Well, we're working on it.....

The other day we were going to go play outside for a while and had been in our p.j.'s still. I told Delaney to go get some shorts and shoes to wear. I wanted to see what she would come downstairs with....
Remember, we live in California and it's still 80 degress in September! She rode her bike, played in her sand box, she did take the ski hat off, but you never know when you just might need your life vest!!!
Two year olds can be great entertainment!!

The Moon, Why, and Can I go at the Mall?

So here's the latest update.....The MOON: Delaney told me the other night the moon has candy in it and she wanted to open it up and get the candy. I decided to play with her and told her the moon was made of cheese and she said, "I like cheese! The moon has candy and cheese, let's go get it Mama!" We went to get our hair done and all the way home she was looking for the moon, I said we would look at it when we got home....nope, it's still too light to see it! ARRGGHHH!

"Where's the moon, Mommy, is it coming out?"Later she went poo-poo on the potty so I told her we could go look at the moon, so we went outside and it was full and low in the sky, so she wants to touch it! Me ~ We can't touch it, baby, it's too far away....."Let's go touch it in the new car, Mama!" (we have a new car! which is a whole other story about her and the CD changer!) We said good night to the moon and as we were going upstairs, she says she wants cheese...................................ARRGGHHH! again!

WHY: Little Missy now asks "WHY" in her sleep! Last night she wanted to take her little Matroyshka doll that rattles to bed. (loud as heck on the monitor!) When I went to bed and checked on her, I took the rattle out of her bed, along with a plastic Polly Pocket, and a little car, so she wouldn't roll on it while she sleeps. Half asleep she says, "M-toy-sha, Mom" I said, "You can't sleep with it, baby." A soft "Why?" comes out of her usually loud voice.
"So you won't get an owie while you sleep."
Another soft, "Why, Mommy?" "M-toy-sha go nite-nite on da shelf?"
"Yes, baby"
"Why, Mommy? She got time-out? Why?"
"Go to sleep, baby!"
"Mommy go nite nite?" Her voice is still very soft and she is obviously falling back asleep....
"Yes, Mommy's going nite-nite, g'night, I love you." As I leave the room......
"Why, Mom, doing? Go nite-nite, shut da lights off at the water park? Why......"
I keep walking.........it's quiet!

POTTY: Delaney's doing great with potty training! No accidents, sometimes misses placing herself over the toilet and will even go in public restrooms.....in EVERY public restroom, I mean we have seen the inside of every bathroom within a 20 mile radius! I think she's either planning an escape route or is going re-design them all! Well, she had to go the other day and we had been to the mall.....she told me she had to go poo-poo.....but wanted to go at the MALL!!

I think I am doomed!!! The pic: What happens when you let a 2 year dress themselves!

Developmental Milestones...Why oh why?

The time has come where we have reached very significant developmental milestones with 2.5 old Delaney……

1) She was potty trained successfully last week! LOVES her new panties and when Mommy does the PEE-PEE and POO-POO dance! Only a couple small accidents! Even went at Grandpa’s house yesterday and stayed dry on the 2 hour drive there!

2) She has become obsessed with where the Moon goes during the day! Mommy’s answer, “The moon goes to sleep during the day,” only sparks the next milestone…..

3) THE DREADED…….”WHY?” Just in the last couple weeks and gaining speed she has been asking “why?” to everything!! She had been asking “Where, who…,” so I knew “Why?” was around the corner! Not a single answer suffices! I have been through this with my nieces and nephews….but how much more crazy does it drive you 24/7? I have tried so hard to answer and be patient and consider it learning and have tried to re-pharse her questions…..every now and then I get an “Oh.” But OMG!!! When will it stop? He he!! Just trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel…..well, I know there’s something else waiting down there……she will be three soon! YIKES!!!!

