"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." -- An ancient Chinese belief


"While I slept, my heart kept vigil."

"Today I kissed an angel, I knew it from the start; The first time our eyes met, I gave away my heart.

Today I kissed an angel, This angel child of mine; Though not of my creation, My child by God's design.

Today I kissed an angel, My heart is dancing wild; A family by a miracle, Blessed by this angel child."



Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Apologies for lack of posts...where should Mommy begin?

Mommy sends her sincere apologies to the faithful followers of Charlotte's blog for the quiet spell and lack of posts. Mommy has received e-mails and inquiries about her silence. Charlotte is doing well, and keeps both Mommy and Daddy very busy doing what toddlers do best...exploring and experiencing everything the world has to offer, as long as Mommy and Daddy deem it safe.

Mommy found that she was so exhausted by the end of the day (after Charlotte went to bed) that she couldn't bring herself to sit at the computer and write entries in Charlotte's journal, opting for a cup of tea and a little light entertainment, which usually interpreted to mean falling asleep while fully clothed lounging on her bed. So as to not forget any of the precious moments, Mommy began writing jot notes to trigger memories when she finally sat down at her computer. This then turned into writing full sentence memories on scraps of paper, which are now stapled together, waiting to be formalized into an entry and then pared down for Charlotte's blog. Mommy's intention was to write a journal entry at the end of her day when she was in the process of winding down herself, but found that this was taking too long. So, she would try to grab a couple of minutes here and there. So, most of the memories are captured in writing, but now they need to get into an electronic format so that they can be married up with their respective photos and videos. Mommy only hopes that she will be able to read her own writing and be able to follow the paths of the arrows on the many pages.

I've said it many times before, but each and every day, I feel very blessed to be called "momma." It has to be one of the most beautiful words in the English language. Whenever I hear Charlotte call "momma," it just warms my heart and brings a little smile to my lips.

I'm going to try my best to get back on track with posting entries on a regular basis, so please stay tuned.

Mommy has posted entries for October 1st and 2nd.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Call out to Alex Beaudoin

Charlotte and her Mommy send best wishes to Alex Beaudoin for a speedy recovery. We really hope you're able to make your official visit with the Toronto Girls on Sunday.

Here is a photo of my little beauty yesterday morning--what sweetness! Charlotte is working on telling everyone that she is turning 2 on April 13 (tomorrow).


Charlotte really enjoys having her photo taken so that she can see herself in the display of Mommy's camera. Let's hope this interest continues when she has professional photos taken on her 2nd birthday tomorrow afternoon.



Charlotte at the park, blowing kisses to Mommy and now we're sending them to you, Alex--get better really soon.


Charlotte with her daddy on his birthday--she's a beauty!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Spring Fling! Mommy's up for the challenge


A friend of a friend of Mommy's (M3) has created a fun blog post challenge for any who wish to participate. The challenge is to post once a day for the 30 days in April, with the intent to chase away the winter blahs and welcome spring!

It's not like Mommy needs a reason to blog, but she is soooo far behind in posting to the blog (she has many entries partly completed, just trying to match up with photos and videos). Mommy loves blogging because it allows her to document all the wonderful moments in Charlotte's life.

Not sure if Mommy will be able to keep up with this pace, as she's already 7 days behind, but she's going to give it a try. Mommy's truly hoping that once this challenge gets Mommy into a routine that she will be able to continue it.

April is a busy month (Daddy's birthday, Charlotte's birthday, Easter), but it would be really great to get on top of the entries, as we're entering a really busy time of year and there will be losts of stories and pictures to share as we begin travelling to the cottage once again.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Mommy is playing catch-up...again

Where does the time go? March has flown by so quickly and Mommy finds herself in catch-up mode, again. Mommy hopes one day that she'll be on top of her entries and post current events as they happen.

We're busy preparing a birthday party for a very special little girl who is turning 2 next month. Charlotte's vocabulary list is growing and she now tries to put 2 words together. It's so cute to hear her say "please" as she scrunches up her little face and when she runs all the words together to say "here it is."

Please see entries for the following dates:
November 2: Charlotte wishes one of her China sisters a Happy First Birthday
November 3: Charlotte gets her first guitar lesson from Uncle Donny
November 4: Charlotte is liberal with her kisses today
November 5: Charlotte enjoys a visit with her Chinese sister Ella Rose
November 6: Mommy enjoys the closeness shared with Charlotte while reading
November 7: Charlotte was a perfect angel at church

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Mommy's catching up on blog entries, as promised

Mommy is trying to catch up with Charlotte's journal and her blog entries. Please see entries for the following dates:
January 14: Charlotte's passport arrives/On our way to Belle-vegas (Belleville)
January 15: Charlotte's first trip to Belleville (Belle-vegas) to visit Auntie Stacey and Uncle Art
January 16: Charlotte throws dish that shatters into a gazillion pieces
January 17: It looks like Charlotte's legs have straigtened a little...looks hopeful
Jnuary 26: NO Ricketts/Charlotte gets "toddler hightops" (new shoes)
February 6: Superbowl party
February 7: Charlotte learns new words: names of parts of a room
February 9: Charlotte mimics Mommy's morning routine

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Mommy loves Charlotte's greeting

Once again, Charlotte had a busy day yesterday and went to bed later than usual, so Mommy wasn’t surprised that Charlotte wasn’t awake before Mommy had to leave for work, again. However, Daddy reported that around 5 am, he heard Charlotte playing with her activity centre through the wall that we share with her room. When Mommy tiptoed up to Charlotte’s door at 7 am, she heard Charlotte move in her crib. Shortly thereafter, Daddy opened her door, expecting to see Charlotte standing at the rail of her crib, but instead, she was lying flat on her back, arms over her head, sound asleep. Just before Mommy left, she tiptoed into Charlotte’s room and stood at the foot of her crib, hoping that Mommy’s presence would encourage Charlotte to wake up, but no luck. Charlotte sound asleep in her new Valentine's pyjamas

Daddy reported that Charlotte woke up just before 9 am. Mommy is glad that with Daddy home to watch her, Charlotte has the opportunity to catch up on her sleep, as Charlotte has another busy day today.

Charlotte and Daddy went out for their weekly Tuesday lunch with a couple of Daddy’s friends (3 men and a little lady). Charlotte enjoyed some of Daddy’s lunch; Don shared some of his home-fries with Charlotte—-usually she helps herself to Don’s French fries right off his plate.

Charlotte went down for her nap shortly after arriving home, but slept for just short of one hour, shorter than usual. As usual, Daddy waged a battle with Charlotte’s socks and lost, again.

Mommy called Daddy when she was close to home, so it was no surprise to find Charlotte and Daddy at the living room window waiting for Mommy to arrive. When Charlotte saw Mommy on the walkway, a big smile came over Charlotte’s face as she went crazy with excitement, calling “momma” and banging on the window. When Mommy opened the porch door, Charlotte ran to the front door to greet Mommy. Charlotte was all over the screen door, banging and calling "momma," and pressing her lips to the glass for kisses. Charlotte couldn't wait for Mommy to get in the door to get kisses. Mommy will never tire of this greeting when she comes home.

Mommy started the evening routine a little earlier than usual, as she had a meeting to go to. Charlotte enjoyed a bath and as expected, didn’t want to have her hair washed. As usual, Charlotte became quite animated, meowing like a kitty, when Mommy wrapped her up in her hooded kitty towel. On the change table, Mommy bundled up Charlotte and then cuddled and kissed her until she didn't want any more.

Mommy then massaged Charlotte with lotion--Charlotte always wants to rub lotion on her cheeks or tummy, but she ends up putting it in her mouth. Mommy has no idea if it tastes good, but no amount of coaxing not to do so persuades Charlotte to stop. Thank goodness this lotion is made for children, so I suspect this has been taken into account in the formula. Charlotte likes it when Mommy rubs her feet and sings the “This little piggy…” rhyme while wiggling her toes. When Daddy is there, she has each of us play with a foot and sing the rhyme—-she giggles so much during the “wee wee wee all the way home” part. When Mommy put on her pink and red kitty sleepers, Charlotte immediately started to meow like a kitty.

Charlotte jumped up on Daddy’s knee at his desk to play Sesame Street toddler games on Daddy’s computer. Charlotte was quite taken with the stories and called out “Elmo” when she saw him and any other figure that was either red or looked like Elmo. Charlotte was quite fascinated with Daddy’s portable speaker, holding it to her ear as if she were on the telephone.

