Well, we've been home six weeks now and the inevitable happened.
The girl's got left.
The boys went camping.
Seriously, they won't have any fun. Because the fun stayed home.
-----
In their defense, we tried to go camping, all of us, about three weeks ago.
There was a certain someone, who shall remain nameless ;) that wasn't very fun to be around.
Maybe it was the countless mosquitoes that swarmed around us. Or maybe the fact that nap times were out of place. Or that the certain someone couldn't get down because she would eat everything on the ground.
I dunno what it was, but they left without us this time. All with big smiles and waves.
Oh well, we will have our own fun here - without them. :)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
How's she doin'?
Wordless Wednesday was my 100th post. I just had to put that in to remember it. YAY for 100!
Anyway, Joye is doing AWESOME. The past couple of days she has been doing this 'happy squeal' and it's adorable. I don't know if she was doing it in Korea or not, but she does it here and we LOVE it. It really is neat to hear a baby squeal in this house again.
Sleeping: Things are going MUCH better. Before, the nighttime bottle was a hard one to let go of when it was gone. Meaning, she would just keep sucking air until I had to kindly remove it from her white-knuckle grasp. Screaming would result, and then she would eventually drift off to dreamland. We have been working on "all gone." When she finishes her *yo baby* yogurt in the morning I say "all gone!" and throw it away. When she finishes her water/juice I say "all gone" and I take it.
It took a while, maybe a couple weeks, for her to get it and now she hands it off when it's gone! I know, this girl has GOT IT! Now at night, when the love-of-her-life is empty, she hands it to me. This Mama was one happy camper when that happened for the first time! She still cries a little (like maybe she's expecting me to fill 'er up!) but it's not the fit that she used to throw.
Naps are easier and I am finding that putting her down at about 10:00 a.m. is better than letting her get overtired by waiting until 1:00. She sleeps from about 10-12ish and then she could use another nap in the afternoon, but two things make it just not worth it. 1) she's pretty hard to convince, i.e. it takes a LONG time to get her down, and 2) she's up in the middle of the night. She falls back to sleep easily, but I would rather she have a long block of sleep at night. If-you-know-what-I-mean!
She is a cute little addition to our bed. Yes, she co-sleeps with us. (and we LOVE it, btw) We co-slept with both boys (they are in their own beds now) and are used to the whole family bed thing. It's not for everyone, but it works for us. She used to roll and be really restless, but not much anymore. She'll roll a little and then settle fairly quickly.
Eating: still eating us out of house and home. Although lately, she's decided that playing with it is more fun. :) Her appetite has decreased a little, but I think she's cutting some major teeth. She's been biting down on her fingers more and cries a little bit more when she's tired. I don't see or feel anything, but I can tell that she's just off a little. 95% of the day she's a happy, snuggly, lovable little girl.
Things that I love about her:
Her infectious smile. (see photo in sidebar, I mean seriously, you can't help but smile when you see that cute face?!)
Her happy disposition. Her eyes just light up.
The way she puts up with all the kisses and lovin's that we constantly give her.
When you sing to her, she hums right along with you. Really sweet.
She LOVES straps, belts, anything that she can put around her neck. It's unusual to find her without something around her neck. She has done this from day one. I wonder if FM wore a lot of necklaces or always wore a scarf? I'll have to take a picture - it's really cute.
Funny story: We were at J.C. P*nney's and the girl checking us out was wearing her employee badge round her neck, and instantly Joye pointed to her and went "uh,uh,uh." I realized it was the strap! She wanted to try it! It was so funny!
When you say"OH, pretty!" She smiles *really* big and rubs her chest/tummy. This girl pays VERY close attention to clothes and what she and I are wearing. As a matter of fact, FM gave her a favorite shirt that Joye always liked to wear. FM explicitly said that she doesn't usually give clothes to Forever Families, but she had to give Joye this shirt and pants. Because she loved it SO much. It's that hilarious?! LOVE the girly-girl thing!
She loves her bath time. She really didn't have much emotion when I bathed her at first. I think because the bath tub was really big (I don't think they have bath tubs in Korea. I never saw one.) and she was REALLY tired when I bathed her. Now she knows the whole routine. Loves every minute of it ALL.
