my little lantern

Chicago 2010: Crown Fountains photo roll

2010-07-30T01:43:00.002-04:00

Yup. This was Kevin's favorite part of our weekend trip! Henry, We missed playing in the fountain with you this year. Hope to meet up with you next time!

2.5 year old checkup

2010-07-28T12:11:00.004-04:00

Hannah had her 2.5 year old checkup today. There was a lot of drama as Hannah didn't want anything to do with a stethoscope, an otoscope, getting weighed, or measured. She nearly weighs 23 pounds with clothes and shoes on. I laughed a little to myself as I watched her height and weight plotted in her chart. We're totally off the chart for weight now. It's a good thing that our nurse practitioner is relaxed about it, as I take a lot of cues about what to be concerned about from her. She explains that Hannah's just genetically programmed to be a very petite person. She's obviously not malnourished, has muscles and a little belly, so we're not going to worry about it ~~much~~. Yeah. Not going to worry about it. I keep telling myself that.

Chicago 2010: kiddos photo roll

2010-07-28T01:06:00.002-04:00

After lunch on Saturday at Lao Beijing in Chicago's Chinatown, our group Taiwan adoptive families rounded up all of our children for a group photo at Chinatown Square. Getting a group of toddlers to sit down and all look at a camera is a lot like herding cats.

Kevin made a friend! He and Tyler hit it off with silliness and high fives.

Isn't little Miss T just the sweetest thing?!?!

I know, little Miss T. Tyler's hair is totally rockin' awesome. I wanted to touch it, too.

Peek-a-boo, post-processed!

Chicago 2010: what a difference a year and a half makes

2010-07-27T23:29:00.000-04:00

A year and a half ago on the other side of the world, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt Taipei. One amazing emotional day, we became parents... and then took our baby back to the hotel, stripped her down to her diaper, were thrilled that she allowed us to love on her and play, and then this mama dressed her in the prettiest red dress to photograph this amazing little person.

This past weekend we stayed at a Hyatt in Chicago. It doesn't have the same elegance as the Grand Hyatt Taipei (which happens to be the nicest hotel I've ever... and will ever... stay in), but the clean white linens on their beds look and feel very much the same.

Oh how our Hannah has changed! The baby that liked to jingle keys and beep our noses is now an iPhone app-lovin' toddler.

Oh, yeah. Her daddy thinks she's pretty special, too!!!

Hannah really likes this app. The Baa Baa Black Sheep game keeps her attention like no other.

Preview

2010-07-26T23:36:00.001-04:00

Too busy with work, taking out the trash, watering the plants in this heat, figuring out what we're doing for dinner, changing diapers, playing in the sandbox, washing sand off of toddler in bathtub, refilling sippy cups, and doing laundry for the real post of this past weekend. This post is to be continued, but just had to go ahead and share this photo of our little dumplings as soon as I had a chance. Lots of photos and fun to report on!

Lisa has blogged about our meet up HERE. I've said this before... but she's just as sweet in person as she is on her blog! :)

Night night. Gotta go to bed to wake up early and start it all over again tomorrow, and go swimming with my little fish after work!

Video: she swims like a fish

2010-07-22T00:06:00.003-04:00

We've been doing a lot of swimming with our little fish. Hannah likes to swim underwater, by being pushed back and forth between us. This little fish is a wiggly one, and often wants to wiggle out of my arms and attempt to swim on her own. No fear!

In addition to swimming, we've been playing in the sandbox, going to story hour, swinging, going down slides on our tummy, petting sheep at the county fair. Hannah is choosing her own clothes out of her closet, trying to dress herself, playing Baa Baa Black Sheep on our iPhones again... and again... and again. She likes it when her Dada jumps out behind a corner shouting "Aaaaaaaarg!" and scares her.

We've been singing a lot, too. ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (sounds like tinkle tinkle little star! hee hee!), Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, This Old Man, and the new one we're working on is I've Been Working on the Railroad.

When asked, "Where were you born?" Hannah gleefully shouts, "Taiwan!" We've talked about how Allie was born in Taiwan, too. Now anytime we mention Taiwan, Hannah starts asking if she can play with Allie. Aw.... Really looking forward to seeing you again in a couple of weeks, Allie and Lora!

