Shawnee 2011

We started with Lewisburg's (pre)4th of July parade.  This year was especially fun as Ashley, Haley, and Aunt Julie came to Oma and Opa's to join us for the parade.  Peanut was content to sit on mommy's lap until the last 15 minutes of the parade (apparently, she was observing her brother and cousins and wanted to get in on the candy action).  C trained Ash & Haley how to collect candy thrown from the floats and vehicles (as if any training is necessary when it comes to candy).  Though do avoid any candy coming from a horse...

The highlights of Shawnee included the visit by Uncle Jamar (later Jo'Mar; to the rest of us, traditionally known by the more pedestrian Joe) and "Mrs. Uncle Jamar" (or her more conventional appalation, Aunt Helen).  We were pleased C was able to discover Uncle Joe's inner black nationalist, which has been sublimated since his attempt to join the Black Student Union at Gettysburg College in the mid-1970s (thereby increasing its numbers to 4).  His rejection apparently left him scarred and he moved on to other radical causes such as equality for women.  To this date, he engages in stereotype-defying behaviors such as  refusing to sit in the sun at the beach and reading the New York Times in public.  Perhaps C's summoning of the inner Jamar will unleash the rage of the 1960s campus movements (which, appropriately enough in this case, mostly happened in the 1970s) on the GOP PA legislature.  I'm sure that will be effective...and entertaining...

Monday, we had a fun day with Uncle John, Aunt Peggy, Katie, Braden, Lily and Ryan at the beach at John and Peg's Pocono's place.  Uncle John is an accountant and used to work for the IRS, which explains why C was unable to identify any black nationalist tendencies.  Along the same lines, a few years ago C called him the "white whale" while observing John swimming.  Despite working for The Man and being a tool of the establishment, he and Jamar seem to get along well enough.  Perhaps he appeased his brother by voting for the post-colonial Kenyan, Anti-Christ, Muslim, UCC-attending, Marxist presidential candidate (along with the leftist states of North Carolina and Indiana) while not admitting it to his accountant friends.  Regardless, he's a nice guy though he does have a peculiar tendency to fall off buildings.

On Wed., we visited the Land of Make Believe.  No, not the PA legislature, an amusement and water park in NJ.  C liked the "cupcake ride"--a.k.a. the tilt-a-whirl. Peanut enjoyed having mommy spin her in circles while sitting in the teacup seat on the carousel (evidenced by her shouting "again, again" when the ride stopped).

Unlike her brother, Peanut had absolutely no reservations or hesitation at the Shawnee pool (well, in all fairness, it took C 2 seasons and help from Uncle Kevin to feel comfortable in the pool - now, he's a champ!). In fact, she unleashed her inner daredevil by insisting on jumping off the side of the pool into mommy's waiting arms (at least she listened when mommy said "wait" and would say the same thing, complete with pointer finger waving, before leaping off the concrete in a single bound). Peanut also allowed mommy to submerge her face underwater and help her float. Lil E also enjoyed the pool. She smiled, laughed, and splashed as mommy or daddy would walk with her.

As usual, we had our annual C & Ash funny face extravaganza photo event. The ham factor catapulted to level 100. This year, we also had the joy of experiencing C, Ash, and Peanut's "Thriller" zombie dance, added below for your enjoyment.

After Shawnee, Oma and Opa took us to T&D's Cats of the World, which thankfully had more than cats.  We saw lions, tigers, bears, ...monkeys, deer, a lots more, including some animals I'd never seen before.  Pretty remarkable for a small zoo in the thriving metropolis of Penns Creek, PA.

As always, everyone had a blast.  We're already looking forward to next year... and the next trip to PA to see the whole Fay clan with Heberlig extension for Thanksgiving.

And now, what you've really been waiting for...the vacation slideshow!

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Seven Months Old

Today Lil E is seven months old. My how she has grown over the past seven months. I'm amazed at the amount of growth she's experienced in a short amount of time.

I will say one thing - No one makes her laugh quite like C. Here's a sample of the giggles he creates.



Suppertime, or rice is nice

Little E had her first feeding today, rice cereal. "Hey Mikey, she likes it!" She would have eaten it out of the bowl if we would have let her (see Exhibit A below). Everybody got in on the feeding frenzy.

