Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of the great Father's in our lives! Baba, Papa, Poppy and those who've passed - Bampa and Grandaddy - we love and miss you!

Amelie has been very excited about Father's Day all week. She does love getting presents, of course, but she also loves it when others do. On Wed. Ging and Poppy sent presents home with Amelie for Baba. I told Amelie that Baba had to wait until Sun. to open them. She said "I want to give Baba his presents now". I told her that he had to wait until Sun. to open them and that they should be a surprise. She said, "I just want to show him the presents" - she was pretty proud of the wrapping. She brought the presents in to Allen and said "here Baba, this one's a gardening book and this one's a rock shaped like a potato for you to put on the papers on your desk". Oh well, I guess we'll keep working on that message about surprises. This morning, she was beside herself because all week she had been asking - "Is it Father's Day yet? When is it going to be Father's day?" She runs off to grab his presents and brings them into his bed. She then tells him "Here Baba, here's your gardening book and here's your rock".

A lot has happened since my last post. The biggest, perhaps, is that Micah and Katie got married! We had a great time in D.C. for the week getting to celebrate the wedding and Micah's subsequent graduation from medical school. Amelie and Emerson were flower girls and looked beautiful. Amelie, who does not like the spotlight, had to be coaxed down the aisle as she crouched and glared at all those who dared watch her walk down the aisle. The wedding was beautiful and Katie and her family are wonderful. We had a great time with everyone.

We had a great time touring D.C. and Amelie was excited to see Barack Obama's house. We did travel over to Chinatown and had lunch at Wok n' Roll which used to be Mary Seurrat's house where John Wilkes Booth spent a lot of time plotting Lincoln's assassination.

Travels

We've gotten to do a few camping trips - one with the adoption families group over at Trimble Park in Mt. Dora and one with our good friends the Sangers down in Sanibel. We recently got to spend time with Amanda's family down at the beach at their timeshare in Stuart where Amelie has a fabulous time with Emerson and Amanda's sister Sam and her friends.

Welcome Home

We recently got to meet our friends Dawn and Emma who just recently came home from China with Ethan who is a remarkable and sweet little boy.

Amelie

Amelie continues to amaze and impress us with her enthusiasm for all things. She still gets genuinely excited to see everyone and is in a phase where she wants to buy something for everyone. The other day, we were in Wal-mart and Amelie pointed at something and said, "I would like to buy this for Qiao". Usually, she wants to buy something for Emerson whom she talks of constantly.

She still seems wise beyond her years and most of the time, I feel like I'm having conversations with a girl much older than 3. Others too, seem to be amazed at how young she is when they hear her talk.

Amelie is still very much attached to Mama and Baba and would like to be carried everywhere most of the time.

She is getting very good with letters and sounding things out and I think she'll learn to read very quickly when she sets down to it.

She is very interested in mazes right now and is getting quite good at them.

Happy Easter and Dentist visits!

It's the day before Easter, but already we've been having some Easter fun! Today, we spent the afternoon with our friends the Alai's and Hilton's who both live in Lakeland and both got back about 4 months ago from China with their little beauties Zoe (Alai) and McKenzie Qiao (Hilton). There was an Easter egg hunt and activities at the clubhouse of Nancy and Steve Alai's neighborhood. We had a great time watching the girls get so excited about finding the eggs and seeing the Easter decorations - especially some plastic, blowup Easter bunnies :)

Later, we went to Steve and Nancy's house for a lovely meal and good time with friends we hadn't seen in a while. The girls played and got along great. Amelie was very happy to do anything to make them giggle.

Yesterday, Lenny, Amanda and Emerson came over to help decorate Easter Eggs. We had a great time, but learned our lesson about the glitter egg package. Amelie was mostly interested in dipping her eggs in each of the colors to make them some indescribable color that was not intended by Paas. But, she was quite focused on this task.

