Our BFT (Part III -- Visiting a Dear Friend)

Sunday was Sarah's birthday, and she spent most of it in the car.  We packed up and left C*ncinnati early for the nine-hour drive to R*chester, NY, where my dear college friend Alison lives with her husband and two boys.  Sarah slept for the first two hours, then woke to open a present on-the-fly.

We arrived at Alison's a bit before dinner, and Sarah had more presents waiting for her.  She also got a bunch of great hand-me-downs from Jackson and Joseph, including a Step 2 ride-on car.  She loved being pushed around in it.  Don was skeptical about fitting it in the car with all of our stuff, but he managed, so we've gotten it at least as far as my mom's.  Sarah also had fun on the slide, which was a lot higher than any she'd been on.  She wasn't daunted and climbed the ladder herself, over and over.

We left for my mom's mid-morning on Monday -- much too soon, but that's how it goes when you're trying to see everyone in one big trip.  It was wonderful to spend a little time with Alison and her family again.  I wish we lived closer (I can say that about all my family and friends)!

Our BFT (Part II -- Our China Family Reunion)

Friday, we celebrated Sarah's 2nd birthday at a store where the kids pick out an animal and have it stuffed.  It was so fun to party with all the little girls and their families.  Try as she could, Sarah couldn't blow out her candle, but she entertained the crowd with her attempt.  She chose a big golden retriever as a keepsake.  It looks suspiciously like her beloved Va-va.  The group was so sweet -- they pitched in and bought an outfit for the dog, complete with frilly skirt, sneakers, and hat.  She looks adorable.

After the party, we went to the aquarium, which Sarah LOVED.  One of the families has three older girls, and six-and-a-half-year-old Ava stuck with us throughout the tour, pushing the stroller and entertaining Sarah.  She sat with us at dinner, too, which allowed Don and me to enjoy the meal a little more than usual.  It was the closest we'll ever get to having an au pair.

On Saturday, we had planned to visit the C*ncinnati Zoo, but the weather forecast was for record heat and humidity, so we switched to the C*ncinnati Museum.  It's in an old train depot and very impressive.  This time, Ava's older sister Bella hung out with us and doted on Sarah.  We saw the natural history museum in the morning and the children's museum in the afternoon.  The children's museum was incredible -- so many fun things to do.  Sarah loved the big net enclosure with thousands of balls to load into machines and shoot around.  She also enjoyed the slide...the girl loves to slide.

Saturday evening, we all ate at a Chinese restaurant.  It was chaos, with seven toddlers enjoying their meals (notice I didn't say "eating") and running around.  I'm sure our section had to be closed for industrial cleaning after we left.  After dinner, we took some group photos.  Last year in China, the girls had a red couch; this year, they had a black curb.  Oh, well.  Sarah was completely different this time around.  She worked the camera like a seasoned celebrity.

Here's last year's photo:

And this year's:

And our China "family":

It was so much fun seeing all of these families again.  We share a special bond that will only tighten over the years, I believe.  The girls aren't old enough to play together too much, but I know they'll grow close in time.  We're all part of a magical experience powered by love.  It's a gift to us all.

Our BFT (Part I -- Getting to Cincinnati)

We've been on the road for four days now.  Sarah keeps signing "home?" every time we get in the car.  I keep trying to explain that we're not going home for a really long time (two weeks) -- we're on a trip.  I've started calling it our BFT (Big, Fun Trip).

We spent Wednesday night at Emily and Omar's in W*unakee.  Sarah was excited to see them again.  She says their names pretty clearly now.  She and Sophia had a good time dancing, playing the piano, and riding Sophia's trike.

We left early Thursday morning and, nine hours later, pulled into Cincinnati.  Sarah was pretty good the whole way, although she needed to be entertained constantly (I don't know how many times I had to unbuckle my seat belt to assist in the back seat).  Two-and-a-half hours seems to be her limit before she starts screaming and needs a break.  She liked the travel pillow I bought, although it seems to push her head forward, rather than back.  :(

Thursday evening, we had dinner with five other families who traveled to China with us last summer (one family didn't arrive until Friday).  Sarah sat in her chair eating while the other girls ran around.  It takes her a while to warm up in social situations.  After dinner, she got down and interacted some, but she was still tentative.  She was particularly put off by the advances of three-year-old Grant, the big brother of one of the girls.  He wanted to kiss her and pat her cheek, and she wanted none of it!

More later....

Playing with the Big Girls

Saturday night we had a local family with two little girls from China over for dinner.  The girls are 4 and 9.  We had dinner at their place a few months ago, and Sarah was shy at first but then warmed up.  This time, she was pretty comfortable from the start.  She was soon holding hands with them and leading them around the yard showing them the animals.  It was SO cute!  She even got the older one to carry her around.  After dinner, the younger girl was doing cartwheels and dancing around the rec room.  At bedtime, Sarah was flinging herself around her room, doing high kicks and rolls.  Needless to say, it took a while to get her settled down and asleep.

We leave Wednesday for Cincinnati to attend a reunion of the families we traveled to China with last summer.  There will be seven of the 12 little girls there.  Can't wait....  We're going to celebrate Sarah's birthday with them.  Our little girl turns 2 next Sunday!

We then go on to M*ssachusetts to visit my family, including Sarah's three boy cousins.  I have a feeling that after this trip, Sarah will be doing and saying a lot more.  Being around other kids seems to light a fire under her.

Contest

I'm trying to win a giveaway of a Shutterfly lifebook template, so I'm posting the info here.  Lifebooks tell an adopted child his/her story from birth through adoption and beyond.  Bio kids like them, too!  Here's the link, if you'd like to enter: http://mystorylifebooks.blogspot.com/.  The deadline is July 31.

In the Swim

For the last two weeks, Sarah and I have been taking Parent-Toddler classes at the town pool.  The good part is that they're free; the not-so-good part is that you get what you pay for in terms of instruction.  We had a different college-age lifeguard leading the class each day, only one of which actually got into the pool with us.  My favorite was the guy hiding behind oversized Ray-bans who busied himself with some important paperwork on a clipboard the entire half-hour and failed to tell us that the last day of class had been cancelled due to the annual Catfish Days festival in town.

At any rate, it was a great opportunity for Sarah to experience a large pool for the first time.  For the first few days, she wrapped her legs around me with an iron grip and clutched a plastic Nemo fish toy for security.  On the fourth day, the collegian-on-duty was engaged enough to suggest we try the wading pool to see if the kids would be more comfortable (we had gone from four participants to two by that point).  Sarah was much happier there, although she was still cautious.

On Wednesday, we went back to the adult pool, and she started to loosen up.  By the next day, she was kicking her legs, blowing bubbles, and leaning back moving her arms under water, while entrusting me with Nemo.  She even tried to talk herself into scooting off the side of the pool into my arms, but she couldn't quite muster the gumption.  I had high hopes for our last day on Friday, but, as noted above, we arrived to find the gates closed.

We're heading to Cincinnati in a couple of weeks for a reunion of the families in our China travel group.  I'm eager to get her into the pool again and glad she had an opportunity to work through some of her fears beforehand.  In the meantime, we'll practice in the plastic wading pool at home.  Whenever we mention "pool," she goes through all the motions for kicking, putting her head back, and blowing bubbles.

Here are some shots that Dad took on her last day:

Master Builder

The other day, I had to send a quick email, so I asked Sarah to build a tower with her nesting blocks, thinking it would buy me a few uninterrupted minutes.  Moments later, she was reaching for the keyboard, so I repeated my request, and she gave me a blank look.  I glanced over at her play mat, and this is what I saw:

How am I ever going to keep up with this kid????