Disney, Birthdays, Baptisms

Lots a goin' on in May.  M had her second B-day and got two celebrations out of it--one with family before our Disney trip and one after the trip with Oma, Opa, Maw Maw, Aunt Kristi and Hannah joining in.  T got a cake with a humongous red bow and, in honor of M's nickname, peanuts made of icing attached.  Her presents were a big hit.  Maw Maw got her a doll whose clothes and diaper she can remove.  So we spend each day putting the clothes on so M can enjoy removing them.  Oma and Opa got her bubbles which she (and C) loves to do outside.  Her pre-school is over for the school year so she's keeping mommy and daddy running after her full time.  She likes to get a paper and pencil to do her "homework" to keep up with big brother.  She counts to 11(!) though she usually skips 6 and can sing the entire alphabet song.  She is now able able to reach the pedals of her bike and bigwheel and is getting the hang of pedalling. 

We got a "doggy backpack" (aka harness and leash) for her for Disney, with visions of her dashing through lines and in and out of crowds in our minds, but she prefered to have daddy carry her or to ride on my shoulders most of the time.  After the first couple of days, both sides of my back were out of whack, so I was evenly balanced and it didn't bother me anymore.  But carrying around a child in 90 degree heat is, well, obviously really hot.  M liked Its a Small World, the tea cups, the Beauty and the Beast show, and was a dancer (with Daddy) in the Lion King and a parade at the Magic Kingdom.  Generally, however, it was stimulation overload and she was a bit too young to "get" what was going on.  She had a great time with Ashley and Haley though she and Haley got a bit too competitive over pushing the pink stroller.

Colin and Ashley had a blast together as they always do.  They were a good age for Disney and got a kick out of most of the rides in the Magic Kingdom.  They went to a Breakfast with the Princesses at Epcot our first day there and had a good time (and a good breakfast!).  C also enjoyed swimming in the kiddie pool back and driving the boats at the Shades of Green resort.  One day two turkeys came near our room; we went out on the porch and the kids ran around in the grass and harrassed the poor turkeys who were just trying to find a shady spot to stay cool.  Following the snowbirds back north would have been a better option...

Ellie enjoyed herself.  She gave big smiles to everyone and did very well in the stroller esp. given the amount of time she had to spend in it.  At dinner, she made the rounds to Oma, Opa, Uncle Kevin, and whoever else was willing to hold her in one arm while eating with the other.  Post Disney, she has started to roll over on her own.  She started doing it back to front, and when Oma insisted that this was the harder way to do it, she started to roll over from front to back too.  Take that, Oma.

I found it extremely hot and am glad when went in mid-May rather than after school lets out when it would be beastly hot.  It was crowded but we got to the parks early in the morning and Aunt Julie had identified the popular rides.  So we got to them early before the lines got long.  Well done.  We also returned to the resort soon after lunch each day once it got really hot, M and Haley neared their nap time, and most of us got tired and cranky.  The pool beckoned!  I hadn't been to Disney since 8th grade--when Epcot was still relatively new--so the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Disney were new for me.  I especially liked the African safari in the Animal Kingdom.  T and I also went to Universal Studios on Friday so T could ride the new Harry Potter ride and see Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.  She also got to drink Butterbeer.  We couldn't ride many rides at Universal with Ellie in tow but found plenty to do (mostly see the 3-D shows in air conditioning) to keep us occupied until 5 pm.  C and M stayed at the resort with the rest of the gang and went swimming.

We returned home on Tues and Thurs Oma and Opa drove down from PA.  Enough time to wash and repack their clothes!  They joined us for Ellie's baptism and M's B-day celebration.  E's baptism went smoothly.  She was a little fussy just prior to the baptism, but was fine once she was in front of an audience.  (Hmm, wonder who she gets that from?)  When Pastor Ward walked her up and down the aisle to show her to the congregation, she gave everyone a big smile.  C volunteered to put the cross on her forehead with oil and held the candle.  M provided commentary by informing us that there was water in the font, that the pastor was putting water on Ellie, etc.  After church, she plunged her hand in the font several times so she could smear her forehead with water too.  Rebaptisms are good, I suppose.

C has 4 more days of school remaining, then it's three at home full time.  Should be fun!  Hope June is less eventful than May or I'll need a vacation...

