Lotus Visits Mitsuwa in Edgewater, NJ (2/18/2008)

Lotus visits Cousin Tara's Class (2/12 2008)

Lotus' cousin Tara was Star of the Week at her school. She was allowed to bring visitors into school during this week. Tara invited Lotus to visit her class on Tuesday for a half hour so everyone could meet Lotus and ask questions about Lotus and China. Tara was so excited when we showed up. Everyone sat on the carpet, I showed various items we brought back from China and I asked if they had questions. Most of the questions pertained to Lotus and China, some were comments of how cute she is. At the end Lotus walked around (squeaky shoes and all), greeted most of the kids by touching them on the nose and clapping to Yeah! We left with a cheer from the class and a photo with the entire class. Lotus brought fortune cookies, jellies in cups (a favorite among kids in China), and a year of the rat coloring page. Tara walked us out and thanked us for coming to her class. It was very exciting to visit her class and Lotus was very good. I was honored to be invited to Tara's class, it made me feel very special. Enjoy the photo from the visit.

Love,

Deb, Kevin, and Lotus

Lotus Eats Wonton Soup and more

Lotus has been doing very well with eating. She started out with mashed potatoes and would anything as long as mashed potatoes (eventually it was mashed sweet potatoes) were mixed in. Mommy got very crafty sneaking in mac and cheese, oatmeal, chicken nuggets). She has been doing well. She likes messy play, so much when I went out with a friend for dinner, she tried to messy play in her plate. I was in shock, luckily my friend didn't mind. Lotus has been letting me feed her the gerber puffs again, which is great. She also has been sucking her thumb more and sucking on her stuffed animals (lol). On Sunday when we were at a Chinese New Year celebration, I was eating Wonton soup and decided to give her some with the big soup spoon, she loved it and wanted more and more. She would suck the soup from the huge spoon (after blowing some bubbles) and was letting me feed her the wonton noodle. How cool is that!!!!! She has also stuck her fingers in her mouth with some baby food and started sucking too. Our little girl is on her way! The other night she had marshmellow filling from a scooter pie at her mom-mom's she was crazed over it. Once she was done with some she was sticking her tongue out for more. I notice a big change in how she plays with some toys and how she is picking up her spoon and fork. She still won't feed herself but she will fed her ma-ma and da-da. I think she is about ready to start talking away, she mouths the word bye-bye and it sounds like she has been saying hi when you first walk into her room. Once she starts I am sure she will not stop, she'll probably talk in her sleep. She is such a high energy girl! I will post some pics and try to post the video of the wonton soup!

On another note, early intervention sessions should be starting soon. There were a few issues that are getting worked out. I would have liked them to start sooner than later, however, I will make sure this situation is a learning experience for all those involved. Lotus will start soon and she will be on her way to making great strides! She has already come so far. This Saturday we will be home 3 months and I am amazed how much she has changed. Sometimes I for get she is only 17 months, she gets around so well, walking and running, and running, and running, lol. Sometimes she is hard to keep up with! Gotta Runn after her.............. check out pics below

Love,

Deb, Kevin, and Lotus

Pics from Chinese New Year Celebration

The Other Weekend.....

while I was playing with Lotus I was watching her and seeing how much she has changed since we have been home. I started thinking about the way she smiles and makes funny faces, the way she walks and jumps on you, the way she wakes up in the morning with a smile and gets so excited to see you open the door and pick her up, the way she lays her head on your shoulder as you rock her to sleep, the way she jumps in your arms when the dog barks too loud, the way she belly laughs when you tickle her....... I think about how fortunate I am to have a daughter like Lotus.........I begun to think about how her birth mother will not get to see these things and watch the little girl she gave birth to grow.......and I will always wonder about her decision to let her little girl go. As I watch Lotus grow I will always think about her birth mother.....a complete stranger, who gave me the greatest gift ever. I am truly blessed.

Deb

Don't Trust Lotus To Wrap Your Gifts

I cannot believe on Wednesday Lotus will be 16 months old and we will be home for 2 months! It has been a wild ride for sure. Alot of transition, patience, tears, hugs, and love. Lotus has changed so much since we have been home. I cannot believe my eyes sometimes. Lotus has definitely mastered walking and has tried to run a few times. She is babbling more and trying some baby food and Gerber Puffs here and there. I am happy when I can get her to eat several spoonfuls, baby steps are fine. I know she will get it soon and start eating us out of house and home. Next week Early Intervention will be evaluating her, if she is deficientby 25% in one of five areas she will be entered into the program. There will be no stopping her, watch out!

The best was this Saturday, Lotus was invited to her first party. It was a 2nd Adoption Day Party for Taylor. It was a messy play party and we painted flower pots to look like lady bugs, made flowers for the flower pot, and made lady bugs out of plates. She was too cute in her apron with her name on it. She was the youngest there and blended right in, she was bounced around a bit but she she just kept going and going. After the party we went to the after party at Laura's house and she played some more with her older friends in Emma's playroom. She fit right in and did not cling to mommy. She really did great, I was so proud of her! I have pics from the day. Sunday we had dinner at mom-mom's so she got to see her cousins. She was so good and happy, running all over the place. We are looking into signing her up for a music class with kids her age to socialize her even more. Kevin will get to take her since classes are on Monday mornings :( (sad I miss out on some of these things). It is getting late, so I will leave you with some photos in a new post.

Love,

Deb, Kevin, and Lotus