Dentist
Last Wednesday Amelie had her first dentist appointment. I was actually pretty nervous because she has never been a big fan of going to the doctor and I figured the dentist would be much worse. Well, no need to fear, Amelie LOVED being there. This dentist is setup to entertain those kids 100% of the time. They start off with a climbing play area in the waiting room. Then, when they took her back, they had games and movies and prizes. By the time Amelie came out - 1 1/2 hrs. later - she was loaded down with fun stuff - a dinosaur flosser, blue gem ring, Snow White toothbrush, balloon, a picture with the dentist, 2 stickers and even a name tag for bunny. Nana was with me and we went back in for the consultation with the dentist who wanted her to lay back in the chair which she happily did. It appeared as though she had made quite a few friends back there! It's a good thing she liked it so much because we'll have to go back twice for 4 crowns. Her enamel is in pretty rough shape and her back teeth have holes in them. The dentist says it could be genetics and her permanent teeth could be fine. But, they need to be protected so the damage doesn't extend into the permanent teeth which are growing just below the surface. We figured she would need something as we knew they looked pretty bad. Bad teeth seem pretty common from some of the adoption groups I've been on. Hopefully though, this will do the trick and her permanent teeth will grow in fine.

Strawberry picking
Last week, Amelie and I went to Plant City to pick strawberries. We were going to the zoo afterwards so I brought a small cooler. I didn't think we'd be there long thinking that, for a 3 yr. old, the novelty would wear off fast. I was wrong though, I think she could have been out there all day. She had a blast going up and down the rows picking the good strawberries and showing them to me "Look Mama, look at this one!" She was so proud :)

Fancy
Amelie is now in a phase where she likes to be fancy and wear dresses. It started off with her only wanting to wear fancy dresses like her dress she wore for her Christmas pageant or the Tinker Bell dress that Ammy and Malia gave her. She actually wore this to school one day. She also has a dress from Target that she inssited on wearing daily for a while. She also loves to have her toes painted and painted mine the other day. My toes looked like they had been massacred, but she was quite pleased with the results.

2 boys and 2 girls
Recently, Amelie has taken to doing a status count when we're in a group of people. For example, we were recently with Ging and Poppy and Amelie said, "There are 2 boys, 2 girls and 1 Amelie". Sometimes she'll include Bunny in her count of boys.

The boys I like...
Amelie recently told me, "The boys I like are Baba and Bunny." Boy, I hope that lasts for a while!

See! You scare people!
Recently, me, Amanda, Amelie and Emerson were driving around. We heard Amelie and Emerson squabbling a little bit in the back seat when Amelie said, "Hey Amanda!" Amanda said "Yes?" and Amelie said "Boo!" Amanda, appropriately, replied with an "Aaahh!" Emerson then, very sternly, said "See! You scare people when you do that!"

Paprika
My brother Micah had gone to Costa Rica for a month to learn Spanish as part of a study abroad program. I was standing in the kitchen a while back when she kept saying something about paprika that I didn't understand. I asked her, "what about paprika?" and she said, "why is Micah in Paprika?" So I said, "Oh! Costa Rica!" and she said, "Yeah, why is Micah in Costa Rica?" I told her it was so he could learn Spanish. Of course, she asked "Why?" So, I told her he was going to learn Spanish like Dora. She seemed pleased with that response.

Just because

I haven't been very good about writing for a while, but I definitely want to keep up because I know there will be so much I want to remember but won't unless put it down somewhere, so here goes...

First off, I'd like to say we're all very relieved that Ging is back from her stints at the hospital. Seems like all will be well after a scare of a possible staph infection that she received a few days ago from a spinal tap. Looks like the mixup was in the lab (scary enough), but she'll be okay. You can hear a collective "Phew!" from Lakeland.

Amelie has had a few stellar weeks in school after a little rough patch with some run ins with the teachers. I won't get into details, but we had 2 notes we had to sign. Her teacher told me that 98% if the time she is great - loving, helpful, talkative and happy - but would just suddenly get mad about something. My fingers are crossed, as this was a couple of months ago now, but after some talks and her being out of this phase, it's been smooth sailing. She's been excited about school and will tell me about the other kids in her class and calls them her friends. She really seems to enjoy going now.

Darlin'

As usual, Amelie loves to role play. One of her latest things is that she likes to be the mother and have me be her daughter. Except, when she wants to play this, she'll ask me, "Mama, can I be the Mama and you be the darlin?" So, I'll say "sure!" and we'll play. She will then always address me as 'Darlin' when we talk. There's not much out there that's cuter than being called 'Darlin' by a 3 year old - especially when she gives a gentle pat on the back when she addresses you.

At the same token, she is very supportive and loving. She likes to make you feel better and reassure you when need be. The other night at dinner, I had made a comment that I didn't do something quite right when I made it and Amelie walked over, rubbed me on the back and said "it's okay sweetheart, you can do it next time."

