Little Acorn

18

Yep, my little person has been making the world a sweeter place for an entire year and a half. I can hardly believe it. She is becoming more big girl every day.

Adeline had lots going on in her 17th month...

- started attending playgroup and loves to hang out with all the other little toddler girls. Especially the ones with runny noses.

- finally decided that hair accessories are awesome and asks for ponytails (the more the better) and clips every day. I'm going to have to work on my hairdo skills!

- started eating snacks and some less messy meals at the table in a big chair

- had a very busy social calendar, including lots of playdates with her little friends

- helped make playdough and played with it almost every day and never ate any of it!

- used lots of two word combinations and a few longer sentences like "Daddy at work" and "Daddy work day" and "Daddy home eat" (can you tell that she thinks about her Daddy a lot while he's away?). She also knocked my book from my hands and snarled "Mama book ALL DONE", which while impressive linguistically just couldn't be encouraged.

- decided that she didn't like sharing Daddy and tried hard to get me to stop hugging David. Not going to work!

- finally cut two sharp little canine teeth - one on the top and one on the bottom. There was a lot of drama and a few nights with very little sleep. I'm looking forward to teething being behind us.

- went to the Doctor for the first time since she's been home - her big red mystery bumps were declared heat rash and went away in a few days

- is starting to work on dressing herself and likes to put on David's underwear and my bra over her clothes. Is also getting quite good at the undressing part of learning to dress, which means if you stop in at my house who knows what that girl will be wearing or not wearing.

- found her favourite song ever (at least for this month). Jill Barber's "Oh My My". She sings the "oh my my" part and asks for me to sing it many, many times a day. We just got the cd from the library and she can't get enough of that song!

- she also likes me to sing "John the Rabbit" from one of our Elizabeth Mitchell CD's and gives a very dramatic "Nooooooooo Maaaaaaaam" at the end.

- stopped saying "No" to everything! Whew! This was my favourite thing about the last month as that knee-jerk "NONONO!" to every question was so very tiring. I'm glad that stage was short lived!

 

 

 

Good News!

Doesn't everyone like good news? We had an appointment with the burn clinic at the hospital and with Adeline's occupational therapist who was helping us to do what we could to minimize scarring and has been checking on her hand function, and we've been told that it was our LAST appointment! We will still see Adeline's plastic surgeon twice a year to make sure that as she grows her scars don't interfere with the function of her hands, but other than that we're DONE and we couldn't have imagined a better outcome for Adeline's wee hands. We really tried to downplay the burns to Adeline's hands while we were in Vietnam as we didn't want anyone back home to panic, but we were just sick with worry the whole time we were there thinking about her hands and counting the days until we could return home and get her seen by the specialists. Although the injury had happened a few weeks before we arrived in Vietnam we weren't told about it before we arrived at the orphanage and it was a huge shock to see our sweet baby being brought to us with a big beautiful smile and tiny fingers that were curled over and completely stiff, crusty and a very disturbing deep, shiny black colour, poking out of bandages that covered her hands completely. The caregivers at the orphanage had done what they could, and it is due to their diligent and loving care of Adeline after the accident that her hands were in as good shape as could be expected when we arrived. Burns infect extremely easily and even in a Canadian hospital setting infections are common, so it's amazing that Adeline's hands weren't infected. Of course we started taking Adeline to the clinic in Hanoi as soon as she was legally ours and during our time there they were able to keep her hands clean and healing, but in some ways they were doing all the wrong things for burns by drying them out with saline and immobilizing them in bandages. There was a time when we thought amputation of at least 4 fingers was a real possibility. There was a time when we heard the dreaded word "gangrene". There was a time when we thought Adeline would be lucky to just lose her two pinky finger nails instead of those two fingertips. There was a time when we thought Adeline might have permanently lost the ability to straighten her little fingers. There was a time when we thought both hands would have large, hard, discoloured scars covering most of them. There was a time when we thought surgery was in our near future. There were the months we struggled with getting Adeline to tolerate her scar massages and my poor Mama heart broke to hear our girl wail as we struggled her into her pressure gloves every day. But through it all we did what we could because we wanted to be able to say to Adeline that no matter what the outcome was, that we had done everything we could for her. I was talking with our Occupation Therapist after our LAST appointment and I got professional confirmation of what David and I thought. He said that he never NEVER would have predicted an outcome nearly as good as what has happened and that her hands look amazing and Adeline got very, very lucky. Aren't human bodies amazing? Adeline still has minor scarring but her mobility, function and hand strength is perfect, which is absolutely the best outcome anyone could have hoped for and much better than anyone (us included) expected. On one hand the pressure gloves worked perfectly to make the scar absolutely flat and her two fingers and part of the top of her hand just have a little discolouration (which will still likely fade) and the texture is a bit different, but it's barely noticeable. The other hand does have a few slightly raised areas, but they are small and as her hands grow the scars will stay the same size. It's predicted that by the time she is 5 her scars won't be noticeable at all and it is very unlikely that she will need surgery in the future. I spent so much time worrying about Adeline's hands and now I can say that we're DONE and that due to the careful care of doctors, therapists and a very dedicated set of parents that Adeline's hands are amazing and beautiful and perfect!

