Charlotte's first Hallowe'en

Charlotte awoke a little earlier than usual, which surprised mommy, as Charlotte generally sleeps 12 hours from the time you put her in bed. Since Charlotte didn’t go to bed until after 10 pm, mommy thought Charlotte would sleep at least a little later, but she awoke a few minutes earlier than her usual 8 am. Unfortunately, Mommy was a little slow getting herself into gear, as she still has a bit of a stiff neck from Friday.

Charlotte enjoyed playing on the indoor riding toys that she received from her Auntie Dale last night while mommy continued to organize her new craft area in the basement. Mommy got so involved in what she was doing that she lost track of time, so Charlotte went down for her nap later than usual.

After lunch, we went to ToysRUs, picked up a snack from Tim Horton’s, and headed to the waterfront for a walk, as the sun was shining, and it wasn’t that cold—-earlier in the day, it had snowed, but very briefly. Charlotte pointed at the Canadian geese and seagulls as they flew by and made noise. One particular seagull followed us as we walked along, likely waiting for Charlotte to drop some of her tea biscuit. We didn’t get very far along, when the wind got quite cold and we could see rain approaching. To return to our car, we now had to walk into the wind, which now felt even colder. It was nice to get into the van and warm up.

Charlotte continues to be fascinated with the stairs, climbing them every chance she gets. She can get down from the landing, but hasn’t really tried to go down the other stairs, partly because we’re always there to bring her back down before she tries on her own.

Charlotte, dressed in her cutie patootie butterfly costume, really enjoyed seeing all the kids in their costumes, no matter how scary, frequently saying “hi” and giving “high fives.” Charlotte was quite animated in her costume, and was quite content to wander around in the front hallway with mommy and daddy, answering the door to the trick-or-treaters.







Charlotte went to bed on schedule—-she was rubbing her eyes and was quite cheerful to say “night night” to mommy and daddy, giving lots of kisses. Mommy’s hoping that Charlotte doesn’t have any bad dreams tonight.

Charlotte's vocabulary improving

Whew! Despite Charlotte’s little disruption in sleep last night, she slept until almost 8:45 this morning. We decided to have a laid-back day today after our busy day yesterday.


Charlotte played a lot more with her farm set today. She really likes animals and daddy works with her identifying the animals by name and the sound they make. Today I asked Charlotte to pass me the cow—-I wasn’t really sure if she would or not. I sort of expected her to pass me the lamb, as that appears to be her favourite animal right now. Charlotte looked at all the animals on the floor, then picked up the cow and said “moo” as she gave me the cow. I was totally blown away.

Charlotte continues to work with daddy on identifying the parts of the body-—Charlotte is fairly consistent with pointing to her nose, ears, hair, teeth, and tongue. It also sounds like Charlotte is trying to say her name. She clearly articulates “up,” “bye, bye,” and “hi.” She is working on “down,” “dirty,” and “pretty.”

Charlotte enjoys sitting in her pink princess chair. She has learned that she can rock back in the chair, but says “oh, oh” as she does so. It was so cute today—-I played this game with Charlotte that whenever she would get up from her chair, I would say “sit” and she would do so with a little chuckle. She would try to sneak out of the chair and sit on the floor.

Charlotte continues to enjoy stacking things and then knocking them down. Usually, daddy does the stacking and before he finishes, Charlotte’s ready to knock them down.

Charlotte enjoys interacting with a dragon puppet that a dear friend of mine gave her. At first she was afraid or it, then she was a little guarded but intrigued, and now she gives it kisses. It’s interesting to watch Charlotte—-she looks at me when I’m speaking as the puppet, but she looks at the puppet like it’s real. Charlotte will even wear the puppet after I’ve worn it and try to make it move. It’s very odd-—I wonder what’s going through her mind.


After lunch, we watched a wildlife program on the National Geographic channel while lying on mommy’s and daddy’s big bed. Charlotte was quite interested in the leopard cub—-she was so cute. Charlotte wanted to play on our bed a lot. She was actually a little cuddlier than she usually is. She quite enjoyed lying back on stacked-up pillows. She did end up watching a little bit of a poker tournament on TV with daddy.

Later in the afternoon, one of daddy’s fellow math retirees (mommy’s grade 12 math teacher) and his wife came by for a visit. Charlotte really enjoyed their visit, giving many kisses and “hi fives.”