Delaney's First Adoption Day/Top Ten "Mom" List

One year ago (Aug 8th) a judge in Kemerovo, in a downstairs courtroom with a “jail cell” in it, officially made me the Happiest Mommy in the world!! I cannot believe it has been a year…it still all seems surreal….from the time they brought this beautiful child with two tiny pig tails sticking out of the top of her head in to me, to last night, when she licked me on the leg and said, “Mommy’s yummy! I like Mommy…LUUUV you Mommy!” And I never thought I’d travel to Siberia twice in my life!

Someone at work asked me what I like best about being a mom, and I said EVERYTHING! I have never been so tired and so happy. What really makes me feel the best in my heart is knowing how happy she is! We celebrated our first Adoption Day/Family Day by making a heart shaped cake and opening up some presents. While I was videotaping her opening up her cards I asked her where her family is and she immediately pointed to me, then my mom then herself and said, “MommyDelaneyGrandma family…” “…and Pamp-pa and Auntie!” (she calls my dad’s girlfriend Auntie). I always want to cry when she says she wants to go home and we drive up to the house and she says, “Delaney’s house, right there!” Last night we were looking at the photo book I left with her on trip one and she looked at the picture of the house and said, “My house, that’s my home!”

We also went to a water park that’s just for small kids and she loved it! When we came home, I gave her turtle sand box and she spent the rest of the day making “sandcastles!” Although I have yet to actually see one, they are mostly just mounds of sand…he he!
She just acts like she has always been here, always in charge! He he! She was walking around telling me Happy Adoption Day, and my boss called it the “Mama-versary”. Well, you’ve all heard a lot of stories about Little Missy, so I came up with a top ten list: “What I have learned my first year as a Mommy!” Here are some pics of our little celebration, I took pictures at the water park with a waterproof and will put them on my blog when I develop them. She was so disappointed she could not go on the bigger slides, that little 2 year old daredevil !! The picture in the pink dress is from trip one, the picture in the jeans outfit is from Gotcha Day, she loves that outfit and always says, "that's cute!" and she loved her light up sneakers, too! Gotcha Day was also the day my baby discovered shoe-shopping! I have been paying for that all year....that child loves shoes! I bought the green dress on a trip to Scotland when I was 5 months into the dossier, those portraits were in March. I thank God every single day for how lucky I am to be this wonderful person's Mommy! (and wonder, "what have I done?" when she tries to put lipstick on the cat!)

Top Ten Things I Have Learn as a Mom ~ Year One
10. Anything you SAY can and will be repeated!
9. Babyproofing? HA!!!!
8. Any toy or object can and will be used as something other than it's original purpose!
7. Cats don't like to drink from a sippy cup.
6. Anything you DO can and will be repeated!
5. Two year olds like to lock doors.
4. Every word to every Wiggles song, every word to every Ralph song, the entire Sound of Music score, the entire score to Mary Poppins, every note to the Jeopardy theme, and all the words to Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World".
3. Broccoli has excellent trajectory.
2. A bath can bide you enough time to make a phone call or have a glass of wine!
1. No matter how it is said, whined, shouted, screamed, yelled, whimpered, whispered....."Mommy" is the sweetest word in the world!!!!!

St. Louis and Michigan Trip

What a fun family vacation Delaney and I had to St. Louis and Michigan this month! We travelled to St. Louis to attend a reunion picnic given by Children’s Hope, the adoption agency I used to bring to Delaney home. There were children from all over the world from all parts of the US. Delaney was so excited to get on the airplane and when we took off she put her hands up in the air! When we landed in St. Louis, she was yelling, “I’m here, Mommy, St. Louis, I’m here!” I had been talking to her about the trip for some time now, so she was so happy to finally get there!

We meet up with the three families we tavelled with to Russia, as well as some other families whose children are from Baby House #2 in Novokuznetsk. It was wonderful to see all the kids and how well they are doing and how happy and healthy they are! I just wanted to hug and hold them all so tight!