After a little while, Charlotte lost interest and strongly urged Daddy (puts her hand behind his back and pulls forward while yelling “Daddy”) to go to her room to play—-Daddy very quickly obliged his little girl. Mommy joined Charlotte and Daddy for a few minutes before leaving for her meeting. Charlotte immediately begged (patting the floor) Mommy to sit on the floor and then she went and closed the door. We think Charlotte thinks that by closing the door, we can’t leave.


Despite Mommy’s encouragement for Charlotte to stay and play with Daddy, Charlotte insisted on walking Mommy to the front door when she had to leave—-at the door, Charlotte tried to hand Mommy her briefcase, which was way too heavy for her, but she gave it her best effort. It was so cute to watch Charlotte try to pick up the briefcase that is likely heavier than she is, but she still tried. Charlotte was much more successful passing Mommy her purse, which was still a bit of a challenge. Charlotte insisted on more kisses and then waved bye bye to Mommy without tears. Daddy and Charlotte returned upstairs to play for a little while before it was time for bed.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Charlotte's First Valentine's Day

Mommy had to leave for work before Charlotte was awake this morning—-Mommy stood at Charlotte’s door, listening for the slightest noise from Charlotte’s room to indicate that she was starting to wake up so that Mommy could go into her before she left for work. Mommy was sad to have to leave before wishing her little angel a Happy Valentine’s Day, but Mommy knew that Charlotte was in good hands with Daddy. Daddy reported that when he went into Charlotte’s room close to 9 am, Charlotte was already starting to wake up. She had a busy weekend and went to bed a little later than usual last night, so she probably needed a little more rest this morning.

Charlotte really wasn't interested in eating breakfast this morning, so Daddy brought a bowl of Cheerios upstairs for Charlotte to eat while she watched one of her little programs; however, Charlotte had other plans--she dumped the Cheerios on the floor and then carried handfuls around, dropping them on the floor; all this happened while Daddy was talking on the phone with Mommy. Daddy was not pleased, to say the least.

Charlotte insists on sitting in the new stroller she received for her dollies—-she’s going to break it, so Mommy suggested putting it away for a little while. Mommy just commented to Daddy this morning about all the toys that Daddy has stowed away in Mommy’s closet. One day they are going to come crashing down on Mommy, then she won’t be too pleased.

Charlotte and Daddy played with all the usual toys today; however, Daddy was surprised when Charlotte was quite content to sit in her toy box while Daddy read about 20 little mini books (stories 8-16 pages long) to her. This is the longest period of time that Charlotte has sat and listened to stories. Daddy really isn’t sure if Charlotte was truly listening or not; however, he was able to read a complete story without Charlotte trying to close the book on him, which she has been doing lately—-Daddy hardly gets the first page of a book read and Charlotte is closing it on him and giving him another one. I suspect she’s looking for a particular story and can’t remember what the book looks like.

Later in the afternoon, Daddy took Charlotte out to do a little last-minute Valentine’s shopping for Daddy’s girls. When they returned home, while waiting for Mommy to get home from work, Charlotte and Daddy read the new books that Charlotte received from Nana and Auntie Dale for Valentine’s. During this time, Charlotte also found the gold foil wrapped chocolate bunny she received from Auntie Dale for Chinese New Year. She wouldn’t leave it alone, despite Daddy’s many attempts to relocate it. Daddy was quite anxious for Mommy to get home for dinner, as Charlotte was getting into all her snack foods.

After much discussion throughout the day, Mommy and Daddy decided to take our little family to what we think is Charlotte’s favourite restaurant: Sushi Mountain. It was also the appropriate choice in memory of a dear friend who passed away—-her birthday was on Valentine’s Day and she really enjoyed sushi.
Daddy and Charlotte--Daddy's looking a little tired

Mommy and Charlotte--Mommy looks possessed with her red eyes (oops! Mommy forgot to turn on the red eye reduction on her camera)

As expected, Daddy and Mommy couldn’t keep up with Charlotte’s demand for salmon sashimi (raw salmon). This time, she also enjoyed Edamame. At first, Daddy furiously worked to get a number of peas out of the pod for Charlotte, but she then mimicked Mommy and pulled the peas out of the pod herself. As the restaurant got busier with more patrons, it became more difficult to keep Charlotte contained in the highchair. Charlotte waved and loudly would say “hi” to all, especially young children, who were sat close to us. Eventually, Daddy and Charlotte went for a little walk, visiting people at their tables close to ours.
Charlotte loves spicy salmon hand rolls

Charlotte was quite content to have Daddy hold her like a baby--she even started to make cooing noises like an infant

At home, Mommy and Daddy exchanged anniversary gifts and then we all exchanged Valentine’s gifts. When Charlotte opened her gift, she wasn’t all that interested in the Ty Beany Buddy Valentino and silver heart locket, tossing them aside for the familiar Kindersurpise egg—-she needed very little help to get into the chocolate; Mommy let Charlotte have just a little bit before going to bed, saving the rest for another day.

Charlotte opening her Valentine's gift

Our first Valentine's Day as a family

Mommy dressed Charlotte in a new pair of pink and red striped sleepers with a soft pink kitty on the front, saved especially for Valentine’s Day. Mommy and Daddy tucked Charlotte into bed shortly after 8:30 pm—-goodnight my special sweet Valentine, who’s sweeter than chocolate!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Please stay tuned--LOTS TO COME very soon

Mommy has been working on lots of blog entries, photos, and video clips. She promises to post these really soon, so please keep checking in.

One of Mommy's dear friends summed up Mommy's situation quite nicely: it's hard to blog about life in between living it. She hit the nail right on the head. Although, Mommy does like recording all the details of each day to the best of her ability (some days are easier than others) for the day when Charlotte has lots of questions...and we know that day will come--we will have hopefully have the answers, just maybe not all of them.

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and family and those who have been following our journey via Charlotte's blog.

This is a busy week: it started with Auntie Dale's birthday on Feb 13, Charlotte's 22-month birthday on Feb 13, Mommy and Daddy's 13th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day, Charlotte's first Valentine's Day with Mommy and Daddy, 6-month anniversary of Gotta Day (first time Charlotte placed in Mommy's and Daddy's arms in China) on Feb 16, Mommy's good friend's 60th birthday on Feb 20, concluding with Family Day holiday on Feb 21. Lots to celebrate and enjoy time with family and friends. We are so blessed and fortunate to have so much to celebrate.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Charlotte mimics Mommy's morning routine

Very early this morning, Mommy thought she heard the familiar sounds of Charlotte playing with her activity centre in her crib. Mommy was too tired to get up out of bed to investigate, but it wasn’t long before the noises stopped. Just moments before 7 am, Mommy heard noises again—-this time, they were definitely of Charlotte playing with the toy on the activity centre that makes a “boeing” noise—-Charlotte was awake. Mommy quietly opened Charlotte’s door to watch her play in her crib—-it took quite a few cues from Mommy for Charlotte to realize that Mommy was standing at the partially opened door. Charlotte was quite excited to see Mommy, dancing and waving, asking for “high 5s,” and puckering up for kisses—-Mommy just loves all this. This greeting from Charlotte is so heart-warming and helps Mommy get through her day when she isn't with Charlotte.

Charlotte is a smart cookie—-as Mommy was talking to Charlotte at her crib railing, Charlotte pointed over to the humidifier to remind Mommy to turn it off. The humidifier is definitely helping Charlotte sleep at night. This morning Charlotte’s nose wasn’t running, so Mommy was hopeful that Charlotte was now over her cold—-this would mean that Mommy’s cold will end relatively soon as well, as Mommy seems to be about a day or so behind Charlotte.

Once again, after a brief period of not doing it, Charlotte insisted on bringing her red plush blanket with the kitty on it to the change table to put under her head while Mommy changed her diaper and got her dressed for the day with Daddy. Mommy and Daddy decided that Charlotte wouldn’t attend her “paint” play group today, as Charlotte doesn’t seem to be enjoying the class, not really understanding what to do with the paint and loosing interest really quickly, despite Daddy’s attempts at trying to engage Charlotte. Since Daddy was the one who would have to take Charlotte to the class, Mommy let Daddy make the call not to go.

Mommy was a little sluggish from her cold this morning so was a little later getting ready for work. As usual, when Mommy’s in the bathroom, Charlotte likes to be right beside her, usually standing on her little stool. Charlotte was quite fascinated with Mommy shaving her legs. At one point, Charlotte started to position herself as if she was going to shave her legs. While Charlotte was investigating the cream on Mommy’s legs, she got a little too close and rubbed up against Mommy, getting a big splotch of shaving cream on Charlotte’s right leg. Charlotte stood there, looked at it, and then went to the side of the tub and grabbed the wet facecloth that was hanging on the side of the tub and wiped off all the cream without being asked to do so. She handed the cloth to Mommy and then carried on moving the stool to another position to get a better view of what Mommy was doing. The shaving complete, it was time to jump into the shower. Charlotte went to see what Daddy was doing as Mommy got into the shower.