This weekend we'll be in Chicago for the Dragon Boat Races. So excited to meet up with old friends and make new friends, too! This is our fourth annual trek to the event. Yesterday I was watching Hannah's video commentary of our trip last year and it just amazed me what a baby she was a year ago. Barely walking, only a few words, and loads of jibberish. Now she runs backwards and understands everything we say. We pretty much understand her phrases and unique way of pronouncing some words, which we affectionately call "Hannahese."

Hannah's not really fond of the camera right now, although it still loves her. When my face ducks behind the lens, she turns on the whine. That's okay. I'll wait until I have a more willing participant, and we'll keep playing in the sand and coloring in Elmo coloring books together for now.

thoughts after viewing Formosa Betrayed

2010-07-17T01:40:00.003-04:00

I've been looking forward to viewing the film Formosa Betrayed for several months. It came out on DVD this week and arrived in our mail box today. Lucky for us, Nana and Papa agreed to some Hannah time so we could have a movie tonight here at home.

Here's the trailer if you'd like to see what it is about.

Going into the film, I knew that the reviews weren't so hot of the storyline, but that's okay. Watching what it was like to live during white terror in Taiwan... the longest period of martial law in the world... was what it was all about for me. I've read about the 228 massacre before, but it never really sunk in for me that it was ILLEGAL just to talk about the incident. I try to imagine myself as a Taiwanese in the late 1940s, watching these KMT mainlanders take over my homeland, murder my neighbors who appear as through they are an intellectual and might start a political uprising, demand that my children learn Mandarin in school and are punished when they speak Taiwanese... wow. That's a lot to chew on.

In summary, the movie wasn't bad. It just wasn't really good. The jumping around of the timeline threw me off a bit. I valued the film for highlighting the history of white terror by the KMT during the years of martial law in Taiwan.

ADDED 7/20/10: Be sure to read Mama Shoe's comment on this post.

Social Networking - Families with Children from Taiwan

2010-07-14T13:22:00.003-04:00

There is a new social networking site for Taiwan adoptive families titled Families with Children from Taiwan. Social networking sites have a lot of advantages over the old email and text based Yahoo groups that so many of us adoptive families are still using. Post messages, photos, videos, etc. Think of it like Facebook... but just for Taiwan adoptive families.

money

2010-06-28T07:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Hannah reached into Kevin's pants pocket. He asked her what she was looking for. She replied, "money." {She likes dropping coins into her piggy bank.} Oh, Kevin... the first of MANY money requests to come!

Redirect: Guess who came to our house to play?

2010-06-19T21:13:00.005-04:00

photo credit: Lora at The Cole Connection

Hannah and I had a FABULOUS playdate with Allie and Lora on Friday, as always. Lora took some great pics of the girls playing. Head on over to their blog for some double cuteness! I always get a little choked up when Lora talks about seeing Hannah at the orphanage in Taiwan. She describes seeing a three month old Hannah as the littlest baby she ever saw.

Hannah's having her first overnight away from both of her parents tonight, enjoying a lakeside weekend with Nana and Papa. After I got off work Kevin and I took a trip to Lowes sans toddler. Every once in a while we caught ourselves looking for where Hannah ran off to. It's AMAZING how much one can accomplish at home without a toddler running around, asking you to color, refill sippy cups, turn on Elmo, let's read books, etc. What did I do with all of my time before we had kids???? Is having two easier than one because they entertain each other, or does it end up being double the work?

Redirect: Asian American Children's Literature

2010-06-17T22:37:00.003-04:00

My thoughts this evening:

I've started following Kimchi Mamas. Lots of good stuff here. Today there was a post that links to a HUGE list of Asian American Children's Literature that further categorizes the books into specific groups (Vietnamese, Filipino, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, etc.) Of course, there's a little Taiwanese and Taiwanese American collection as well.

Thinking a lot about less of a focus on adoption themed children's books (because they are obviously written from the viewpoint of adoptive parents and FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS, 'cause that's who's buying them) and more on literature that is written by Asian Americans. If you are interested in Asian American Children's Literature, be sure to check out the link to Dr. Sarah Park's blog.

FL vocabulary and the pirates

2010-06-17T00:22:00.007-04:00

Looking for geckos is a lot more fun when your toddler calls them DINOSAURS and looks at each little green creature with amazement.