St. Louis is a really nice town! We spent a couple days with the Earls ~ Jeff, Jane, Joseph and Svetlana and visited the CHI office, the zoo, and Grant’s Farm (where the famous Clydesdales live!) The kids loved swimming in the pool at the hotel and Delaney discovered the “Hot~Tub Tub!” A lot of attractions in St. Louis are free, so that was nice! It was fun spending time with our friends from Tennessee that we haven’t seen since coming home last August! At the hotel, we visited with the Blalocks from Flordia, the Marshalls, also from Tenn., and the Kubes from Illinois. Delaney saw several other children who were adopted last year that she had been with in Russia: Alina, Tatyana and Lauren!

A long time family friend, Pam, flew down to meet us from Chicago and Delaney loved “Ham!” Pam went to the picnic with us and we visited the arch and walked along the river one evening. The picnic was fun, and we saw even more families from our on-line groups. The kids got to play in packing peanuts, do arts and crafts and get their faces painted. We all had fun visiting and seeing the kids and catching up!

After St. Louis, Delaney and I flew to upper Michigan to visit Aunt Gail and Uncle Earl and their gang! We flew into Green Bay, Wisconsin and visited Lambeau Field, which was really fun. My uncle has Delaney running around saying, “Go Packers!” The other day I told her to say “Go Niners!” and she said no! Well, Little Missy could just do no wrong with my aunt and uncle and had a blast on their small farm riding tractors, playing in the sand, having water fights with her cousins….we went to swim in Lake Michigan and had a bon fire while the kids roasted marshmallows. They day we were going home I asked her if she was ready to fly home and see grandma and she said, “No, another house!” Guess she enjoys being a world traveller like her Mommy!

Delaney keeps asking about EVERYBODY she saw in St. Louis and Michigan and wants to know where they are now and where they live! I can’t believe she is remembering all those names and faces. She looks at the pictures and can tell you who it is and where they live now! Well, I am hoping this is just one of many trips we can share together, as we plan to get together with our friends in the future so the kids can all see each other as they grow up. I now need to go “de-program” my child so she doesn’t get beat up here in San Francisco by screaming, “Go Packers!”

You can see all the trip photos by clicking on the photo gallery link to the left!

Delaney ~ American Citizen!

Delaney's first 4th of July was kind of quiet. We had a few friends over for a bar-b-que and Little Missy got to swim in her pool while Mommy sat in a chair with a drink and with her feet in it! I had planned to take a picture of her holding up her Certificate of Citizenship and all day long she keep saying to me, "American Citizen! Have it!" And I would tell her she did have it but she likes her certificate because it has her picture on it! he he!

Well, I never took her picture because by about 1 pm she had guacamole, cranberry juice and salsa all over her new dress I bought her that said, "American Sweetheart" on it! But we made star sugar cookies and put white frosting with red and blue sprinkles on them. She had fun with that! It was well over 100 on the holiday so our bbq headed inside! But we had yummy ribs, Mom's famous potato salad, corn and shrimp wrapped in bacon. We didn't make it to fireworks, she's still so little to stay up that late and Mommy had to work at 7 the next morning! Maybe we will try to find some this weekend, I think Marine World has some thru Sunday. But she knew it was a fun day and enjoyed herself and is still enjoying the cookies!! Here's a few picks I snapped of her!

Animals and Rides at Discovery Kingdom

Over Memorial Day weekend we headed over to Marine World, which is only 20 minutes from us. I knew Delaney would love it and, of course, Mommy was right. It's called Discovery Kingdom this year, but everyone in the area still refers to it as Marine World. Nothing went high enough or fast enough for Little Missy! And she is barely tall enough to go on the rides we did get to ride and I had to go with her! I got my mom a season pass so they can go whenever they want over the summer, and they have been a few times now. Guess some of the folks have let Delaney just barely hit the height line, her favorite ride now is the frog jump. She kept telling the elephant to go faster, too! We are still working on her sitting like a "big girl" at the shows, but I'm sure it will come as she gets older. She likes the sharks and dolphins, but her favorite animals are the tigers and lions and giraffes! She keeps wanting to touch them! She watched Mommy ride the "big roll" (roller coaster) and said, "yea, Mommy no fall!" I was also glad I didn't fall!! he he!