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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Charlotte's cupcake hat

It looks like Charlotte’s sleeping schedule is back on track, but it looks like we may have a repeat of yesterday's poor eating--Charlotte refuses to eat cereal and drink milk at breakfast.

Daddy went to play in his monthly poker tournament while Mommy and Charlotte went to church. When Gregory and Kristen arrived, Charlotte got a little carried away with them in church, but nobody really seemed to mind (there weren’t a lot of people in the church) especially once Surrinder started to play the organ, so the kids’ voices really couldn’t be heard above the music. Once the kids went to Sunday school and youth group, Charlotte seemed to settle down, but immediately started asking for snacks—-today Mommy felt like a vending machine, giving Charlotte different items to keep her quiet. Just before the sermon, Charlotte really started to fuss to get out of the stroller—-she wanted to go to Nana. She was relatively quiet, but wanted to say “hi” to everyone behind us. When the kids came up for their gathering and sing song with F. Roy, Charlotte started to get a little restless again. After church, Mommy enjoyed a cup of tea with Nana while Charlotte played with her cousins, running around the gathering area and playing on the keyboard in the church.

Later in the afternoon, after Charlotte's nap, Mommy and Charlotte left Daddy at home to go to visit Mommy’s friend Susan whom she used to work with. We enjoyed a short visit and then went to Auntie Pam’s, just a couple of doors down the street. We enjoyed a visit with Auntie Pam, Uncle Roland, Samantha, and Daisy (dog)--Charlotte is getting better with Daisy—-she doesn’t seem to be as afraid of her as she was at the last visit.
Samantha and Charlotte playing the piano

Uncle Roland and Charlotte

Charlotte has taken a real liking to her outdoor boots and insisted on wearing them in Pam's house.


Before we knew it, it was 5:45 and we were supposed to be at Nana’s for dinner at 5:30. We arrived a little late, but just in time. We had a lovely visit with the family and Charlotte had great fun with her cousins. Today, Charlotte started to make the motions to bite again—-I thought this was in the past for her; however, it looks like she resorts to biting when she gets frustrated. Yesterday, she did come flying at Mommy with her mouth open in the familiar way to bite, but Mommy put her hand up before she was able to set her teeth in. Mommy thought this was a chance event, but now it looks like it may be a problem again—-we’re going to have to be a little more aggressive with breaking this habit before someone really gets hurt, likely Mommy. In church today, Charlotte bit down really hard on Mommy’s index finger, leaving a set of teeth imprints in her finger.

After dinner, Charlotte and Kristen posed for a photo with their matching cupcake hats, handmade by a dear friend of Nana’s from her high school days at Riverdale CI.


Before we knew it, it was 9 pm and time to head home. We weren’t in the car but a few minutes when Charlotte was asking for something to eat—-Mommy obliged with a cookie, which she gobbled up. On the drive home, Charlotte became very chatty, practising a few words: “Nana,” “Mama,” “Daddy.” Charlotte stayed awake for most of the ride home, which is quite unusual for her—-she fell asleep within a couple of exits of home on the 401. Charlotte was awake enough to play hard-to-get with her kisses-—she eventually insisted on getting a kiss from Daddy. Good night sweet angel.

Charlotte enjoys Mommy's massage

Charlotte woke up earlier than expected—-just before 7 am. Mommy hoped that Charlotte was just making noises in her sleep, but very quickly, she knew that Charlotte was ready to get up. When Mommy went in to get Charlotte out of her crib, Charlotte was still lying down and seemed surprised that Mommy came in to get her up. Once she stood up, she immediately started to look for Daddy who appeared a couple of moments later.

Mommy and Daddy enjoyed their morning coffee in the living room while Charlotte continued to take apart the foam puzzle on the floor, much to Daddy’s chagrin. Charlotte had pulled quite a few of the pieces apart yesterday afternoon—-as quickly as Daddy tried to put it back together, Charlotte pulled another piece apart, so Daddy gave up and sat down to talk with Mommy.

Charlotte, bundled up in her winter coat, hat, mitts, and boots, walked outside to investigate the new fallen snow, which she hasn’t seen a lot of.


Shortly after 9:30 am, we were off to take our glass insert for the door that leads to the basement to a stained glass studio in Port Perry to fix one of the panes that we discovered was broken during Charlotte’s Open House in September—-it’s taken quite some time to find someone who can fix the pane of glass. For most of the trip to Port Perry, Charlotte was quite content to watch Toy Story 3 DVD; however, we weren’t so lucky on the return trip home. After a couple of snacks, Charlotte continued to fuss. Charlotte’s morning routine was thrown off by waking up so early this morning. Mommy really had to work at getting Charlotte engaged in the movie again.