While Mommy was washing her hair in the shower, she heard Charlotte’s little tinkling voice laughing. When Mommy wiped the water from her eyes, she realized that Charlotte had opened the shower door at least 2 feet and water was sprinkling out of the shower onto Charlotte, likely her face. Yikes! Mommy envisioned a huge puddle of water awaiting her exit from the shower—-much to her surprise, there wasn’t. At this point, Daddy came to see what all the laughing was about. As usual, Daddy lifted Charlotte up so that she could watch Mommy over the top of the shower doors. Mommy showed Charlotte how she doesn’t cry when water rolls down her face, hoping that at bath time tonight Charlotte would do the same—-we’ll see.

Charlotte always laughs when Mommy gets out of the shower, wrapping her hair in one towel and wrapping a towel around her, usually accompanied with a little wiggle to which Charlotte giggles. Today, Charlotte decided that she, too, wanted to have her hair wrapped up like Mommy. It took a few tries, but Mommy got a towel wrapped around Charlotte’s head—-Charlotte moved her head in different directions, trying to knock it off her head.




Charlotte eventually settled to have the towel wrapped around her neck, holding both ends of the towel under her chin. When it was time for Mommy to brush her teeth, Charlotte brought the stool over to the left of Mommy and then motioned for her toothbrush. Charlotte doesn’t really try to brush her teeth anymore—-she enjoys sucking the water out of the bristles. This makes Mommy think that perhaps Charlotte might like to drink water from her sippy cup occasionally, instead of milk. Mommy also wondered if she should invest in a child’s electric toothbrush to encourage Charlotte to move the toothbrush around her mouth and to ensure that some of the teeth are actually getting brushed.

As Mommy got her clothes ready, Charlotte kept taking Mommy’s underwear out of the drawer and running away, usually to Daddy. Charlotte does the same thing with Daddy’s socks when he puts them on his feet—-it’s quite a game with Charlotte, usually accompanied with a lot of laughter.

Later in Mommy’s morning routine, it was time to do her hair. Again, Charlotte was up on her stool beside Mommy—-she, too, wanted Mommy to mist her hair with the spray bottle and put a headband in her hair. Mommy wonders when Charlotte will mimic Mommy putting in her contact lenses—-right now, Charlotte just looks up with a puzzled look on her face. Mommy hopes that Charlotte doesn’t decide to stick her finger in her eye, not understanding why she’s doing it but doing it because that’s what she thinks Mommy is doing.

Charlotte likes to watch Mommy apply make-up while trying to take items out of or put items into Mommy’s make-up bag. So far, she’s not asked for any to be put on her face—-that day will come, but hopefully it’s not for some time. Charlotte eventually joined Daddy sitting in the hall outside the bathroom so that they could watch Mommy get ready. Charlotte disappeared for a moment only to return with Mommy’s bottle of gingerale; she gave it to Daddy, asking for some, which he obliged—-Charlotte likes to drink little sips out of the cap of the bottle.


Grooming complete, it was time to go downstairs. Charlotte and Daddy said “goodbye” to Mommy, as Charlotte was motioning to put on her outer clothes to go out as well. As Mommy put on her boots, she could hear Charlotte and Daddy laughing on the other side of the closed door—-for a brief moment, Mommy thought about going back in and staying home today to play.

Daddy and Charlotte had a good day, as usual, playing with Charlotte’s puzzles and toys, reading books, and watching a little TV. Mommy figures that Daddy must also play a little on-line poker, which gives Charlotte just enough time to get into Mommy’s office desk drawer to remove writing instruments and accessories, which Mommy finds usually after Charlotte has gone to bed for the night. Daddy always insists that he keeps an eye on Charlotte and claims he doesn’t know how these items get removed—-Mommy knows the answer and tries not to make a big fuss about it as Mommy is grateful that Daddy is able to stay home and look after our beautiful daughter.

Lately, Charlotte has been pulling out a lot of books for Daddy to read, but quickly looses interest in the story before Daddy gets too far into it—-Charlotte is generally interested in turning the pages, but she has her favourites that she will linger on for more than a split second. Today, Charlotte let Daddy read, or should I say sing/lyrically read, the complete book (32 pages) of rhymes with Mother Goose. It is very easy to engage Charlotte with this book—-she frequently sings along and moves to the rhythm.

As usual, Charlotte removed her pants and socks early in the day; Daddy, as usual, put the pants and socks back on Charlotte. As this is a vicious cycle, Daddy gave up early in the afternoon; hence, Mommy came home to a little girl who was wearing just her onesie—-thankfully, it had long sleeves.

When Mommy arrived home and was removing her boots in the porch, she could hear Charlotte yelling about something in the house. Mommy was surprised that Charlotte didn’t run to the door to greet Mommy—-Daddy had put Charlotte in her highchair, as she was getting into everything while Daddy was trying to cook dinner. As soon as Charlotte saw Mommy, she went crazy with excitement in her chair, waving and bouncing around. Charlotte was really generous with her kisses—-Mommy wondered if Charlotte was going to try to lick her lips again…whew, she didn’t. Then Charlotte started asking for a bath. Mommy had to explain a couple of times that she had to eat her dinner first before having a bath.

Charlotte gobbled up every kernel of corn and most of her rice. Once again, she wasn’t that fussy about the cooked salmon; however, she did eat a few pieces that Daddy snuck onto her fork when she ate some rice off Daddy’s fork. Charlotte threw a couple of pieces of salmon only after Daddy had tried to feed it to her—-one of the pieces landed in Daddy’s glass of water and another landed on Daddy’s plate. Not sure if this was luck or good aim on Charlotte’s part. Charlotte drank some of Daddy’s water from his glass—-for the longest time, Charlotte refused to drink water, so maybe it’s time for Mommy to try again. Charlotte has started to dump her food from her plate onto her highchair tray, preferring to have food placed on her tray for her to pick up rather than fed to her on a fork or spoon.

After dinner, Charlotte scrambled upstairs for her bath. Charlotte now holds the railing of the small staircase just before Charlotte’s room and walks up the stairs one at a time—-I don’t think it will be long before Charlotte is walking up the stairs like a big girl, graduating from crawling as a toddler.

Charlotte enjoyed her bath as usual, except for when it was time to wash her hair-—Charlotte did not remember that Mommy didn’t cry when water splashed on her face this morning. Charlotte began fussing even before Mommy brought any water near Charlotte’s hair, so Mommy decided to cheat and just wet Charlotte’s hair with a face cloth-—Mommy decided to leave the battle for another day.

Charlotte really likes being wrapped up in her bunny towel and makes cute little noises as Mommy dries her off while she lies on the change table. As usual, Charlotte enjoys Mommy rubbing body lotion on her legs and arms. Tonight, Charlotte wanted Mommy to count her toes and fingers while she was rubbing lotion on her hands and feet. Mommy dressed Charlotte in her cute Christmas angel jammies—-Charlotte immediately pointed to the angel and tried to say “angel.” Last time she wore these jammies, she pointed to the angel and said “Santa.” Regardless of what she calls the object, she knew that they were Christmassy, which is pretty good, since she was looking at objects that are upside down to her when she’s wearing the top.

Mommy wanted to play with Charlotte on the floor for a few minutes before Charlotte went to bed, but she wanted Daddy to join us on the floor—-she was quite fussy and adamant and wouldn’t give up coaxing until Daddy stopped playing his on-line poker game to play with us on the floor of Charlotte’s room. As usual, Charlotte wanted Daddy to get right down on the floor, leaning on his elbow that brings their faces in line with one another; tonight, for the first time, Charlotte wanted Mommy to do the same, but she settled for sitting in Mommy’s lap, as she usually does. Daddy showed Mommy how he lyrically read the book of rhymes with Mother Goose to Charlotte; Mommy chimed in and sang the rhymes with Daddy, until Daddy had to leave for a couple of minutes. Charlotte was quite upset and didn’t want Mommy to continue singing her book without Daddy.