Nana and Hannah played together with a Magna Doodle. My mom asks Hannah to name the people in her family, and then Nana writes their names, spelling out each letter. "Hannah. H-A-N-N-A-H. Hannah." Hannah is really getting into it, and likes watching the names bring written on the board.

The next day while walking on the pier at Fort Myers Beach, Hannah pointed out to a spot below the fishing pier and shouted, "H!" We didn't understand what was going on, until we saw this written in the sand. Hannah found an H!

I've been so worried about vocabulary and expression with Hannah that I hadn't even thought about starting to work on letters yet. So far with just a little work, she knows H, S, O, and sometimes A.

Having four grandparents and one great grandparent around in the last two weeks in addition to Mama and Dada has been amazing for Hannah's vocabulary. New words include sand, beach, giraffe, owl, tatoo (only the temporary rub on kind, folks) and all sorts of things I can't remember right now. Oh, and encouraging a toddler to say "sunny beach" provides hours of entertainment, too. Phrases such as "All done with sand," have amazed me. Having all of these grandparents around spolied Hannah a bit, too. She's become used to bossing people around. "Color! Color! Sit! Color!" as she hands you the crayon that she selected for you. When Sedona came from being boarded Hannah instructed the dog to, "Sit. Pink Chair. Sit!!!" Of course, she's wanting carried all of the time, too... because that's what grandparents do, right?

And just for giggles, I'll share the pirate photos with you, too. :)

"Mama sleep."

2010-06-17T00:16:00.003-04:00

This afternoon I unsuccessfully tried to take a nap together with Hannah in my bed. Oh yeah, with the little dog, too. Everyone piled in. Hannah would not lay down and just wanted to fool around. I closed my eyes to rest, hoping that she'd think I was boring and would settle down as well. After closing my eyes, little fingers tried to pry my eyelids open... and a little voice said, "Mama sleep." I told her to leave my eyelids alone because I wanted to sleep, and closed my eyes again. A minute later Hannah snuggled up against me and kissed me on the lips for the FIRST time! That's MAMA BLISS!

gotta love that Tea, especially when it's really on the cheap

2010-06-17T00:05:00.005-04:00

For my mommy friends that are lovers of Tea Collection, there's a bunch of new markdowns and supposedly coupon code DLE25 will take 25% off these already reduced prices. We have this double decker butterfly dress and love it. On sale for $19.50 minus 25% off is pretty sweet, regular price was $29. There are striped leggings for $16.50 that match to make this a great outfit cooler weather.

This is a favorite, too! Cute cute cute. I love the prints in this Korean inspired line!

Redirect: Taiwan: The Threatened Democracy

2010-06-12T15:22:00.003-04:00

Three years ago our TIVO found a program on CSPAN for us (and we NEVER watch CSPAN) by Bruce Herschensohn titled Taiwan: The Threatened Democracy. Watching this program was an enlightening experience for me, an opened my eyes to how our state (and other nationals around the world) treats Taiwan. We don't recognize that Taiwan built their own democracy, rising out of a martial law forced upon them, and instead we go out of our way to cater to the People's Republic of China.

Today I found out that the video of this program I watched is available online HERE. I think this is a must watch for Taiwan Pre-Adoptive Parents and Adoptive Parents.

nearing the end of a relaxing week

2010-06-11T17:57:00.003-04:00

taste of sand

2010-06-06T17:34:00.002-04:00

About five minutes after this last photo was taken, Hannah said, "ALL DONE WITH SAND!"

We're pretty busy this week in the water, sand, and sun. More pics to come.
My internet access is from a tethered cell phone this week.

Hannah has the attention of ALL four grandparents and a great granny.
I think she's going to go through attention withdrawls next week. Not gonna be pretty.

Claritin Clear

2010-05-29T00:58:00.007-04:00

Tonight at work, I got a phone call that a parent never wants to hear from her spouse. "I'm taking Hannah to the ER. She found a bottle of Claritin, got it open, and I'm not sure how many she ate." Whaaaaaa??? While Kevin was putting some clothes in the dryer, Hannah crawled on a stool, got up on our bed in our bedroom, found a bottle of Claritin that we didn't know was in the night stand, and managed to open the child resistant bottle. Kevin was calling her, and he figured she was up to something when she didn't come. He found her with the bottle open. She opened her mouth and spit out half a tablet. Kevin already had poison control programmed into his cell phone. They told him to take Hannah to the ER as he had no way of knowing if and how many she could have ingested.

