All's Quiet But For the Snoring

What does a morning at the park with Auntie L do to WeiJ?



He fell sound asleep in his high chair -- mid-chew, his hand still gripping his cup maybe 10 minutes after I sat him down to eat. I hadn't even finished making my lunch when I realized how quiet he was. I reclined the back of his chair to let him sleep and within minutes he was snoring - and not softly, either.

Then when he woke up - three and a half hours later - he had a surprise from LaoLao waiting for him.

Yep, it was a pretty good Friday in WeiJ's world.

Yay! Photos!

So it seems it's been a while since I've done a photo post. Most of these are from today, but I also wanted to share a couple from last month that made me smile.

This first photo was taken last month. For a while he was in a phase where he got a huge kick out of me getting his hair wet and giving him what we called "dink!" hair. I don't know how it started, but with all the spikes I would touch my fingertip to a spike and say "dink!" For dayyys he kept coming to me, pointing to his head and asking for "wawa" or "dink."

This one was last month also, from a trip to the park with ShuShu. It's hard to tell -- but I *think* he enjoys the swings. :)

And the rest are from today. I had already dressed him in his Longhorn t-shirt when he spied my visor and was clamoring for it. I adjusted the band as small as it could possibly go, then let him wear it however he wanted. He started off with it fairly straight and pulled off an almost preppy look I think...
...then decided that sporting it backwards was more his speed.

And just like his Mama used to do, here he is completely engrossed in some imaginary play with animals. He loves this Noah's Ark set and over and over and over again he'll put all of the animals in one by one whether it's by opening the gate or the ramp or shoving them through the windows on the other side...then take them all back out again one by one. I can't wait till he has the words for me to eavesdrop on the dialog that I'm sure must be going on in there.

But why do they have to grow?

WeiJ must have passed some imaginary threshold this week and suddenly become a big boy.

He had his second haircut yesterday. I asked the woman if she wanted me to sit with him on my lap and she almost snorted like that was crazy. She pulled out a foam booster and he sat there covered in a cartoon drape looking a little bit terrified and untrusting of her - neither WeiJ or I got that lulled-to-sleep calming effect that the last guy had. But she was quick and it's definitely a straighter cut than last time. And when he was finished, she asked if she could give him a lollipop. Boy, do I wish I'd had a camera to catch THAT ear-to-ear grin when he tasted it! No, it was more than ear-to-ear. His entire face lit up in pure delight!

When I went to change WeiJ after his nap yesterday, I could swear I was looking at a different, bigger kid - as if during that nap he suddenly became a little more boy and a little less toddler. Definitely not many traces of baby left to be seen. I wondered if it was just his new haircut, but no it wasn't just his face. It was his whole body! How is that possible? No wonder his snaps are all popping loose underneath!

At dinner, I remembered that he had barely been able to squeeze into the high chair the last time we were there. So my little big boy got to eat in a booster - and he sure seemed to notice that difference and think he was big stuff. Perfect manners, yet again - I think I leave restaurants every time a little boggled that he's this easy.

And as if I needed any further confirmation of his growth, I found a couple of really cute pj sets for him. When I held up the 2T, it was clear that he'd be able to wear them for oh, maybe a week if I was lucky. *sigh* And of course there was only 1 set in the 3T but I secretly hoped when we got home I'd find it to be too big and be able to go back for the 2Ts. Ummmm, nope. Last night I put my 22 month old to bed in 3T pj's. *sigh again* I could handle him wearing 18 month sizes when he should have fit 12s, and I could handle him wearing 24 month or 2T when he should have fit 18s. But 3T?? That seems so big. Mama isn't ready for him to be that grown up yet!!

The Week in WeiJ's World

It was another one of those weeks that was just too insanely busy. Fortunately it was Spring Break around here, so WeiJ got to spend a couple of days having fun with his admirers. On Tuesday he got to spend most of the day with Lelo and -- ok, we really need an official name for her but we'll call her Auntie L for now. I could tell WeiJ had a blast with them. He got to go to the park and for a walk in the neighborhood -- those are always sure winners. Even as busy as I was, I couldn't help but to stop and smile at all the chatter and singing I was overhearing from the living room. He fought valiantly to stay awake as long as he could and not miss a minute of the fun, and then when they left he slept soundly for more than 2 hours. And if that day plus our usual Wednesday night fun wasn't enough, he had another special day on Friday with ZaZa.