Mommy tucked Charlotte into her crib at about 8:10 pm—-for some reason, Charlotte didn’t really want to hug her stuffed kitty that she has been sleeping with for the last couple of weeks, but she did eventually with some coaxing from Mommy. Mommy quietly closed the door and hoped that Charlotte didn’t start fussing in about 10 minutes as she has for the last couple of nights—-Mommy sat quietly waiting for Charlotte to cry out, but she didn’t.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Charlotte learns new words: names of parts of a room

Charlotte slept through the night and awoke a little later than usual, about 8:20 am, despite getting to bed much later than usual the night before. So, Mommy and Daddy were assuming that Charlotte would be more than ready for her morning nap when the time came.

Mommy got Charlotte dressed and ready for her day with Daddy before she went off to work. When Mommy went into her room to say goodbye to Charlotte and Daddy, Charlotte patted the bed, asking Mommy to sit down beside her. Mommy obliged and explained to Charlotte that she had to go to work, while kissing Charlotte profusely. When Mommy started to go toward the stairs, Charlotte insisted on going downstairs as well, all the while drinking her bottle. When Charlotte saw Mommy put her scarf and coat on, Charlotte wanted to do the same. Mommy and Daddy tried explaining to Charlotte that she would be going out later in the day with Daddy. Mommy was afraid that Charlotte would start fussing, but she didn’t.

As Mommy was putting on her boots in the porch, she could hear Charlotte and Daddy on the other side of the closed door singing as they climbed the stairs to start their morning activities and routine.

Daddy reported that Charlotte did not have a good morning nap; apparently, Charlotte awoke and fussed every 15 minutes until Daddy gave in and got her up. Daddy attributes this to the window blind that he couldn’t close, but Mommy doesn’t think so. Lately, Charlotte has needed a little extra comforting and soft encouragement to close her eyes and to go to sleep when she’s been put in her crib. Not sure why, but it usually does the trick.

After lunch, Daddy took Charlotte to a little play group at the local community centre where the gym is set up with all sorts of play equipment and toys. Daddy reported that there were far fewer people in attendance at today’s group, about one-tenth the number that is usually there. Unfortunately, Charlotte didn’t show much interest in a lot of the toys; she went down the slide twice and didn’t really show much interest in playing with the other children. She wandered out of the gym and went to watch people swimming in the pools. Daddy brought her back to the gym, but very shortly thereafter, she wandered back to the window to watch the pools again. Daddy took this as a sign that Charlotte really wasn’t interested in participating in this program today, so packed up and took Charlotte shopping at the Pickering Town Centre for a Valentine’s wedding anniversary gift for Mommy.

Upon returning home, Daddy and Charlotte played downstairs for a little while before phoning Mommy at work. Again, Charlotte showed no interest in talking to Mommy on the phone; Charlotte just wanted to push the buttons on the phone.

When Mommy arrived home from work, she didn’t even have the outer screen door to the porch open and she could hear the loud taps on the living room window by little hands—-Charlotte was calling “mama” and banging away. Charlotte was so excited to see Mommy; she couldn’t wait for Mommy to get her boots off and in the door to give her a kiss. Charlotte kept pressing her little face up against the screen door, puckering up for kisses. Once again, Charlotte greeted Mommy at the door without her pants on.

As soon as Mommy got her coat and scarf hung up, Charlotte began asking for a bath. Mommy explained that we needed to eat supper first, which Daddy had on the table within a couple of minutes of Mommy walking in the door.

Once again, Charlotte didn’t eat all that well at dinner—-she’s getting very good at “casting” her food, occasionally hitting Mommy in the arm or head. Charlotte was anxious for dinner to be over so that she could have a bath, which she continued to ask for during dinner. As Mommy was cleaning up Charlotte in her high chair, Charlotte started to yawn, which Daddy reported she had done a few times leading up to Mommy’s arrival. Both Mommy and Daddy figured Charlotte would be fast asleep before she even finished her bottle tonight.

Daddy and Charlotte have been working on the parts of a room. Today Charlotte said “floor,” “ceiling,” and “wall,” while pointing to each; she is still working on “window” but points to it correctly.

Mommy gobbled up her dinner and scooted Charlotte upstairs, without much coaxing. Charlotte has gotten quite good and fast at walking up the stairs just like we do, one foot per step, as long as she is holding onto our hands. Once in the bathroom, Charlotte as usual got the stool positioned for Mommy while Mommy filled the baby tub with water, making sure that there were lots of bubbles for Charlotte.

Charlotte really enjoys her bath time, but really dislikes getting her hair washed. Mommy continues to try to find fun ways to get the task done, but it usually ends up with Charlotte crying briefly. Mommy hopes that this part of bath time will become less stressful for Charlotte as she gets used to water once swimming lessons start and when she starts going to the beach at the cottage.

Bath time over, Charlotte and Mommy retired to Charlotte’s room to get ready for bed. Mommy noticed that Charlotte’s hands and feet were especially wrinkly. Charlotte helped Mommy put lotion on Charlotte by rubbing some on her cheeks and tummy; for some reason, Charlotte has taken to eating the lotion on her hand, which I doubt is very good for her, but it is a baby lotion, so I’m sure the makers have taken this into account in manufacturing. I can’t imagine that it tastes very good, but it must not be bad, as Charlotte has done this several times, despite Mommy’s constant requests not to.

Mommy and Charlotte worked on a few puzzles with Daddy. Whenever Charlotte places the monkey piece is its proper position, she always makes the sound and actions of a monkey—-it’s so cute to watch. Unfortunately, Mommy can never seem to catch this on video. I think Charlotte has become camera shy—-when Mommy brings the camera out, Charlotte stops doing what Mommy is trying to capture on film.


Mommy let Charlotte play for a few minutes past her bedtime as it seemed like Charlotte had got her second wind from her bath. Charlotte has got quite good at sorting shapes and placing them in the correct hole; sometimes she completes the task really quite quickly.


Usually when Charlotte sees her bottle she is quite willing to get into her crib to go to sleep, but not tonight. Charlotte settled down as usual in her crib with her bottle and kitty, with lullabies playing softly in the background and her light projections on the ceiling. Mommy was surprised to hear Charlotte cry less than 15 minutes later. Charlotte’s cry was unusual—-it sounded like she was very distressed so Mommy went in to her immediately. Charlotte had finished her bottle and was standing at her crib railing—-everything was fine. Mommy laid Charlotte back down in her crib, covered her up, and stroked her hair for a few minutes while chatting softly to her. Mommy kept an ear for Charlotte until Mommy fell asleep. Around 12:30 am, Mommy woke up hearing noises-—it sounded like Charlotte was playing with her activity centre in her crib. Eventually, the noise stopped, but Mommy was now awake, tossing and turning, unable to get back to sleep.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Superbowl party--Charlotte enjoys all the festivities

Charlotte awoke Mommy about 5:30 am, crying out in her sleep—-Charlotte settled down within in a couple of minutes; she likely had a bad dream. Despite the disruption early this morning, Charlotte awoke on schedule, a little after 8 am.

Charlotte awoke from her nap after 1:30 pm, but played in her crib for a little while. Charlotte was quite animated when Mommy went in to get Charlotte out of her crib, which she didn’t want to do right away—-Mommy had to convince her. For lunch, Daddy gave Charlotte a yoghurt to eat on her own while he was on the phone—-bad decision; Charlotte got it in her hair, on her clothes, on the floor, and all over the tray of her highchair—-not sure how much she actually consumed. Mommy had planned on giving Charlotte a bath before going out, but now she definitely needed one. Mommy had quite a job getting Charlotte cleaned up enough to be able to climb the stairs, which she did quite enthusiastically—-Charlotte loves her bath time.

Charlotte put up quite a fuss when it came time to wash her hair—-no short-cuts could be taken today, as she had yoghurt embedded in her hair. Mommy tried laying Charlotte in her arm in the tub, but Charlotte just wiggled and screamed the whole time, so much so that Daddy came into the bathroom to find out what all the fuss was about, which was more than usual. Mommy tried to show Charlotte that there was nothing to be afraid of—-for a short time, Charlotte actually laid on the bottom of the tub, with her ears in the water, but Charlotte was too upset to realize that everything was okay. There was nothing Mommy could do to calm down Charlotte except finish the job and resume playing with toys. Charlotte was fine once the washing was finished, chattering and laughing as if nothing had happened. When Charlotte began to shiver, she stood up and proclaimed that bath time was “all done.”

While Mommy dressed Charlotte, Mommy and Charlotte practised saying “touchdown” (a word she learned at the Grey Cup party) while raising our hands in the air in preparation for this afternoon’s big football game. Charlotte would get quite excited and proceed to dance, shout, and wave her arms around.