Tree is Broken

Last Friday, the 100+ year old oak in our backyard came crashing down, demolishing the swing set but fortunately nothing else.  T & I were at a friends house but the sitter filled us in when we called to check in.  The next day, the neighbors reported hearing the loud crack and the swooshing sound--which sound like someone on their roofs or patios--but they couldn't see anything in our backyard in the darkness.  So they were a bit surprised at the source of the sound the next morning (or later that night as T posted to Facebook).  There was no storm to knock it over (so the insurance company can avoid contributing to the clean up), just old age.  The inside had rotted at the base and the large canopy finally became too heavy to hold up.  It's still surprising that the heavy thunderstorms the week before didn't blow it down.  They caused tornados across NC, including in Raleigh where I had to hole up in the bunker of the state legislative office building with the North Carolina Student Legislature.

C and M spent a lot of time out there, esp now that the weather is warm.  M in particular asks "outside?  shoes?  jacket?" and loves to swing. But she has taken the disaster quite well.  In fact, several mornings in a row, she asked for the blinds to be open so she could point out and tell me or C, "Tree is broken; swing is broken."  This morning, when Ellie and T entered the room, she announced, "Ellie my sister."

Mischief of One Kind And Another

Last night we were reading Peter Rabbit as a bedtime story.  Early in the book, Peter is described as getting into mischief.  When I read that line, M made a very odd facial expression--sort of exasperated disgust that the author would make such an unprovoked accusation.  I asked her, "Mena, do you get into mischief?"  Without delay, she replied assertively, "Yes, daddy!"  And there you have it...

C asked another adoption question out of the blue at dinner the other night.  He turned to T and asked, "If I wasn't in your tummy when I was a baby, does that mean I have another family?"  Gulp!  Fortunately T is always prepared with an answer in these situations, and replied, "Another woman carried you in her tummy.  She is your birth mother but you are part of our family.  Ba and I wanted to have a family and didn't think we could have children so we adopted you into our family."  He then moved on to another topic so was apparently satisfied.  But you still have to wonder how long that question--and the reasoning behind it--had been stewing around in his head before he asked it.

Ellie just had her 4 month appt and is 11 lbs 10 oz and 24.5 inches.  She is very close to rolling over so we've moved her into her crib in the pink room which she and M now share.  She's sleeping less during the day, but is doing well at night; generally waking up once or sometimes twice to feed then going back to sleep immediately.  She smiles alot and prefers to be held and kept moving constantly.  She'll "talk" with you a bit.  She does not suck on her thumb, generally preferring all of her fingers instead.

Babies and Adoption

C can tell you that he's adopted and that he's from Vietnam, but I've wondered what that really means to him at his age.  Having a new baby in the house has spurred a couple of opportunities for him to confront what it means to be adopted.  Last night was one.  C asked T if he drank milk from her breast like Ellie.  T said no, he was given milk from a bottle by Nanny Tuyet in the care center.  T reported that C teared up when told that she didn't nurse him, but he didn't break down and bawl as he had in the previous incident...About 2 months ago, T and C were reading "The Family Book."  One page mentions adoptive families and T asked C whether he knew anyone who had been adopted.  He said, "Yes, me, Mena, and Ellie."  T explained that he and M were adopted but that Little E was not. He and M had been carried in other women's tummies (their birth mommies) just liked mommy had carried Little E until she was born.  When T finally got him calmed down enough to talk about it, C apparently was afraid that this meant someone else was going to come to get him and that he didn't want to leave us.  T explained that we were his family forever and no one was coming to take him and this reassured him.  Tonight he asked me, "Did I do that as a baby?" and I had to repeat the care center story and he seemed okay with it.  That question is likely to recur over the next few months...

C has been doing very well in school.  That is, after a trip to the principal's office a couple of weeks ago for spewing chocolate milk onto another boy's pizza (along with an accomplice).  A week of punishment at home and school seems to have convinced him for now that getting "good colors" for good behavior is the better way to go.

M's language is coming along rapidly. She can tell us the basic things she needs.  She likes to point to things so we'll tell her the word for it, which she'll then repeat.  She's using a few 2 and 3 word phrases.  "Bless you" after someone sneezes is particularly cute.  She's into everything.  She likes to climb into the floor level cupboards in the kitchen and close the doors to "hide" from us and then giggle uproriously when she peeks out to see if we're looking.  She still loves to play "Duck, Duck, Goose," and now gets the part about running after you say "goose."   She can open the bathroom door on her own, which is a problem since she likes to splash in the tiolet.  Not an improvement from unrolling the tiolet paper which was her old favorite trick.  She sits on the tiolet a couple times a day (very briefly) but so far hasn't gone while sitting there.  She still wants to "go" standing up because that's what she sees C doing.  She's removing her diaper more frequently so that we'll take her to the potty.  About a week ago, she pooped on the floor of C's bedroom before we knew what she was doing.  (C reacted very calmly--more so than me anyway...).  She can fend for herself:  when she wants to do something and T or I try to help, we get an emphatic "No" (esp. when it comes to putting on socks and shoes or closing buckles or buttons). And C is often the victim of an assertive push when she wants him out of her way--particularly when she wants on the step stool in the bathroom.

