FCC Holiday Party

So last weekend we took Elizabeth to the Families with Children From China annual Holiday party. We attended last year and I think back on it now and remember that we were only home two weeks at that time. One of the people at the party this year said that we looked like we were in a state of shock last year--WE WERE! But I am so glad that we went--both last year and this year. I think it is so important for the girls to know other girls who have also been adopted from China. We are really lucky to live close to a number of the girls. I think as the girls get older this will become more important.

As you can see Elizabeth and her buddies had an absolute blast. They were running and jumping and laughing all over the place.

Here are the girls playing ring around the rosie. Now, if you ask me--a cuter sight I may never see.




Here goes Kaila and Elizabeth standing on the soft drink cooler. Oh yes, something tells me the two of these girls are getting to get into some trouble together when they get older!









Maria having fun at the crafts table.




Norma and her baby Megan! Elizabeth is one day younger than Megan.


Here is Emma with her mommy Michelle



I wondered why Elizabeth wasn't so interested in dinner...


Here are some of the girls and one new girl they met at the party who was about 4 years old. Cute, eh?

Elizabeth and the Camera

Elizabeth is developing quite a relationship with the camera. I on the other hand have finally ditched the camera I have been using for the last year--even through all of the cursing at it. I finally went back to our older model digital camera and I find that I actually get the photos I want--unlike the new fangled model that was a lot more expensive but had it's own mind when it came to when it would decide to take a picture. I would have the perfect shot and then 15 seconds later it would take the picture.

Here is hoping that in the next year I will get some better photos.

Elizabeth, Ben, Juggling and Food

You are probably wondering why I have a picture of a table of food on Elizabeth's blog. Well, as it turns out Elizabeth was invited to a wonderful brunch at Kenya and Matt's house and she was lucky enough to have Ben and his girlfriend Michelle create a gourmet feast.

The food was incredible and Elizabeth managed to eat all of it. She had a adult sized serving of salmon, some fritatta and then gobbled down the apple french toast. I think she thought it was all cooked for her.

As you can see she seems to be slimming down from her chubsy baby self--which I suppose is a good thing but I still think chubby babies are the cutest things! She is still a good eater but has definitely gotten more picky and unlike in the past, she actually now refuses to eat more often than I would like.

I am always concerned she is getting enough vitamins, calcium, etc. but she seems to be doing pretty well (knock on wood). And I have settled down a bit in that I no longer calculate her calories, calcium and vitamin C consumption on a daily basis. A few of my friends thought that was kooky but I didn't know how the heck to figure out if she was getting enough of the right foods everyday.

And she does seem to have a ready supply of energy...and you can see here that she had a terrific time with Ben who taught her how to juggle--well sort of. Ben was impressed at how fast she got the juggling concept down and she was so taken with Ben that I thought she was going to demand that he come home with us!

The Girls

Because of the way I entered the photos you need to go back three posts to see some photos of Elizabeth and her girlfriends--titled "The Girls".

eatingsoyicepop

Here is Elizabeth eating her "soy" ice cream pop. She may never forgive me for showing this one--and she definitely won't be winning any Ford modeling contracts with this video--but I couldn't help it since I thought she looked so darn cute.

Watching Wiggles

Here is Elizabeth watching one of her favorite shows-Wiggles.

The Girls

Last weekend Elizabeth got to spend time with 5 of her girlfriends who are also adopted from China. She had soooo much fun. She saw her friends Kaila and Maria and Lien and Emma and Megan. It was great.

We also managed a photo with the moms--although getting six squirmy girls to pose together is a skill that we have not yet mastered--and I don't know if anyone has!

Elizabeth and the Camera

Here is Elizabeth looking cute in her leopard outfit--that is until she tries to hit the camera with her ball!

A few photos

Here are just a few photos of Elizabeth engaging in two of her favorite activities--having a snack and watching Elmo.

Stewardess Look

Here is Elizabeth making what I call the quintessential "ticked off stewardess face."

She doesn't seem to be enjoying herself but the truth is that she loves this tea set. Although we did learn a valuable lesson with this set. Never give a child a new toy minutes before you expect her to go to bed--unless you want a screaming maniac who will not pry herself from her new toy to go to sleep. Not to mention waking at 3 a.m. to eager to play with her tea set.

Live and learn, eh?

Getting Bigger

When I put this bumblebee outfit on Elizabeth I thought, "wow, she looks big!"

She is also continuing to be the social butterfly. While she does have occasional bouts of shyness--for the most part Elizabeth, "never met a person she doesn't love". She has a tendency to run up to people and try to hug them and she considers you a friend if you are in her field of vision. She has relationships with people that don't even know she is there! When we are at a restaurant she will try to get the attention of every waiter and diner in the the place--and even when they don't notice her she makes certain to say "bye bye" to them when they leave.

There are times when we should probably be concerned about her "indiscriminate friendliness"--but it is just so darn cute it is hard to discourage her when she seems so happy and friendly. And she gets so much postive feedback when she is so affectionate to perfect strangers that she keeps on doing it.

I certainly don't want to squelch her outgoing personality but at some point we will have to have a lesson on appropriate stranger behavior. For now, we will let her continue in her quest for Miss Popularity--but we will have to keep a close eye on her.