When we arrived at Wendy’s mom’s, Charlotte made the rounds, saying “hi” to everyone, but especially David V who gave her a cheesie, one of her favourite snacks. At the Grey Cup party, Charlotte was quite fond of David, so it was not surprising that she would gravitate to him again. She frequently wanted to sit on his lap and to share her treats with him, as she did at the last party.

Charlotte received 2 Valentine bears from Joan—-she couldn’t decide which one to get for Charlotte so she decided to get both; Charlotte’s a lucky girl.

Charlotte befriended Jackie (Wendy’s mom) earlier in the evening, drinking her gingerale from a straw. At dinner time, Charlotte befriended Eileen, eating her French fries and then later eating some of her chocolate chip cookie (later in the evening, Charlotte found the spot in the kitchen cupboard where the cookies were stored to which she helped herself and then wanted to serve to others). Everyone was so happy to cater to Charlotte’s every wish—-Mommy and Daddy are so blessed to have such wonderful friends to share this beautiful journey of life with Charlotte.

For dinner, we enjoyed pizza, chicken wings, and other finger foods. As Mommy was preparing a plate of food for Charlotte and Daddy, Karen (our lawyer) taught Charlotte who was now standing on a dining room chair how to “demand” food: bang her hands on the dining room table. The two of them would giggle and laugh every time Charlotte banged the table, which wasn’t very loud or hard.

Karen, wearing her cheese hat (Wisconsin fan), shows Charlotte how to demand food by banging on the table.

Charlotte really didn’t eat much, but she had been snacking since arriving, so Mommy wasn’t worried. For dessert, we had vanilla custard and mango custard cream puffs from a Japanese bakery in the Pacific Mall—-they were really good. Charlotte enjoyed a little bit of Mommy’s cream puff and then enjoyed some of Daddy’s when he had one later in the evening.

At the appropriate times during the game, Charlotte would shout “touch down.” Mommy and Daddy would get her to do it even when there wasn’t one just to hear her cute little voice.

At half-time, Charlotte distributed her Chinese New Year red envelopes and wished everyone a happy new year in Mandarin, with Mommy’s help. Charlotte hasn’t had much chocolate to date, but tonight she gobbled up a couple of the chocolate coins and wanted more. After moving the bag with extra coins several times, Mommy had to eventually hide the bag to get Charlotte to leave them alone. For dessert, we had home-made apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Charlotte had a couple of mouthfuls of ice cream and then didn’t want any more—-she was more interested in finishing off Jackie’s gingerale.

Charlotte enjoyed playing with Marcel and Wendy who are really good with small children—-they don’t have any problems getting on the floor at a child’s level and playing with them. Charlotte enjoyed discovering the contents of one of Wendy’s mom’s kitchen drawers. Eventually, the drawer was put on the floor and Charlotte climbed right inside to get that much closer to all the interesting things-—all sorts of balls, spinners, and small toys.





Just after 10 pm, once the football game was over, Charlotte was still going strong. While everyone was getting ready to leave, Charlotte decided to put on Wendy’s boots-—it took some engineering and strength for Charlotte to walk in them, but she eventually succeeded. When it was time to leave, Charlotte didn’t want to take off the boots.

Charlotte fell asleep by the time we got to the 401 and was sound asleep when we pulled into the driveway at home. Mommy carried Charlotte into the house and started to take off Charlotte’s outerwear when she started to cough and gag. While Charlotte lay on the change table, Mommy rubbed and patted Charlotte’s chest and back, which helped to settle Charlotte’s coughing. When Mommy was sure that Charlotte wasn’t going to spit up any more, Mommy and Daddy tucked Charlotte into bed. Mommy and Daddy weren’t far behind Charlotte going to bed, as it was after 11:30 pm—-it had been a long day. Mommy hopes that Charlotte doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night as she has the last couple of nights.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

NO Ricketts/Charlotte gets "toddler hightops" (new shoes)

Today was a busy day, starting with her regular pediatrician’s appointment. We received some very good news—-Charlotte’s blood work done in the fall showed insufficient vitamin D, not a deficiency. Apparently, most Canadians have insufficient vitamin D, particularly in the winter time, so Charlotte’s levels weren’t cause for alarm, but a supplement was recommended, particularly since another blood marker showed that she wasn’t experiencing a lot of growth. Mommy misunderstood what the doctor said in the fall and assumed that the insufficient vitamin D meant that Charlotte had Ricketts, which is not true—-GREAT news!

Charlotte’s pediatrician is extremely pleased with Charlotte’s growth and development. Mommy’s suspicions were confirm—-Charlotte is going to be a tall girl: today, Charlotte is 83.5 cm, which is at the 97th percentile for Southern China girls; this equates to the 50th percentile on the North American chart. Charlotte is 12.05 kg, which is at the 90th percentile for Southern China girls; this equates to 50-75 percentile on the North American chart.

Dr. Lewis was particularly pleased with the good eye contact that Charlotte made with her. Today, Charlotte received the second part of her flu vaccine, and tetanus (5 in 1), and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines. Mommy’s heart broke as Charlotte cried when she got the needles, but after a short while sitting on Mommy’s knee getting logs of kisses and hugs, she jumped down on the floor and was back to playing as before. Once Charlotte receives one more tetanus shot in 6 months, she will then be all caught up on her vaccines—-her doctor has been treating Charlotte as a toddler who has not been vaccinated, as we’re unsure as to the accuracy of the report that we received from China. Today, Charlotte got 3 stickers for being such a good girl. Overall, we had a wonderful appointment. Charlotte’s next appointment isn’t until she is 2 years old; however, she is scheduled for repeat HIV and iron tests in March.

Late in the afternoon, Daddy and Charlotte picked up Mommy from her office and went to the shoe stoe to have Charlotte’s shoes checked. The man who served us the last/first time recognized Charlotte right away and commented on how much she had grown since her last visit. Daddy put Charlotte up on the counter top so that the man could check Charlotte’s shoes—-as Mommy suspected, Charlotte’s feet had grown and she would need a bigger size.


It was confirmed when the man removed the insole of Charlotte’s shoe to see the wear marks. As a matter of fact, Charlotte’s feet are now measuring wider than they were in the fall at her first visit and she is flat-footed; apparently, this is quite common. On our next visit, Charlotte will likely get a shoe implant to help shape the arch of her foot.

The man suggested that Charlotte be fitted in a toddler boot that would give her more ankle support. He was quite sure that Charlotte’s legs were strong, but the boot would help with her balance. Apparently, Charlotte does tend to walk on the outside of her left foot very slightly when she’s in bare feet, but the shoes don’t show this wear. Once again, the first pair of shoes tried on were the keepers—-the white boot with the flowers on the side. Mommy paid for the shoes and was watching Charlotte chat and help another man who was being fitted for special orthotics, when she wondered whether she should have been so quick to dismiss trying on the navy blue suede shoe with navy patent on the back and a navy patent flower on the side. Of course, there was lots of ribbing by the men about women and their shoes while Mommy tried the shoes on Charlotte. Charlotte didn’t mind one way or the other, but didn’t want to take these shoes off.




As Charlotte was prancing around the store in her new shoes, Mommy broke into a rendition of “These boots were made for walking…” Of course, everyone laughed, mostly at Mommy, and chuckled at how animated and social Charlotte was. The salesman could see that Mommy was really struggling with the decision, so he did what every good salesman should do: offered Mommy a good deal to buy both pairs; however, Daddy convinced Mommy that Charlotte would likely get only 3 months’ wear out of these shoes, so it would be prudent to save the money until the next trip. So, Mommy decided on the blue shoes, which Charlotte wore out of the store. Of course, we weren’t in the car but a few minutes, when Charlotte was trying to take off her shoes—-the exact same routine as the last time we got shoes.

We then took Charlotte to a noodle restaurant that we like to go to. Charlotte was her usual social self, saying “hi” to everyone that entered the restaurant and trying to chat with the ladies in the booth on either side of us. Unfortunately, within the first few mouthfuls of food, Charlotte dropped food on her brand new shoes—-they weren’t even an hour old yet. I guess the white leather boots might have been the better choice—-easier to wipe clean. When we went to leave the restaurant, the ladies behind us were quite taken with Charlotte. Charlotte said “up” to the first gal; she asked if it was okay to pick up Charlotte—-this was quite refreshing, as no one has asked permission before obeying Charlotte’s wishes. I’m sure there is a story there, as this gal kept saying that she would like to have “one” and would like to take Charlotte home. She asked me if I needed a babysitter; she was very sweet.

