It is HOT, HOT, HOT!!

I thought it was just me, getting older and not tolerating the heat as well, but according to the paper, we've actually broken some records. Some friends have been kind enough to invite Sarae and I over to swim in their pools and Sarae loves it.
Sarae also loves popcorn, thanks to Tia and Butch. She demands it for breakfast, lunch and dinner so I have to hide it in the cabinet so she can't see it. Cody, my black dog, continues to be her best pal. The picture of her and Cody watching T.V. is a daily occurance. The picture of all three of them on my bed is what happens whenever I go to change my sheets - suddenly everyone has to get on the bed and no one understands "Get down". I love the picture of Sarae in her bunny robe, reminds me of the pig hat her Aunt Heidi Ho gave her in China. Hope everyone is staying cool! Love, Sarae, Cody, Buddy and Colleen

Yes, I'm on the potty!

Exciting news- Sarae is starting to go potty on the potty! For those of us that change her diapers, this is very exciting. Sarae continues to do well, she has grown an inch and a half and gained about a pound and a half since we came home. She still loves fruit, veges and pasta. She loves animals and will squeal when she sees them. As you can see from the photos she is a great help around the house. Can't start them too young on their chores : ) Tia and Butch were nice enough to come over and put on a fireworks show for Sarae on the fourth of July. She loved them and clapped after each one. You can see Butch and Sarae in the last picture. She seems to have a little crush on him. When Tia, my mom or I ask her for a kiss, she will often shake her head no and laugh, but when Butch is around, she has no problem giving kisses. Smart girl!

AGHHH!! Back to work!

Well, I knew it had to end and I officially started back to work this past Monday. My niece Tia and my mother are watching Sarae for the summer and everything is going smoothly. By the end of the week, Sarae had adjusted fine to my being back to work. I'm amazed by how much she has learned in the past three months. She can now twirl around, say "Wow", point to her toes when you ask her where her toes are, will take keys to the front door in an attempt to open the door, give kisses, yells "hey" at the dogs when they start barking (I do this in an attempt to get them to quiet down) and sits on Cody (our black dog) when he lays down. It's already warm so we have spent some early afternoons playing in her water table. She has great upper body strength and can actually pull herself into it and pretends it is her pool. She also likes to crawl into the kitchen cupboards to pull out even more containers. I've always said that Sarae reminds me of a boy with her high energy level, climbing, running and bouncing. Don't know if you can tell, but in the last picture, she is sleeping with a remote in one hand and her drink in another - just like a man! : )

Baptism and Sea World

Sarae was baptised on April 22nd and didn't even cry when she was doused with water 3 times. Lots of friends and family were there to watch and then came over to shower her with more gifts at the house. Sarae also went to Sea World for the first time. I was worried she would be too young to enjoy it, but she loved it. She especially loved watching the dolphins in the underground viewing and made the other people laugh as she pointed and talked to them (the dolphins). She also kept calling them dada, still haven't gotten around to that talk : ) There's a new Sesame Street show and when she saw Elmo, Ernie, Cookie Monster, etc. she stood and screamed at the top of her lungs - very cute. Hope everyone is managing to stay cool - it's already in the high 80's here in Florida.

Take care!

Easter

Sarae attended her first Easter Egg Hunt last weekend. She was actually satisfied with just one since when she shook it, the candy made a rattling sound. She now mimics (or attempts to) what you say back to you. She holds up her phone (or the remote) to her ear and pretends she is talking on the phone. She is waving bye-bye and nodding yes (she shook her head no from the beginning!). She loves Buddy and Cody (the dogs) and is generally more excited to see them in the morning than me. As you can see from the picture, she and Cody tend to get in trouble together as well (they have torn up a pillow). Hope everyone is doing great!

Guess who's walking?!!!!

Yep, she finally realized Friday that she can walk and by my friend's son's first birthday party (Happy Birthday Henry!) really had it down-pat. It's amazing how quickly she can get into the dog's food now. They actually test dog food on humans first right?! : ) Since we were in China during Sarae's first birthday, my niece Tia threw Sarae a birthday party last week. As you can see from the pictures, Sarae really loves icing. She actually grunts when she sees icing and/or ice cream now. Sarae also went and had her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. Judging from her initial reaction to the dogs (screaming), my friend Paula and I were not sure how she would react to the Easter Bunny. Perhaps seeing Paula's children, Lily and Haden with the Easter Bunny helped because she seemed fascinated by him (as well as the fake flowers that were all around as a display which she pulled off every chance she got).

We are Home!!!!

After 26 hours of traveling, we finally made it home around 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Heidi and I both think that Sarae was the best traveler since she didn't whine once! Sarae continues to be outgoing and went to strangers on the plane and patted people's heads as we walked down the aisle. It took a few days for Sarae's stomach to get on the Florida time zone, but she is doing great now. She loves to eat and has eaten everything put in front of her. She loves her spaghetti and as you can see in the picture, she wears her food as well. Cody, my puppy, has realized that Sarae is a potential food source and tends to follow her around no matter where she is going. He is very patient with her and doesn't even flinch when she pulls at his ear or pokes him in the eye. Buddy, my German Shepherd mix, isn't sure what to think of her, but he will lick the top of her head and then run. He did bring her his treat yesterday which was very sweet. My sister Lynne, left Sarae lots of food and toys. We play every morning with the toys and Sarae loves them. My niece Tia is positive that Sarae actually said her name today, unfortunately I was on the phone so I didn't hear it. Sarae had her first doctor's appointment today. The doctor was very surprised at how healthy Sarae is (compared to other orphange babies she has worked with). She said that Sarae was very curious, smart and manipulative. Her motor skills are on target and she is a happy baby. Well, that is until it is time to go to sleep. She is still screaming if I put her in the crib and leave. For the last two days I've been able to pat her back for a few minutes and that has put her to sleep. We'll see how long that lasts! She got two vaccinations today and she cried for a total of 10 seconds. She's pretty tough and even when she busted her nose on my tile floor, she stopped crying before her nose stopped bleeding. Hope this blog finds everyone well and I'll try to keep it up every so often.

Take care!