We then took a quick trip to Costco—-mommy can never get out of that store without spending at least $100 and today was no exception. When we got home, mommy got Charlotte ready for bed and had planned on playing and reading stories for about 30 minutes before putting Charlotte to bed; however, Charlotte was really whining in daddy’s lap and rubbing her eyes. It was a few minutes early, but we decided to put her to bed. While daddy carried Charlotte to her room, she put her thumb in her mouth—-she hasn't done this in a long time, but it's a sure sign that she’s tired and wants to go to bed. So, let’s hope she stays asleep all night and breaks the pattern of the last couple of nights of waking up just before midnight.

Charlotte tries Mexican food

Despite last night’s ordeal, Charlotte woke up around her usual time. Today was a busy day.

Just after 10 am, we took Charlotte to have her Hallowe’en photos taken in her beautiful butterfly costume. We arrived just in time—-there was a huge group waiting by the time we finished our photo shoot. The photographer asked if they could include Charlotte’s photo on the wall of fame for all to see at the Real Canadian Superstore—-I was thrilled.

Later in the afternoon, Charlotte attended a “Bouncing Babies” class run by the Early Years Centres. This program is for infants 0-12 months, but the instructor had a space open for the last day of this session and suggested we try it because of Charlotte’s delay in learning English. Most of the children were around 6 months old, so were not mobile; however, a few escaped their mommy’s holds and “army crawled” across the floor to visit with other children. Charlotte, being mobile, was quite the social butterfly, checking out other children’s toys, one mommy’s painted toes, and another child’s snack. Charlotte was quite entertaining as she danced in the centre of the circle to the encouragement of other mommies and the instructor. Two children tended to gravitate to Charlotte—-she initially liked it and then pulled away—she seemed to be a little frightened by their grabbing onto her leg; however, they were only 7 and 10 months old and she didn’t understand.

After class, we went to Tim Horton’s and got a snack to take on our stroll along the Ajax waterfront at the foot of Harwood. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the wind was quite chilly. Charlotte enjoyed the wind blowing through her hair, watching the rolling waves, smiling and waving at everyone that passed going the other direction, and seeing and hearing the Canadian geese and birds fly by.

Mommy wasn’t ready to go home, but it was getting a little too chilly to continue walking, so we drove along the waterfront, looking at the homes. Charlotte began to fuss, as it was getting close to dinner time, so we decided to try a Mexican restaurant in Whitby. Charlotte really likes nacho chips and, according to a report from the orphanage, she also likes a little spicy food, so we gave it a try. Charlotte liked the nacho chips and the rice, but wasn’t too crazy about the chicken-—it had a different texture than she’s used to; we didn’t even bother to try her with the refried beans. We met a couple at the next table who were quite taken with Charlotte. They wanted to know our story—-the lady has a real soft spot for people who adopt, as she is adopted herself.

We weren’t in the car very long before Charlotte nodded off for a catnap. Once home, Charlotte played with daddy for a little while; we watched the clock very carefully to ensure that we didn’t put Charlotte to bed before 8 o’clock to avoid a repeat of last night.

Oh, oh! Charlotte awoke at 11:50 pm with a few whimpers—-mommy held myself back from going into her room so as not to wake her. Whew! That’s all there was. Let’s hope she sleeps through the night.

A day of firsts for Charlotte

Yikes! What’s going on? Charlotte awoke at 6:15, yelling and crying. We wonder if she is starting to require less sleep, but why is she so upset? Well, today was a day of firsts, but at the beginning of the day we didn’t know it.

Charlotte has been drinking from a sippy cup for some time, but not very well. She generally bites on the spout and lets the milk flow into her mouth. I’m not sure that much sucking is happening. After a few sips, she then starts to dump the cup upside down to watch the milk drip out. I know this is all part of learning, but what a mess. Today at breakfast, daddy introduced Charlotte to drinking with a straw, which she does quite well. So, I guess mommy has to get a new sippy cup, the one with the straw.

Charlotte sipping through a straw, accompanied with a little victory dance

Charlotte still is somewhat afraid of the vacuum cleaner—-she is curious about it, but runs away as it comes near her.

Today, Charlotte was quite taken with her library of books, pulling different ones off the shelves and asking for them to be read to her. She would sit down or curl up beside daddy while he laid on the floor and she would gently turn the pages, sometimes when prompted to do so. She was quite taken with the books that had pop-ups or pull tabs. She likes her touch-and-feel books, but sometimes pulls the fur a little too hard and pulls some of the strands out of the book. She tends to gravitate to a peek-a-boo book with flaps that has a reflective surface on the last page—-she pulls the flap toward her and she sees herself. So, of course, she likes to flip to the last page of the book, not spending a lot of time on the other animals.



