Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We've had an active and fun holiday season this year with lots of good time with family and friends. Jane and Eliza made the long car ride from Denver to Texas to visit family. With the help of Aunt Anne and Mary Poppins. The stories from the road were smiles, for the most part. After their return, we enjoyed Christmas together as a family.

For an extra Christmas present, my parents came to visit for several days. With Jane's new sewing machine, she and Mom went to work re-purposing Eliza's old crib dressings to fit her new "big girl bed." See below for the final result. The face on the pillow is Dora. The rumple under the cover is a hiding Eliza. Bubbles on the kitchen counter were another fun treat.

I took about 10 days off from work and we all enjoyed a long stint of family time. Eliza is an absolute hoot. Her love of story telling and sense of humor seem very mature for her age. "Once I saw a whale with a turtle on it, and he had a bowl of ice cream" [loud, high-pitched laughter]. These past months have been fun, peaceful, productive, and full of new discoveries. Eliza is blossoming into a very inquisitive, fun-loving little girl who is comfortable in her own skin. I think we've hit a good groove. Must mean we're due for change.

Let it Snow!

Our first big snow! Eliza has been very excited and anxious to get outside. She begged to shovel snow and Kyle obliged. They attempted a snow man, but the snow is too powdery. Maybe next time? For now...we'll stay inside and enjoy hot chocolate and Halloween cookies.

Fall Fun!

Thanks to all of you have waited so patiently for our return to blogging. It has been a completely unintentional hiatus.

Eliza is doing well. We have fun, fun, fun! She is turning out to be quite a good hiker...hiking a little over a mile before requesting a break. She talks like crazy and has an impressive vocabulary. She is beginning to tell stories that start with "once upon a time", and thoroughly enjoys hearing stories of her adoption in China. She is quick to announce that she is "Fee years old" and was born in "Yunyang" but met mama and daddy in "Chongqing". She has started a second year of Mandarin Chinese language classes and is excelling. She (like most children under five) seems to have a real affinity for language.



This summer and into the fall she spent a lot of time helping out in the garden and yard. Who knew pulling weeds was so much fun. She helped plant, and water cucumbers, green beans, cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers. Harvesting proved to be a favorite activity! Next year we are planning a bigger garden. Maybe we'll plant corn and snap peas.



She relates deeply to Dora the Explorer and has given each of us a character name. She is Dora, Fairytale Princess. Mom is Snow Princess and daddy is King Bobo. I adore it when she actually introduces herself to people "My name is Fairytale Princess...this is Snow Princess and King Bobo is at work."


Life is good. We are amazed every day at what a great kiddo we have. She's fun, sensitive, sweet, smart, the list goes on. I will try to be better at updating the blog...but I make no promises...I have a lot of playing to do. Snow Princess has a busy schedule.

Just for fun...this is one of my favorite videos...Eliza is discovering her musical self.

Holiday Update

Christmas was wonderful and full of cheer. Eliza caught on quickly to important concepts like presents and Santa. She adored looking at outdoor lights, and punctuated each sighting with phrases like "oh! Bunch a yights" or "Yook, Mama...Daddy...and baby Jesus".

Eliza has started to recognize letters. She confidently points out the letters A, B, C, and O. She has started counting in English and Mandarin and occasionally makes it to the number 5 without prompting. She's constantly talking and is impressively expressive. Her favorite color is green. She still equates candy with Halloween and frequently asks for a "trick or treat". A week before Christmas she asked for a trick-or-treat...I told her they were all gone. She quietly walked away and returned with her Halloween costume and said "more". When we have an exceedingly yummy meal she states "Santa Claus Lunch"...maybe because we ate so well on Christmas day.

We are finding that Eliza's memory is shockingly acute. Recently, she enjoys "reading" her books to us. She doesn't miss a line. We went to a party in Golden last week. As soon as we turned onto the main street, she recalled to us her experience at the Buffalo Bill Days parade in July. We've hardly been to Golden since July. She's even hinting at memories from when she was in China. Remarkable. In the photo above, you see her reciting "The Night Before Christmas".

Monkey Business

In past weeks, Eliza has shown some resistance to to the monkey costume. But last Sunday that all changed. During her first experience with trick-or-treating, she made a solid connection between the monkey suit and sweet sweet candy. She cleverly changed the chant to "treat or eat". Now she slips into her monkey persona with the ease of a banana slipping out of its peel.



It seems that Eliza very much enjoys Halloween [week]...and scarecrows.

Halloween Prep

Most of the trees in Arvada are either yellow, red, or bare. Our tomatoes are finished for the season and the mountain tops are white most of the time. We've had lots of fun playing inside and out during these days of fickle weather.

We and Eliza are engaged in a long and heated debate regarding her Halloween costume. Her faithful parents believe the monkey suit is the best choice for both aesthetic and practical reasons: it is very cute, cozy on a cool night, and sports a ripe banana. Eliza on the other hand, prefers the fish-head-ballerina costume. It's fashioned from her own developing sense of beauty. She does have some strong points in her argument.



This morning we drove to a pumpkin farm just to the north of town. As we approached from a few miles off, the land appeared to turn from brown to bright orange. This place had acres and acres of pumpkins. A hard freeze earlier this week minimized surrounding foliage leaving the gourds exposed. Given the ample selection, Eliza had no problems picking two of the best specimens.



Eliza and Mom have been attending a weekly Mandarin class for the past couple of months. One of the little girls who traveled back from China with us is also in the class. They have fun. Weekly art projects magneted to the fridge are a great addition to home decor. Eliza seems to pick up the new vocabulary quicker than we do. She knows her colors and body parts as well as please and thank you in the official language of China.

The Summer in Retrospect!

We have had a wonderful and happy summer. It's been great spending time with our families. Eliza has a fantastic memory and really warmed up to everyone. She was free with hugs and kisses for the grandparents and aunts and uncles.

She has taught us lots about fashion. Pink boots go with everything...so do purple flower headbands. Bows, however, must be removed promptly and without argument.

Eliza learned all about the wonders of the great outdoors. She spent hours in her car, sandbox, pool, dumping sand into the car and pool, leaving piles of sand all over the back yard, hauling little cups and water pails from the pool to the flower pots and tomato plants, picking red tomatoes and green cucumbers (with absolute glee)...the list goes on and on. A highlight of her outdoor experience was hiking in the mountains with her grandparents.

She clearly understands the importance of the telephone. She calls her dad every morning (using a meat thermometer) and tells him all about the plans for the day.