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.

Someone Let Me Out Of Here!

On days that aren't too hot, we like to go different nearby parks to play. On this day, Amelia thought it would be more fun to press her face up against a wrought iron fence at the park and Tracy was there to capture the moment. Amelia makes me laugh every, single day! Love that kid!

Like A Fish In Water

We have just finished an intense two weeks of swimming lessons - four days a week - at a nearby YMCA and Amelia LOVED everything about them. Well, almost everything. The only thing she did not like at all was floating on her back. But she loved dipping her head under water, sitting on the pool's edge and "jumping" in to me, swimming between me and the awesome teacher, Miss Ellen, and making new friends.

It didn't take Amelia long to get used to going under water. I think it was harder for me to let her go and try it! I would count "1-2-3" to cue her to close her eyes and mouth before I put her under. She thought it was so much fun that she would close her eyes, but not her mouth because she was smiling too much. When she emerged seconds later, she would still be smiling and spitting water out of her mouth. And she would want to do it again and again. Now she can even go under water and pull herself toward the wall and out of the pool! It is AMAZING the progress these kids make almost over night.

Miss Ellen says Amelia won't be developmentally ready to really "swim" for about six months, but to keep practicing what we learned. Luckily, it will be so very easy to get our little fish back in the water! Tracy took an adorable video that I will post later, too!

"M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!"

Last month, Amelia made her first visit to Disney World's Magic Kingdom, which is pretty incredible since we live mere miles from the happiest place on earth. We went with our friends, Maite and Cristiana, Kristin and Ava and Grandma Maria and had a grand old time! Yes, it was hot (June in Florida is not an ideal time to go) and crowded (summer vacation) with long lines for the rides, (again, summer vacation) but it was such a memorable trip.

The only official ride we rode was the carousel because the line for every other ride was at least 40 minutes. Anyone who has ever tried to stand in line for 40 MINUTES with a toddler understands why we skipped the rides. These days, you also have to stand in line to meet and take pictures with the characters, which I don't remember from years past. We played on the various playgrounds, caught the end of the afternoon parade on Main Street, ate snacks and took in ALL the sights and sounds. Amelia, of course, loved the music you hear everywhere at the Magic Kingdom.

Her favorite "ride," though, was the tram to the parking lot that we caught at the end of our visit. She laughed the whole way back to the car with the wind blowing in her hair. And now she squeals "MIMMIE!" in her sweet, little voice whenever she sees anything resembling Mickey or Minnie - which is quite often around here.

Maite and Kristin, thank you for sharing these adorable photos!

Happy First Birthday, Nong Lanna

In more cousin news, Lanna turned 1-year-old on May 13 and we were there to help her mark the joyous occassion in style. Amelia loves Nong Lanna! ("Nong" means "younger person" in Thai.) In addition to a wonderful trip to Washington, D.C. and lots of excellent family time and delicious meals, Amelia got to take in the sights on the National Mall for the first time.

Lanna had a great time at her birthday party and looked precious in her very fancy pink birthday frock, even though she didn't really care for her birthday cake. She is an overall excellent eater! At the time, she only had one and a half teeth (yes, 1.5 teeth) and was eating EVERYTHING. Cuban food, Chinese food, crab and artichoke dip, you name it, she ate it. She set a really good example for Amelia.

It was a trip I will always remember, especially getting to see the White House and having our picture taken in front of it at such a historic time for the country. I know Amelia won't remember it, but she'll always have the photos to look at and me to tell her about it.

Welcome, Baby Cousin Jacob

I can't believe it's been SO LONG since I posted anything. Please forgive me, but we've had a BUSY couple of months. The first (and perhaps biggest) news is that Amelia has another baby cousin, a boy this time! Grandma Maria and Grandpa Guy visited from Thailand for several weeks. (We were to lucky that Grandma Maria stayed on after Grandpa Guy left.) Nong Lanna turned 1-year-old, which warranted a trip to Washington, D.C. And Amelia had her first official visit to the Magic Kingdom, a.k.a. Disney World. I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of things, but those are the highlights.

And now to Baby Boy Jacob. On April 24, Stacey and Tom welcomed baby Jacob Martin McDonald into their lives. He was born April 21. We have been lucky enough to meet him two times, the first time just days after he came home. As you can see from these photos, Amelia LOVES her cousin Jacob. She is generally very sweet to him, except when SHE tries to sit in HIS lap. (Isn't is supposed to be the other way around? He's the baby!) We can't wait until they are old enough to play together. They are going to have so much fun together!

These are photos from our very first visit with Jacob. He's grown so much since then, but isn't he a handsome guy? We plan to see them again next week when his adoption is finalized and can't wait.