At lunch time, I noticed some red spots/blotches on Charlotte’s arms, more so on her right arm. I thought they might be hives—-the nurse said to watch out for these when she got stung by the wasp, but that was on Monday. I didn’t think they would develop this late; however, you can now see where the wasp punctured Charlotte’s thumb-—it left a mark. We introduced two new things yesterday, so now we’ll have to determine which she might be sensitive to—-lamb or the new body lotion.

Charlotte went to her first Early Years drop-in learning centre this afternoon where she enjoyed playing with other children. She was also introduced to glue, which terrified mommy—-I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of mess just yet. Charlotte also took her first drink from a water fountain at the centre.
Charlotte was fascinated with the water coming out of the fountain--ooh, ooh! Signs of days ahead playing with water.

Tonight, we took Charlotte to our garden club meeting—-she was extremely well behaved and a real delight. She’s such a social butterfly, waving and giving “high fives” to people.
Charlotte sporting a pair of garden gloves

On the way home, Charlotte fell asleep, and she stayed asleep until I almost had her ready for bed. While she was asleep on the change table, Charlotte must have been having a wonderful dream, as she would smile and make the cutest faces.

When I put Charlotte in her bed, she said “night” or something very close to it. Every day our little angel understands English a little more. She is such a precious dolly. We are so wonderfully blessed.

Charlotte brings joy to our hearts

As I feared would happen, Charlotte awoke earlier than usual, around 6:30 am, crying and yelling. We’re not sure what upset her so; however, once we opened the door, she was all smiles and kisses and playing peek-a-boo—-our little one brings such joy to my heart when I greet her in the morning.

We had a really relaxing day today. Charlotte and daddy played, while mommy puttered about and set up her new craft area in the basement, organized the book shelves in Charlotte’s room and in the basement, and finished the laundry that needs to be returned to the cottage for the winter. Charlotte really enjoys books with animals, so she was quite taken with the animal shows that daddy was watching—-Charlotte enjoyed snacking on Cheerios while sitting in a car seat that will eventually be put in mommy’s car with daddy in his favourite chair beside her.

For dinner, we introduced Charlotte to lamb chops—-mommy’s favourite and Charlotte seems to really enjoy. After dinner, we played ball with Charlotte—-she has become quite good at catching a rolled ball and then rolling it back.

Charlotte continues to pinch mommy, but not as much as yesterday. She has also turned her aggression on herself. She frequently sets her teeth into her hand when she gets frustrated. I really hope this stage is short-lived. I thought this behaviour would stop once she started biting herself, but perhaps she isn’t biting as hard as when she bites an object or someone else. It was hard not to laugh, but when I would firmly say “no” about biting or pinching, usually with a stern look on my face, she would melt me by puckering up and wanting a kiss, followed with a peek-a-boo. This little angel certainly has us twisted around her little finger—-she’s a peacemaker, for sure.

Charlotte was off to bed at her usual time—-I wonder what time this little angel will awake tomorrow morning.

Play date with Wesley and Nathan--great fun

Charlotte awoke a little earlier than usual, about 15 minutes. I think she could sense something was going on, as we weren’t our usual laid-back selves, just letting the morning unfold as it will. Mommy was beetling around getting things organized and rushing the morning routine to get Charlotte ready for her first play date with other children, not in a class setting.
Charlotte tries out daddy's big office chair

Today, we went to visit our friends, Walter and Fran, who are teaching abroad in England and were home for a visit. They invited us to their home to have a play date with their grandsons, Wesley (4) and Nathan (almost 2). Charlotte had a great time interacting with the boys. We commented several times how well the children played with one another—-no disagreements and lots of sharing.
Charlotte, Wesley, and Nathan playing with the race track and building towers. Charlotte showed Wesley how daddy and her build tall towers and then knock them down.

Walter and Fran had just set up a tent in their living room just moments before we arrived—the boys were having great fun running in and out of the tent. Charlotte was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, holding back and watching the boys play. Eventually, Charlotte did venture into the tent, but didn’t stay inside long. Nathan also shared his toy train with Charlotte, which he apparently has not parted with since he got it on the weekend. He did, however, keep a close eye on Charlotte when she had it, but didn’t try to take it away from her.

