How lucky are we?!

After wanting to be parents for so long, Paul and I are sometimes in awe that we actually have a daughter now. How is is that we suddenly have a wonderful little girl who makes us smile and laugh and who teaches us to slow down and appreciate the simple things in life? A sweet little girl who melts our hearts with her smile?

Time and time again people tell us how lucky Claire is that we adopted her. Aside from our belief that it's the other way around, we worry about what Claire may think of that statement when she's old enough to comprehend it. If she's so lucky, does that mean she should be grateful to us? That she should count her lucky stars that a couple from Edmonton "rescued" her and took her to the great land of Canada?

The truth is, had Claire been given a choice, perhaps she wouldn't have chosen to be adopted by a caucasian family living on the other side of the world. Perhaps she wouldn't have chosen to leave her amazing homeland, her language and rich culture, and familiar faces, sounds, sights and smells to live in a family where only a handful of friends and family members are not caucasian. Yes, I believe we can offer her many wonderful things that perhaps she wouldn't have been able to experience otherwise and yes, we'll give her a lifetime of love, support and guidance, but in no way should Claire ever feel grateful to us. Rather, I hope she appreciates us as we appreciate her and that she is thankful for all the blessings in her life, however she interprets them.

Here are a few photos capturing every day moments that remind us how lucky Paul and I are to have Claire as our daughter.

Piggies, piggies, everywhere piggies!

Today my mom and I checked out some of my friends' blogs and found out that I've inspired pigtail hairdos across the country! Well, in PEI and here in Edmonton.

Here are the blog addresses of two of my spicy Xinyu sisters, Kennedy and Ava, so that you can see for yourself:

www.bringingkennedyhome.blogspot.com

www.homepage.mac.com/jamesandbeth/TheHendricksenPages/index.html

Claire

And more visitors!

On Sunday, our friends Treena and Dion were in town from Saskatoon for a concert. Not having seen them since September, it was great to catch up with them in person. Their daughter, Ayden, has grown so much since September! She's now 16 months old (if I'm calculating correctly). Dion said he always thinks of Ayden as being so small but seeing her next to Claire, she looked pretty big.


Oh - gotta cut this post short - Claire had some shots yesterday so is a little bit out of sorts today. Thanks for visiting us, Treena and Dion!

More pictures from our visit with Randy, Cindy, Amelia, Brandon and Chadd

Claire's not sure what to think about Randy

From left to right: Chadd, Brandon, Claire, Cindy, Amelia and Randy

Amelia was really gentle with Claire and wanted to help in every way. Cindy and Randy told us that on their way to see us, Amelia kept saying she was going to see her baby Claire. At our place, she actually referred to herself as Claire's big sister - too cute.

More visitors to see Claire!

We feel so fortunate that friends and family members from out of town have been able to visit us and see Claire.

My oldest brother Randy (there are seven kids in my family), his wife Cindy, and their kids Amelia, Chadd and Brandon visited us on Saturday from Saskatoon. We met them at West Edmonton Mall and my niece and goddaughter Amelia greeted me with the most enthusiastic hug and kiss. It was so sweet! We had a really fun time with them at the mall - except for the short time that I was separated from Paul and Claire :( - and then had a great visit at our place afterwards.

One thing I had always wanted to do is take a kid to the Build a Bear Workshop at the mall. Amelia was the perfect kid for this - she was so excited and kept saying cute things like "Yippee!". She was very decisive in picking out her animal to be stuffed and in choosing outfits for the bear as well. There was a lot of choice, so I'm glad she wasn't overwhelmed by it all. Here are a few pictures of Amelia building her bear.

Here's Amelia hugging the bear to make sure it's stuffed to her liking.

Calgary trip - day two

On Tuesday, Claire and I met Teri and Cameron at the Chinook Shopping Centre for lunch and some shopping. We then joined them at home along with Michael who had just finished school for the day. Paul and Greg came home in time for an amazing supper Teri prepared and we then had a great evening catching up and hanging out with the kids. Thanks Greg, Teri, Cameron and Michael for a great time!



Our godson Michael and Claire hanging out.













Claire and Teri (Claire's first ever Birks bag - a momentous occasion!)


















Greg, Teri, Cameron, Claire and Paul

Calgary trip - day one

On Monday, Claire and I spent the day with my friend Lesley at her and her boyfriend's new house. Her son Mathew also spent the day with us, and then our friend Alisha came over after work. We also got to see Lesley's mom Jeannie for a bit, which was great because I've known her as long as I've known Lesley.

We had a great time; no matter how much time passes between visits, it's like we've never spent time apart. I was so happy for them to meet Claire so soon. They thought she was really beautiful and also very good. Yeah, what can I say - that's my girl! (Not that I can take any credit - she's been a joy since we met her.)

