My Daughter has Discovered Her Right Nostril

Where did I go wrong?? I thought my parenting would be enough to overcome these etiquette challenges! What's next? Belching her A,B,C's?

What is it about sphaghetti sauce that screams, "Spread me all over your face"?

I will say these fauz pas are completely forgivable since my little girl, unequivocally, without a doubt, called me "Mama" today, as she was running to greet me at daycare. It was a good day.

A Busy Week...

My creativity has done left me tonight, so I'll just state the facts. We had the hearing for Recognition of Foreign Adoption on Thursday and while it's a big deal to me, the day did not turn out quite as I thought it would. The judge decided to take all the other cases before the adoption cases, so a 45 minute wait just about sent MaryAlice over the edge. She spit up on the both of us, banged on the table, kicked her shoe off in the middle of the proceeding and stuck her hand in a closing elevator door, giving everyone on the elevator a heart attack. Other than that, the day went smoothly and I can now get her Florida Foreign Birth Certificate.

I was a bit premature in my last post, stating that the teething was going well. The 1st year molars are a bit more painful coming in and MA's sleeping has been interrupted because of the pain. I don't mind. I drag her in bed with me and she settles right down (that and a little Tylenol). There's nothing better than a snuggling with your baby and watching her sleep. I need that extra cup of coffee in the afternoon, but I don't care. It's so worth it.

How Sweet Is This???

I love these "You'll shoot your eye out Ralphie" pajamas!! And if you don't know what I'm talking about, turn on TBS on Christmas Day and the mystery will be solved. I can't wait until MaryAlice is old enough to watch all the Christmas shows. Its not going to happen this year since she's asleep by 6:30pm most nights.

Sorry, no more photos. I carry my camera with me at all times, but somehow (I don't know what's occupying my mind!!) I get busy and forget to pull it out. I am proud to say that I do have my Christmas cards ready to be be addressed and sent out...impressive, I know.

I will have my camera with me this coming week for our date with the judge. Our hearing for the Recognition of Foreign Adoption proceeding is scheduled and we're ready to cross this step off the list. MaryAlice became a US Citizen as soon as the wheels hit the tarmack in Detroit. This hearing is a formality to enable me to obtain a State of Florida Birth Certificate for her in the future. The final step will be to apply for a US passport for her. But enough of this boring stuff...

MaryAlice's first year molars are making their presense known and other than gnawing on her index finger, she's actually doing okay. She's starting to say "Mama" and I think she knows what she's saying...unlike "dada" which I, uhh, can't right now, so we'll chaulk that up to nonsensical baby babble! We're having a battle with her wanting to play with her food. She does this little finger flicking action, that sends it flying. This too shall pass.

I promise more photos later this week.

My how time flies!! We've been home 2 months and my girl is 14 months old. She wasn't too into the cupcake, so perhaps for her 15th month birthday, we'll celebrate with green beans and sweet potatoes...she loves those.

All is well in our household and she is just blossoming; sprouting two more teeth on the bottom, almost ready to have her bangs trimmed and putting some miles on her shoes. We're pretty set in a routine during the week and it goes something like this:

5:30am Mom wakes up to shower, eat breakfast, make lunch, hair, make-up, dress.
6:45am Mom wakes MaryAlice up for bath (don't ask), bottle, breakfast, dress.
7:45am Goal time to leave for daycare
8:15am Mom arrives at work
2:30pm Mom starts watching the clock to see how much longer to see MA.
5:00pm Mom picks up MaryAlice at daycare and we sing on the ride home.
5:20pm Dinner
6:00pm Second bath (don't ask).
6:30pm Bottle and bed for MA, as she is worn out from daycare.
7:00pm Mom cleans kitchen, house, and prepares for next day.

So, needless to say, the weekends are family time. I really try to limit the number of errands I have to do and social engagements (ha!) just so I can spend as much fun time as possible with her. My favorite time is right after her afternoon nap and I just lie on the floor in her room while she plays. She loves carrying her board books to me and when I say, "Come sit on mommy's lap so I can read to you"...she gets this huge smile on her face and claps her hands. She'll sit for about 2 pages and is off to pick up another book.

I know there are other things I wanted to post, but for the life of me, I can't remember what they are! I'm slowly getting through my current "To Do" list which consists of organizing all the paperwork from China in a special file box and finishing unpacking. Yes, you heard that right...I'm still unpacking. I have a suitcase of stuff that I bought for MaryAlice to celebrate Family Day over the years and it's still sitting in a corner of my bedroom. Is that bad?