Next stop, T & T Supermarket, a really big Asian supermarket in the north end of Scarborough. Charlotte received quite a bit of attention from other shoppers—-you could see the thought processes going through their minds as they looked at Charlotte and smiled and then looked from Mommy’s face to Daddy’s face—-ah, ha, the connection was made. Charlotte was fussy in the shopping cart, wanting to get out and walk around, so Mommy and Daddy took turns holding Charlotte’s hand while she walked around the store. She didn’t try to pick too many things off the shelf when she was walking; however, when she was in the shopping cart, it was a whole other game. Mommy picked up a few things and some sweets for Chinese New Year celebrations before heading home.



At this point, it was after 8 pm, Charlotte’s bedtime. Mommy thought Charlotte would fall asleep while Daddy drove Mommy back to her office to get her car, but she stayed awake almost until Daddy got home. Around 9:15 after a long day of activities and outings, Charlotte went to bed; Mommy wasn’t far behind her.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Mommy's catching up on blog entries

Mommy is trying to catch up with Charlotte's journal and her blog entries. Please see entries for the following dates:
December 11: Christmas party with China sisters
December 12: Charlotte's baptism
January 8: Charlotte enjoys Mommy's massage
January 9: Charlotte's cupcake hat
January 13: Charlotte is 21 months old/3-hour team assessment

Monday, January 17, 2011

It looks like Charlotte's legs have straightened a little...looks hopeful

Charlotte awoke slightly earlier than usual at 7:45 am; perhaps because she fell asleep slightly earlier than usual while we were travelling in the car on the way home from Belleville.

Charlotte drank her morning bottle while Mommy got ready for work. Charlotte didn’t show any interest in watching her usual little programs on TV, but rather followed Mommy around, taking quite an interest in the things that Mommy was doing to get ready for work.

Daddy and Charlotte had a good day playing with puzzles, reading books, watching TV, and playing on the ride-on toys down the basement. Charlotte enjoyed quite a bit of Daddy’s Granny Smith apple, which is a first and a bit of surprise, given that this type of apple is a bit sour.

When Mommy arrived home from work, Daddy and Charlotte were downstairs playing. Mommy had to rush upstairs, so when she heard Daddy and Charlotte on the main level, Mommy started calling Charlotte. Mommy could hear Charlotte scrambling up the stairs, as she responded to Mommy’s call for her. Mommy was surprised to see Charlotte without any pants on, just her onesie.

Charlotte joined Mommy in the bathroom, sitting on her stool, and chit chatted to Mommy. Mommy took the opportunity to really examine the shape of Charlotte’s legs while standing and walking. Mommy wasn’t sure if it was her eyes, or partly wishful thinking, but it looks like Charlotte’s legs are straightening. In the last couple of days, Mommy and Daddy have commented to one another on several occasions on how Charlotte looks taller. Mommy thinks that Charlotte’s legs have grown; Charlotte’s upper legs don’t appear as chunky as they did. Mommy also noticed that Charlotte’s hair is getting longer—-her bangs almost touch her eyebrows.

Charlotte has now taken to taking off her pants whenever possible. After she did so for the second time today, Daddy gave up putting them back on. Charlotte occasionally took off her clothes last week, but Mommy really didn’t think anything about it at the time. This can be a good reason to leave shoes on Charlotte's feet at all times; however, the shoes will just slow her down, not stop her from pulling down her pants, as Mommy discovered last week: pants around the ankles slow down her movement and can cause some serious tumbles.

Yesterday, Daddy mimicked Charlotte climbing down the stairs—-Charlotte apparently thought this was quite funny and laughed quite heartily. When Daddy and Charlotte tried to reenact this for Mommy when she got home today, it didn’t have quite the same effect as the first time—-Charlotte gave a little giggle, but was more interested in passing Daddy in the race to the bottom of the stairs.


Charlotte continues to be quite fascinated with and wants to wear her outdoor clothing when she’s in the house. While Mommy and Daddy were preparing dinner, Charlotte put on her pink winter boots—-most of the time she gets them on the correct feet, but tonight she got them on the wrong feet. She also wanted to wear her hat and mitts, a pair that she could only find one of. Charlotte tends to use the same word “on” for “on” and “off,” but both Mommy and Charlotte know what Charlotte wants.

Charlotte was a little silly at dinner, throwing her food and grabbing it off the fork in a ravaging fashion. Apparently, this throwing action is called "casting" and is quite normal in a toddler's development--the pediatrician basically told us to encourage it for good development. Eventually, Charlotte settled down and let Daddy finish feeding her. Charlotte has become quite good at feeding herself with a spoon and a fork, occasionally resorting to her fingers, particularly if she’s really hungry. For dinner, Charlotte had broccoli, sweet potato, and salmon, finishing with the better part of a whole banana. Daddy introduced her to red Jello, which she really liked and asked for “more” twice.

After dinner, Charlotte didn’t show any interest in stacking hands, as we usually do. She did, however, do quite well identifying parts of the body when asked and she did so much quicker than she usually does.

After dinner, Mommy and Charlotte enjoyed some down time while Charlotte had a bath. Charlotte is working on saying “bath.” Mommy noticed that Charlotte was slow to start playing with her toys in the water. Charlotte enjoys lying in the tub on her tummy, occasionally drinking the water, which causes her to burp and occasionally to spit up.

Charlotte appeared to be much colder than usual while Mommy carried her to her room-—Mommy was surprised with Charlotte’s physical shivering. On the change table, even before the towels were removed, Charlotte started motioning for Mommy to put cream on her arms; Mommy is really glad that Charlotte is enjoying this special time when Mommy can massage Charlotte. While Mommy started with the legs and feet, Charlotte continued to offer her arm to Mommy while she put her own foot in her mouth while Mommy kissed her other foot. As always, Charlotte seems to calm right down when Mommy massages her chest, following the outline of the shape of the heart. Mommy didn’t prolong the massage, as Charlotte continued to shiver and motioned for her pyjamas to be put on.

As Mommy cleaned up Charlotte's toys, Charlotte toddled into the office to say goodnight to Daddy. Daddy brought Charlotte back to her room so that we could say goodnight to Charlotte together. Mommy enjoyed an extra long hug with Charlotte-—Mommy tries to cuddle Charlotte for as long as she will allow her. Charlotte in her crib covered with one of her favourite blankets, with her bottle securely in both hands, music playing, and light projections on the ceiling, was set for a wonderful night of dreams. Good night, sweet girl.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Charlotte throws dish that shatters into a gazillion pieces

Mommy was exhausted this morning, having laid in bed for so long last night, waiting for Charlotte to fall asleep. Mommy didn’t have a restful sleep, wondering where Daddy had slept and wondering if Charlotte was going to awake at an awful hour again, waking everyone up. Mommy lay in bed for some time just waiting for Charlotte to wake up so that she could quickly attend to her without disturbing everyone else. Charlotte slept a lot better, but woke up crying and not very happy earlier than her usual time.
Early in the morning, Charlotte wanted up on the counter to eat her Cheerios until she warmed up to Max, which didn't take too long.

Over the course of the morning, Charlotte got used to Max and started to play with him; she really became quite brave around Max: she sat beside Max and patted him, and even played fetch with him with one of his toys.
Charlotte patting Max

Charlotte insisted on wearing her winter boots around the living room while playing with Max.

Charlotte continued to befriend the cat Treadmark, but he really wasn’t all that interested in her and would hiss at her, which would surprise Charlotte, as this reaction is unfamiliar to her—-her only experience with cats up close has been with Mommy’s cat Simba at Nana’s house and he’s the total opposite to Tready.

Charlotte went down for a nap at her usual time and slept a little longer than yesterday on the big bed, swaddled in her blanket with pillows on either side of her. Mommy and Auntie Stacey went out to do a little more shopping at the stores they didn’t get to the day before. Mommy met one of her friends from high school (a long time ago, and in a different city).

In the hopes of a better trip home with Charlotte, we stayed for dinner and left when we thought Charlotte would fall asleep in the car. During dinner, Mommy wasn’t quick enough to respond to Charlotte when she lifted her Corelle dish and threw it over her head, landing on the bamboo flooring, shattering into a gazillion pieces. Everyone was stunned, not so much because Charlotte threw her dish, but because the Corelle dish broke—-Corelle professes that their dishes don’t break.
Little Corelle fruit nappy shatters into a gazillion pieces

Charlotte continued to chatter and play while the rest of us scrambled to clean up the glass without scratching the flooring. There were pieces of glass everywhere, including in the cushions of the furniture and all the way over to the other side of the kitchen where the pets' food dishes were. Some of the pieces were so small, they were hard to see.