She communicates VERY well. I don't know if girls are more expressive, or that I pick up on her cues more because I haven't been with her for the 14+ months. But she is VERY good at letting you know what she wants. Since day one, I knew what she wanted - not ALL the time but at least 90% of the time. She's just really good at letting you know what she wants. It's really been nice.
She's getting the English thing figured out, too. Remember I said that she as babbling more in an English manner? Well, she's working out the sounds. She's got the "k" sound down when she sees the kitties. And when someone walks into the room where she is, I swear she says "hiiiiiiiii!" It sounds just like it. And when we see her we all say "hiiiii." So she's making the connection.
She says 'mama' a lot still. I think it's referring to me. Let me tell you why I think that. The boys say "hey, mom?!" about 500 times a day - EACH. So I'm pretty sure that she's working out the 'mama' thing. :)
One more thing that I think is super-adorable:
She will strategically place things like small boxes, wipe dispensers, small trucks so she can sit on them. She backs her little tushy up to them and then will throw her leg over and voila! she's sitting on it! It's really cute to see her think all that out and watch her implement it!
She loves music and jams to anything playing. In the carseat, highchair or even on one of her 'chairs'. It's really cute.
Ok, ok, ok. Enough with the 'it's really cute' business. I have to write this stuff down - or I'll forget it!
Hope you all have a GREAT weekend! And CONGRAT's to those of my bloggy friends that FINALLY got TC and are heading to Korea VERY SOON! Wooooohooooo!
Anyway, Joye is doing AWESOME. The past couple of days she has been doing this 'happy squeal' and it's adorable. I don't know if she was doing it in Korea or not, but she does it here and we LOVE it. It really is neat to hear a baby squeal in this house again.
Sleeping: Things are going MUCH better. Before, the nighttime bottle was a hard one to let go of when it was gone. Meaning, she would just keep sucking air until I had to kindly remove it from her white-knuckle grasp. Screaming would result, and then she would eventually drift off to dreamland. We have been working on "all gone." When she finishes her *yo baby* yogurt in the morning I say "all gone!" and throw it away. When she finishes her water/juice I say "all gone" and I take it.
It took a while, maybe a couple weeks, for her to get it and now she hands it off when it's gone! I know, this girl has GOT IT! Now at night, when the love-of-her-life is empty, she hands it to me. This Mama was one happy camper when that happened for the first time! She still cries a little (like maybe she's expecting me to fill 'er up!) but it's not the fit that she used to throw.
Naps are easier and I am finding that putting her down at about 10:00 a.m. is better than letting her get overtired by waiting until 1:00. She sleeps from about 10-12ish and then she could use another nap in the afternoon, but two things make it just not worth it. 1) she's pretty hard to convince, i.e. it takes a LONG time to get her down, and 2) she's up in the middle of the night. She falls back to sleep easily, but I would rather she have a long block of sleep at night. If-you-know-what-I-mean!
She is a cute little addition to our bed. Yes, she co-sleeps with us. (and we LOVE it, btw) We co-slept with both boys (they are in their own beds now) and are used to the whole family bed thing. It's not for everyone, but it works for us. She used to roll and be really restless, but not much anymore. She'll roll a little and then settle fairly quickly.
Eating: still eating us out of house and home. Although lately, she's decided that playing with it is more fun. :) Her appetite has decreased a little, but I think she's cutting some major teeth. She's been biting down on her fingers more and cries a little bit more when she's tired. I don't see or feel anything, but I can tell that she's just off a little. 95% of the day she's a happy, snuggly, lovable little girl.
Things that I love about her:
Her infectious smile. (see photo in sidebar, I mean seriously, you can't help but smile when you see that cute face?!)
Her happy disposition. Her eyes just light up.
The way she puts up with all the kisses and lovin's that we constantly give her.
When you sing to her, she hums right along with you. Really sweet.
She LOVES straps, belts, anything that she can put around her neck. It's unusual to find her without something around her neck. She has done this from day one. I wonder if FM wore a lot of necklaces or always wore a scarf? I'll have to take a picture - it's really cute.
Funny story: We were at J.C. P*nney's and the girl checking us out was wearing her employee badge round her neck, and instantly Joye pointed to her and went "uh,uh,uh." I realized it was the strap! She wanted to try it! It was so funny!