We stayed for lunch and had lasagna and salad and banana splits for dessert. Charlotte enjoyed cucumber for the first time and gobbled it up.
Charlotte sitting in a big people chair (silly mommy forgot the booster chair), preparing to eat on a big people plate (Fran is a brave friend)

After lunch, Nathan went down for a nap and Wesley and Charlotte enjoyed some playtime outdoors.
Charlotte intrigued with fallen leaves

Around 3 pm, we headed home—-we weren’t far down the road before Charlotte was asleep. She continued her nap for a short time after we got home.

Charlotte is getting better at going up the stairs, but hasn’t tried to come down the stairs yet; however, we really haven’t given her much of a chance to do so, as we’re always close behind. Charlotte does like to sit on the steps. I wonder if she’s counting the seconds in her head to see who can get her to the quickest, as she always has this little devilish look on her face when we pick her up and bring her back to where we are, which is usually in the kitchen.

Mommy went out for dinner with some friends, so daddy and Charlotte were on their own for the evening. Daddy put Charlotte to bed a little earlier than usual. This could mean trouble tomorrow morning.

Charlotte was stung by a wasp

Charlotte has discovered how to pull both pull-toys at the same time, without them toppling over. Later in the morning, she discovered that she can multi-task by putting the string of one pull-toy in her mouth to free up both hands to pull two additional toys. She had daddy in stitches.


Charlotte seemed to be in a bit of a whiny mood today—-I think her teeth may be causing her some grief. Today, we discovered that she has started to cut the fourth molar on her bottom right side. Charlotte went down for her nap just before 11 am-—another lesson learnt last week: if you push past her three hour limit, then she is beyond tired and doesn’t have her usual nap, which disrupts the rest of the day.

Today, Charlotte spent a lot of time pinching mommy, not daddy, and grinding her front teeth. I’m not sure if she’s looking for a reaction from me or just experimenting. She has been pinching for a few days now, but today was the worst. Right from the moment she awoke this morning, Charlotte whined to be picked up by both mommy and daddy; however, when mommy picked her up, she would pinch and pull at mommy’s necklace. Not sure what’s going on. If it’s a phase, I hope she gets through it quickly.

After lunch, we had a nice bath and got ready to go out. While mommy was putting away some things in Charlotte’s room, Charlotte lost her footing and fell head-first into the edge of the change table—-a big goose egg arose on her forehead immediately. Poor little thing!

Later in the afternoon, we went to visit some friends and their little girl who will be 4 months old later this week. We had hoped to see her before we left for China, but there was just so much going on in our lives and then when we returned, life just seemed to take a shape and pace of its own. When we arrived at our friends’ house, we parked across the street. When Dave got halfway across the street carrying Charlotte, she let out this blood-curdling scream. When Dave looked at Charlotte, he discovered a wasp sitting on her right-hand thumb—-he swatted it away, but it was too late—-she had been stung. Her thumb swelled up and turned red within moments and there was no consoling Charlotte. We immediately put ice on it, but Charlotte didn’t want any part of that. Upon close examination, we could not find the stinger to pull out. Our friends put us in touch with a children’s medical hotline—-the nurse suggested taking her to a walk-in clinic or the hospital, as we are uncertain whether Charlotte has an allergies. It was now close to 4 pm and I knew the walk-in clinic would not be open until 5 pm. We decided to call Charlotte’s pediatrician to see if she would take us as a walk-in. Unfortunately, our pediatrician was not in the office; however, her receptionist was able to provide some information—-she suggested watching Charlotte and gave me a list of the things to watch for to determine if a trip to the hospital emergency is required.

On the way home, Charlotte fell asleep. I thought Charlotte’s cheeks looked a bit swollen and reddened more than usual; I also noticed a couple of red spots and an elongated elevated spot, which I think the receptionist described as hives—-one of the signs to look for that meant an immediate trip to the doctor. So, we decided to sit in the parking lot of the pediatric walk-in clinic to wait for the doctor to arrive. During this time, Charlotte awoke, with smiles and high fives. We watched her very closely to see what she would do once she touched her thumb. Her thumb was still quite red and swollen, but Charlotte didn’t seem to be fixated on it like she was before she fell asleep.

We decided to pick up some dinner at the Real Canadian Superstore and pay a visit to the pharmacist. He recommended children’s Benadryl, as did the hotline nurse. He reassured us that the amount of swelling in her hand and thumb was to be expected and was not likely an allergic reaction.

