ready to give herself a new hair style!

She loves ABC Mouse games

She still likes to watch her TV shows, Yo Gabba Gabba, Dora the explorer, Blue’s clues, Bubble Guppies, and Mickey Mouse Club are still her favorites. It’s fun to watch her following along the episodes while giggling, dancing and singing her little heart out :0) We stopped watching Peppa Pig (even though that’s her very favorite show)as we noticed many annoying things she was starting to copy! 

Our girl is not afraid of anything, she is just full of wonder ready to explore and learn. Life with our girl is so busy but we wouldn't have it any other way! She is our everything, she is definitely our greatest adventure!

 Valentine’s Day

 Great Wolf Lodge

Children’s museum

Bounce u

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

2014 Year of the Horse

 

Gracie updates soon…

Happy New Year!

We have so many things to be thankful for… the year 2013 was very challenging for us but it was also a wonderful year… the year we met our daughter and brought her home!

 Our baby girl is doing beautifully. She is smart, sweet, and sassy! She is a good listener and can follow directions very well, she can also be a bit head-strong and somewhat defiant (typical toddler!) She sure knows how to test her limits to see how far she can go… She also has a little attitude that if not kept in check will cause her lots of trouble (ha!) She’s so cute that sometimes she does get away with a lot especially with Daddy :0)

Our baby girl has been home only 3 months but she runs our household :0) her vocabulary is very extensive; she continues to sing and entertain us every day!

She is used to her schedule now, she is eating pretty much everything we eat (she gained 4 pounds already!) and she is also sleeping a lot better. Sometimes if we are lucky she takes a nap here and there, Woohoo!

She is all about colors! Now that she knows her colors, she is constantly naming objects and saying what color the items are. She’s a smart cookie and she knows it because if we take a few extra seconds to praise her, she will praise herself.She would say something like “yeah, good job girl!” she is just too cute!  By the way we got the ABC Mouse free trial and she looooves it!

She plays with many toys but nothing holds her attention for long (unless she’s coloring) she just make huge messes with toys then off to something else. Lucky she is a good helper and with a little help and praise she will put her toys away where they belong.

As far as attachment, our baby girl is loving and affectionate but her attachment is definitely more secure.

We are looking forward to the new year and what is in store for us…It feels so good having our baby girl home, and not having to worry about the adoption paperwork, the process, or having to worry about our daughter being far away without us. It is awesome to just enjoy life together…

We pray for those who are thinking about adopting and the ones that are still in the process (It can be difficult and lonely at times) we also pray for  the children still waiting...that they get the chance to meet their forever families this year.

Wishing you health, happiness and prosperity, Happy 2014!

I & A and Gracie

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve in pictures...

 Finally December 24^th!

Baking special cookies for Santa with Daddy‘s help :0)

 Santa won’t mind if I taste his special cookies right?

Messing with the Christmas tree for the millionth time 

(not sure how it survived!)

Gracie, Mommy & Daddy

Gracie and her Lola 

 

Reading the Christmas story with Daddy

Enjoying our First Christmas day with our baby girl!

  

                   

 Merry Christmas to You!

 

Almost Christmas!

Oh joy! We are so looking forward to our first Christmas day with our baby girl!  Taking advantage of the time spent indoors due to weather, we have been doing a lot of fun holiday related activities, following family traditions while incorporating new ones this year. Christmas is such a special time and we are just so freakin’ happy that our girl is home with us to celebrate and fully enjoy!!!

A year ago we only dreamed of what would Christmas be like with a little girl in our home, we imagine all the presents she was going to get and how we would decorate our home  … this year we snuggle together, enjoying hot chocolate while our daughter sing, dance and play with her toys... We watch her and laugh, we are so blessed! This year we are not as concerned with decorations and gifts as much as we thought we would, our main focus is trying to enjoy every minute with our girl making beautiful memories.

Here are some of the things we have been doing this month:

 We introduced our girl to "Elfie" our very own elf on shelf

 Presents Exchange  (12 days of Christmas)

 We have been baking cookies 

 Ornament we brought from China

 Decorated our Lil’ Christmas tree 

Our yearly ornament... 2013 Gracie is Finally home!

Made lots of holiday arts and crafts

 Playing with snow for the first time!

 Santa Baby!

 

Letter for Santa

 

 Pictures with Santa

This is our “new normal” and loving it!(most of the time...)

                                   Hope you have a Merry Christmas!!! xoxo

Another Cupcake Update...

We are amazed! Our Lil Cupcake is learning so much and her personality is shining through! She is a little Diva in the making… she’s our little firecracker! We still have to struggle with Lil Miss Independent in order to do things for her. She wants to do everything by herself which makes us want to pull our hair sometimes ;0)

The idea was to post an update at the end of each month but it is hard to keep up with our girl- There's gotta be an easier way...