Charlotte with Auntie Stacey, Uncle Art, and Max

Shortly after everything was cleaned up, we loaded the van and headed for home. Charlotte fell asleep a short while after leaving Auntie Stacey and Uncle Art’s. Charlotte stayed asleep while Mommy carried her into the house until she took off her coat, waking very briefly until Mommy placed her in her crib. Charlotte went back to sleep, hopefully for the night.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Charlotte's first trip to Belleville (Belle-vegas) to visit Auntie Stacey and Uncle Art

Oh, my gosh! What’s going on? Charlotte was awake before 5 am. To avoid waking up the whole house, Mommy brought Charlotte into Mommy and Daddy’s bed, in the hopes that she would fall back to sleep. Charlotte showed no interest whatsoever, and continued to thrash about, crying out quite loudly. When Mommy could no longer handle it, realizing that no one in our room was going to get any sleep, Mommy got dressed, bundled up Charlotte, and left the house before 6 am for a long walk. It was still quite dark outside and it had started to snow. Charlotte was quite content to sit in her stroller and drink her bottle. Mommy and Charlotte walked to Tim Horton’s so Mommy could have a coffee.




Eventually, Charlotte started to fuss to get out of her stroller, so Mommy knew it was time to get on our way. We took the extra long route home to Auntie Stacey’s in the hopes that Charlotte would fall asleep, which she did. We were just around the corner from the house when Daddy called Mommy on her cell phone, worried that perhaps we had got lost. When we arrived home, Charlotte was still asleep; however, the stroller wouldn’t fit between the two vehicles parked in the driveway, so we weren’t able to leave her sleeping in the stroller at the front door. Daddy met Mommy at the front door to take sleeping Charlotte from her arms; unfortunately, by the time Mommy got the stroller put back into the van and got into the house, Charlotte was wide awake and ready for the next activity.

While we made breakfast, Charlotte ate quite a few Cheerios while sitting and lounging about on the island in Auntie Stacey’s big open kitchen.


We all enjoyed ham and eggs for breakfast—-Charlotte ate quite well, feeding herself, despite the number of Cheerios she consumed while breakfast was prepared. After breakfast, we visited with Uncle Art and Aunt Stacey until it was time for Charlotte to go down for her nap. Mommy put Charlotte in her playpen, bundled up in her blanket with her bottle; Charlotte appeared to be quite content. Within a few minutes, Charlotte began to fuss and cry; as Mommy got closer to the door, she realized that Charlotte’s cries were immediately on the other side of the door—-Charlotte had climbed out of the playpen. Mommy put Charlotte back in the playpen and within a few minutes, she had climbed out of it, again. This time, Mommy swaddled Charlotte in her blanket and placed her in the middle of the “big bed” that Mommy and Daddy had slept on and placed pillows on either side of Charlotte. Charlotte eventually fell asleep—-this gave Mommy and Auntie Stacey the opportunity to do a little shopping; apparently, Charlotte got up about 10 minutes after we left the house, so Charlotte’s nap was a grand total of about 30 minutes.

Stacey and Mommy arrived home to quite a mess in the upstairs bathroom—-Max had got Charlotte’s dirty poo diaper and had pulled it apart all over the bathroom floor-—what a mess! After this incident, Max continued to try to lick Charlotte’s legs and bottom, likely recognizing her scent, but this behaviour really frightened Charlotte.

Charlotte enjoyed sitting in the cat’s bed. It was so cute to watch, but Mommy could never get it on video: Charlotte would crawl into the cat’s bed, meowing while doing so and then lie down, not like a cat, but with her face down in the bed. She would then lift her head and start pulling cat fur off her lips. She did the same thing many times throughout the course of the weekend.


Charlotte would also not leave the dog’s water and food bowls alone. Eventually, we had to put the water bowl and dispenser on the counter to get it out of her reach. Charlotte was quite content to sit and splash both hands in the bowl, getting her legs, arms, and feet wet-—good thing Mommy brought extra clothes.

Just before dinner, Mommy took Charlotte outside for a little fresh air and to play in the snow.



Charlotte ate quite well at dinner, but learned very quickly that she could drop food on the floor for the dog who was begging at Charlotte’s feet under the table. After dinner, Mommy and Daddy took Charlotte down the basement to watch a little TV before Charlotte’s bedtime. Charlotte was more interested in exploring everything that she wasn’t supposed to get into, so Mommy was definitely looking forward to Charlotte’s bedtime when she could finally put up her feet and enjoy a movie with Daddy. Charlotte is definitely related to the Energizer Bunny as she showed no signs of wanting to go to bed, which surprised Mommy as she was up so early and didn’t really have a nap.

Mommy and Daddy really padded up the base of the playpen with a big fluffy blanket to make it more comfortable for Charlotte. Initially, Charlotte didn’t cry when Mommy placed her in the playpen, but she became agitated when Mommy moved toward the door. So, with the dresser lamp on, Mommy climbed into the big bed beside Charlotte and turned to face her so that Charlotte knew she was there. Charlotte would just start to drift off to sleep and then abruptly stir and start chattering to Mommy or start crying. Mommy was able to catch a few winks herself, hoping to get up to play cards with the others once they got home from the hockey game. Charlotte was a very light sleeper tonight and would stir whenever Mommy moved.

After a couple of hours of lying in bed, Mommy turned off the dresser lamp, hoping that Charlotte would then stay asleep so that Mommy could escape for some adult company before heading to bed. By this time, Mommy was totally exhausted, so changed into her jammies and went to bed. At some point, Daddy peaked in to see that Mommy was taking up most of the bed, so he decided to sleep on the couch down the basement. Mommy really hopes that Charlotte doesn’t wake up before 6 am tomorrow.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Charlotte's passport arrives/On our way to Belle-vegas (Belleville)

Early in the afternoon, we received a package in the door—-Charlotte received her Canadian passport, so she is now able to travel out of Canada.


Look at Charlotte's eyes--I don't think she wanted her photo taken, but Mommy persevered.

Charlotte with her passport is now ready to go on a trip.

Just shortly after 5 pm, we left on our first trip to Belleville since returning from China to visit Auntie Stacey (Daddy's sister) and Uncle Art. As expected, Charlotte was not a very good traveller, despite Mommy's many attempts to distract her from the obvious, being confined in her car seat; we really hope this changes in the near future, as we get closer to cottage season.

We arrived at Auntie Stacey’s and Uncle Art’s just after 7 pm; Max (the dog) went crazy with all the excitement of people visiting. Charlotte was quite scared of Max, partly because of his excitement, but mostly because he kept trying to jump up on her. Charlotte hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to visit with dogs, so she can be quite afraid of them—-the bigger the dog, the more afraid she is. She seems to settle down quicker when she’s around smaller dogs, and, of course, she doesn’t have any problems with cats, which makes Mommy very happy. It took Max quite some time to settle down, which meant that Charlotte always wanted to be up off the floor, either in a chair, on a table, or in someone's arms where she knew the dog couldn’t reach her.

With all the stuff we brought in from the van, you would have thought that we were staying for a week. There’s so much stuff for a toddler: playpen for sleeping, bottles, formula, snacks, diapers, clothing, shoes, boots, snowpants, stroller, booster chair, toys, books, blankets, towel, … the list goes on. So much more stuff than we have been used to travelling with; although, Mommy tends to overpack just for herself, so Daddy is quite used to being a pack mule when travelling with Mommy.
Charlotte checking out the bedroom she, Mommy, and Daddy will be sleeping in. Charlotte likes the big fluffy bed!


About 8 pm, Auntie Stacey’s and Uncle Art’s friends—-Lynn and John, Linda and Rob, Julie and Rick—-came over for a visit and to meet Charlotte. Charlotte took quite a fancy to Lynn and always wanted to be picked up by her, especially if Max was around. Charlotte was generally quite generous with her kisses, except with Linda-—Linda had to pretend to cry before Charlotte would give her a kiss, which she eventually did and then all was well.

Lynn and Julie wore the same sweatshirt jacket that had a hood. Charlotte noticed this right away and kept motioning for them to put them on their heads—-Charlotte likes wearing hoods on her outfits, so she feels others should wear theirs as well.