Poison control AND a worried and guilt ridden mama both called the ER to let them know this two year old was on the way with possible antihistamine overdose. Hannah was hooked up to a heart monitor and blood pressure monitor for two hours. Mama came rushing in as soon as work closed. Hannah was a very good girl about leaving the leads on her chest. She played around with Dada's iphone and sang along to come music. She's shown no signs of any antihistamine overdose. When our two hours of observation were up, the staff got bye bye waves, blown kisses, and high fives.

I let Facebook friends know what we were doing tonight. When we posted that we had the all clear to go home... Melanie commented, "Oh, thank God, she is Claritin Clear!" Kevin and I both burst out laughing when we read that on the way home the hospital. We both needed that good laugh.

Feeling like a pretty lousy parent. I recorded us singing our night night songs together before bedtime tonight. This could have gone so much worse. There are so many worse things she could have gotten her little curious hands into.

Realistic Expectations: The First Year Home

2010-05-27T10:28:00.004-04:00

EMK Press has a free downloadable book for adoptive families titled Realistic Expectations: The First Year Home. I downloaded the book, and I would describe it as the juicy parts of many other adoptive parenting books. And let me tell you, some of those 300 page big books on adoptive parenting quickly put me to zzzzzzz. Great info here in a brief form, and then you are referenced to a larger book for more info if you need it. I've linked to it in my right sidebar under "Links for the Journey."

A Different Perspective
by Cynthia Hockman-Chupp

Strategies for Building Attachment
by Karleen Gribble, BRurSc, PhD,

Top Ten Tips for Successful First Year Parenting
by Deborah Gray, MSW, MPA

Why Grandma Can’t Pick Up the Baby
by Sheena Macrae and Karleen Gribble

What is This Thing You Call Sleep?
by Dr Julian Davies, MD

Alone No More...Recognizing Post Adoption Depression by Heatherly Bucher

Adding The Oldest by Terra Trevor

Creating a Fit by Carrie Kitze

“When Do You Tell a Child he was Adopted?”
And Other Secrets We Shouldn’t Keep
by Adam Pertman

Unexpected Special Needs by Nancy Hemenway

Positive Outcome:
How Can You Combat the Effects of an Orphanage
By Mary Beth Williams, PhD, LCSW, CTS

The Impact of Trauma on the Adopted Child and Ten Keys to Healing Trauma in the Adopted Child
by B. Bryan Post

How to Find a Therapist Experienced in Attachment and/or Trauma by the Attachment Disorder Network

Sensory Integration And the Internationally Adopted Child
By Barbara Elleman, MHS, OTR/L, BCP

Facts About Parenting a Child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder By Teressa Kellerman

How to Avoid the Syndrome of Parent Burn-Out
by Harriet McCarthy

Being an Ally to Families Raising Children with Challenges by Ellin Frank

Help Your Child Ward Off a Mad Attack
by Lynne Namke, EdD

Being with Your Child in Public Places
by Patty Wipfler

Strategies to Deal with Anger and Power Struggles
by Christopher J. Alexander, PhD

When Adoptions Fail by Kim Phagan-Hansel

stall tactics revisited

2010-05-26T13:12:00.003-04:00

Mama: "Hannah, it's time for night night."
Hannah: Stall tactic #1. "Juice!!! I need juice!"
Mama: "You have a juice cup in your hand, Hannah."
Hannah: Discards juice cup. Stall tactic #2. "Cacka! Cackaaaaah!"
Mama: "You just finished eating crackers. Time for night night.
Hannah: Stall tactic #3. "Read! Reeeeeeeeead! Read read!" The look in her eyes tells me that she thinks she has it made.
Mama laughs. "Smart. Very smart. Too bad it didn't work."

somebody better call CPS

2010-05-24T16:57:00.002-04:00

Conversation in our car Friday afternoon.