Charlotte ate well at dinner, enjoying milk from mommy’s glass—-she reminds me of a cat lapping milk from a bowl, but vertically. After dinner, we took Charlotte for a walk around the block in her pink car—-she honked the horn for almost the whole trip.

Given the events of the day, Charlotte was in relatively good spirits for the rest of the evening, enjoying some play time with daddy before heading to bed. Charlotte was full of jiggles as mommy got her ready for bed and was trying to see all her beautiful teeth cutting through the surfaces. Charlotte waved and winked many times as mommy and daddy watched over her lying in her crib, saying good night to our little princess. I often wonder what goes through Charlotte’s mind as she watches us watch her.

Charlotte's first Hallowe'en party

This morning, daddy played in a poker tournament while mommy took Charlotte to church. Mommy was a little hesitant to go on her own, as Charlotte can be a handful around her naptime when she’s not at home and going down for a nap. Mommy took Charlotte in the stroller that reclines, but it wasn’t enough to assist Charlotte in falling asleep. Charlotte got quite restless, so mommy had to take Charlotte into the fireplace room to let her run off some steam during the sermon; however, Charlotte wouldn’t quiet down enough to return to the service, so mommy took Charlotte home and put her down for her nap.

While getting Charlotte ready to go out, mommy noticed that Charlotte has started to cut her bottom eye teeth.

After lunch, mommy took Charlotte to her first Rainbow Girls’ meeting—-today was their Hallowe’en party. Our little angel dressed up as a butterfly, a costume that her Auntie Dale gave her on Pumpkinfest weekend. She was so adorable and won a prize for the cutest visitor. She shared her prize with her cousin Kristen.
Charlotte, our little flutterby (butterfly)

Charlotte with her cousins Kaitlyn (doctor) and Kristen (witch)

Kristen and Charlotte sitting on the front steps of the Rainbow Girls' meeting room

During the meeting, Charlotte was adorable, wondering around waving and conversing with the girls dressed in their costumes. Charlotte was quite taken with the mask that Mrs. McGregor was wearing—-I thought she might find it scary, but she was quite fascinated with it, and at one point, let out this lovely tinkling giggle.

Rainbow Girls and visitors in costume

Charlotte trying on pirate's hat

Charlotte had a great time at the party and didn’t want to leave. While saying our goodbyes at the van, Charlotte showed her auntie how she grits her teeth. Mommy noticed then that Charlotte is also cutting the fourth edge of the bottom left molar.

After dinner, mommy introduced Charlotte to a couple of her new toys—-she absolutely loves farm animals, so daddy had fun teaching Charlotte where to put the pieces of her big farm wooden puzzle. She had fun playing a stacking game that also has animals.

Charlotte was a good girl taking her Tempra to help ease the pain of cutting so many teeth. I’m not sure if she now likes the flavor or understands why she is getting it and knows that she will feel better.

Just after 8 pm, after lots of hugs and kisses and high fives, Charlotte was off to bed.

Charlotte walks on the beach for the first time

Charlotte awoke earlier than usual, around 7:30, despite her disrupted sleep last night. Perhaps our little one’s sleep schedule is changing. We had a leisurely morning, recovering from a busy weekend at the cottage. Mommy, daddy, and Charlotte are staying at the cottage until the end of the week. Mommy loves summer at the cottage, but really enjoys and looks forward to autumn as well. Despite being a busy town, the surroundings are very serene and calming—-at the cottage, you can totally relax, even when it is cold.

Charlotte went down for her nap on schedule and slept for close to 3 hours—-perhaps she got caught up on the sleep that she missed the night before. After lunch, we bundled up and went for a walk uptown. With Tim Horton’s coffee in hand, we had planned to then head to the beach, but by this time, mommy’s ear hurt from the cool wind, so we headed back to the cottage.

Tonight we went for fish and chips at the local fish restaurant in town. Mommy couldn’t remove the batter from the fish fast enough for Charlotte as she gobbled it up. Charlotte was really good in the restaurant and attracted a lot of attention.


After dinner, we went down to the beach to watch the sun set—-Port Elgin has the most beautiful sunsets. This was Charlotte’s second visit to the beach—-the first was in a stroller when she met a few dogs that shouldn’t have been on the beach. We let Charlotte walk freely on the beach—-even though the ground can be uneven at times, she walked very steadily in her brand new shoes. She is getting used to her new shoes and doesn’t pull at them as often to remove them. She didn’t try to remove them or tug at the laces when she was in her car seat either—-perhaps they don’t feel as foreign to her feet any longer.