I'm not sure if it was the guilt or the exhaustion, but this weekend I decided to put off work until Monday (even though I'm still swamped and way behind) and just spend the time hanging out with WeiJ. I'm not even sure I could begin to describe how peaceful it was to be sitting on the couch last night after dinner, reading a book with WeiJ in his pj's lying with his head on my lap. He was perfectly happy to do nothing but fiddle with his little fire truck and let me stroke his hair. He's generally such a little perpetual motion machine that it was that much more touching that we could just sit there together and "be."

Sometimes after particularly chaotic/sensory overload days, even late at night when it's completely silent in the house I will hear echoes of the day when I close my eyes. In Vegas, it was slot machine clinks. In China, it was the traffic sounds. There have been a handful of difficult days when I've heard his cries. But last night when I closed my eyes, it was his squeals of laughter ringing in my ears. How could I ask for a better way to end a week than that?

An Overdue Update

Well I wish I could say that the absence of blogging has to do with me being lost in some more escapist reading. But no, it's because I'm getting slammed from every which direction at work and seem to be flailing just to tread water. I know it will get better eventually, but I'm fried. By the time I sign off at the end of the night, I just don't have it in me to sit at another keyboard or think coherent thoughts. This week was so busy that I didn't even have time to jot down bullets, but I've got a few things in the back of my mind that I can share.

Unfortunately I have had to resort to a tv babysitter more than I would have liked lately to get us through the gap between the end of his nap and the time that used to be the end of my day (but is now more or less a long dinner break till his bedtime). To ease my conscience, I ordered the Noggin channel -- billed as "preschool on tv." Yeah I know, I'm exactly the kind of sucker they're marketing to. I do feel a little better that he's not watching mindless cartoons - these really do have some value and luckily he seems interested in a few of them, especially the ones that involve some sort of problem solving. Dora, Diego, Ni Hao Kai Lan and Blues Clues, in particular. I guess at least he might come away from this with multilingual skills at any rate! He plays with his blocks and Aquadoodle and whichever toys interest him for the day, and will go watch a few minutes at a time if something grabs his attention. From time to time I'll hear him answering questions and calling out letters he sees. In between shows, they do little puzzles like memory games or "find which one is different." He hears that background music and RUNS to the tv to study the pictures. I can't help but get a kick out of that because I've always gravitated to those kind of games too. Uh oh. :)

This weekend he's been in a limit-testing mood. Exasperatingly so. And about everything. For some reason, this weekend he decided he'd start putting things in his mouth that he's not supposed to -- behavior that he really hadn't displayed at all for the last 6 months. And he's not satisfied unless I know he's done it. He'll come up with a smug little look, grunt and point to his open mouth. An example from yesterday: he was standing in front of me, grunting and pointing to his open mouth. I asked him what he had, and he pulls out a wad of tissue paper. I tell him, "no WeiJ, we don't put paper in our mouths. Paper is not for eating." What does he do? He brings me his dirty sock and puts it in his mouth and looks me directly in the eye with the tauntingest little expression. I was almost successful at not laughing at that, but it was just too ridiculous to see him standing there with that so there look and a dirty sock hanging out of his mouth. Yeah, WeiJ, you really showed me.

And then - and this one made me groan with dread - I put him to bed for his nap today. Not even a minute later, I hear the heavy rapid-fire thuds of his running footsteps coming into the living room. Noooooo! I turned to see his triumphant little face grinning from ear to ear at his accomplishment - he dared to get up off the bed on his own. For 6 months he's been too wary of falling, and I knew I had it easy that I could just put him down for a nap and trust that he wouldn't get up until I came to get him after his nap. But methinks those days are over....

And the last thing I can think of for now is I measured him on Friday. I've been marking his height at the beginning (roughly) of each month since December since the inconsistency at the doctor's office was driving me bananas. So like always, I stood WeiJ up against the inside of the computer armoire door and made a mark. We went to get the measuring tape to see the total and the difference, and he studied everything I did. Ten minutes later, I looked up from doing dishes and saw him standing against a different wall, looking straight ahead and placing a flat block against the top of his head the same way I'd done with the pen. First thought: awww, so cute and so smart! Second thought: hide all the pens!!! Anyway, he has changed so much that I was sure there would be massive differences from month to month...but it's "only" a half inch per month since January. He's now 34 1/4", which still keeps him hovering around that 70th percentile. I should get a scale to track his weight too, but I'm almost afraid to know. This kid is built solid, no doubt.

Monkey walk, frog hops and Edward

It's my fault. I should have known better. But I ordered the Kindle anyway.