Hannah: Sounding pitiful... "Juuuuuuuuuice! Juuuuuuuuuuuuice!!!"
Sarah: "We don't have any juice. We'll have juice at home in a few minutes."
Hannah: Sounding desperate... "Cacka! Cacka! Cackaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Sarah: "Hannah, we don't have any crackers in the car. We'll be home in just a few minutes."
Hannah: "Hep! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Hep! Hep!"
Sarah giggles.
Kevin: "Somebody better call Child Protective Services. That child needs help and her mother is ignoring her."

tonight was the night

2010-05-20T23:37:00.004-04:00

Hannah's having trouble going to sleep tonight. In her dimly lit room, I rocked her in my arms to try to get her comfortable enough to go back into her crib. She played with my "neck-is" around my neck and beeped my nose a few times.

Two years ago, tonight was the night that we first learned of our daughter. I told Hannah the story of how Mama and Dada had waited and waited and waited for her. We heard that we would learn of our baby soon, and were checking our phone and e-mails all day long. One night both Kevin and I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop checking my e-mail over and over and over again. Finally about 3am, I told Kevin that I was going to check my e-mail one more time and then I was going to bed. And low and behold... there it was! An e-mail from the adoption agency titled "Hallelujah!!!!" with not just one, not two, not three, but four exclamation points. I was so excited, nervous, and scared that I couldn't open the e-mail. Kevin took the mouse from me and opened it up. We looked at Hannah's photos in awe, and couldn't believe how teeny tiny of a preemie she was... weighing only 2.6 pounds at birth.

After exchanging hugs and kisses, I placed Hannah back into her crib, and we sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" together.

"Hannah, you are my little star. You shine so bright, little one. I can't imagine being matched with any other star in the sky two years ago then with you."

life on full speed

2010-05-16T22:13:00.015-04:00

Feels like life is stuck on full speed. No nice pics with the fancy camera. No time. Work. Grocery getting. Reading at least five books a day. Major garage clean out for the garage sale. Spending hours and hours putting together Hannah's swing set. All worth those squeals of joy when she slides down head first on her belly and screams, "Again! Again!" excitedly. Looking forward to come vaca on the beach in June, and hoping life will s.l.o.w d.o.w.n that week so it can be savored. Here's some recent snaps from my phone.

fish!

Monkey see, monkey do.

Little girls who throw their milk do not make Mama very happy.

Hannah spent two minutes in the corner to think about what she had done, for Mama to cool off, and then for Mama to start to grin and snap a few pics because she looked so cute in the corner.

Learning to clean up her own mess, and then tell Mama she was sorry.
Hannah likes to clean, so I'm not sure how this part will work out.

Hannah LOVES these Lollipop sandals from Stride Rite. She requests her "pink shoes" when we're dressing her, and doesn't want to take them off. She's started prancing and twirling in circles for fun a lot lately, even more so in her beloved pink sandals. I love these sandals because they flex and have great rubber bottoms just like sneakers. LOVE THEM. Worth every penny over cheap discount store sandals, and they just might be the only shoes she wears all summer. They come in pink, red, silver, and white.

Pretty angelic when she sleeps.

Visiting Great-grandma on Mother's Day.
We get a lot of attention with these two at the nursing home.
The dog might even earn more than Hannah does.

Talking with Grandma.

Mmmmm. Strawberry ice cream. But when we brought her a plate of watermelon, Hannah shoved away the ice cream and ate two whole slices of watermelon. Wow!

Dada and Hannah work on her swing set.

Slide!

Papa helps Hannah with basketball fundamentals,
a requirement when you live in the Hoosier state.

Already hanging on the rim after a dunk. Heh heh.

New phrase for the week: "That's a mess." Funny stuff. I'm finding myself saying that phrase quite a bit lately. Dada, did you see what she did with her cereal in her room? Think you could make that go away tomorrow for me? Thanks. :)

Black and White Wednesday - "Mine"

2010-05-05T14:07:00.002-04:00

Color shots from today are posted here. :)

"Mine!"

2010-05-05T13:29:00.003-04:00

You are most certainly a girly girl. You want my shoes, my makeup brushes, nail polish, and my jewelry. You watch me getting ready for work and tell me, "Mine!" when you want what I have.

You made me laugh so hard this week. You scampered off to your room with a crayon and drew on your floor. When I saw what you did, I sighed and said, "Oh, Hannah. That's nice." You looked at me with your face beaming and exclaimed, "That's nice!"