Thanks Lesley, Mathew, Alisha, Jordan and Jeannie for an awesome visit!

Lesley, Mathew and Lelick with Claire

Alisha and Claire

Mathew was really sweet and gentle with Claire. Here's the group hug he initiated.

"I've never dropped a ball ..."

We asked my brother Stu to watch Claire for a few minutes last night and apparently, it was the moment Claire had been waiting for after having sized him up from afar for a month.

She started off in this sitting position ...

and soon got cuddly with Stu.

Since she was squirming around, I (of course) was paranoid that she'd roll right off the couch. Stu's quick reply was that he'd never dropped a ball so why would he drop the baby?

We're heading to Calgary today for a few days for Paul's work. I'm taking the opportunity to visit some friends: Greg (Paul's friend from Kindergarten) and his wife Teri and kids Michael and Cameron; and my friend Lesley (who I've also known since Kindergarten) and her son Mathew and boyfriend Jordan.

Yum yum dim sum and O'Claire

My sister and her daughter weren't able to visit this weekend as planned but we'll see them soon at Easter time. Of our family, Claire has only met her grandparents and Uncle Stu so far, which means that she still has many aunts, uncles and cousins to meet. We'll get to see many of them in Saskatoon at Easter.

We met our friends, Allen and Esther, and their daughter Adaline for dim sum today so that they could finally meet Claire (we're slowing doing our rounds). Thanks for an awesome lunch, Allen and Esther! Here's a photo of Allen and Claire hanging out.


















Being St. Patrick's Day today, I had to play dress up with Claire a bit. Here she is in her special bib and in her dress that she'll wear again at Easter.

Flo rules!

Last week, our pediatrician ordered a bunch of blood tests for Claire. Claire was still happy after her doctor's appointment, so we headed straight to the hospital lab. I was a little nervous about how Claire would react but whoa, I had no idea!

It was absolutely horrible. Despite the friendly nurses being as gentle as possible, Claire started to howl as soon as they started feeling her arms trying to find the best vein. It only got worse from there. They thought they found a good vein so away they went. Five minutes later, all they had was a drop or two - not even enough for one test. I guess her veins are so tiny that they had a really hard time. They switched arms to continue what was obviously torture in Claire's eyes. Again, no luck. In the end, they said that I'd have to come back with Claire another day. Great. As I stood up with Claire in my arms, I suddenly felt woozy. Uh oh. I meekly said, "I think I feel sick", and the nurses made me sick down and drink grape juice. And they thought Claire was a baby!

Yesterday, we tried another lab after I made some calls. Although the Stollery Children's Hospital was highly recommended, they don't take appointments (it's just drop in) so I went to Meadowlark instead after speaking with one of their nurses. You wouldn't believe how great they all were! All of the women were fabulous but it was Flo who had the magic touch! (Could she be any more aptly named?!) Although Claire again felt she was being tortured, I was relieved that they were able to draw all the blood needed for the many tests. And only one bite into her Baby Mum-Mum later, Claire seemed to have forgotten it all.

Today, we went to our first International Adoption Families Association playgroup. I knew a couple of the other moms from previous IAFA events, but this was the first time we all had our daughters. It was great seeing the moms again and meeting their girls at last! It was wonderful to meet the other families as well.

Oh - I almost forgot to report what may be insignificant for anyone but us, but Claire slept all night in her crib last night! This is the first time since China that she's spent all night in her crib. She fell asleep in Daddy's arms last night around 9:30 and he tucked her into her crib shortly after. We didn't hear a peep from her until after 8 this morning. Yay Claire!

Here's another pigtail photo from last weekend. I think Claire looks like a bunny in this one.

Health updates and stuff

Last week we had a visit with our pediatrician, and although we haven't done all the tests yet that the doctor ordered, things look good. The doctor was concerned about Claire's size but given that her head circumference is on the charts, she thought Claire should be okay. Her head circumference at birth was quite small (not on the charts) but there has been good growth since so the doctor thought Claire might have been a slightly early birth.

We had been feeding Claire her formula, rice cereal and various other things such as sweet potatoes, peas, prunes, pears, etc. The doctor said to not introduce those other foods yet (with the exception of prunes) and instead just focus on the formula and rice cereal as both are fortified with all the good stuff she needs. I had read that a baby Claire's age should have about 16 ounces of formula a day but our doctor said to go with 24. That, combined with a bit of cereal each day, are pretty much all little Claire can eat in a day! I must say though, that she is a good eater so I'm hopeful that she'll continue to gain weight. In China she weighed 12 pounds and she's gained several ounces since. At the doctor's office, they weighed her twice and got a different reading each time so I don't know exactly how much she weighs. It's either 12 lbs 7 oz. or 12 lbs 10 oz. Go figure!

