More Photos of Emily

Hi all,



Here's another collage because it's much easier than trying to fit a handful of photos and text on a page. Don't forget, you can click anywhere on the collage to enlarge it. You won't get individual photos, just the collective one.

Of note are the photos of Emily with the spoons, her favorite toy. Here she actually eats a tiny bit of Dannon yogurt I slathered across her face, then she proceeds to perform a symphony with the spoons. She's a musical genius! This feeding seemed to be a breakthrough, but then she refused food again. More in a minute. The middle row, left photo is of Emily playing Hide n Seek for the first time. She rolled her walker behind the couch, peeked back at us, then beamed.

The three babies in strollers are of 11-month old Taylor, Lisa and Jeff W.'s adopted daughter from Hunan Province--and little sister to 6-year old Trace. Emily is in the middle, and 10-month old Abigail of Chong Ching province is on the right. Abigail's parents are Russ and Cindy B., the couple we met up with in Guangzhou and travelled back to the states with. The girls had an outing at Nordstroms in Orlando, and you can just see a pianist serenading them with "When You Wish Upon a Star" and other kiddie tunes (bottom left). The girls just loved it.

Now for the Big News...

Emily started eating solid foods yesterday!! It's been a long wait, but Auntie Lisa coaxed her into taking Apple flavored baby yogurt (it's delicious) and a few pieces of graham crackers when Emily was playing with her daughter Taylor at Lisa's house. Just seeing Emily's little mouth open up for more was such a thrill.

That night Emily ate baby carrots for the first time, and tonight she ate Pineapple Grilled Ham (Gerber, delicious), more carrots, and more Apple yogurt.

Another neat milestone Emily passed today was when I drew her bath water. She usually holds onto the tub with both hands to watch the bath fill up, but tonight she let go for a second and stood by herself!! Kevin was home and got to see it. What a thrill...a mixed one, of course. Because this means once she's off and running we'll never have any rest! :) Emily turned 14 months on August 13th, Uncle David's birthday. Time is passing too fast already! Hope you enjoy the photos.

Take care,

Caroline

A Picture Collage of Emily and Friends

Hi all,

I'm trying something new--a collage of photos of Emily. Let me know what you think! Be sure and click on any of the photos and you'll see a larger version of the entire collage.

The photos from Grammi Frani's camera and the last days of her visit. Grammi Frani was sad to leave Emily, and we were sad to see her go. She was a big help with this busy little munchkin! And Emily had a great time with her Grammi! We'll see Grammi Frani again at Thanksgiving in Scranton, PA.

Top left to right are: (top left) Emily enjoying her outdoor swing; (middle) Kisses from Daddy; (top right) Emily in her little tub, a present from Uncle David and Aunt Jackie.

The middle photos are from Grammi Frani's reunion with her friends from Merrill Lynch, who were in Orlando for a get together. Middle left to right are: (left) Emily and Rosie. Rosie's daughter and son-in-law are adopting a little girl from China! (Middle) Uncle Joe Kane blows raspberries with Emily. (Right) Us with Grammi Frani at a big evening bash.

Bottom row of photos are: (left) Emily sleeping in her car seat. Look at that tongue! (middle) Melissa Braun, a soon-to-be-adoptive-mom (she and her husband Scott should get their referral VERY SOON!!) and member of our local Families with Asian Children group...and Emily. We waiting moms call this our "baby fix". (Right) Emily with her new ball.

Emily's Development

Emily continues to change every day, and surprise us. Laptime at the library continues to be lots of fun, although Emily wasn't very interested in the songs so much as standing with Mommy's help and crawling around. She spotted a little boy playing with a blue ball and decided to visit him. The poor boy only wanted his ball, so he began crying as Emily determinedly made her way towards him. Mommy returned her to her seat, and Emily set out again for her unwilling new friend (he ignored her the second time). Afterwards, she sat at the piano and plunked the keys with another little girl, and pulled herself up to standing several times using the piano bench and nearby tables.

Days are spent at the library, scheduling playtimes, and soon swimming lessons! We cruise around the house twice a day holding Mommy's hands, and always visit the bathroom where Emily's tub resides. There we hang onto the edge of the bathtub and talk to Emily's tub.

After each bottle we turn towards Mommy and cuddle, get lots of kisses, give one or two, pull Mommy's hair, get corrected for pulling Mommy's hair, and make faces and sounds. We cruise around in our walker at top speed, and Grandma Lee pretended to chase Emily, much to her shrieking delight. Grandpa Lee was thrilled when Emily reached her little arms out for him. Must be the ear wiggling.

