Playground Fun...

(Note: I added a bunch of posts today to catch up... sorry for the long time between posts)

I thought Sonia and I could use some time running around together somewhere warm, so we tried out an indoor playground place in New Berlin. She's been trying to climb everything she can find, so I was curious what she'd do on an actual playground. Answer ... she climbs everything she can find (lol). She loved the toddler area steps and slides, trying every option imaginable to get up to the slides. She also tried out the various scooters and "cars". I thought we'd maybe last 30 minutes (our late summer trip to the park lasted 10 minutes) but she was running and climbing for 90 minutes straight. I was thinking that I'd have to drag her away screaming ... but, just as quickly as she started, she put up her arms to be picked up, said "bye bye" and waved at all her favorite toys before pointing for the door. I had to laugh (as did several people nearby). We headed out to put on our shoes and coat and head home.

She was starving when we got home and could hardly make it to 6pm before falling asleep in my lap still smiling... a fun adventure for sure!

Snow fun #2

We had something like 0.25 - 0.5 inch of snow this morning. Sonia was enamored looking out the window. So, we bundled up and went outside to play. I think it may have taken almost as long to get her into her snow pants, boots, coat, hat, and mittens as we lasted outside... but, it was still fun. She enjoyed being pulled around on the sled and also stomping around in her boots (which makes her laugh like crazy!). Good fun!

New Year's Eve ...

Happy New Year!!

Sonia and I celebrated New Year's together. We briefly went to a candlelight meditation at my church (and Sonia actually rocked in my arms and let me have a few minutes of quiet reflection). Then, we went home and rocked the New Year with OUR New Year's countdown at 6pm! This gave us some "crazy" celebration time before beginning to relax in time for bottle, books, and bedtime at 7pm.

After Sonia was fast asleep, I enjoyed a relaxing rest of the evening with a hot bath, reading a couple magazines, and a glass of wine. It was a pretty perfect end of 2011... here's to a wonderful continuation in 2012 !!

Happy New Year!!

Our First Christmas Together ...

Christmas with Sonia was wonderful (how could it not be the best thing ever?)! She is the best gift I could ever receive and I try very hard to treasure every moment with her (even the challenging ones) :o) We spent Christmas at my parent's house and enjoyed spending time with a bigger group of family on Christmas too!

Sonia was great at not messing with the Christmas tree and trim. I wasn't sure how that would go but she seems to understand toys vs. trim. She LOVED opening presents. Like the old story goes, I think she loved the wrapping paper and boxes the most. She had much fun climbing around, into, and standing on the boxes and putting stuff in and out of them. She is now starting to have great fun with the presents too... one by one exploring them fully!

Here's a few pictures of our holiday ...

Wisconsin "Re-adoption"

Sonia's adoption process was final in China and she became an American citizen when her feet touched the ground in Detroit on our way home. But, I wanted to complete a WI state re-adoption so that Sonia would also have a US birth certificate (in addition to her Chinese one). The Social Worker, who had done our homestudy paperwork through the years, did the legwork for us. So, pretty much all we had to do was show up for court.

Our court date was on December 21st at 2pm. I took the afternoon off work and picked up Sonia from daycare. It was a really nice experience. The Judge spent a little time talking about his positive feelings on adoption, our Social Worker "testified" that she supports the re-adoption, and I answered a few questions. All together, this probably took less than 10 minutes. Through all this, Sonia entertained the judge, court recorder, and bailiff with smiles, soft babbles and cooing, and overall just being her adorable self.

Afterwards, the judge invited us to his bench to let Sonia "make it official" by knocking his gavel against the wood block. She loved making the noise! He also gave Sonia a "family bear" and we snapped a few pictures. A fun 20 min... :o) Since I'd taken the afternoon off work, we had lots of free time at home to play... a bonus!

Snow fun ... #1

Sonia's first experience with snow was the Saturday before Christmas (12/17/11). A friend's daughter, Ashley, was babysitting for me so I could get my presents wrapped. We had less than an inch of snow, but Sonia wanted to go outside. Ashley got Sonia all bundled up into her snow gear and pulled her around in the sled! Sonia had a blast! (I had to take a quick break from wrapping to snap a couple cute pictures...)