Look Da Da! Ride 'Em Elephants!

Dear Da Da,

A few days ago, I rode my first elephant! But don't worry, it wasn't a REAL elephant. We were visiting Uncle Bill at San Sai orchard and he has so many elephant statues around his house. So I climbed up on one and Grandpa took these pictures.

I even tried to make my nose long like an elephant's trunk! Can you see that picture?

I LOVED running through the orchard and picking as many flowers as I could - yellow, pink, orange, white and my favorite - PURPLE! It was so much fun!

I wish you were here, too. Mama says I can ride a real elephant someday, but only with you to hold on to me.

Love,
Amelia

20 Months Old!

Everyday, I think to myself "Where did the time go?" I just cannot believe our gorgeous, funny, smart little girl is almost two-years-old already! All you parents out there know exactly what I mean.

Tracy took these photos a few days before we left Ocoee. (You can see my crutches in the background of one of the photos.) Aren't the pictures adorable?

I forgot to share one CUTE thing about Amelia in Thailand - she now tries to do ballet. Her good friend Pi Ice (that is "older sister" Ice in Thai) had been showing Amelia some ballet steps from the class she takes. And Amelia tries to imitate her. It is SO CUTE! Amelia raises her hands above her head, gets on her tippy toes and does this funny thing with her arms. And, of course, we all clap and laugh.

Hello, Thailand (again)

I'm not sure why, but the pictures didn't post the first time. So, here they are again!

Hello, Thailand!

About a week ago, we arrived in Thailand - safe and sound! It was a LONG trip here (about 30 hours of flying and waiting in airports) but Amelia was SUCH a good little traveler. We went all that way and there was only one minor meltdown! Thank goodness for Sesame Street DVDs, coloring books, stickers, books, crayons and walking the aisles. I couldn't really do as much walking as usual because I badly hurt my left foot before we left (torn ligaments.) That was very uncomfortable, to say the least. My Mom met us in Tokyo about two-thirds of the way to Thailand and Amelia and I were never so happy to see her!

As you can see from the picture, we were quite a site in the various airports - Orlando, Washington D.C., Tokyo and Bangkok - with my wheelchair, Amelia's stroller and all our stuff!

Here in Chiang Mai, we have been taking it easy while my foot continues to heal and we adjust to the time change. We've had lots of good food, visited with friends and family and spent lots of quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. Amelia now has names for them "Ba Ba" for Grandpa and "Na Na" for Grandma. It is SO sweet. Amelia asks for "Ba Ba" ALL the time, even in her sleep. They are such good friends!

Amelia is in heaven here in Thailand because of all the purple (her favorite color) and elephants (her favorite animal.) She sees both everywhere and impresses everyone with her expanding vocabulary. She also loves Thai fried rice and the juicy mangoes. She's not so crazy about Thai noodles yet, but we'll keep trying!

"Cha Cha and Me"

One of Amelia's favorite words these days is "Cha Cha," which she calls her good friend Cristiana. She talks about Cha Cha almost every day and Wednesday, Amelia and Cha Cha got to play, play, play together. They were so cute! They played in the pool, ate snacks, sat in the swing, jumped up and down in Cha Cha's crib and had a grand time! Just before we left, Amelia gave Cha Cha several big, ole hugs as if to say, "Thank you so much for having me over today!" Thanks, Maite and Cha Cha!

Everyday, Amelia learns more and more words and I think she's about to try to get much, much more independent because she now says "mine," and "me" and points adamantly to herself. She also loves her opposite words: "up" and "down," "on" and "off," "BIIIIGGG" and "little, little, little." Now if only she would say "yes" as much as she says "no!"

It's Official - Amelia Loves Cousin Jacob

Thursday, July 30 was a very special day for our extended family. Cousin Jacob's adoption was finalized before a judge in Orlando and we were lucky enough to be able to attend the hearing. Stacey, Tom and Jacob came over the night before because we had to be at the courthouse early. Amelia loved seeing Jacob again, though she got a little jealous when we sat him in her purple Bumbo. (She tried to squeeze into it and got stuck because she's way to big now for it. See the photo.)

At the courthouse, there was a lot of waiting around, (two hours worth) but Amelia and Jacob were such troopers and hardly fussed at all. Jacob fell asleep just before we were called in to see the judge but Amelia was taking it all in. Tom and Stacey told the judge how much they loved Jacob and how they felt he has always been their son, even before it became "official." That, of course, brought tears to my eyes.

Welcome to the family, Jacob!

Look What I Did!!!!

Warning: You may not want to read this if you're eating.

When Amelia gets older, she will probably NEVER forgive me for posting this on her blog, but we have HUGE news to share! Saturday night, she POOPED in her POTTY for the first time EVER. We were so excited (I nearly cried because of what a milestone this is) that we snapped this picture with Jason's cellphone (the closest thing handy.) It's not that clear, but you can tell how proud she is - probably because Jason and I are clapping and cheering. We've been sort of casually introducing her to the idea of going to the bathroom using her potty, but haven't started any intense "training" yet so we were so surprised how quickly this happened.

Here's how it all went down. As we were finishing dinner, she looked at me and said, "Poo." I asked if she had to go poo in her potty and she pointed to her diaper. I checked her diaper. No poo. So I sat her on the potty and said, "Try to go poo. Mama's going to go get you a book to read." I left for 20 seconds, returned with the book, checked the potty and there it was. Her first poop!!! I clapped and laughed and ran to get Jason, who also came running to see. She sat for a few more minutes "reading" the book then got up to see what all the fuss was about. It was truly a moment I'll never forget. She is growing up so fast.

Today, there was no repeat performance in the poop category, but she did pee-pee in her potty TWICE. Once she told me she had to go by saying "poo," and the other time I just plopped her on the potty, gave her a book and she went!

In other news, Amelia had her 18-month appointment last week. She impressed everyone with her vocabulary (big words like "doctor," "purple" and "Big Bird,") and other communication skills, got two shots and a Snoopy Band-Aid and received an overall two thumbs-up from the doctor. She weighs 26 pounds, four ounces, is 33 inches tall and her head measures at 19 and one-quarter inches. This generally puts her in the 80th percentile of kids her age. To quote the doctor, "She's growing great!" We think so, too.