Close to 10 pm, when Mommy was sure that Charlotte was tired and would go to bed without any troubles, Charlotte said “bye bye” to everyone and gave kisses to all. Mommy got the playpen set up, blankets arranged, stuffed animals and musical toys positioned, Charlotte ready, and then placed her in the playpen with her bottle, just like she would at home in the crib. Following the usual routine, Mommy said good night to Charlotte, turned out the light, and then shut the door. Almost immediately, Charlotte started to fuss. Mommy checked Charlotte’s bottle and ensured that everything was as it should be, but Charlotte continued to fuss. With Uncle Art’s help, we set up a little table lamp to act as a night light on the dresser; however, it was a little bright, so Mommy placed the diaper bag in front of the light to soften the brightness. Mommy then tip-toed out of the room, but Charlotte began to fuss again even before Mommy’s hand was on the doorknob. This time, Mommy lied down on the bed to comfort and encourage Charlotte to fall asleep. After an hour or so, Mommy was finally able to join the rest of the group who had begun playing cards in the dining room. Just after midnight, everyone said their goodbyes and we all headed to bed for a much needed rest.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Charlotte is 21 months old/3-hour medical team assessment

Today was a big day—-not only is Charlotte 21 months old today, but she also had her big assessment with a medical team at Grandview Children’s Centre.

Mommy and Daddy were up early this morning, eagerly awaiting the earliest peeps from Charlotte so that we could push the morning routine along quickly, as our assessment at the satellite office in Ajax was at 9 am.

Charlotte played with a little boy while we waited in the waiting area for our appointment.





Dr. MacDonald introduced herself and invited us to come to her office; she was quite surprised to see that Charlotte was quite willing to lead the way down the hall to an office she had never been to before, leaving Mommy and Daddy behind to pick up all the stuff. Charlotte passed by many open doors, stopping at the social worker’s office to say “hi” before receiving a cue from Dr. MacDonald that her office was next door.

Upon entering Dr. MacDonald's office, Charlotte went immediately to the toys, as expected and as children do—-she was quite taken with a tea set and poured many cups of tea for Daddy and the doctor. Charlotte has never played with a tea set, so it was quite remarkable that Charlotte knew instinctively what to do with the tea pot and cups. These toys were not set up to beg her to play with—-they were just in a box of toys on the floor. The doctor took note of this behaviour and commented many times about Charlotte being quite well-adjusted and bright/clever. This interview was fast-paced and exhausting for Mommy—-the doctor observed Charlotte and interacted with her while asking us lots of questions and dialoguing with us. Mommy was forewarned about the pace of this assessment, so we brought the video camera along, but didn’t end up using it. Mommy feverishly tried to write notes while at the same time answering the next question posed by the doctor and responding to Charlotte’s requests to be lifted up on Mommy’s knee and to get snacks from the diaper bag. We then returned to the waiting room to wait for the next stage of the assessment.

A few minutes later, the social worker and speech pathologist came to take us to another room. Charlotte quite willingly took their hands to walk down a different hallway to a large playroom, again with Mommy and Daddy in tow. Again, these professionals were quite surprised at how confident and social Charlotte is. As we got closer to the room, Charlotte wanted to hold Mommy’s hand as well, but realized having only 2 hands that she would have to drop the social worker’s had to hold Mommy’s. We all entered a large room—-Charlotte immediately went to play with the occupational therapist, the speech-language pathologist, and the physiotherapist, while Mommy and Daddy sat in the chairs that were against the wall to chat with the social worker. A student-in-training sat off to the side, observing. Mommy kept waiting for someone to escort Mommy and Daddy to another room to observe the team working with Charlotte, but that wasn’t to happen. While the team observed and played with Charlotte, making notes and completing assessments, each of them took turns asking Mommy and Daddy questions while tweaking their tasks and activities with Charlotte.

Early in the assessment, the occupational therapist took Charlotte for a walk up a mock staircase, which slightly annoyed Mommy, as we’ve been encouraging Charlotte to climb up the stairs for safety reasons, despite the occasional attempt to walk, but not successfully; however, we understood that the therapist was testing Charlotte’s gross motor skills, which she passed with flying colours. Occasionally, Mommy was asked a question that she really had to think about, particularly the ones when asked by the speech-language pathologist to rate things that Charlotte has exhibited or said on a scale of 1-5. This team was very good.

Early into this 1.5-hour session, Mommy sensed that Charlotte is on track for her age and that the team really didn’t see any cause for alarm. One by one, each professional summarized her findings, put away the toys she used for her testing, and then left the playroom. This part of the assessment was now over and the professionals were now to confer with the main lead, Dr. MacDonald. We returned to the waiting room for a snack and a rest. About 20 minutes later, we returned to Dr. MacDonald’s office to receive the final results of the assessment:
1. There is no rehab/physiotherapy for bowing of the legs; however, they expect that with continuing the enriched diet, vitamin D supplements, and massage that Charlotte’s leg will correct themselves to near normal (whew!); as a matter of fact, in the last few weeks, Mommy has seen some improvements in the degree of bowing of Charlotte’s legs. This information was very comforting to hear from a specialized professional.
2. Charlotte’s physical abilities are in the normal range for her age and she has good fine motor skills.
3. Charlotte’s language is well within the range expected for her age; she is already exhibiting skills expected to be seen in the 21-24 month range, even though she is just 21 months old today—-this is excellent news. In the last few weeks, we, too, have seen quite an increase in the number of words that Charlotte says.
4. Mommy’s concerns about attachment issues can be put to rest according to the social worker; he feels that Charlotte needs to work on discriminating appropriately—-she really is far too social with total strangers, wanting to be picked up and kissed, which causes Mommy great angst. The social worker also strongly encouraged us to encourage Charlotte to attach to a favourite doll or blanket or stuffed animal to encourage nurturing—-this is not something that she would be very familiar with in an orphanage setting, which we knew before travelling to China, despite sending Charlotte a cuddly bunny blanket a couple of weeks before we arrived in China. I don’t think she had the toy long enough to understand what it was. Charlotte has exhibited attachment to blankets and stuffed toys when she gets up in the morning, usually carrying these items around with her during the morning routine, but then they are forgotten about later in the day. Sometimes, at bedtime, she will motion for a favourite blanket to be put on her—-for the longest time it was one blanket in particular, but now she has a few favourites. Charlotte has received dolls, but doesn’t gravitate to them in her toy box like you think a little girl would; she prefers toys that stack, likely Daddy’s influence from early days home from China. However, during the assessment, Charlotte spent a lot of time nurturing and playing with the toy doll, which surprised both Mommy and Daddy. Dr. MacDonald also strongly urged us to get Charlotte enrolled in a pre-school program, even if just for a half-day a week to give Charlotte an opportunity to socialize with other children. She was quite pleased to hear that Charlotte plays well with her cousins who are 7, 9, and 12 years old.

The 3-hour assessment over, Charlotte was ready to return home for lunch—-she had eaten quite a few snacks during the final leg of the assessment. While waiting for Mommy to make lunch, Charlotte opened a gift she received in the mail from a cousin of Mommy’s in the States. Once Daddy got the bunny out of the package, Charlotte immediately hugged it and clung to it, giving it kisses. I think this may become the item that Mommy encourages Charlotte to attach to, as it is small enough to carry around without being too small to easily loose. After lunch, Charlotte was ready for a nap, or maybe it was Mommy who was ready for Charlotte to take a nap; either way, Mommy wished she could join Charlotte, but she had work to do. Charlotte had difficulties going down for her nap; after she drank her bottle she began to fuss, but likely because she was 2 hours past due for her nap and she was trying to wind down from the assessment, as was Mommy.

Two hours flew by and Charlotte was awake, rejuvenated, and ready to play with Daddy, while Mommy continued working. Sadly, Charlotte has taken to ripping some of the flaps out of some of her books—-these are her favourites, so we’re perplexed why she is being so destructive. Perhaps she is mimicking Mommy’s behaviour when she reads her magazines. Mommy has noticed in the last couple of days that Charlotte does get a little aggressive when she gets really excited. These books will have to be put away for a little bit before Charlotte does any further damage to them.

To celebrate Charlotte’s 21st month birthday, we had Chinese take-out for dinner, which Charlotte toyed with at first and then enjoyed once Daddy started feeding her; again, she played the game where Daddy puts the fork of food in Charlotte’s hand, she then puts the food in her mouth, and then she passes the fork to Mommy who passes it to Daddy to load the next forkful of food. Charlotte was quite content to sit in her highchair and play stacking hands for some time after dinner. It was during this time that Charlotte added a few new words to her increasing vocabulary list: “more,” “milk,” “down.” We also played Charlotte’s version of Simon Says. Charlotte, tired of being confined, wanted to get out of her highchair, so Mommy and Charlotte went upstairs for our night routine: bath, stories, and bedtime. Just moments before 8 pm, Charlotte was tucked into bed with her bottle; Charlotte waved “bye” to Mommy and Daddy as she watched the lighted objects move across her ceiling. Good night, sweet angel.