January

Here's Adeline still in her jammies at just about lunch time during our exactly two minutes of sun on the weekend...

Ahhh, January. My old nemesis. January is a month to be endured. Christmas already feels months behind us and a lifetime before we'll see another one. Adeline still looks out the windows in the evenings and asks forlornly "lights? lights?". The weather has kept us indoors far too much and the days are endlessly grey and windy with a lot of rain. Spring still feels so far away, even though I know that by the end of February we will be having some amazing sunny play-outside-with-no-coat days but right now? Right now it feels like winter will never end. I'm having trouble getting going to do anything this month as hibernation seems a very tempting option. I'm starting to make plans for Tet though. Tet is a spring festival, even though it is likely to still feel very much like winter here come the 3rd of February. But celebrating the promise of a spring to come will feel very good. There are things to gather, decorations to put up, special foods to prepare, cleaning to do, new clothes to be bought and haircuts to schedule. I need to start a list! I guess first on the list is to finally finish putting away Christmas...since at the moment there are still bits and pieces of it all over my studio.

 

My Alone Day

9:18 a.m.- waved goodbye to David and Adeline

9:25 - sat down at the computer with tea, promising myself to jump up and get in the shower as soon as I was done

10:30 - finally finish up at the computer after drinking another cup of tea, eating some olives (I really should have planned to have better food in the house) and catching up on lots of blogs. Looks like everyone had a really lovely Christmas!

10:30 to 11:00: had a long, leisurely shower, blow dried my hair all the way dry (another luxury), put on some make up because I just feel better when I do, and got dressed in some work clothes (not much different than my every day clothes, I must admit. I really should try harder).

11 to noon: Just picked stuff up. Seriously. It took a full hour just to pick assorted stuff up from every surface and put it back where it belongs. Swore to implement a new household policy (just for the grown ups, of course) of not just dropping your stuff where ever you are with SWIFT AND SEVERE punishment for leaving your junk laying around. Made plans to encourage the small person to take some toys back to the playroom and put them away once she is finished with them.

Noon to 1 - folded laundry. Yes. It took a full hour. At least for once I could do it while sitting on the sofa watching bad television and no one was helping me by knocking all my piles onto the floor. Oh my, little ones make a lot of laundry.

1 to 1:30 - ate popcorn for lunch while continuing to watch bad television. Really should have planned better.

1:30 to 4 - cleaned cleaned cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Didn't make it into the office or playroom, but got all the other jobs on my list done.

4: started to miss my family.

4 to 5: looked up music and swimming class info for Adeline as the ones we planned on in January didn't go through. Looked up where to shop for Ao Dai in Vancouver (didn't find anywhere, but there just have to be places in the Kingsway area or Richmond), how to make Banh Chung and other foods for Tet, tried without success to find out when our local lunar New Year celebrations will be,  read the comics, etc.

5 - started to really miss my family so I went back to cleaning

5:30 - David phones to tell me they're just halfway home and to expect them at 6:30

5:30 to 6:30 - wander from room to room wondering how best to spend my last hour alone. A little nap? Laying on the bed reading my book? Television? More cleaning? Making something tasty for my families supper? Can't decide so I go back to random web surfing and I keep checking the window to see if my two favourite people have arrived yet.

6:40 - David and Adeline finally return home! Yay! There is lots and lots of hugging and David drops little piles of stuff all over every clean surface in the house (grrrrr). Adeline needs dinner NOW and I didn't make anything, but I rustle her up something tasty from the fridge and while she eats David tells me of their adventures which include: a thankfully brief blizzard, patting a nice cat, eating graham wafers, charming all the ladies at her Auntie Marg's care home, exploring outside at her Auntie Anne's place, helping do some chores, going shopping and talking Daddy into toys Mama doesn't approve of and singing songs all the way home. David says that Adeline was awesome (although she's a toddler and wants to TOUCH EVERYTHING) and that they had a great day.

7:30: I want to keep Adeline up to keep enjoying her, but we know the value of a routine and she's getting so sleepy, so off she goes to dreamland.

 

 

How could I have NOT missed this face???

10:16

...it's still so quiet in here... My plan to be showered and part of the way through my list by now? Wellllll...first I had to catch up on a LOT of blogs, eat some olives and pat the cat. But the oven IS self cleaning right this minute and as soon as I stand up from the computer I'm heading in the shower!

