2.24.2009

Princess Sara (Doe Doe)

We always teased in China that Sara had a "Wisconsin Cheese" smile and I'm glad to see she still does...even though she doesn't live in Wisconsin.
Her rough and tumble brothers keep her on her toes and vice versa!




Bei's future wife. Isn't she just beautiful?


Sara's mom started a sensation with all of us adopted parents. She joined facebook and now we are talking to each other and sharing pictures via facebook. Jen shared a bunch of pictures of Sara and her family with me and I just had to show them to everyone. I was able to speak with Sara on the phone recently and was amazed at how wells she speaks. She said "Hi Bei Bei's mom, how are you?". And then I proceeded to ask her questions and she went into some intense conversation for a two year old. Now Bei can talk on the phone, but if I don't tell him specifically what to say he goes into some form of Chinese gutteral mumbling that nobody knows what he is saying. May be a difference between boys and girls and the fact that she has siblings talking to her. Don't get me wrong, Bei can talk but there was a difference between the two.
Another fun thing that I didn't get a chance to blog about when it occurred is that Doug, Sara's father was in the Cities last October and we were able to visit with him. It was very fun for us to see him because we like both him and Jen alot, but it also was fun to see his reaction to Bei. You can tell he is a kid person and he paid alot of attention to Bei. I asked Doug what the biggest difference was in seeing Bei and he said "Bei is willing to look at me". I had forgotten what a scared and shy little guy he was in China. Bei had not physically changed much by October when Doug saw him because he had just had his open heart surgery. It is just really fun to stay in touch with the other adoptee parents to see how their children are thriving also. As one of the adoptee parents, Beth, has told me several times "we have been at the birth of each others children and families". It is so true!






2.17.2009

Home-vacation

The kids right before going to Church on Sunday!
Bei discovered this game, which we named "Floating Pinata", he would let the helium balloon go and we would all chase after it. He thought it was quite fun!

Kelly made a vow on Sunday to win Bei away from Gina and made a concerted effort to be with him. I think she made some headway...he quit calling her "Gina" and realized her name was "Kelly". I think he thought all sweet and kind little girls names were Gina.


Every morning Bei would wake up and say "Gina". He would climb over me and out of bed and go stare at her sleeping in the living room. He would be within a foot of her face, poor little Gina probably felt like she was being stalked!


This past weekend I was able to go on a vacation in my own home! It was wonderful! My brother Nick, wife Kathy and their children came for a long weekend. Bei is infatuated with the girls and they are very wonderful to him, so all I had to do is put him down at night. This entire weekend was a win-win for me, Bei was able to spend alot of quality time with cousins and I was able to do spend time with family, and do one of my favorite things, which is cooking!

2.11.2009

My Three Year Old

Wee! This is fun!
Bei loves going to the park even in the winter time. He had to bring his balloon, which we clipped to his coat.

Even though Bei didn't feel well this week, it didn't mean he couldn't be put to work! He is helping paint one of the spare bedrooms. (Note the Motorcycle pants that he still insists on wearing, they are now capri's at best and moving to the knicker realm.)


This is Dan's version of "Ring around the Rosey", when they fall down they break into the worm from Animal House! Uncle John joined in the fun with Dan and Bei!



Bei is definitely a three year old already. I get alot of "Bei do it his self". "Mom, no help", "Mom, no hands". His vocabulary is also growing and he is comprehending more. Some of the cute things, that I have heard him say recently are "Ohhhh....Rats!", "Uh oh...oh welllll...", "Darn it!"
Bei is still really cuddly and wants to be held alot. (Which I LOVE!) All of sudden he is over the "yucky" remarks about the kiss, and he is back to kissing me all day long again. He loves to be held and would love me to hold him 24 hours a day if I could. He has gained another pound and is 26 pounds, so he gets heavy for me after a while.
He loves exercise tapes. When I first came back from China I put in a DVD called Booty Yoga, he loves to watch it! I wonder why??? This week, I finally have committed myself to getting back into shape. Believe me, after 9 months of a kid pushing candy and sweets on you, a person gains weight! I swear that he could have easily been born into my family. In the way that he pushes food on me, reminds me of my Grandma Phyllis. Plus, he loves to eat butter by the spoonfuls! Hello family...does that sound like anybody we know???...I'm not mentioning any names! Anyway, I've always watched my food intake and excercise because I always say, "there is a fat body dying to get out here. " So I have used Bei as an excuse long enough and I need to get back to working out. Have you ever exercised with a toddler? "Oh mom is down on all fours, I'll climb on her back and ride horsey". "Now she is doing scissor kicks with her legs, I'll see if I can run through them". "She is on her back, I'll ride her legs up and down". I won't need the 25 lb weights for some time, because I have one built in already. But once again I LOVE it!


2.04.2009

My baby turned 3!

Huckleberry has his grand poo-buh hat on. It truly is his winter hat. It is SO Huckleberry!
Huck has said some very funny things to me lately. "Liz, Liz, Bei has a tooth, I saw it!" Yeah well, he better have more than one or somebody is in trouble because he had a full set this morning. "Liz, Liz, did you hear that? He called you mom!" Huck it has been 9 months and he called me some version of Mom since day one. "Liz, does Bei know he is Chinese?" I answered no. Then Huck said "Oh, he thinks he's Japanese." The best was "you are the greatest neighbors to have living next to us!"
Instead of trying to corral the kids into some kind of organized birthday games, jumping on the beds is alot easier.

You can't have too many birthday parties. The kids came over from next door on Bei's actual Birthday and celebrated with him. Later Bei and I went to Paint your Plate with the triplets, triplets mom and grandmother. Oh my...it was crazy, but very fun! No pictures because it was too chaotic.

Bei helping mom make his birthday cupcakes. Mmmm, chocolate on my wrist too!




Bei going kittywampus down the hill



Bei's first snowman
To love a child is to experience it through a mothers lens. It really is an extraordinary experience in so many ways. I keep asking my sister is it Bei? Is he something special that I love him so much? She assured me that every mother loves their child like I love Bei. I think what I find unique about Bei is that his temperment is so easy going. Maybe there is this nagging voice in the back of my mind that keeps telling me that it so easily could have gone the other way. We could have not bonded from the beginning, we could not like each other and have struggled. I guess that was more what I was prepared for based on the research that we read. They prepare you for worst case scenario. We are so grateful and blessed that we got this wonderful little boy that loves us too.