The other night she had me in tears lauging so hard. A lot of times she'll take inanimate objects from around the house and personify them. No matter what they are-forks, stuffed animals, game pieces, etc. - she uses the same high pitched voice to make them talk back and forth with each other. The other night, she had 3 of the horses from our chess set and she asked if they could take turns picking out stories since we always read 3 stories before going to bed. So, the first horse picked a story - no problem. Then, the other 2 started squabbling. They were going back and forth in their high pitched voices "It's my turn!" "No, it's my turn!" So, I had to intercede and tell the horses to behave nicely and pointed to one and said, "Okay, you pick the next one." When he picked the next story, apparently the other horse was displeased because he said "Oh man!" I was laughing so hard, it was very hard to read after that.

Dark Lords Behaving Badly

Can't remember if I wrote this already, but it's too good to miss. Around Christmas time, Poppy had bought Amelie a Darth Vader figurine since she had been going through her Star Wars phase (thanks to Papa). One day, Amelie and Darth were playing and chatting quite nicely together when, suddenly, Amelie put Darth Vader down and spoke quite crossly "Darth Vader, you go to timeout for 2 minutes for not making good choices!" Alarmed, I asked her what Darth Vader had done. She was still quite cross when she answered "He blew up planets and didn't fix them when I asked him too!"

That freaks me out

Amelie will see something that doesn't look quite right to her, or hears a loud noise, and will say in an exasperated tone - "that freaked me out".

The other day, she was playing cards with Emerson and Lenny when Lenny sneezed loudly. Amelie stopped and said "Whoa! That freaked me out!"

Giggly girl

Amelie still one of the most good-natured children I think there could possibly be (there's always the toddler tempers, etc., but you know what I mean - we're talking a majority of the time). She likes to laugh and play silly tricks on you, then say "I'm joking you" or "I'm a joker". Many times when she falls down, she'll laugh and yell "boom!" or yell "I'm okay!" but won't get embarrassed. I only hope she keeps this great sense of humor as she gets older.

Jigsaw puzzle

Amelie is turning out to be quite the puzzle wiz. Nana had gotten her a 100 piece Tinker Bell jigsaw puzzle for Christmas. We sat down to do this together recently and she stays very focused on it until we get the whole thing done. It's the one task that she will stay focused on for long periods of time. Anything 24 pieces or under, she can do unassisted. She even likes the puzzles we can do on the computer and is good at dragging and dropping the pieces to fit together and form the picture.

Good with letters

Amelie is getting very good with her letters - she recognizes letters in upper case and is starting to recognize more definitely the lower case letters. The other day we stopped at a Stop sign when Amelie asked, "why does S-T-O-P spell Stop?" I thought that was pretty impressive and the first steps to reading. She recognizes more and more letters that start words like C is for Cat; D is for Dog, etc.

Little brother/sister

We're in the process of adopting from China again, but the process is VERY slow right now. Amelie is starting to talk more and more about wanting to pick up her brother or sister and all of the things she will show him/her. She tells me she will share her toys with her little sister (she mainly calls refers to her future sibling as her sister) and she will teach her things. Come on China we're all waiting!!

Favorite show

Amelie's favorite show right now is Charlie and Lola which is a very cute show about a brother and sister in England. She always wants me or Allen to be Charlie and she is Lola. Amelie is very "Lola like" too. Lola is a perfect depiction of how a little girl views the world. When Amelie was in her Star Wars phase, she wanted to see down with her Curious George tea set for some tea. So we did that. Just as we were about to have some tea, she said, "Wait! I have to get my Darth Vader cape!" and ran off to put on her hooded panda towel before we started.

Trike-a-thon

Last month, Amelie's school had a trike-a-thon to raise money for St. Jude's Children's hospital. The kids were supposed to do "laps" on their tricycles. Really, it was just sheer chaos and I realized the hazards of wearing open toed shoes (flip flops) to an event with toddlers on 3-wheels - ouch!

A Mama by any other name...

Since we've had Amelie, I wanted to make sure that we didn't attribute everything about Amelie's behavior to the fact that she was adopted. I do, however, want to find the right balance between raising her as the happy, well-adjusted child we know she is and understanding what fears she may have as a result of her experiences before she came home to us. Recently, I have read stories about adopted children feeling more anxiety when faced with stories of transient events. For example, I recently read a story about a mother who became concerned with her young daughter's anxiety and mood swings after seeing a story on the news about children being taken away from their mother and father during a police raid. She tried to focus on it being a normal reaction a child would have about seeing children taken from their parents and consoled her about the situation and how it was much different than their own. Her daughter continued to display anxious behavior in the weeks that followed when her mother finally took a shot at asking if her concern was related to her being adopted. The mother knew she was on point when the daughter burst into tears.

