Monday, February 15, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Update from the BAP family :)
Wow, we have had a LOT of snow lately, and I just learned that we're due for another big snowstorm tomorrow. Although we're enjoying the snow days (especially sledding!), it's been tough for Chelsea and Emmy to get in a rhythm of school and activities. Even though the snow slowed us down during the week, we're glad that we could get "out and about" for Emmy's basketball game yesterday as well as a dinner at the Chinese buffet last night in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Today, we went to Sunday School and then a peformance at OU by the OU Chinese Students' Club to celebrate the Year of the Tiger. After the show, Roger and I went out to celebrate Valentine's Day at Casa-- our favorite restaurant.
Over this week-end, I have been completely drawn into a book, recommended by one of my dear "Kunming" friends. "The Waiting Child," by Cindy Champnella, is such an inspirational and moving account of a little four year old girl, adopted by the author, who compels her new family to go back to China and adopt a little boy that she cared for during her time in the orphanage. I do think that conditions have likely improved in the decade since the author last visited China, and some of the policies seemed different than what we experienced during our journey. However, the book was a riveting call for others to consider older child adoption, and it was also a intense reminder to me about how very grateful that we should be for how smoothly that Ellie-Kate has assimilated into our lives...
She absolutely LOVES to play ball with Emmy, and they spent all of Friday evening doing just that as the older girls went to a movie. Roger was trying to teach Emmy some basketball moves, and Ellie-Kate imitated them to near perfection. Ellie-Kate even mastered "posting up"-- at least as much as any two year old could. They finished with basketball, and Ellie-Kate moved on to volleyball, insisting that Roger teach her to spike. She practiced for nearly 15 minutes, working up quite a sweat! God definitely knew what He was doing when he placed this special baby in our arms.
Bedtime remains the only rough part of our day... Ellie-Kate HATES to go to bed, and our usual time, from beginning to end, is around two hours of screaming, crying, and fighting to stay awake. Please pray that things start to get a bit easier for her and for us. Especially after reading "The Waiting Child," I re-realized that this behavior could be from deeper feelings/fears than just a desire to continue playing so we're going to talk with the International Adoption Clinic at Children's Hospital and get a bit of perspective and advice :) However, again, we are very very well aware that we have had it SOOOOOO good in terms of Ellie-Kate's bonding and fit with our family, and we trust that God will help us to help our little girl (and us!) to get more rest more smoothly :)
I hope that everyone enjoys a great week as well as the photos that I will upload tomorrow. Stay warm amid all of the winter weather :) Thanks for caring about our family!!
Christie
Over this week-end, I have been completely drawn into a book, recommended by one of my dear "Kunming" friends. "The Waiting Child," by Cindy Champnella, is such an inspirational and moving account of a little four year old girl, adopted by the author, who compels her new family to go back to China and adopt a little boy that she cared for during her time in the orphanage. I do think that conditions have likely improved in the decade since the author last visited China, and some of the policies seemed different than what we experienced during our journey. However, the book was a riveting call for others to consider older child adoption, and it was also a intense reminder to me about how very grateful that we should be for how smoothly that Ellie-Kate has assimilated into our lives...
She absolutely LOVES to play ball with Emmy, and they spent all of Friday evening doing just that as the older girls went to a movie. Roger was trying to teach Emmy some basketball moves, and Ellie-Kate imitated them to near perfection. Ellie-Kate even mastered "posting up"-- at least as much as any two year old could. They finished with basketball, and Ellie-Kate moved on to volleyball, insisting that Roger teach her to spike. She practiced for nearly 15 minutes, working up quite a sweat! God definitely knew what He was doing when he placed this special baby in our arms.
Bedtime remains the only rough part of our day... Ellie-Kate HATES to go to bed, and our usual time, from beginning to end, is around two hours of screaming, crying, and fighting to stay awake. Please pray that things start to get a bit easier for her and for us. Especially after reading "The Waiting Child," I re-realized that this behavior could be from deeper feelings/fears than just a desire to continue playing so we're going to talk with the International Adoption Clinic at Children's Hospital and get a bit of perspective and advice :) However, again, we are very very well aware that we have had it SOOOOOO good in terms of Ellie-Kate's bonding and fit with our family, and we trust that God will help us to help our little girl (and us!) to get more rest more smoothly :)
I hope that everyone enjoys a great week as well as the photos that I will upload tomorrow. Stay warm amid all of the winter weather :) Thanks for caring about our family!!
