More Holiday pics

Have to include the "I'm crying cause you dared to wake me up" photo of Brennyn. The tears quickly dried up after she started opening her stocking, and the elmo phone! There was even a kiss for Daddy.
We do live in Canada, so the mini hockey sticks shouldn't be a surprise. Avery also got a sword and shield that she would not stop playing with (it's Styrofoam). Daddy made the sword holder and even had her name on the shield "sir Avery" (just like her favourite Frankl*n book).

EDIT: As usual, I loaded the pictures in the wrong order.

Holiday recap

Can't believe it is over already, but a great time was had by all. To say Avery was excited is an understatement.
Apparently, she knew she was going to get her Doctor kit. There was no way Santa was not bringing her that gift! She said on Christmas Eve "I can't wait to play with my doctor kit tomorrow". Blair did mention that Santa can't always bring what you ask for, but Avery said he would bring her a doctor kit. Good thing Santa came through (totally bought the kit while we were in China, shhhh).
Brennyn did not have a clue what was going on, and she was a tad grumpy when Mommy got her out of bed at 7:00am on Christmas morning. I swear I thought she was already awake, honest!
Brennyn loved her Elmo phone and doll from Nana.
Both girls have a love of chocolate just like their mother.

I was spoiled by my husband this year, and he even pulled a fast one (not easy to do, because I tend to be nosy).
Blair built up this last gift for me, in a nice big box. I started to open it and noticed it was a toaster. Now, not to be ungrateful, but a toaster was just not what I was looking forward to at Christmas. I tried to put on a happy face (let's just say that a few days earlier I had given Avery the talk about saying thank-you and being polite even when you open a gift you don't really like) but failed. I was a little annoyed with Blair, I mean really, a toaster. Plus, my mom had just given Blair a toaster a few days before and his mom bought us a convection oven (yes, we did need a new toaster).
Anyway, Blair told me that their was one more present in the other room. I recognized the wrapping and the shape of the box (I do work in a jewellery store).
I opened the box and started bawling like a baby.
I finally have my family ring, and I love it! Still amazed the girls at the store were able to keep it a surprise.

It was a wonderful Christmas with our two beautiful girls. I still pinch myself that I am a mother to these 2 girls and I could not be happier!

Merry Christmas

From our house to yours, have a very Merry Christmas!
Not sure who is more excited, the kids or Mommy and Daddy?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Okay, so Blair's birthday was actually the 22nd but better late than never right. We celebrated a day early since Blair had to work nights on his birthday. On the positive side, he does have Christmas Eve off now instead.

Avery picked out the cake for Daddy, although she did want to get him a star trek cake. Funny, they were fresh out of those at the DQ so the train had to do.

I think I'm almost ready for the big day. The first year I'm not working crazy retail hours, and I am still not organized. Somehow, I think I've been better prepared when I am working because I have no choice but to have everything done ahead of time.
Still have to clean the house, buy the last minute groceries, wrap the Santa gifts, set the table, etc.
At least the presents are all bought and cards have been sent out.

Avery is so over the top excited for Christmas. She even received a letter from Santa in the mail yesterday. She is going to leave out a cookie (that she decorated herself) and some chocolate milk for Santa. Avery has also watched the TV special Rudolph 500 times. I couldn't figure out why she was saying "Eat, Eat papa". Apparently, Mrs. Clause tells Santa to fatten up. This led to Avery asking me why Mrs. Clause wants Santa to be chubby, and I had to attempt to make something up. Although, Avery came up with a good reason "because he needs lots of energy to deliver all the toys".

Both girls are loving the Christmas tunes, especially the Christmas in Hawaii song. Avery LOOOVEs it. Brennyn just loves to dance, so any song will do!

Playing around with Daddy's paramedic dress uniform

Christmas, Christmas

Avery had her big Teddy Bear school Christmas pageant today. Nothing like watching 3 and 4 year olds on stage. Some sing, some hide, some may pick their noses(I swear it wasn't my kid), play fight and dance. It's a classic show.
Avery did great this year, she sang along (very quietly)and did the action moves. Such an improvement from last year. I just could not get over how big my little girl looked. She is growing up so quickly!
Unfortunately, Daddy had an appt with the doctor so he missed out. Grandma had to pass and poor Nana wasn't feeling good. Lucky for them I taped the whole show! Can't put the pics of the actual concert on the blog, don't feel comfortable showing pictures of other children.