Case in point, a video we like to call, "Bossy M."

Little E is generally waking up only once per night and then going back to sleep after feeding (she's become a nursing champ!).  So mommy and daddy are sleeping much better.  She smiles a lot.  She has great head control.  She can roll onto her side which sparked us to put together her crib this week.  C then announced that he was moving into the pink room to sleep with Ellie and M could have his room.  When that plan was rejected, we agreed that he could sleep on the floor in the room (on an air matress) with a sleeping bag.  He did that four nights straight.  M is thrilled with Ellie.  She loves to give her hugs and to pat her gently.  When E cries, M comes running to provide comfort.  When M wakes in morning, she generally asks, "Where's Ellie?"  Then "Where's Mommy?"  So then we go to Mommy and Daddy's room so M can see E sleeping in the basinette.  M chants, "Ellie, Ellie, Ellie" with a huge smile on her face.  (In the afternoon, M will ask, "Where's Dolin?"  (ie, Colin)  The response:  "He's at school."  M replies: "OK."). Little E has recently discovered the outside world (and her fingers).

The three of them are getting along extremely well.  They're going to have a lot of fun together and T and I will have a lot of fun with them--we are already.

Happy Valentine's Day...

Happy (Belated) VN New Year

We traveled to Winston Salem today to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year with other adoptive families from NC.  It was the first time we had joined this group.  There were 15 or so families present--most with multiple kids--so it was a room full of energy!  The highlight was a troupe of Chinese dragon dancers.  They had three dragon customes (the kind typically seen in parades).  They were very colorful and ornately decorated.  The mouths, eyes, and even ears moved.  I wanted to get a picture of C with the costumes but he wouldn't do it.  We did video their performance--including one of the dragons going eye-to-eye with C.  C was as far back in his chair as he could go to avoid being eaten by the dragon.  And as soon as the dragon moved on, he ran over to Mommy and hung onto her leg for the rest of the performance.  Most of the kids had a similar reaction--holding onto their parents for dear life!  If the dragons didn't scare them, the loud drums did.  M spent the performance with her hands over her eyes--but peeking through them--as she did at the circus last week (I'm now realizing we never posted about that...so I'll get to it below).  I'd never seen such a performance and thought it was a lot of fun.

Then we had lunch.  Most of the dishes were VN recipes.  Unfortunately, I didn't see the high chairs before M had made her food mess (sitting on my lap) because jumping around and playing with food is better than eating it.  After she was done, I then went back for my food; there wasn't much left at that point, but I was able to fill my plate with the few items that were left and they were all very good.  After lunch all the kids chased each other around and around and around.  The room had a stage and of course being on stage was especially exciting.

Last Sunday afternoon, we went to the Barnum and Bailey circus.  Lots of, well, everything:  lights, sounds, animals, contortionists, people in the air, people on vehicles, and of course plenty of clowns!  We got C his popcorn as soon as we arrived to preempt hours of nagging.  M did pretty well sitting on my lap, though did want to get up to move around from time to time.  We were sitting next to an aisle so she would get frustrated that I wouldn't let her play on the stairs or hang from the railings.  Some of the other people on the aisle found her at least as entertaining as the circus as they would immediately watch her, laugh, and wave at her when she got loose. 

Big week for me too.  "How the Gov Got in Your Backyard" came out on Wed.  The complete, revised manuscript of the never-ending magnum opus was submitted to the University of Michigan Press on Thursday (still have the copy editing and page proof stages to go before that one finally ends!), and the Democratic National Committee announced it will be in Charlotte in 2012.  So developing ways to take advantage of the convention for the university apparently will be my next big project.

T goes back to work on Monday, so she and little E will be in for big change.  And so will I, especially if little E refuses to drink from a bottle.  Let the fun begin!

Sister Love

Showing Little E some love, Miss M style...enjoy!