Life's a Beach

Like her mama, many years ago, Emme seemed to enjoy her first trip to the Jersey Shore this weekend. We went to the grandparents on Saturday and enjoyed a BBQ and a sleepover before heading to the beach Sunday morning. The Empress did NOT think sand was such a great thing; at least not touching her precious feet. She thought having her feet rinsed with a watering can was just grand and didn't hesitate to ask for such pampering. I think this was a disappointment to her grandpa who brought his BIG shovel to bury her in the sand. She wasn't too keen on the water but it was quite rough to the point where even the adults didn't go in so that may have been a factor. She really seemed to love watching the ocean waves rolling in and serenity of the atmosphere and asked twice for someone to walk with her by the water's edge. All in all it was a beautiful day and a success. Emme had a great weekend and so did I.

Two months, a family

Two months ago, at 10:45pm I was handed a very frightened, head shaking little girl in the lobby of a Beijing hotel. She wanted nothing to do with me and after a few days I wasn't sure how I felt. Looking back, she was scared, sad and unsure of what her future might be. In two short months we have become mother and daughter in every sense of the word. We love each other and on occasion we dislike each other. Sometimes baby needs a time-out and sometimes mama does. She is smart, she is funny but most of all despite the challenges she is forever loved. ******She let me put these pigtails in, told me to take her picture and then promptly pulled them out.

This kid has good taste

As I type, small person is dining on Chilean sea bass. Mmmmmmm delish.

The Newest Wacoal Spokeswoman

M is for Matzoh Ball

Last Sunday my mom and nana took Emme for a walk. They stopped for a snack at the Kosher deli a few blocks away. Last night was a repeat performance and as you can tell, Emme definitely has a Jewish soul.

Our First Getaway

On Friday, Emme and I packed our bags and headed to Albany to spend with our good friends Michele and her son and Nic and her son; both from Vietnam. We were joined by our dear friend Lisa and other friends on Saturday. Our fun filled weekend included a trip to the firehouse, Adirondack Animal Land, dinner out, a BBQ and wonderful hospitality. During the wrestling portion of the Vietnam/China olympics, China won but not without a slight boo-boo. We we treated to yummy treats and Michele's cooking. What I learned this weekend is that my daughter is extremely adaptable. Home 6 weeks she slept in a strange house, bed and took a bath with 2 other kids. She tried new foods and really seemed to enjoy the "babies" as much as the adults. It was our first big car ride of three hours and she did great. On the way home she even let me know when she wanted to get out for a stretch. The moral of the weekend was never underestimate the amusement of an air mattress.

Get Bloggy

Danielle, the incredibly talented young woman who designed my blog is celebrating her one-year anniversary bloggy style. She's offering discounts to both old and new customers. Definitely check her out here.

Sundate and the Rug

Today was Sundate, my half-day of rest. MP and I had a few hours of adult time while the Empress hung out with grandma. I got dressed like a grown up and we had brunch at the Hyatt Regency. The atmosphere was very relaxing and I had a whole meal without indigestion. I even took a few photos of the yummy looking dessert area though I was too full for sweets. Anyone who knows me knows I love chocolate but alas I had no room. Today is also day two of what I am referring to as "tough love". Simply put, I am tired of tantrums, scratches and kicks and the message is that it's not okay. We are the proud new owners of a "Time-Out Spot" rug (safer for us than a chair and portable) and we have already used it twice today. Tomorrow I will buy an egg timer as an added reminder and warning. We are going by the age rule so our time-outs are 2 minutes long provided the undesired behavior stops. Emme is absolutely brilliant and I am amazed at all her receptive skills. I believe these issues are mostly her frustration due to her inability to communicate so I hope with an increase in language and/or signs/gestures we will see a decrease. She is incredibly adaptable though I try my best not to set her up for failure. I don't bring her places with unreasonable expectations (like a restaurant at 7pm) and try and be prepared with a bag of tricks. She is not at all bothered my stimulation (i.e. an amusement park) and does best when in social situations which is surprising given the amount of time she is home. Overall, she is doing amazing and I am confident we will get through the rest together

A few random pics

Em and grandma did water color painting the other night. It was an activity she definitely enjoyed. I am also fond of her "yogurt face".

Saturday in the Park........

Yesterday proved to be a pretty awesome day. Ra-Ra had this idea about a family amusement park he knew of in CT so we took a 2 hour drive later in the day when it would hopefully be less crowded. Who needs GPS when you have Emme and the road atlas. She slept the 2 hour drive which was her nap time. We stopped for an early dinner and she did great. We arrived at the park and she spotted the kiddie rides and started pointing and flapping her arms. I thought she was too little for rides but she made it clear she wanted to go. The first one was the most gentle, a little caterpillar train. I buckled her in and waved and her face was worth all the stress I've been feeling. I made the mistake of letting her stay on a second time. Next we proceed to the Dumbo ride which she loved even more. However this ride had a line and she was whiny while waiting. After it was over she was NOT happy because she wanted to stay on. EEK, whose fault was that? We did a few more rides but at each one she got increasingly more unhappy about waiting her turn. At the last one she made a poor choice and that was the end of the rides. Into the stroller she went kicking, screaming and foaming at the mouth. She got the message after 10 minutes. It was over and we enjoyed the rest of the evening with a ferris wheel ride, soft-serve and jammies for the ride home. She crashed in the car after an hour and slept through most of the night.