It just wouldn't be a Christmas pageant if some child didn't throw a massive screaming temper tantrum though. Oh wait, that was my kid. Long story short: Snack table, dropped snack, massive freak out. On the positive side, she doesn't scream nearly as loud as she used to. Although, I'm sure the other parent's may try to argue that.
I think there was too many people in that room for Brennyn, and the food situation is not totally resolved. Brennyn could not understand why I would not let her graze at the snack table. The food was out there, why shouldn't she eat it. At least, that's my guess.

EDIT: Yes that is the only dress Avery owns (in case anyone has noticed that she had the same dress on when the girls visited Santa). She is a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl!

Christmas pics

We made some paintbrush cookies the other day. Avery and daddy had fun painting, Brennyn was bored after 5 minutes, but she did enjoy eating them!
Not sure if any of these pics will make the Christmas cards. May have to do retakes!

We took the girls to see Santa at the mall. Brennyn loves Santa, she yells "HO HO HO". Avery told him she wanted a doctor kit and he asked her what else do you want. "Just a doctor kit". Blair tried to explain that sometimes Santa needs to know what else you want in case he runs out of the other toy. Avery again said "I only want a doctor kit". You had to hear the way she said it though.

Now that is a storm

Wow, when they say snow storm, they mean it! Looks like a winter wonderland outside, which is nice as long as you don't need to drive in it. Guess we'll be cancelling Brennyn's doctor appt. this morning.

We are going to bundle up and have some fun outside today!

EDIT: Brennyn was not a big fan of the white stuff or the cold. We'll have to work on that since unfortunately for her we live in the snowbelt. Avery loves the winter and playing in the snow, especially throwing some snowballs at mommy (but this year mommy got her back).

blah blah blah

Have some more posts about our trip brewing, but just don't have the time for detailed, time-consuming blogging.
I have Christmas shopping to do, cookies to bake, Christmas concerts to attend.

I can't believe Avery's concert is next week, yikes. They made gingerbread cookies today at school. I think Avery must have dipped into the icing because she is wired!
Also took Brennyn to her first library storybook time. A very different experience from when I used to take Avery. Brennyn sings along, dances, basically doesn't sit still. She had a blast. Avery used to love it as well, but if you didn't know her you would think she was miserable. My Avery is shy like her mommy.
I'm thinking that Brennyn may have a little trouble in school, just a hunch. I can see her socializing instead of learning. She just loves to get into things and play. She's already figured out how to move the mini chair up to our bed and get up to bounce.

Speaking of the girls, we are having a few behavioural issues with Avery. To be expected, but not very enjoyable. She throws some crazy temper tantrums that girl. I had to pick her up outside the arena the other day and try to safely cross the street with the screaming banshee and Brennyn. Oh well, I only ran into a few people I knew while this was going on, heh heh.
I just love it when my 3 year old says "I don't feel like it, you put my shoes away", or "we are too going to the mall" (after I said no because she was being naughty). This too shall pass. I swear she acts like she is 10!
I wonder why I'm tired??

This and that

Still can't believe how smart my girl is. I may have already told this story in another post so just ignore my ramblings if I have. I seem to be losing my mind these days.

Anyhoo, we were looking at the Santa picture the other day (from the local candy cane fair). Avery casually mentions to me that it's just a person. Alarm bells are going off right away. She clarified that it wasn't the real Santa, but a person in a costume.
The real Santa is busy apparently, and that was just a helper.
Did I mention that she is only 3 (almost 4, but still).

Surgery done, feel okay. I don't even know any results because the doctor had to go deliver a baby or something right after.
However, I'm not supposed to do any heavy lifting or housework for a week. HA HA HA, I have 2 30 pound children, who are they kidding. One of whom always wants her mommy (actually they both do, but Avery is old enough to reason with, sort of).

Are they twins?

In the three years that Avery has been home I've hardly had any comments or questions. Brennyn has been part of our family for 2 months and so far I've had people ask me "Are they sisters". I said "yes". Of course followed by "no, I mean real sisters". I just said "they are now". Was kind of surprised that someone actually asked me that! Then she asked me if I was fostering the girls. Um, no, they are my daughters. Thankfully, Avery was in the pool at the time so she didn't hear any of this.

Yesterday a lady asked me if the girls were twins. I admit that I laughed as I explained that Brennyn is 17 months younger. I guess she thought they were twins because Brennyn is almost the same size as Avery. Really, the girls don't look anything alike. Maybe she thought they were fraternal twins or something?