We also visited an occupational therapist who assessed Claire's fine motor skills as average and her gross motor skills as below average due to her lack of locomotion. We got some great tips about how to entice Claire to crawl and scoot, so I'm confident we'll get her going in no time.

She's sleeping well and is a happy little peanut, with regular giggle fits when we interact with her in a silly way. She's very animated and engaged in what is going on around her, which I'm sure is aiding her development. She's quite the little mimic too, copying things we do.

Some of the funny / cute things she does include:
- blowing bubbles while making a croaking sound like a toad;
- engaging us in conversation with high pitched squeals;
- talking like a mobster (according to Paul) with a deep, scratchy voice;
- clapping and playing patty-cake with great enthusiasm;
- anticipating the "pop" in "Pop Goes the Weasel" by nodding her head vigorously;
- doing that same nod as if to say "yes, yes!" when we ask her a question such as "Do you want another Baby Mum-Mum cracker?"
- blowing kisses with her cheeks sucked in like a fish;
- rocking side to side to music; and
- sucking the front of her thumb or her palm (not putting her thumb actually in her mouth).

There are more but Claire needs me so I better stop here. I'll write more later!

On our own again (sort of)

Mom returned to Saskatoon yesterday after having spent 10 great days with us. We had a wonderful visit together and it was perfect timing for us. Before Mom arrived, Claire had been sick and had become especially clingy to me. Although this was good in terms of attachment, it also meant that she did not want to play independently; she wanted to be in my arms at all times. If anyone else tried to hold her (Paul or his mom when they were here), she would only settle in with them if I left the room so that she'd sort of forget about me. If I returned to the room, she'd cry and reach out for me. Now, Claire is comfortable playing independently or with someone else and is fine when I leave and re-enter the room; she just always keep her eyes out for where I am.

Our next out-of-town visitors are my sister Stephanie and my niece Sonia. They'll be arriving on Thursday. I'm so excited to see them and for them to meet Claire. In the meantime, we still have the pleasure of Stu's company (until April 1st when he moves into his own place here in Edmonton).

After Mom left yesterday, we went to visit our friends Michelle and Doug and their kids Amanda, Braden and Dan. They were really excited to see Claire, and Claire had a great time playing with Mandy and Braden; they were really great with her. Thanks Mandy and Braden for entertaining Claire!

Here are a couple of pics of our visit.

Happy Birthday, Ava!

Today, Claire's friend Ava turned one year old and we were thrilled to be invited to her birthday party. (We travelled with Ava's parents, Beth and James, as well as their daughter Helena, to China to meet Ava and Claire.) Here's a photo of Ava and Claire celebrating Ava's happy day.


Claire's pigtail hairdo was my little hairstyling experiment for the day. Paul and my brother Stu weren't very impressed with my efforts this morning. However, Paul changed his tune after he and I went to the hair salon today (he had his hair cut while I showed Claire off to my stylist and all her friends). All the girls loved Claire's pigtails (and kindly didn't mention the bumps and slightly off-kilter tails) so Paul started to think they were okay after all. I think Stu still

disapproves.

Anne: this hairdo is for you!

Grandma and Claire

Bottom's up!

Here's a picture of Daddy and Claire cuddling last night, both enjoying their bottles.

I've also enclosed a picture of my mom, Mary, with Claire this morning. They are showing off the Christmas stocking my mom cross-stitched for Claire. Yes, it's a little early for Christmas, but if you know my mom, her tendency to complete projects ahead of time isn't a surprise. Isn't it beautiful?

One month anniversary

Today, it has been one month since we received Claire. On one hand, it's hard to believe it's been a month already, and on the other hand, it seems like we've been with Claire for a much longer period of time.

It was Paul's first day back at work today, so Claire and I kept busy with my mom. We played a lot, practiced walking and went out to Toys R' Us to buy a Jolly Jumper, which Dad assembled tonight. Here are a couple of pics from today's events.

Grandma's here!

Last night, my mom arrived from Saskatoon with a few tricks up her sleeve. Her first was unveiled today as she taught Claire to finally move her legs allowing her to take her first assisted steps. We had been trying for so long, knowing that her legs were strong, but she just didn't seem to get the movement (she'd lock her knees like Frankenstein). Mom's trick was to lean her slightly forward so that Claire felt she needed to step forward to maintain her balance. All of a sudden she was taking one step after another, knees high in the air.

Mom hasn't disclosed her other tricks but we know they are there. Here are a few pictures of our visit so far. (ps. Claire is wearing the same dress as when she met the other Grandma - gotta treat the Grandma's the same)