When we returned to the cottage, Charlotte played for a little while. She is getting quite good at climbing up on and getting down off the couches without falling. So as not to have a repeat of last night, mommy put Charlotte to bed slightly after 8 pm. Fingers crossed that Charlotte stays asleep all night.

Thanksgiving Monday fun with family

Charlotte got up at her usual time with smiles and kisses for mommy and daddy. Charlotte was quite snuggly today—-she enjoyed mommy holding her close and singing in her ear to which Charlotte joined in. Charlotte really enjoys music and dance, which makes mommy really happy. She hopes to be able to share her love of music with Charlotte.





Mommy, daddy, Kaitlyn, and Kristen took Charlotte for a walk uptown to deliver milk bags to a free-trade coffee vendor in town who saves them for an organization that makes children’s sleep bags or flooring for use in third-world countries. We stopped at Tim Horton’s for coffee and a treat with the girls. We were a couple of blocks away from our cottage when Charlotte fell asleep. Fortunately, Charlotte stayed asleep when mommy put her in her crib. While Charlotte napped, we played Phase 10 with the girls—-they absolutely love playing cards. Nana joined us partway through.


Again, one by one, the rest of the family drifted over to our place. Once everyone was together and Charlotte was up from her nap, we headed to a local farmer’s farm and market to buy the perfect pumpkin for Hallowe’en-—this has been a family tradition since Kaitlyn was born. Mommy bought a couple of little pumpkins that she might paint, as they are too small for carving. Charlotte was quite attached to a teeny, tiny pumpkin, so now we have a family of 3 small pumpkins that mommy will display as our family.






With pumpkins safely stowed away in the back of the vans, we headed over to Jubilee Park for the cousins’ final visit of the season—-the last day of cottage season is always so sad.

It cooled off really quickly and felt like it was going to rain, so it was time to head back to the cottages to have an early dinner of turkey leftovers so that the family could get on their way home at a decent time. While waiting for the family to join us for dinner, daddy read a story to Charlotte while sitting in daddy’s favourite chair. I think this is the first time that I’ve seen Charlotte sit so long while engaged in a book—-daddy says it has happened before, but I don’t think it was for this long. Daddy was asking Charlotte questions about where things are in the book—-when asked where the baby’s eyes are, she correctly pointed to them in the book. Charlotte is making great strides in understanding our language—-we are so pleased.





Kaitlyn and Kristen played a game with Charlotte where they would hide in her room and call her name. As Charlotte would approach her room, peaking around the corner of the door frame, one of the girls would run out of the room making a lot of noise with their feet. Charlotte would be so excited that she was unable to move despite trying to run away. During this play, several of us thought we heard Charlotte say her name, or something very close to it.

When Kaitlyn was small, she would frequently cry for some time after I left from visiting. Well, now it was my turn to be left with the crying child when Auntie Dale and Kaitlyn left. Charlotte calmed down as daddy read her stories in his big chair. Mommy decided to put Charlotte to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual, figuring that the few minutes wouldn’t make much of a difference. Yikes! What a mistake. Around 10 pm, Charlotte started coughing a little but it didn’t wake her up. Daddy was also coughing in the room right beside Charlotte’s. When mommy went to bed a little while later, she opened the door of Charlotte’s room so that air could circulate. Mommy couldn’t fall asleep—-every time Charlotte coughed, mommy’s eyes popped open. Around 11:30, Charlotte awoke crying and would not go back to sleep. Mommy made her a bottle, which she drank while sitting with daddy, but she had no intention of sleeping. So daddy sent mommy to bed and played with Charlotte in her room for about an hour before they both fell asleep on the bed in her room.

Charlotte's first Thanksgiving with us--we have so much more to be thankful for this year

Yikes! Charlotte was up at 5:30 this morning—-it’s been a while since she has woken this early. Poor Kristen, she too awoke and wanted to help with Charlotte. This was way too early for Kristen, so we put her back to bed and daddy brought Charlotte into the big bed with mommy to drink her morning bottle—-we thought she might drift off for a little bit, but no such luck. A little later, Charlotte had breakfast and was ready to go. Around 10 am we went across to mommy’s family’s cottage for breakfast. Charlotte enjoyed some of daddy’s poached eggs—-we haven’t given eggs to Charlotte since early days home from China when she threw up while being fed scrambled eggs—-we thought it was the eggs, which didn’t make sense because Charlotte enjoyed eggs every day we were in China; it was likely that she wasn’t feeling well.

