An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break. --Chinese legend

Saturday, August 30, 2008

David's dance mix

I challenge you to watch this without laughing.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Shimmy shake

Here is video of David keeping us entertained at dinner. Special guest appearance by Evie.


Weekend

David enjoyed himself this weekend as per usual. He got his obligatory farmer's market donut, hosted his first poker night (sorry, no pictures), spent some time at Millennium Park with the lovely Evie and even made it to church this morning.

As I said in the last post, David continues to make good progress with his speech. He is attempting to make animal sounds. If you ask him what the cow says, he gives a low "mmmmm" which is probably much closer to what a cow actually does say than "moo." I think his first "no" finally made an appearance this weekend. He thinks it's very funny to shake his head no and give us a big grin when we ask for a kiss, and now he's added a "nuh nuh nuh" for emphasis.

David likes to be a well informed citizen. Here he is taking in Barack Obama's latest speech.

If no one is going to give him a riding mower, he'll make his own.

At the park with Evie.

My intention was for him to have zero adult forks during the meal. Somehow he ended up with two and definitely made the most of it.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Monday, August 18, 2008

18 month check up

David weighed in at just over 24 pounds today. This puts him at almost the 25th percentile for weight (up from around the 5th percentile at his 15 month visit). He was 30.5 inches, which is just below the 10th, right where he was last time. So basically, we've fattened him up. He hated every second of his visit, but he only needed two shots and doesn't have to return until he turns two in February.

In other David news, he is saying a few more words now. We're up to about 7 that he says spontaneously--some are very clear (hi) and some only Kevin and I can distinguish (ma vs. more). He has also started repeating words and sounds a lot more in just the last week (tonight I swear he copied me when I said "right right right"), and I hope that means there is much more talking around the corner. He now dances any time he hears music. He also opens and closes his mouth like he's lip synching, which is totally hilarious.

As promised, here is zoo video...




In his free time, David has been doing some charity work. Check out this link.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

If I die, it will ruin the weekend

Sixteen years ago, my family traveled to Washington, D.C. to watch my uncle Joe be sworn in as US ambassador to everyone's favorite former Soviet state, Turkmenistan. My grandma Zieg did not come, saying that if she died while we were there, it would ruin the weekend. Indeed. So when she died today, we knew we should try very hard not to let it ruin our weekend. In her memory, here's our Sunday...

David and I in Chinatown. David stuffing his face with egg noodles and selecting a treat at a Chinese bakery. (He picked a lotus paste moon cake...mmm!)



David giving the goats at the children's zoo the what for. Stay tuned for zoo video later this week...


We also plan on going to breakfast and ordering "well done" waffles in Zieg's honor. To make the experience more authentic, we'll wonder aloud why there are so many people in the restaurant. Shouldn't they all be working?

Leslie, has your hair always been curly?

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Busy week

We've had a busy week. David made a new friend on Sunday when Sameer, Aemun and Sulaiman came to visit. Sulaiman is only 6 weeks older (and about a foot taller). They had a good time playing and even managed to share toys relatively well. They're already planning a reunion in San Diego this winter.


On Monday Alma took David to the zoo. He had a great time and especially enjoyed the phones in Tropic World.

My parents came to visit Monday night and will be leaving this afternoon. They got to spend some time with David, Alma and Sabrina and watched David on their own Thursday and Friday afternoons. They went to the zoo again on Wednesday and visited the park several times. We capped off the week with donuts this morning. My parents are returning to South Carolina where they will undergo intensive rehab to recover from their week with a toddler.

David helping with the laundry and taking a ride with his friends Fiona and Sabrina.

David with great grandma Lil. Stuffing his face with donuts, a Saturday tradition.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Haircut disaster


David's hair has been slowing invading his ears and face for a few weeks now, and today we finally got around to taking him for another haircut. When we sat down, the woman asked whether we wanted just a trim or to cut it short. I said a trim, and the next thing we knew she was giving David a buzz cut fit for basic training. He also screamed the entire time, which added to the fun. He is as adorable as ever, but Kevin and I both agree that we miss his full head of hair. He is now fully recovered and enjoyed a delicious dinner and even some Olympic gymnastics before bedtime. He applauded for routines he thought were particularly well executed.

Alma brings her daughter Sabrina sometimes when she watches David. He thinks Sabrina is very funny. Here are a few pictures of them enjoying breakfast and playing the piano.


Alma and Sabrina took David to Wonder Works here in Oak Park on Friday.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Weekend update

Since we spent a lot of time in the car last weekend, we (I) decided to stay close to home this weekend. We enjoyed farmers market donuts Saturday morning and a trip to the zoo in the late afternoon. The first time we went to the zoo, David paid zero attention to the animals. He is definitely much more interested now. Still, his favorite part of the trip was the water spray by the elephant exhibit. You can see how wet he got below. I'm pretty sure I was wetter.

After a short nap, David was energized for some quality water and animal time.


Today Uncle Dave and Katie came over for dinner. David knows how rare it is for Uncle Dave to bring a girl around, so he brought his A-game and was very cute...until bedtime, of course.

His shirt says "I heart Uncle Dave"

Friday, August 1, 2008

18 months old

Our little monkey is 18 months old today, and in just 4 days we'll celebrate 3 months since Gotcha Day. Honestly, it seems like he's been with us much longer than that.
David understands so much of what we say now. He follows all sorts of basic commands. (His favorite is shutting Kevin in his closet.) I can't wait until he can say more than hi, hello, mama and more because it's obvious he has a lot he wants to say. He is trying so hard to use sound to communicate. If the phone rings, and we don't answer it, his eyes get very big and he looks right at us and yells "ma!" to tell us we're not doing what we're supposed to. Whenever the dogs are barking, he'll run to find them and yell at them as loud as he can. I know he's trying to shut them up.
Everyone continues to do well with my return to work. David still looks a little befuddled when I come and go, and sometimes he cries when I leave, but he and Alma seem to be having a great time during the day. They've taken many trips to the park and even went to Millennium Park downtown to splash in the fountains there. He's spending lots of time with the kids on the block which he absolutely loves. Yesterday morning, I was out with him before I left for work, and he gave our 3 year old neighbor Fiona two big kisses while they were playing. So sweet.
I have been thinking more than usual about David's foster mom since my return to work. I hate leaving him for 8 hours knowing that he's at home, safe and happy. I don't know how she parted with him after 9 months together not knowing where he would go or if he would be happy. It's very important to me that we let her know he's okay. I wrote her a letter and had it translated into Mandarin. I put 5 pictures of David in with the letter and mailed it to his orphanage on Tuesday. We have no information about his foster family and no way to locate them. I'm pretty confident the letter will find its way to her, though, since I know she received the care package we sent to David while he was in foster care.

So cute (and so thirsty) in the tub