That would have been bad enough....but then I started reading Twilight. I couldn't resist the curiosity to find out what the big deal was, what all the fuss was about. I lost an entire weekend to vampires and wolves -- and it was wonderful! I had a ton of work I needed to accomplish over the weekend but I felt that anxiety and stress fall away the further I escaped into the story. Besides being the first thing I've taken the time to read since WeiJ came home, I think these are the first books I've read since late 2006 that didn't have something to do with either adoption, toddler parenting or China. During the wait I threw myself at those books partly as preparation, partly as a way to stay connected to the hopeful dream. It felt like such a luxury to read something just for pure fun!

I can't remember the last time I read a book all the way through, let alone 3 1/2 of them in a weekend. It would have been a complete 4, but I *did* manage to pull myself away enough to enjoy silly time with WeiJ. We ran laps around the house in games of chase (and tickle), and hopped like frogs. We also walked like monkeys (the Mowgli walk) but I get too much of a kick out of watching him do that to actually do much of it on my own. He's getting so heavy that it's hard to do as much of the swinging games he likes, so we just twirled in circles to get dizzy instead. Lots of tickling, lots of flipping upside down, lots of silly infectious laughter.

And last night, on the day that marked 6 months after we met, he blew kisses at me after I tucked him in. *sigh* He's come so unbelievably far and I'm just too lucky for words.

Blogging in Bullets

Things have gotten so busy around here that it's come to the point where I have to jot down bullet points in a draft just to remember what I wanted to share when the rare free moment comes along and I have a chance to write. I know my writing has been a little on the choppy side - that's because I'm writing blurbs at a time and it just doesn't flow. So for today, I'll leave them for what they are - bullets as paragraph titles.

kick! hop!
WeiJ has been jumping incessantly ever since he saw the kung fu demonstrations at the CNY events. He was obviously paying attention (surprise, surprise) and I think is trying to mimic some of the moves. Last week he was throwing his head back as he jumped - maybe a wishful attempt at backflips? He has also been working on the splits, I think. I've caught him a few times letting his feet slide further and further apart until they won't go any further. No doubt in his mind he's trying to figure out how it works. And then the cutest part is he started to mix in kicks among his series of jumps. Better yet, he's vocal about it too! Not only do I get entertained by the nonstop energizer bunny working himself into a sweat, it's accompanied by shouts of hop! kick! (or technically, it's more like HA! GICK!) Just cute as can be!

bottomless pit
Wow can this boy put away the groceries this week! I'm running out of snack ideas and can't seem to keep the fridge stocked well enough for him. After being sick last week, he has been making up for it with a vengeance. He finally has enough teeth to handle some raw veggies so I'm starting to work those into the mix too. It's a little disconcerting to feed him and then have him keep coming back 15 minutes later motioning for more. I know he's eating good stuff, but still - how can that little body process this much?? Full meals, nonstop snacking...I smell a growth spurt!

14 hours of sleep
And if the ravenous appetite wasn't clue enough, then there's his marathon sleep on Saturday. I put him down for his 2nd nap at 5, thinking he'd sleep till maybe 6:30. I was close - it was 7:00...the next morning!

nose kisses
I don't remember which movie it was, but WeiJ and I were watching a cartoon that showed a girl "eskimo kissing." WeiJ thought that was the funniest thing...and even funnier when I gave him one. Neither one of us has the most prominent nose so it's just silly fun to try.

v-day cookies
My little valentine and I made a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies on Valentine's day. Yummy! Or in WeiJ-ese, more? followed by a sweet grin and an even sweeter Thank You!

6-month post adoption report
I can't believe it's already that time - our first post-adoption visit with my social worker. I wasn't terribly worried about it, mostly because I didn't have time to be. But at the last minute, I had sudden attack of the what-ifs and wished I had spent more time scubbing the house till it sparkled. In the end, she didn't even look around much and just wanted to go through a long series of questions. WeiJ slept over 3 hours and almost didn't wake up in time for the visit...and when he did woke up, he was disappointed that the noise he heard in the kitchen didn't turn out to be ShuShu, Ayi, or "Lelo." His little lip was even quivering at the prospect of a stranger in his kitchen! He snuggled on me for a bit before he warmed up but ended up doing just fine. 6 months. 6 months! Pulling out the original paperwork and seeing his mug shots from Adoption Day were a little shock to the system. He has changed so much - but mostly it's the sadness in his eyes that jolt me. Then I pulled out his recent photos to send in, and the side by side comparison made me smile and made my heart happy. I'm so proud to be able to show China how he's thriving. It's unbelievable how much difference there is in what really is a short amount of time. It has flown by!