Once Charlotte went down for her nap, mommy and daddy got to work preparing the turkeys for dinner. We just got the turkeys in the oven and some of the veggies peeled when Charlotte started to make sounds that she wanted up. While Charlotte was waiting for mommy to fill her tub, Charlotte pittled on the floor—-this shocked not only mommy and daddy, but Charlotte as well.

Charlotte’s cousins were hot to trot for Charlotte to awake from her nap and get ready so that we could return to Jubilee Park again, this time with Tim Horton’s coffee in hand. Nana treated the kids to ice cream—-Charlotte enjoyed her vanilla cone in a cup. It was a perfect day for ice cream, as it was a beautiful sunny day and was quite warm in the sun, reminiscent of late summer days, but it got cool as the sun went down late in the afternoon. Charlotte’s little hands were cool, but she didn’t want to stop playing. The kids had certainly worked up an appetite for their dinner.

This Thanksgiving, we have so much more to be thankful for; however, the lost daughters of China are never far from mommy's mind. As we gave thanks for Charlotte’s arrival and her coming into our lives, I said a silent prayer for all those who were left behind. We gave thanks for Charlotte’s travelling companions from China and hope that they will continue to build strong relationships to last their lifetimes.

Charlotte really enjoyed turkey—-while mommy was carving the turkey, Charlotte was underfoot to get little scraps close to the edge. It reminded me of days at home with my cat Simba underfoot, waiting for the smallest of morsels to drop to the floor, which he would eat up quickly before someone realized food had fallen—-it was all such a little game. Charlotte stood between mommy and the countertop with her head up and her mouth as wide as it could be just begging for turkey—-she reminded me of a little bird waiting for its mother to feed in the nest. Charlotte really enjoyed the carrots that nana cooked for her, but she’s still not too fussy about potatoes. Charlotte didn’t care for pumpkin pie so she had some ice cream instead.

After a long day, Charlotte went to bed slightly later than usual. Daddy wasn’t far behind. Mommy dosed off for a few minutes while nana cleared the table and cleaned the dishes—-no small task. Everyone was exhausted.

Charlotte's first visit to Jubilee Park in Southampton

Whew, mommy was right! Charlotte slept until around 8 am, as usual. Charlotte’s cousins were eager to get across the street to play with her. Nana, Papa, Auntie Dale, Uncle Pete, Kaitlyn, Gregory, and Kristen ventured over to our cottage one at a time to join us for a traditional “weekend at the cottage” pancake breakfast. As usual, once breakfast was done, the men and children started to leave the table and left the three women to discuss plans for the weekend and to catch up on the week’s events since we last saw one another. After much discussion and measuring, papa fixed the new TV cabinet, securing the TV so that it wouldn’t fall out. Charlotte was quite taken with papa’s tools in his tool bag and what daddy and papa were doing. She was chattering and pointing as they worked, getting right in on the action.

Charlotte awoke from her nap and was ready for lunch before we had a chance to get the breakfast dishes done. We enjoyed a light lunch and then took the children to Jubilee Park and Sensory Garden, a brand new park in Southampton—-it was wonderful. There are lots of safe activities for children that appeal to a wide range of ages. I especially liked the squishy ground—-it felt like walking on floam painted different colours. This park is also friendly for physically challenged children. Charlotte enjoyed going down the small slide while holding daddy’s hand; mommy was at the bottom to catch Charlotte while trying to capture these moments on video and film. Sheesh! Mommy always seems to be behind a camera—-but she enjoys it and knows how valuable these photos will be years down the road. Kristen and Kaitlyn took turns taking Charlotte down the big slide.
Charlotte and Kaitlyn sitting on a toy frog

Charlotte sitting in a swing adapted for physically-challenged children

Nana pushing Kristen and Charlotte on the saucer swing

Kaitlyn and Charlotte looking out the window of a toy house

Kaitlyn, Charlotte, and daddy at the small slide

We had to pry the children off the equipment to go home for dinner—-they had such a wonderful time; we promised to return tomorrow for a longer time.

After dinner and playing for a short while, Charlotte went to bed, exhausted from a full day of fun with her cousins. Kristen slept over, without her siblings, so that she could have more one-on-one time with Charlotte when she gets up in the morning.