Christie
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Our sweet little two year old :)
It's been two weeks since Ellie-Kate turned two years old, and she's really pushing her desired status as a "big kid" :) She continues to get braver and braver, pushing her boundaries and trying new things. At playgroup, she climbs on a bike and cruises around the gym-- yes, she glances over to make sure that I'm still there, but she seems to feel quite safe as she ventures beyond my side. She even worked up to diving into (and off of) the large inflatible in the gym. Moreover, she keenly watches the older girls, and she wants to experience whatever they do-- from sledding to drinking out of a big kid cup to eating off of a spoon "just like Mommy's" to shooting a basketball "just like Emmy."
Even as she seems to imitate "big kid stuff," she seems all the more cuddly over the past few weeks. Her face lights up as family members return from a day at school or work; she bursts into laughter as she shares a joke (even when she can't possibly get it!) at the dinner table, and she has started consistently referring to me as "Mommy," with a sweet and loving twinkle in her eye. (Before, she called me "Mama" and referred to Emmy as "Emma. She's really picked up the "ee" sound now.)
A few milestones... Ellie-Kate's favorite number is "8." (How many two year olds have a favorite number?)... She loves to play with calculators, especially Chelsea's graphing calculator :) ... Her hair is just now long enough to go back in a pony tail or up in pigtails... She can hit baskets (in her little tykes basketball hoop) from across the living room, using pretty good form to boot!... Her favorite toy is Pei Wei, a Build-a-Bear panda that I made for her in the December after we locked in on her but before we traveled to China... She LOVES to sled, and she's very excited about watching skiing on tv, given her reactions to Olympic commercials... When she wants to do something too, she pats her chest and says "Ellie!! Ellie!!" and points at the object of her desires :) She can say how old that she is, count to 10, say the first five letters of the ABCs, and knows the words to her favorite songs-- such as Twinkle, Twinkle. She remains the center of her family's affections, and her sisters love to fix her hair, dress her, play with her, and engage her in activities :)
Meanwhile, Britti continues to wait for the Disney decision and to work on her thesis... Chelsea just received some great grades after a rough first semester (mono at the beginning and then losing her beloved Uncle Robbie right before finals), and she's enjoying her status as the girlfriend of the starting center of an area high school basketball team--even if that team is a rival of her own high school... Emmy is also getting some great grades now, and she's enjoying all of the snow days that we have had recently, even though her basketball game on Saturday was cancelled... I have been struggling with sinusitis and bronchitis, but I'm slowly starting to feel better... Roger's been busy with our animals and the girls, especially when I've been down for the count. Praise God for His divine provision in our lives!!
Thanks so much for caring about our family!! Please enjoy all of the pictures that I'm about to post :)
Fondly-- Christie
Even as she seems to imitate "big kid stuff," she seems all the more cuddly over the past few weeks. Her face lights up as family members return from a day at school or work; she bursts into laughter as she shares a joke (even when she can't possibly get it!) at the dinner table, and she has started consistently referring to me as "Mommy," with a sweet and loving twinkle in her eye. (Before, she called me "Mama" and referred to Emmy as "Emma. She's really picked up the "ee" sound now.)
A few milestones... Ellie-Kate's favorite number is "8." (How many two year olds have a favorite number?)... She loves to play with calculators, especially Chelsea's graphing calculator :) ... Her hair is just now long enough to go back in a pony tail or up in pigtails... She can hit baskets (in her little tykes basketball hoop) from across the living room, using pretty good form to boot!... Her favorite toy is Pei Wei, a Build-a-Bear panda that I made for her in the December after we locked in on her but before we traveled to China... She LOVES to sled, and she's very excited about watching skiing on tv, given her reactions to Olympic commercials... When she wants to do something too, she pats her chest and says "Ellie!! Ellie!!" and points at the object of her desires :) She can say how old that she is, count to 10, say the first five letters of the ABCs, and knows the words to her favorite songs-- such as Twinkle, Twinkle. She remains the center of her family's affections, and her sisters love to fix her hair, dress her, play with her, and engage her in activities :)
Meanwhile, Britti continues to wait for the Disney decision and to work on her thesis... Chelsea just received some great grades after a rough first semester (mono at the beginning and then losing her beloved Uncle Robbie right before finals), and she's enjoying her status as the girlfriend of the starting center of an area high school basketball team--even if that team is a rival of her own high school... Emmy is also getting some great grades now, and she's enjoying all of the snow days that we have had recently, even though her basketball game on Saturday was cancelled... I have been struggling with sinusitis and bronchitis, but I'm slowly starting to feel better... Roger's been busy with our animals and the girls, especially when I've been down for the count. Praise God for His divine provision in our lives!!
Thanks so much for caring about our family!! Please enjoy all of the pictures that I'm about to post :)
Fondly-- Christie
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