My birds have changed to butterflies

All throughout the adoption process, birds have been symbols that have shown up just before or during significant points in the process. Not just "I see a bird in the sky" - that's too easy. More like little birds trying to come in the house, pecking on the window, hovering outside the window while I work, or even in dreams. I did a little research and found they are considered messengers of change. And the timing of these visits were right around WeiJ's birth, the day my letter of approval was issued by China, and about the time I found out about travel.

When we got to China, I started noticing butterflies everywhere we went. Even on top of the Great Wall, butterflies kept me company. In Tianjin at Renmin Park -- beautiful butterflies. In Guangzhou, too. And when we got home, I saw them EVERYWHERE. At home, at the park, on my shopping cart at Target, everywhere. OK so it took a week to dawn on me that the butterflies at home are part of the big monarch migration to Mexico for the winter...but I could either smack myself in the forehead and say "doh!" or I could choose to think that the timing of our arrival coinciding with the migration is a pretty neat thing. Guess which one I choose. :)

WeiJ loves butterflies too, thanks to Mr. Brown Can Moo. He walks around whispering "per" from "whisper, whisper ... like the soft, soft whisper of a butterfly" and whispers "per" every time he sees one. And guess what shower curtain I bought before I left? It's got ducks and butterflies and flowers. Endless entertainment to point to each one and either shout "duh!" or whisper "per."

So we've moved along from a preoccupation with noses to a love of bzzzzzz like the bees in Mr. Brown to a love of "duh!" and "per"...and now he's working on saying "Go Dog Go" but for now it comes out more like Da!Da!Da! We worked on doing Up and Down yesterday and by George he's got it. He's desperately trying to jump up off the ground (even though developmentally that's a skill he's not supposed to have yet) and loooooves playing Ring Around the Rosie for - yes, the falling down part.

Certain words are tricky though - apparently with my accent, Eeyore sounds too much like ear (he points to his ears) and you read it sounds like you eat it (he puts the book in his mouth!) but I'm not sure how to explain that to him just yet. Small hiccups but obviously he's got a good grasp on ear and eat!

Oh! And this week he broke out the sign for bath...and combined the signs for more and eat for the first time. I expected a language regression while his brain absorbed all this English for the first time - but yet again we've been lucky and I can see the progression almost daily. He chatters, he sings, he observes intently and tries so hard to pronounce all these new words. Oh wait, that's right. It's because he's a little genius. :)