When you say"OH, pretty!" She smiles *really* big and rubs her chest/tummy. This girl pays VERY close attention to clothes and what she and I are wearing. As a matter of fact, FM gave her a favorite shirt that Joye always liked to wear. FM explicitly said that she doesn't usually give clothes to Forever Families, but she had to give Joye this shirt and pants. Because she loved it SO much. It's that hilarious?! LOVE the girly-girl thing!
She loves her bath time. She really didn't have much emotion when I bathed her at first. I think because the bath tub was really big (I don't think they have bath tubs in Korea. I never saw one.) and she was REALLY tired when I bathed her. Now she knows the whole routine. Loves every minute of it ALL.
She communicates VERY well. I don't know if girls are more expressive, or that I pick up on her cues more because I haven't been with her for the 14+ months. But she is VERY good at letting you know what she wants. Since day one, I knew what she wanted - not ALL the time but at least 90% of the time. She's just really good at letting you know what she wants. It's really been nice.
She's getting the English thing figured out, too. Remember I said that she as babbling more in an English manner? Well, she's working out the sounds. She's got the "k" sound down when she sees the kitties. And when someone walks into the room where she is, I swear she says "hiiiiiiiii!" It sounds just like it. And when we see her we all say "hiiiii." So she's making the connection.
She says 'mama' a lot still. I think it's referring to me. Let me tell you why I think that. The boys say "hey, mom?!" about 500 times a day - EACH. So I'm pretty sure that she's working out the 'mama' thing. :)
One more thing that I think is super-adorable:
She will strategically place things like small boxes, wipe dispensers, small trucks so she can sit on them. She backs her little tushy up to them and then will throw her leg over and voila! she's sitting on it! It's really cute to see her think all that out and watch her implement it!
She loves music and jams to anything playing. In the carseat, highchair or even on one of her 'chairs'. It's really cute.
Ok, ok, ok. Enough with the 'it's really cute' business. I have to write this stuff down - or I'll forget it!
Hope you all have a GREAT weekend! And CONGRAT's to those of my bloggy friends that FINALLY got TC and are heading to Korea VERY SOON! Wooooohooooo!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
One Month Home
Four weeks ago today, we were packing up our stuff in Korea and heading home.
Four weeks ago today we were venturing into a *new* life.
A life of unknowns and new paths.
We have waited so long with a picture in hand. Now we have the little life in our hands.
Many questions lurking in our minds:
How would the boys adjust?
Would the plane ride(s) be horrible?
What makes this little beauty happy, sad?
Well, one month in, the lingering questions are being answered one by one.
We have fallen more in love with our little Joye SeoYeon.
The boys are LOVING her being around and she is SO happy to be with them.
One month in, I feel like she has always been here.
The weeks have flown by and I can't WAIT to spend more weeks in her presence.
Thank you Heavenly Father for giving us this precious little girl. Our lives are forever changed - for the better.
Four weeks ago today we were venturing into a *new* life.
A life of unknowns and new paths.
We have waited so long with a picture in hand. Now we have the little life in our hands.
Many questions lurking in our minds:
How would the boys adjust?
Would the plane ride(s) be horrible?
What makes this little beauty happy, sad?
Well, one month in, the lingering questions are being answered one by one.
We have fallen more in love with our little Joye SeoYeon.
The boys are LOVING her being around and she is SO happy to be with them.
One month in, I feel like she has always been here.
The weeks have flown by and I can't WAIT to spend more weeks in her presence.
Thank you Heavenly Father for giving us this precious little girl. Our lives are forever changed - for the better.
Happy ONE MONTH HOME baby girl!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Re-cap; long overdue
Good Morning Tootsie! Sorry about the blurriness. But she is SO happy when she wakes up. Well . . sometimes. She's really happy to see the boys in the morning though, every morning.
Thinking: " How can I get her to pick me up . . . I know . . . !"
And then there are morning's like this. When she's not too happy.
Wait . . . there's more.
I know, sad isn't it?!
She snaps out of it pretty quick, though.
This is her staring-out-in-space look. Helloooooo!?
Our first fishing trip. She did AWESOME. It was really high elevation (10,000+) and she wasn't effected by it at all. I wondered, but she did great. I made sure she had A LOT of liquids.
Daddy and Miss Joye. She's all decked out in her team colors to support Bubba's last Baseball game. Daddy was third-base coach.