Oh well, here’s what our girl has been up to …

We are still struggling with sleep time, that's the time when she feels more vulnerable, she cries, kicks, talk, tosses/turns while she fitfully sleeps this happens every single night! nap time is a hit/miss kinda thing but during the day she is happy and active.

She is a great little helper. She loves helping get dressed/undressed, put her jacket/shoes on and take them off (drives us insane sometimes but we guess it is an important self-help skill). She helps put her toys away and pretty much does anything we ask her to do. She loves to do things on her own and beams with pride when we praise her for her efforts :0)

All about words:

She still says “Pleesee” although more and more she is using the word please. Gracie is starting to put three words together to form sentences. She still refers to Winnie the Pooh as “The Pooey”!  She no longer uses the word “yunny” now she says yummy when she eats something she likes :0)Still refers to water as “wanna” :0) we also hear a lot of “No” around here lately!

First thing we hear each and every time we get in the car…“Chuck-E-Cheese, let’s go!” it is too cute!  When she wants something and we don’t give it to her, she starts to whine “pleasee” with a deep voice that is just hilarious-we have to laugh it’s just to stinkin cute! And it works for her (what can we say…she got us wrapped around her baby finger!)

 3 Favorites: Every time we give something to our girl she responds by saying “thank you Mommy, Thank you Daddy” she says it every time for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! (sometimes I feel bad, of course we want our child to be polite, but the way she says it all the time it makes me a little sad inside, can’t put it into words…

Wo ai ni (“I love you”) First time we heard that beautiful word, we were at Babies R us, she caught us by surprise as she said Wo ai ni and gave Mommy first then Daddy big hugs-(Yes I cried like a baby)- We didn’t ask her to say anything, she just did! So glad we were all together on that special day! She gives us a million hugs and kisses every day followed by so many “wo-ai-nis” and “bobbi-whos”( I love you), we are just over the moon!

Our girl says " am so happy" at random times – we don’t think she knows the meaning of it but it’s still adorable! We are so happy too baby girl, so very happy!!

She wakes up every morning singing and goes to bed singing, who does that? She is just too much!

She is able to say her name (which is very long) and her last name 

Our Lil Cupcake is absolutely a girly-girl, she loves accessories (keeping hair pretties on for majority of the time) she loves necklaces and bracelets, purses, shoes and clothes! She loves putting on chapstick which she refers to as “lipick” sometimes she uses crayons as “lipick” yuck! Is adorable though :0)

 Not sure if it’s her favorite color but she is certainly able to identify the color pink :0)

Favorite shows: Dora the explorer/ Yo Gabba Gabba ( hate it, such a creepy show but their tunes keep her entertained.  Mickey's club house ( she calls “oh toodles” a lot and sings the "hot dog" song :0)Bubble Guppies and Peppa pig with the piggy sounds of course.

Favorite snacks strawberry/banana smoothies/organic fruit snacks/ ice cream

Favorite foods: rice with boiled eggs (without yolk) little Vienna sausages  mixed with ketchup. ( I know, pretty gross but she loooooves it!)
Nuggets and French fries (doesn't eat all if it) absolutely loves her fruits especially bananas, apples and tangerines.

Other things she's trying: mashed potatoes/Mac n cheese/cheese sticks/fish/bread/pasta/pierogies/pizza. She may not like/eat everything but she will try whatever we offer her.

Don't like: meats and veggies unless she feeds herself, then she may eat a few spoonfuls :o)

She is still drinking Enfagrow Toddler formula (bottle before bed time) She also likes apple and orange juice

We still feed her majority of her meals to promote bonding and so that she knows Mommy & Daddy are here to provide her with what she needs but we also encourage her to feed herself toward the end of meal so that she can practice using her utensils. She is able to eat using her spoon as well as her fork- She is also able to use regular cup to drink her favorites without spills (we still use sippy cups while in the car or while doing errands)

Our baby girl has no issues with sharing her food or toys, she usually stuff some of whatever she has been eating into our mouths followed by yummy and a big smile, we cringe inside a little while saying Thank you for sharing baby girl :0)

Favorite toys: Winnie pooh (sleeps with him every night and plays with him during day) Minnie Mouse is also a favorite, tea set, stroller and baby Stella

Love: sticker books, story books, coloring books (crayons)

Favorite stories short with pictures and flaps that hide part of the story.

Favorite activities: still  coloring and anything arts and crafts ( she is not afraid to get dirty)

Like any typical toddler, our girl likes to test her limits and push her boundaries! . She is a very determined little girl, Guess she think if she keeps trying someday Mommy or Daddy may give up and allow her to do what she want to do  (Not happening!)

Currently wearing size 2t
Size 6 shoe

Every day is so full of possibilities, our Gracie is full of wonder, eager to learn and explore… we are so grateful for the opportunity to parent our girl! It’s amazing, not that long ago we were just following our comfortable routines now everything is new, it is sometimes challenging but we wouldn't change it for the world…