Anyway, off to spend the day at our local hospital for a little day surgery. Should be fun, fun, fun.

These posts are a little jumpy. It's so difficult to accurately write about our trip 2 months later. The days begin to blend.

Blair and I quickly discovered that the Gloria hotel hallway was the place to be. Brennyn loved to run, and hide in that hallway. I think we heard her first giggle while she ran towards the elevator!
We bought a looney tunes beach ball, for about 25 cents. That was the best purchase ever. Brennyn could play with that ball for days. We would pass it back and forth, watch her attack the ball. Also, the first time we saw her "mean face". I wish I could get a picture of it. She gets this look when she is about to attack, her lips are pulled together, her eyes have this glint to them.
It's not quite as funny if she is about to say, bite someone but at least we can see it coming.

Anyway, back to the story:

Blair needed serious rest, so I would take Brennyn out and wander the streets of Xi'an. I became a pro at crossing the 8 lane road! I also became very familiar to the people at Wal-Mart and at our hotel.
I finally decided to take Brennyn out to eat. The first time did not go so well. I ordered something very greasy (and it was a noodle soup). The chopsticks were plastic so the noodles kept sliding around. Brennyn had a fit, we left. The staff were very, very helpful though. Especially one of the ladies. I wish I could thank her again. I did see her another time near the end of our stay. I wisely ordered fried rice with eggs, so much easier. The lady helped me get Brennyn out of her backpack, brought me lots of napkins, always checking on us. There were so many kind, friendly people in Xi'an. Yes, there were also a lot of people who would stare but that I was expecting. I enjoyed my time walking around with Brennyn, just hanging out. I also got a bonus workout, carrying a 30 pound child around.

The days became a blur

It's actually difficult for me to remember part of the trip already. I think I was so exhausted that the days began to blend together (although it did not feel like it at the time).
It was easier for me to sleep with Brennyn. She would wake up numerous times in the night screaming at this point. The walls were paper thin in the Gloria Xi'an. Thank goodness it was the other adoptive family next to us. It seemed like when one child was finally settled, the other would start crying. The only difference was that their child was only 15 months old, just a baby. Also, Brennyn's screams were so loud, it was like a wounded animal.

I would just hold her on my stomach and eventually she would fall back to sleep. However, if I tried to move her or if I tried to speak to her the screaming intensified.

I forgot to mention that we were told she had some diaper rash. I could not believe it when I changed her diaper on that first day. Her bum had oozing sores. I had never seen anything like it (now we know why, she has an infection that must be treated with antibiotics if she gets any kind of sores).

To add to our stress levels, Blair started to feel sick. Now, I do have a tendency to not believe Blair or just not really listen when he says he isn't feeling great (just think of the boy who called wolf). Anyway, I knew this was not one of those times, he really was ill. At first I thought it was the stress, but when he started heaving I knew something was up.
Blair still dragged himself to the wild goose pagoda on day 3 or 4. It was amazing sight. We lit some incense and an elderly gentleman helped me with mine. He wanted to make sure I did it correctly (according to our guide, he was smitten with Miss Brennyn).
Brennyn was great, again because we were outside. She walked holding our hands, I even think she smiled once or twice.
Blair really started to fade as the day went on.
By the next day he was very, very ill. I went on a tour alone with Brennyn, but our guide wanted to hurry back to check on Blair. She really was a great guide and I hope to keep in touch with her! She made Blair go to the hospital, which was an experience!
I'll have to save that for a post on it's own.

We interupt this program

Christmas tree is up. Lights are strung, we are ready for the big guy in the red suit!
Blair told Avery that there is a little elf who lives in our Christmas tree. This little elf reports all bad behaviour directly to Santa. You should have seen her face. That girl is too smart. I think she doesn't really believe her daddy, but she wants to be on the safe side just in case.
I also don't think Miss Avery is going to believe in Santa for very long either, she asks so many questions, and she doesn't forget a thing.
As for Brennyn, she doesn't have a clue what is going on, but she loves the tree. She is not shy like Avery and we really have to watch her. She loves to explore and touch EVERYTHING! She also doesn't seem to forget a thing. Brennyn also watches you so closely and when you turn your back she does whatever you were doing (like climb on a chair for example).