Here's the lot-o-liquids part I was talking about. Same fishing trip. :)
OK, we all know this girl has a lotta hair, but seriously - it's uber long too. Can you believe it?!!
This was after the crying theme, at the beginning of this post. See the moisture in the one eye, from the cry-fest? After I took this picture I picked her up, put that crazy hair up in something and we ate breakfast.So. . . it has been like TWO WHOLE WEEKS since I have posted. So sorry. I really don't know where the time has gone! Let's recap.
For the 4th: We celebrated the 4th of July by going to our yearly parade and we were able to show lil' tootsie off (on Saturday). That was fun. I dressed her up in her little Red, White and Blue outfit that I got her, but forgot to take a picture. I know, what was I thinking?
Sunday we went over to my Grandma's house for supper and then watched the Fireworks from her driveway. Joye did great. She couldn't hang in there for the Fireworks and fell asleep on me.
Then Monday we went fishing. Again, she did great.
Since I left you, we were having trouble with her sleeping. That was the need for the boundaries, right? Yeah well, THAT is what we have still been working on. The girl fights, fights and FIGHTS sleep. And she hates it even more when you tell her that it's nigh night time. If she get's tired and doesn't have a nap - it's worse. I thought at first that she just didn't require a lot of sleep. Well- that proved to be NOT true. She needs her sleep - the trick is convincing her of the idea. She will play for HOURS if you leave it up to her. She even resorts to pulling her hair out of her head to derail the sleep train. Seriously! I wish I was kidding!
After many naps and nights we have finally got her number. I lay down with her and have to keep telling her "no, it's nigh night time" over and over and over. She cries, screams and just get's plain mad, but eventually relents and falls asleep. The time to get her to fall asleep is getting smaller and smaller. We are making progress. She is sleeping more at night with less wakings and having longer naps. YAY!
Eating: This girl is an EATER. She eats anything and everything you put in front of her. She loves everything! And the quantity - YIKES! I seriously don't think my boys EVER ate this much when they were her age. She LOVES butternut quash, noodles of any kind, any fruit you can come up with, prunes - LOVES prunes. If I listed all what we have given her and all that she has eaten, I would be here all day. She has one formula bottle at night (100cc) and the rest of her calories are consumed with regular food.
What She's doing: She is babbling more and more. We've caught her saying "bubba" "do" (short o for dog), and when I rock her she will say "nigh nigh." She also says "mama" A LOT. But she said mama in Korea and it means food. So I really can't decipher if that's me she wants, or food. The things (other than "nigh nigh") have been completely out-of-the-blue and we really aren't connecting them to the things that they mean - yet. Her babbling has changed to a more 'word' sound, if that makes sense.
She's not quite walking. She pushes stuff around the house and stands more. She also cruises the furniture more. She stood the other day and then like spun around and then latched onto the ottoman. She's getting her balance more and more each day.
No new teeth, but I'm pretty sure she's cutting some. She's been a lot more 'cranky' and sleepy lately and has had a runny nose. If I were to guess, I would say that is all linked to her teeth. She should be cutting her molars and the rest of her bottom teeth.
Overall Disposition: Extremely happy and full of joy (no pun intended.) Literally. She is just so much fun to be around. She mimics EVERYTHING you do. Cough, sneeze, yawn. She is SO. STINKIN'. SMART! I am amazed at what this little girl can catch onto at her age. It's unbelievable! You do things once and she's got it.
She came home doing hi-five. Foster Dad taught her to do it when he came home from work. It's was really cute. The boys were all over it, too, they loved giving her hi-five. But when you did it, she would just barely touch your hand. Well, since day one, the boys 'slap' their hands when they do hi-five. They don't do it really hard, but they just smack her hand and say "ha." Now when you say "hi-five" she slaps your hand pretty hard and says "ha." It is THE cutest thing EVER. And when she doesn't have anyone around to reciprocate her hi-five, she does it to herself. Kinda like practice. She smacks her own little hand and says "ha."
Then the other day we were watching the Rockies and when they scored the boys and Daddy all lifted their hands and went "yay!" and then what do you know - little Tootsie lifted her cute little hands in the air and says "aaaaaaaaay." Priceless. When she's real happy and wants a reaction she will do it and get everyone to do it with her. I LOVE it.
Hopefully it won't be long until I post again. ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