Mommy tried to capture on video Charlotte putting her wooden puzzles together—-last night, Charlotte put all three wooden puzzles together fairly quickly, without much help or coaching from Daddy. They worked so hard on this yesterday, but I couldn’t get Charlotte to cooperate as well today. She eventually did so, but I think she wasn’t as focused this afternoon as she was last night.

Daddy, Mommy, and Charlotte played on the floor of Charlotte’s room for quite some time this afternoon. At one point, Daddy and Charlotte pretended to be napping on the floor; however, Daddy went one step further and fell asleep on his own bed for a few minutes until Mommy caught him in the act.


After lunch, Mommy and Charlotte went for a walk around the block and then to the park--Charlotte walked around a small section of the park, exploring the snow. At first, Charlotte would not walk in the snow without holding Mommy’s hand. I think Charlotte found it unusual to have to lift her booted foot so high to walk through the snow. We returned home a little more than an hour later, when Charlotte refused to keep her mitts on—-it was too cold not to wear mitts. Just moments before arriving home, Charlotte started to fuss a little, likely starting to feel a little cold.


After dinner, Charlotte enjoyed a nice long warm bath that ended when Charlotte wouldn’t stop drinking the bath water. Tonight while getting Charlotte ready for bed, Charlotte presented Mommy with her foot and leg and motioned for Mommy to massage her with cream—-this is a break through, as Charlotte has been all that interested to date in Mommy massaging her. Charlotte then asked to have cream put on her arms and hands. Mommy then took the liberty to massage Charlotte’s chest; it was the strangest reaction—-Charlotte just went completely still and relaxed. Mommy then asked Charlotte if she would like some cream on her back. It was so wonderful to hear Charlotte make a soft relaxing sound when Mommy started to rub her back. Mommy is learning to read Charlotte’s cues and tonight was the most massage that Mommy has been able to do in a very long time.

Dressed in her pyjamas, Charlotte and Daddy worked on a puzzle for a few minutes while Mommy got Charlotte’s bottle ready. When Mommy arrived at the door and asked Charlotte if she was ready for bed, she said “no” and shook her head, but when she was put into bed, she immediately reached for her bottle and motioned to Mommy that she forgot to turn on her aquarium music. Charlotte had a busy day and was ready for her rest. I wonder what time Charlotte will awake tomorrow morning.

Charlotte fakes being asleep

This morning, Lonny, our EcoEnergy Advisor, came to complete our energy audit. Charlotte was quite taken with Lonny and the barrier he created on our front door. We thought Charlotte would be quite upset with the noise of the fan during the test, but she was more interested in what Lonny was doing. Once the test was completed, Daddy set Charlotte on the kitchen countertop while Lonny and Mommy finished the paperwork, which Charlotte was quite interested in, particularly when a woman’s voice came through Lonny’s speaker on his cell phone.


Daddy took Charlotte to her Creative Toddler’s class so that Mommy could work from home. Mommy didn’t register Charlotte for this class in December, so it has been a little while since Charlotte has seen some of her friends from this class. Daddy reported that Charlotte is doing much better, staying more focused during story time and completing more of the actions to the songs, even trying to sing along. I love to hear Charlotte’s little tinkling voice when she sings.

Charlotte stayed awake the whole ride home; however, when Daddy went to get Charlotte out of her car seat, her eyes were closed. When Daddy went to pick up Charlotte out of her seat, she started to make fake crying sounds (“wah wah”). Charlotte has never faked out Daddy like this before—-Daddy couldn’t believe it and retold the events to Mommy immediately after walking in the front door.

After lunch, Charlotte played in the office, sometimes with things she shouldn’t, despite the constant stream of “no’s” from Mommy and Daddy, while Mommy worked and Daddy played on-line poker occasionally. Charlotte’s newest interest these days is getting into the office closet and opening and closing the closet door.

While Mommy was working, she put on a CD of Chinese Lullabies that she purchased at the ROM last week. As soon as the first song came on, within a couple of beats, Charlotte’s head whipped around to look where the music was coming from and then she started singing sweetly. It was like she recognized the song. A few moments later, she came over to me and leaned against my legs while she swayed to the music and continued to sing. Mommy was very surprised by Charlotte’s reaction to this music.

A little while later, while the music was still playing, Charlotte came over to Mommy’s knee, laid her head down, and motioned for Mommy to place her hands on Charlotte’s head and rub/massage. Charlotte used to do this when we would drive home from the cottage, particularly when it was dark out and close to her bedtime—-Charlotte would pull Mommy’s hand to the back of her neck for Mommy to rub it. Charlotte would calm right down.

Charlotte continues to make this sound that begs for an action on our part. Along with this sound, Charlotte also makes motions with her hands for you to participate. Today, while I was sitting at my desk, Charlotte wanted me to get on the floor to play with her, so she put her hand on the side of my leg and applied pressure in a pulling action while making her begging sound. She is definitely figuring out ways to communicate when she doesn’t have the words to do so.