It's so quiet in here...

9:18 a.m. and I'm officially and completely ALONE until suppertime! I'm already missing my family a bit, but I know it's going to be a wonderful day for them and for me. I'm just enjoying a cup of tea and then a leisurely shower and then I'm going to work like a madwoman to cross everything off my list in the next couple of hours so that the afternoon will be all about relaxing. Ahhhhhhhh...

Could it be possible?

Really honestly and truly? I can't believe it. Maybe I'll believe it tomorrow, but today...not so much. You see tomorrow David has declared that he and the girl are going on a big trip in the car to visit her Great Aunties. Mama is not invited. Mama is to stay home for at least 8 hours all by herself and do whatever Mama wants. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but this prospect has left me giddy with anticipation! Ever since we brought Adeline home in March (almost 10 months!) I've had nothing but an hour or two, or maybe 3 at the most, to myself at a time, so I don't even know what it will be like to be home alone all day like it was in the before times. You would think that my list for this special day would include things like sleeping in, taking a long bath (with wine and music), reading my book in bed (with wine and maybe chips), having a sweet afternoon nap (aided by all the morning wine) or taking myself out to lunch or something like that, but no, those things aren't on my list. Instead I've got fun things like getting up early to get a good start on the day and cleaning the oven on my list. Yes, I'm giddy with anticipation over a day of cleaning. On my list are all those jobs that I never get around to, but that continue to nag at me. No one can really prepare you for what it's like to become a parent, but the thing I was mostly surprised by was the MESS. Seriously...that girl leaves her stuff EVERYWHERE, uses a million dishes a day, goes through multiple outfits and leaves a trail of destruction everywhere she goes, and my time and energy for cleaning has really diminished even though I'm here most of every day. So tomorrow I'll spend hours (but not the whole day) cleaning things that no one but me will ever see. And it will be good. And maybe I'll have a glass of wine with lunch, just because. If I have time, my first priority once I get back down to my studio is to make some more bibs with heavy duty snaps as Adeline has learned to untie knots and she REALLY needs to wear a bib! Once the bibs are done then I'm going to be working on some new dolls and I'm excited to get back to them!

Edited to add: Looks like snow in the forecast for where David and Della were planning to travel, so my day possibly won't happen. I'm sad about it, but I really hate to be apart from my two favourite people, so it really is okay and my day WILL happen someday.

 

Lucky Adeline

 

 

Lucky Adeline received a wonderful surprise when there was a knock on the door on New Year's Eve - our postman had brought a parcel for her that came all the way from Bavaria! Lovely Sascia makes amazing dolls (check out her website here) and she was so moved by our story that she wanted to send Adeline a gift. Isn't this a beautiful doll? The face is so charming and I just love the hair! Sascia even added a lovely touch by embroidering an "A" on the doll's chest. Adeline was so excited taking her doll from the box and immediately she had to get down off the chair and do some dancing with her new friend. Sascia's heart was touched by Adeline, and in turn her kindness and generosity has really touched mine. Blogging has brought many wonderful people into our lives and we're happy to count Sascia among our friends.

Sascia also taught me a new word "Schmuserl" - it comes from the German verb "to cuddle" and means a cuddly toy. I just love it and use it all the time now - both the verb and the noun! My ancestors spoke German, but all but a few terms of endearment have been lost over time, so I'm glad to add such great new words to my vocabulary!

12 months, 12 posts

 

Maybe you're new here (and if so, HI!) or maybe you just want an end of the year review of the ups and downs of last year, so here are 12 posts from January through December of 2010 that sum it all up (AS IF 12 little posts could sum up the hugeness of 2010 for our family...)

January

February

 

 

March

 

 

April

 

May

 

June

 

July

 

August

September

 

October

 

November

 

December

 

 

Although there are many things we are looking forward to in 2011 and many hopes and dreams we have for our family, David and I only have one resolution, and that is to take more photos of all three of us together this year. More Adeline plus Mama photos, more Adeline plus Daddy photos and especially more Adeline plus both her parent photos! As much as we love every cute expression on our girls face and every beautiful image of our gorgeous small person, we know that when Adeline looks back, what she is going to want to see are pictures of her happy family and all the good times we had together. It doesn't seem that hard, right? Like most folks, David and I are both pretty awkward in front of the camera and pretty critical of any photos of ourselves, but we know that the more we do it the more comfortable we'll get, and that in the end it's absolutely not about us. We started on our resolution early by taking some family photos with the tripod and the remote control in front of the tree right after Christmas. Yes, I'm grinning like a crazy person and David appears to be slipping into some sort of shortbread induced coma, but it's just the sort of photo I'm sure Adeline will treasure someday.

Happy New Year everyone! May 2011 bring you and yours all that your heart desires.