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August 10, 2008  |  September 8, 2008  |  January 2, 2009  |  January 2, 2010

Friday, January 2, 2009 WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?!? I mean seriously, our last post was September 8th??? What's up with that? Life after China has been incredibly busy. It's a little like when we had our 3rd child. We're back to an odd number and it always seems to throw off our equilibrium somehow. Frankly, we feel pretty lucky if we don't forget anybody when when we go from place to place. I'm waiting for that to come since it seems to have happened to just about everybody we know that has a big family. Just a few days after the last post we got YaYa in to see the pediatric cardiologist. She got a thorough checkup and as clean a bill of health as can be. Our doctor said the way her TOF was repaired in China has left her with a leaky heart. In China they do not use Gore-Tex or cadaver patches for TOF, they just simply slice open the constricted ventricle and leave it that way. The prognosis is that she'll have a long and healthy life after probably one more surgery later on to patch it. We'll keep an eye on it from year to year. She probably won't be an Olympian, but at least she'll be healthy. We then took her to the Children's Hospital up in Denver. The doctors there evaluated her for developmental skills and she's on track for the most part. She has a little trouble fitting puzzle pieces in the right way, but she shows signs of brilliance and dexterity in many other ways. We just think she is the smartest and prettiest little girl in the world. YaYa continues to bless us in many ways. She appears to have a sense of humor that is beyond her age. She's constantly making us laugh, whether it's the wild running through the house with her arms flailing, her attempts at coherent speech, or her imitative behavior. When she runs she has her arms up in the air waving wildly. She never runs in a straight line, opting instead to sort of zig zag from side to side, leaning so far over each way that she almost falls. Usually her runs end in a fall and a burst of laughter. Sometimes, because her feet are so dry after moving to Colorado, they slip on the hardwood floor and she falls flat on her bum - a little surprised but still laughing of course. Next thing you know all the kids are involved and running wildly while Mom and Dad sit back and crack up. YaYa's been doing great at picking up English. She's learned how to say "dog", "meow" (which sounds a lot like "mao" for some reason), "open", "mama", "mom" "dada", "more", "up", "why", "thank you", and "disestablishmentarianism", which my boys inform me is the longest real word in the world. Any word with a "p" in it had some complications. At first, "up" and "open" just trailed off at the p. It would sound like "upbpbbbllllt" or "oppbppbpllt". Apparently the p was difficult but then one day she just mastered it. With "disestablishmentarianism", she was having difficulty when she'd get to the 5th syllable... Ok, I'm kidding, she can't say that. Anyway, it won't be long until she's making complete sentences. One of the boys taught her to mimic a burping sound whenever she hears that in our house. Since our house is predominately boys, that occurs about once every 2.5 seconds, followed by an frighteningly exact duplication from YaYa. Yes, makes a parent proud. She imitates lots of other things as well, thankfully not as rude as that. She has a very emotive face too. She has an "oh brother" look where she rolls her eyes slightly and throws her head back. She has a "here comes a monster fit" look where she wrinkles up her whole face prior to a giant tantrum. The tantrum is usually preceded by a pause in which everyone yells "BREATHE!". She also has the "zip it!" look. We first saw this one when we visited the Children's Hospital to have her evaluated. Daddy was trying to get her to do something for the doctor. YaYa snapped her head around, held her finger up in the air and went "shhhh". It was like the scene from Austin Powers where Dr. Evil shushes his son Scott. She's also mastered the "dagger-eyed glare" look. That one usually comes out when we take something away that she had really wanted. There's lots of love and affection going on too. At first she would tolerate it when we smothered her with kisses, then she learned to wave and blow a kiss herself. Now she comes up to us frequently throughout the day making a little kissing noise. A quick hug and a kiss and she's back to whatever mischief (and I do mean mischief) she was doing. Daddy gets rewarded at the start of every day when, after she wakes up, Mommy brings her in to his office for a good morning hug and kiss. Before bed she has to make the rounds to the whole family with kisses and hugs, and won't lay her head on her pillow until she gets one final kiss from Daddy and then her bottle. We frequently catch her repeating "mama, dada" over and over again. We'll play the little game where we point at each other and call each other's name. Now she can point out each person when asked. We think it's a little reassurance for her to repeat our names. It's like she's saying "I have to pinch myself, I have a mama and a dada. And look, they smiled at me again!" This happens in the house and a lot in the car. Over Thanksgiving we had taken a trip to Arizona and did a family photo shoot with our good friend Jill Candland. Jill is incredibly talented and caught the essence of our family - a little chaotic, a little laid back, a little colorful. We loved the pictures and posted a few here. If you're ever in the Phoenix area, look up Jill and have her do a shoot. About once a month she's been getting sick with a cold or something. Never fails. She had gotten sick during the Arizona trip and that was the last time she was sick. We thought we were in the clear until a few days ago when the runny nose started up again. At least this time it hasn't affected her sleep as much. Mommy keeps her pumped up with natural cold remedies. The latest one she's using is called "Umcka" and it seems to work well on the whole family. She gets it at Whole Foods. YaYa seems to be breaking free of this cold quicker. Thank goodness because if it causes her pain, we don't sleep well. Sleep in general has actually taken a turn for the better. For the weeks between the Arizona trip and when Sean's mom arrived, YaYa would go down every night around 8pm and sleep completely through the night in her crib. Sean's mom is visiting for Christmas and we think YaYa has detected a change because her pattern trailed off again. She's still sleeping pretty well but seems to be a lot more fussy during the night from time to time. We think she just wants to be in on the action and is sleeping lighter as a result. Christmas Day was a little crazy. YaYa was completely overstimulated with all the activity and gifts. She wanted to get in to everything and either play with it or eat it. After a few tantrums, it was definitely naptime. A little snooze gave us time to get everything put away and she was back to normal after that. Proper sleep patterns and diet keep the equilibrium. If we deviate slightly things really take a step back. It is now New Year's Day. Clemson lost to Nebraska in the Gator Bowl, Penn State lost to USC in the Rose Bowl, Cincinnati lost to Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, and Chicago lost to Detroit in the NHL Winter Classic. We are glad to leave behind the chaotic and sometimes tumultuous 2008 and welcome in 2009. Hopefully the economy sees it that way too. YaYa turns two in 19 days and we're looking forward to our first January birthday in the family. Every day brings more joy with this little girl. She is clearly feeling more and more secure amongst her new family. She adds to the extraordinary amount of noise we already had in the house, but also adds to the laughter and love. In between posts, we have launched a new family blog. It gets updated a few times a week: Our Party of Seven.

Getting an ultrasound to look at her heart - YaYa didn't like this! Getting an echo. She wasn't sure about all this stuff. Whazzup? Playing dogpile on Daddy Hiking at Garden of the Gods Just too cute of a smile Mmmmmm pasketty Playing hide and seek Screaming fit. Sometimes followed by flying objects. That costume is kinda Mickey Mouse

Jimi Hendrix love child - FOXY!


Gearing up to go riding


On a nice slow ride with Dad on the motorcycle


Showing off her Christmas outfit


"I'll take my breakfast in my basket please"


Family picture
Photo by Jill Candland


Yeah, she's a little animated.
Photo by Jill Candland


Our first and only major snow so far - 21" that day total


Picking out our Charlie Brown tree


YaYa joins in an annual family tradition.
Those soft ornaments are the only ones at her height!


YaYa prefers to do the splits while playing puzzles


Our exchange student Emily sent us a funny stocking cap.
Isn't her hair just beautiful???


Enjoying another new tradition - PUMPKIN PIE!

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