After dinner, Charlotte enjoyed a nice long bath; for the first time, Charlotte actually relaxed in Mommy’s arms in the tub so that she could wash Charlotte’s hair. Bathtime over, it was time to get ready for bed. Mommy gave Charlotte’s finger and toe nails a much needed trim.

Up to this point, Charlotte has occasionally practiced saying the word “no” but not as an answer to a question or a request. Tonight, Charlotte started to say “no” and shake her head no at the same time when she didn’t want something. She reminds me of a mini-me, as I realize that is what I do for emphasis.

Charlotte still continues to play her game where she puckers up for a kiss and then pulls away, putting her chin to her chest and making a frown to avoid kissing the recipient. Usually a fake cry by the recipient provokes Charlotte to give a plethora of kisses, but not so these days. We sometimes have to really coax her or steal kisses—-tonight, Mommy decided to steal lots of kisses. Charlotte eventually gave Daddy a kiss and then wanted more.

Charlotte cries when Mommy leaves for work

Mommy woke up with a muscle spasm in her left shoulder blade, so was a little late getting moving this morning. Charlotte was awake and wanted up before Mommy had a chance to get dressed. Charlotte has been a little grumpy lately when we go in to get her out of her crib, so this morning, Mommy chatted with Charlotte for a little while before lifting her out. Charlotte noticed Mommy’s wet hair and pointed and made a questioning noise as she does when pointing to something new. Mommy thought this was odd, but then Mommy realized that she usually goes into Charlotte in the morning with her hair piled high on her head, so today was a little different. Just before Mommy picked Charlotte up out of the crib, Charlotte waved and said “bye” to Mommy. Perhaps Charlotte does sense that something is different today from our usual routine. While Daddy got Charlotte’s bottle, Mommy dressed Charlotte in her new cute cranberry coloured velour pant suit so that she would be ready for Daddy to take her to lunch with his friends—“3 men and a little lady”; I wish I could get a picture of this.

Mommy continued getting ready for work while Charlotte drank her morning bottle and watched a little program with Daddy. We then all went downstairs for breakfast. Mommy tried to leave for work while Daddy put Charlotte in her highchair, but she fussed so much that Mommy sat down and enjoyed breakfast until Charlotte and Daddy were busy and then Mommy scooted out. This was the first time that Charlotte actually fussed when Mommy was leaving. Up until this point, Charlotte would fuss when Daddy went out, but would wave and say “bye” when Mommy went out.

Daddy and Charlotte went to Rick’s house for a visit before meeting up with Don for lunch. Charlotte wouldn’t give Ruth kisses, but she was quite generous with her kisses with the men. When it was time to leave for lunch, Charlotte eventually gave Ruth a kiss and even got Daddy to lean her over so that she could kiss Quincy (the dog) on the nose—-Charlotte is quite afraid of large dogs, and sometimes small ones too. I think it’s because they are so excitable and jump up on her.

The 3 men and a little lady (Charlotte) went to Catherine’s Restaurant for lunch. Daddy and Charlotte enjoyed fish and rice; however, Charlotte enjoyed the French fries she stole off Don’s plate. After lunch, Charlotte went down for her nap so that she would be up for when Mommy got home from work.

Mommy brought home noodles from Federick’s for dinner. Charlotte absolutely loves noodles—-she couldn’t shovel them into her mouth fast enough. After dinner, Mommy and Charlotte read some stories and cleaned up Charlotte’s room. Charlotte really likes the soft kitty cat that Nana gave her for Christmas—-it looks so much like Pookie, a wonderful cat that Charlotte never had the chance to meet.

Charlotte never lets Mommy have a few moments peace when she’s in the bathroom, and tonight was no exception--Charlotte brought in her princess chair to sit with Mommy. Mommy tried unsuccessfully to get kisses from Charlotte--she played her usual kiss chasing game.

Last night, Mommy introduced Charlotte to the tambourine that she got from Santa—-she really played up a storm last night, but tonight, she wasn’t very cooperative at all, being a little aggressive with her banging. Charlotte took quite an interest in the little computer that Uncle Doug gave her for Christmas. It held her attention for quite some time.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture it on video, but tonight Charlotte put a gift bag over her head, which she has done many times before, but this time when she started walking toward me, it was quite interesting to see that she put out her arms to feel her way toward my voice, just like a seeing-impaired person would do.

Tonight, Charlotte was extremely active, moving from one activity to another; despite my constant requests, Charlotte insisted on standing on her activity chair.

It was soon time for bed. Mommy was also ready for bed, but couldn’t justify going to bed so early in the evening, so watched a couple of her taped programs, with the hopes of getting up to do some paperwork before retiring for the evening. Nope—-Mommy fell asleep watching her shows. Tomorrow is another day.