Mamie Milestones

It's been over 2 months. I can't believe it. Cliche but true, it's hard now to remember life without her. Some days are easy, some days are hard. But isn't that life with a toddler? (And a 3 year old? And an almost 6 year old?)  It amazes me that we continually learn new things about her on a weekly basis. Some days I forget we have only had her 2 months and I feel like I know her really well. Then bam... she will do something so off the wall, I can't believe it! Generally in a good way. So here are some Mamie Milestones:

• She is super verbal. They told us at the orphanage she was only saying 3-4 words but I find that hard to believe. She mimics our tones as well as many words. And she understands most everything we say. In only 2 months! She's got "night night", "more", "no", "bye bye" and a few others down pat.But we are still working on "please" and "thank you". Stubborn? Or just hard to say? Hard to tell! And she babbles all day long. Cantonese or baby talk? Not quite sure.
• She loves taking care of her baby dolls. Feeding, rocking, singing. It's precious.
• She loves to dance. We have many dance parties in the house, and she is certainly not shy.
• She loves having her nails painted. Oh how fun!
• She stomps her foot when she wants something or is mad. And squeals really loudly when her brother's make her mad. Which is quite often.
• She loves being chased. And playing outside. And swimming.
• She doesn't love reading or puzzles. What?! We've got to work on this reading thing. That's what our family does best.
• She still pulls the power play with Elliott. This is where their 19 month age difference is most obvious. Sharing Mom is not her favorite thing to do.
• She eats and eats and eats. And eats. Looking into a lock on the pantry?
• She is TOUGH. More bull in a China shop than China doll
• She got her first major haircut on Father's Day. Thanks to Elliott the barber, who snipped a few inches off the pigtail.
• She went to church for the first time on Father's Day too! (pre-haircut)
• Just this past week, she really came out of her shell and showed us all of these new facial expressions.

It's funny. We forget she doesn't look like us. And that she walks with a limp. Those things are so normal to us, that until we are somewhere crowded (say... the zoo), we even notice. We can't understand why people are staring. She walks/runs so fast it makes people nervous. And I have to explain, she has pretty awesome balance, but if she falls, she also knows how to fall correctly (or so far so good anyways!). Another plus? Having one family member with dark skin may be the highlight of my entire summer.

 An attempt at getting Mamie and my niece Claire together in their silks before they both outgrew them! Not a major success. But here they are, nonetheless.

Sleep, Where Are You?

We have had yet another confirmation that Mamie is truly meant for us. She doesn't sleep. Neither have my other 2. Ever. A full night's sleep in our house has always been a rare occasion. What does this mean? One exhausted mommy. Charles has had to travel a good bit this summer, and with that means taking the cries in the night, thirsty boys, the potty breaks, the stormy weather, the nightmares... all solo. So if you see me at Starbucks 3 times in one day. You know why. And if you hear a rumor that I paid a babysitter so I could take a nap? It's true. I confess. You have to do what you can right? But now Charles is home! Well for the most part. And I'm contemplating a 24 hour vacation solo in a hotel. But while I try to convince Charles of this...enjoy our pics of Mamie's first time at the zoo! Which was shared with a sleep deprived mom of a 4 week old :) We work really well together right now. And we don't expect much from each other in the way of conversation.

 Fun Friends

Trying to touch the giraffes

She looks brave, but the giraffes in her face really weren't her thing

She knew exactly what to do



Oh the irony

MIA

Well summer is in full swing and with the sporadic schedule comes sporadic blogging!
Normally we do a TON of traveling in the summer. But with Mamie being home less than 2 months, we thought it best to stay put for a bit. We will go to the beach in July but that's about it! So instead of multiple beach trips and some business trips I usually take with Charles, here is our summer at a glance.

Let's see... Maxwell is on the swim team this summer and has his first meet tomorrow night. So cute! He is LOVING it. Elliott thinks he is on swim team. With floaties. And Mamie... well we are just thankful she loves the pool! But with her unbelievable strength she will probably out swim both boys by the end of summer. Sorry no pics at the pool though. It's enough just to make sure 3 kids don't drown. Much less take that super cute photo. Pictures of the slip 'n slide will have to do.

Let's see what else. Lots of time at playgrounds, bike riding, working in the vegetable garden with Charles and various and random other outdoor (and indoor if necessary) activities. Oh and my birthday. The big 3-5! Ummm... mid-30's. Not too exciting. But Charles and I did go out on our first date since Mamie came home! We put her to bed, ran out the door yelling directions at my parents of what to do in case she woke up, scarfed down our food, and came home in record time. But we were by ourselves!

And that's all so far. Folks, it's kind of nice not to have much to say. Taking it easy at it's finest. (And note, this is our summer by Instagram. I haven't pulled out our real camera since school was out!)

VERY cautious at first

Getting the hang of it

Full on fun

Birthday Date Dinner!

Shopping is an outdoor activity right?

A little too much summer fun left this girl fast asleep in the middle of lunch.

Those teeth finally came out!

Elliott's zucchini. Took us 2 nights to eat it all. All 5 of us.