Now, on to Amelie. Many times I have tried to explain to Amelie all the relations she has to her family. For example, Ging and Poppy and Nana and Papa are her grandparents. Ging and Poppy are Baba's Mama and Baba and Nana and Papa are my Mama and Baba. Lenny and Micah are my brothers, etc. I have also said that I had a different last name before. She took all this in stride. A few nights ago, I explained it in slightly different syntax than I have used before. I told Amelie that Micah and Lenny were my brothers and that their last name is Gaspary. I then told her that my name used to be Maile Gaspary before I married Baba. When I said this, she immediately burst into tears and yelled "No! Mama!" She became inconsolable. I tried to comfort her and ask her if she was worried that I wasn't the same person any more and she sobbed "yes". I told her that I was the same person she has always known-I am always her Mama and I am still Lenny and Micah's sister and Nana and Papa's daughter and that I love her always. It took a long time to calm her down.

As a mother, I urgently want to wash away her deep-rooted fears that I can't even possibly imagine. The only thing I know how to do is to not take any of her fear or panic moments for granted and try to comfort her during moments of panic no matter how seemingly insignificant - after all, how could I possibly assume its nothing when I can't remember the fears of a 3 yr. old in a big world, much less one that has been through what she has?

Happy New Year!!

This year we got to celebrate the new year with lots of family. We met my dad's aunts Rose and Flora and some of their friends and family in Deland to rent pontoon boats. Since there were so many of us, we rented 2 boats and me, Amelie and Allen got to ride with Aunt Flora, Mary and her husband Paul and their 2 girls Madeline and Catherine. We cruised along the St. John River and docked at Blue Springs State Park to picnic and admire the manatees.

Amelie had a great time hanging with the older girls who took great care of her. She kept talking about her friends she met and she wanted to go with her friends. On our way home from the boat rental place, she told me she missed her friends. Amelie absolutely loves older girls and they dote on her so well.

Amelie was also quite the hostess when we stopped for a picnic lunch. She very graciously offered food (that others brought) and shared it with everyone on board.

Later, we met everyone at Aunt Rose's in Palm Coast for a fun New Year's Eve party complete with some crazy sparklers (by crazy, I mean really long flowy ones I have never seen before).

Merry Christmas

Christmas is getting more fun each year now with a child in the house. Amelie is more and more aware now of Christmas - the constant Christmas music for the whole month of December (which I now love), the lights, the decorations (hence the giant blowup snowman in our front yard when I never thought I'd be the type to have blowup Christmas decorations) and the impending arrival of Santa himself.

When you ask Amelie what she is going to ask Santa for Christmas, she pretty consistently says "A jack-in-the-box". Recently, we got to go the bookstore with Emerson and the 2 got a hold of some jack-in-the-boxes and could be heard giggling throughout the store. The 50th time of the freaky clown popping out of the box was just as funny as the first. One night when driving around looking at lights with Ging and Poppy, we drove past a city building with a lighted display of Santa pulling his sleigh and Amelie yells out "Santa! I want a jack-in-the-box!" Well, as usual, Santa delivers! Amelie got her jack-in-the-box. For some reason though, she had a very unusual reaction. We were all excited for her to open this present, but when she did, she threw it down and ran out of the room. We were all perplexed. Allen and I went in to talk to her, but never got a real answer. She did come back out and warmed up to it though and then really seemed to enjoy it.

All in all, we had a great time, made even better because Micah got to stay with us through Christmas. Micah and his fiance got Amelie a new "big girl" bike which is a pink and purple 12" bike with some pretty awesome streamers and training wheels. It's going to take her a while to warm up to it though since the feel is quite a bit different than her tricycle. It took her a while to warm up to her tricycle too, so we'll see how it goes.

Throughout the month, we got to celebrate by cooking (Amelie helps a lot actually - she's even very good at cracking eggs); looking at lights; singing Christmas songs; reading Christmas books and going to Disney for their Christmas celebration which was very fun!!

We spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our house with Ging, Poppy, Nana, Papa, Miz and Micah to help get into the Christmas spirit and watch Amelie open presents in the morning. After a good breakfast, we head over to Granny Great's house in Orlando for Christmas with the rest of the family - aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.