Summer Update

We've had a great summer and look forward to the fall. She'll begin 2 mornings (Tues & Thurs) of nursery school around the corner. The same week she will begin a 12-week session for adoptees from China (2 to 3 years old) and their parents to expose them to Chinese culture, 
language, and dance. I'm looking forward to it. We want very much to keep her connected to her culture until she's old enough to make her own decision on how much she wants to be involved.

Attachment & Adjustment
Katerina appears to be happy and well-adjusted. She is definitely bossy and likes to be in control. I'm learning to avoid power struggles where they don't matter. She laughs a lot, particularly with Joseph. There's nothing I love more than to hear her giggle.

She's getting too used to me not being around during the week. I get to spend about 20 minutes with her when she wakes up before I have to leave for work. In the evening I get home around 7pm or 7:30pm. "BaBa" is her main man. He does the whole morning routine; breakfast, diaper change, etc. He also has been coming home early most evenings because he can't wait to see her. As a result, she always chooses him over me. There are mornings where I'll go into her room to pick her up and she's standing in the crib; when she sees me she flings herself on the mattress and wails "BaBa". Although one morning when I had to leave early, before she woke up, Constantin tells me she looked for me in the bed, said "MaMa" and then looked for me in the bathroom. I' m rethinking my schedule at work and instead of staying home on Fridays, maybe I'll come home early a few days a week.

Play Dates
Katerina & I have joined a playgroup hosted by Kathy Miller. We've gotten together several times to date and the kids have a blast. They vary in ages; Katerina & Sonia are within a couple of months of each other; Ally is almost a year older; Katie and Jenny are 3 1/2. Kathy's house is a regular playground. They have a bouncing castle, rubber mats, a parachute for Gymboree style activities, a fabulous playroom with a kid roller coaster, every toy you can imagine, in the playroom. We meet every two weeks and plan to get together for Autumn Moon Festival where we will look at the full moon and eat mooncakes.

During the Yuan dynasty (A.D.1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D.960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend. 

Health & Behavior

Speech: She's repeating every word she hears and starting very slightly to put two words together. "More please". When Constantin couldn't find the Mei Mei DVD that she was requesting in the bedroom, she led him to the stairs, pointed to the family room and said: "Mei Mei down". When he went downstairs she led him right to the DVD case that was on the divider between the office & the family room. She then pointed to her chair and said: "Chair up". She has really perfected NO. Sometimes she makes it 3 syllables: Nooooooooo. Sometimes it's in clipped repetition: No, no, no, no, no.

Growth: She saw the doctor July 17th and is healthy. She grew 1" and gained 1lb. She's still in the 15th percentile for height & 5th percentile for weight. By now (August 31) I'm sure she's grown more. She looks taller. Her foot size seems to have grown to size 4.5 from size 3 at the beginning of the summer.
Eating: She still eats like a champ. In the mornings she has cereal or eggs, after which she has fruit. Her favorites are blueberries, melon, and apples. We had a terrible scare one afternoon when she was choking on a grape. Constantin (I wasn't there) said she was turning blue and no sound was coming out. He did the Heimlich maneuver and it worked the 2nd time he applied. The grape came shooting out. We've since done research on foods that can choke and are making sure that one of us is always around her when she eats.
Sleeping: She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9pm. She recently started asking for a pillow so I went to Buy Buy Baby the other night and got her "Toddler's First Pillow". It's a hypoallergenic pillow that is "breathable"; you can't smother if you put your face in it. She's so proud to have her pillow and actually smiles when we put her in the crib. I wonder how long that will last!

Outings and Fun Time
Katerina took swimming lessons this summer and will begin again in mid-September. She's a natural and loves the water. Even in the bathtub she turns over on her stomach and kicks her legs while moving with her arms.







JHHLS Employee Picnic was held at Hollybrook Hill which is like a day camp for kids of all ages. They have all sorts of activities. She was a star, of course.





Sunset Fun - A few times we packed up sandwiches and went to Croton Point Park to watch the sunset or to Playland Park to watch the fireworks. She loves these outings. Joseph's friend Addie has joined us a couple of times.







Blessings - Our adoption was blessed by Father Costas during Sunday mass on 8/6 in St. Basil's chapel. Constantin takes Katerina to church quite often and she has the run of the place. She's greatly improved since the time she blew raspberries during a Holy Week service and we've learned not to bring potato chips with us.







Companions - In addition to Nancy, we have Angela 14 years old come over a couple of times a week for a few hours to play with her. Nancy and Katerina have also made friends with another babysitter and her 2 kids (girl's name is Katerina!) from around the block. They go to the playground together, have had a picnic at Katerina's house and have gone to the library together.



Musical Munchkins - Almost every week we designate a night where Constantin, Joseph, Katerina and I get musical instruments (2 wooden spoons, for example), put on about 45 minutes of children's music and dance around the family room. She loves it.

Beach: Several times to Oakland beach and once to the Connecticut shore to visit Michael & Mary.
Sesame Place: See separate post.
4th of July: See separate post

Notable moments:

• She learned how to jump and jumps constantly; even from a throw rug to the floor!
• She discovered Barney. Gail claims Barney has gotten a bad rap, but I don't know, there's only so much of him I can take.
• We can now read an entire children's book without her grabbing the book and playing with it. Her two favorites at bedtime are: Goodnight Moon and Goodnight Kiss.
• She likes to walk down steps without help or holding on. We are not too comfortable with that however and put ourselves in front of her to protect if she stumbles.
• She puts on her shoes (and takes them off). She even secures the ones with velcro. The other day she put on a pair of my flip flops correctly. She sometimes puts on my high heels; a classic toddler activity. She tries to put on her clothes as well.
  
  Parent Milestone: We had our first night out without her. We went to a friends party and asked Nancy to sit for the evening. We came home at 10:30 and she was still up running Nancy ragged. She wouldn't go to sleep until we got home.