Just Having Fun Hanging Out Together

We are having fun together at home. Hannah is officially out of school for the summer, and is now a kindergartener, as she proudly tells anyone who will listen. She was very excited yesterday at church to sit "in the yellow chairs". In children's worship, the kids sit in color coded seats by age / grade level. The 4's have the red chairs, and she was very excited to move up to the yellow chairs for the K's. Ah, the joys of childhood!

But actually, we have been enjoying many of the joys of childhood around here lately..especially the summer ones. We've spent a lot of time outside playing, swimming (splashing), eating watermelon, and generally having fun. My parents also came Saturday and got to spend some time with Hannah and Sadie.

Sadie is doing great. She's saying hi, bye, mama, eat, and jie jie (big sister) - usually in imitation of one of us. She says "OW!" spontaneously. The only thing is - to her, "ow" means - "hey, somebody look at me, no, I'm not hurt or anything, but everytime Hannah says 'ow' you glance over at her and she didn't look hurt or anything like that (because she's the drama queen) so I thought I'd try to say 'ow' and see if you'll look at me too!" ha! Sadie is talking to us a lot too in toddler-talk, and I'm really starting to think there might be some chinese in there too..we didn't think she was really speaking chinese, but some of the stuff she says sounds like it might be, and it's consistent unlike jargon would be. So, I don't know, but it's fun to hear her voice more. She also sings pretty loud and enjoyed singing at church yesterday morning. She had the people near us laughing a lot. We did try church yesterday and Sadie stayed with Hannah and I for the music and then when it was time for Hannah to go to Children's worship, I took Sadie in the nursery and stayed in there with her.

In our outside play this weekend, I had a front row seat to watch Sadie master a new skill. When I first got her, it appeared that she hadn't been walking too long. And I still think that's true. Her motor skills are delayed - but they are improving day by day. Sadie can't yet do stairs, and her balance is not very good. Until this weekend, she couldn't go from one surface to another without falling. For example, she couldn't step from the grass to the driveway even though they're at the same level and don't require stepping UP like a curb or stairs. She'd always stop, turn and look at me, and hold a hand out. The couple of times she tried it, she fell. But, this weekend she and Hannah were playing and at one point I had Sadie on the grass. Hannah was riding her bike on the driveway and Sadie wanted to go over there. She walked to the edge of the grass, looked at me (I pretended to be reading and not watching), looked back at the driveway, back at me, back at the driveway, and then....she just stepped over and did it! And she did not lose her balance. She was SO proud of herself and for the next five minutes, she went back and forth. Driveway..grass..driveway..grass. And before we went in, she even learned to do it while carrying something! It was amazing to watch!

So, what's on our agenda this week? more of the same! Hanging out, playing, and enjoying summer. We also celebrate Hannah's 2nd "Family Forever Day" and my birthday later this week! Two years ago I received Hannah on May 29th and then completed her adoption paperwork on May 30th, my birthday. What a great birthday present! Hard to believe it's been 2 years already, and yet, in some ways, it seems like she's been a part of my family forever! More reflections on that later in the week. And how neat to think that beginning next year - we will be celebrating TWO Gotcha days in the same month from now on! Sadie's is May 5 and Hananh's is May 29. May is a good month all around at our house!