As for Daddy, we love to see him when he gets home, because he takes over and bathes Emily, reads stories to her, and puts her to bed. Daddy's lots more fun than Mommy because he throws Emily in the air, splashes her in the pool, runs around the house with her, and makes even crazier noises. Tonight Daddy ran to the grocery store and Emily waited in her walker at the door, watching and calling for him.

That's all for now. We'll update again when Uncle Jack reminds us! :)

Take care,

Caroline

Another Letter from Emily

Hi all,

This is Emily, letting you know that Grammi Frani (Daddy's mommy) is visiting us and she's FUN! We babble and stick our tongues out at each other, and she gives me lots of kisses and tells me she loves me.

Here I learned to wave!

We went to the library today for Storytime with Miss Diane and Grammi took pictures and sang along with us. We sang "The Wheels on the Bus", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and "I'm a Little Teacup". We counted to 10 forwards and backwards, sang the alphabet, and Miss Diane read some funny stories. We rolled a big blue ball to each other, and I giggled and wanted to stand up a lot.




Last, we did Ring Around the Rosie, and my shoes fell off 'cause my legs don't work so great yet and I was kind of dangling from everybody's hands.

After storytime Grammi and I looked at puzzles and books, but I was really more interested in crawling around and banging on the bookcases 'cause they make neat sounds. Mommy asked Miss Diane where the Caldecott Award winning books were, and I thought, gee, this is going to be a long childhood... .

Here are some more photos Grammi took of me.

Here I learned that if I pick my feet up off the floor, I can dangle!



Here's a neat picture Grammi took of Daddy and me in my room just before bedtime.

Sleeping in Mommy's lap. Must have been a good bottle.

And here are photos of cousin Evanne's visit. I love to play with hair, so I had a great time messing up Evanne's hair, much to Mommy's embarassment! Evanne didn't care, she was just happy to meet me. We had fun together!

Daddy, Evanne and me, cousin Matthew, Mommy and cousin Gene. See, I'm still messing with Evanne's hair!

And here are my Scranton cousins, Kellie, Elizabeth, Kyle, and Kasey! (Their mom and dad are Tracey and Mark. Aunt Tracey is Daddy's sister, and Grammi's daughter, in case you're confused.) We're going to meet for the first time at Thanksgiving. In fact, I'm going to meet the whole of Scranton then, Daddy says. That's a lot of people! I hope someone makes sure my diaper is fresh. I've got to be at my best! :)

Luv,

Emily

Letter From Emily

Hi Evrybody!

This is Emily, and I want to show you some pitchers of me. I'm havin fun with Mommy, Daddy, and all my family and friends. I didn't like it when the doctor said I needed to get blood tests. I screamed and Mommy held me. She says it took 3 technicians to hold me down, and I was so angry I kicked my shoe across the room. Everybody kept apologizng afterwards, and Mommy just kept holding me. When we left the laboratory and entered the waiting room, two dozen senior citizens were staring at me. Mommy told them the needles didn't hurt THAT much, and they laughed, then said awww, poor, poor baby. That made me feel better.

Afterwards I needed cuddling most of the day, so Mommy gave me plenty of hugs and kisses. And my blood tests came out normal, so I'm ok. Ok, so here are some pitchers of me.

Here's me in my froggie floatie, inspired by my cousin Elizabeth's neat baby boat.
Daddy's lots of fun in the pool. Looks like he forgot to put my bathing suit on. Oh well, that's my swim diaper, so I don't pee in the pool. I wonder if Daddy wears one?

There's nothing like a good rocker.

I'm walking, yes indeed...


Here I am with Gramma Lee, practicing my steps. I also learned to look sideways with my eyes, which makes Mommy laugh. Notice my shirt says "Daddy's Little Girl", 'cause I sure am!

Here Daddy reads "I Spy in the Ocean" to me. I love when he reads to me, he uses funny voices. I love Cousin Kristie's "Jamberry" book, too.

That's all. Mommy and I danced around the house today. She's impressed that I like Harry Connick, Jr., 'cause that's how Mommy and Daddy fell in love...over Harry. Um, and I drank some bottles of formula, and the doggie made me laugh. And I pet the cat and played with my toys. And I napped. And I had a diaper blowout that had Mommy blaming the dog until she found out who really made that stinker...heh heh.

Let's see, what else...I crawled into the bathroom, pulled myself up to standing by the bathtub so I could play with my toys. Oh, and I hit my head against a kitchen cabinet while Mommy was making a bottle 'cuz I tried to stand before Mommy could help me. Boy, did I scream, even though it didn't hurt that much. I even held my breath before letting that scream go, and boy did that upset Mommy. Mommy kissed my head and made it all better, then Daddy kissed me again when he came home and heard what happened. And Mia got upset when I cried. And I had another bottle. That's about it. It's a rough life. Goodnight Moon!

Luv,

Emily