First morning

Day 1 wasn't so bad. We ordered in room service. Brennyn took one look at the crib and we realized that wasn't going to happen. She woke up screaming at one point but we got her back asleep eventually.

However, she woke up that morning, took one look at the two of us and the screaming really started.
Somehow, we all got dressed and stumbled to the buffet for breakfast. Blair and I quickly realized that Brennyn was a food hoarder. She ate all the food on her plate in 2 seconds and started screaming for more. We could not feed her fast enough.
I still do not know how she didn't choke! It was really alarming.
I've read books on it, but you cannot understand until you see it happen first hand.

Again, we managed to eat some food before we had to go back to the civil affairs office for more paperwork.
There were some nannies from Brennyn's CWI waiting for us. They had a silver bracelet for Brennyn and said that they were keeping one as well.

I won't go into detail about the civil affairs, but again the warm fuzzy feeling was not there. It was like we were just another family, adopting another child, paying our fee.

We returned to the hotel for a few hours and made the fatal mistake of taking Brennyn to Wal-Mart in a stroller. Brennyn started screaming (this girl has a great set of lungs). People were staring, but my concern was for Brennyn. We ran back to the hotel and eventually she fell asleep. Unfortunately, we had to return to the civil affairs office yet again.

We get Brennyn into the van (still screaming) and I am blinking back tears myself. Brennyn is not acting like a 2 year old at all. She has regressed, and Blair and I were worried.

This is where I begin to really like my guide. Sure, she knew nothing about adoption, but she made me feel okay! Her words of encouragement were reassuring.

My agency rep. also was a life saver. We had e-mailed her asking about Brennyn's behaviour. Yes, I had read books on toddler adoption and done my research, but it still shocks you when it is happening to you. My child was grieving!
She didn't speak, just screamed. She didn't make eye contact. When we asked the nanny about language we were told "they just don't have time to teach the kids language skills. She is only 2, so she won't speak yet".

I did discover that Brennyn loved the outdoors. As long as she was in the backpack, she was happy. That backpack was a lifesaver! Brennyn still loves to be outside, she loves the park, going for walks, anything outdoors!

An Yi Rui

The children were waiting for us in a small room. Brennyn was wandering around looking at everything. We sat on a couch and our guide said "this is An Yi Rui". To Brennyn she said "this is your mama and baba". That was it! Brennyn had a bruise on her cheek. In hindsight (again), I think they pinched her cheeks to make her swallow her food. Of course, the nanny just said she didn't know how the bruise got there. We bribed Brennyn with snacks and neat toys. Perhaps in hindsight, the food wasn't the best idea to give to a hoarder. However, she remained calm and even happy for that first day. That happy girl was gone by the next morning, not to return for a week! She was just so scared.

We were able to ask the nanny questions for about 20 minutes or so. Again, in hindsight, we have since discovered that much of what she said conflicted with what was in Brennyn's half the sky paperwork. Maybe she wasn't her main caregiver??

Finally, we were all herded back to the van and sent to the hotel. Each family also had their own van (even though we were staying at the same hotel).

I don't know what bothered me about that day. It just seemed so impersonal. It was so very different from Avery's day. I can't really describe how I feel. I was so happy to have my girl, but it was not all rainbows and lollipops!

Finally, the trip

This will be a very long post, and it's more for my records. I have to write this post for my daughter and before I forget what really happened.

We left for the airport on Thursday September 17th. I kept it together while we said goodbye to Avery, but as soon as the car pulled away the tears fell. It was hard to leave my girl for 2 weeks but I knew it was the correct decision (and in hindsight it would have been a disaster if Avery was in China with us).

The flight was long, but we managed to get a few zzzzs (I did anyway, not sure about Blair). We arrived in Beijing on Friday afternoon and managed to stay awake until 8:00ish. Good old jet-lag quickly set in and we were awake around 3:00.

We set off for the silk market Saturday afternoon and did a little shopping (okay, a lot of shopping). The excitement was building, we were leaving for Xi'an on Sunday morning.

We met the Touchings/McGrath family that evening. They were meeting their son on Monday morning in Hunan, so each family was going their separate ways at the airport the next morning.

I think I slept from 9:00 until 1:00 and was up for the rest of the day. Jet-lag does not agree with me. I also kept Blair up from 3:00am, no sense in wallowing all alone, heh heh.

Once we were on that plane to Xi'an the excitement and nervousness hit again. I was going to be a mother again to a 2 year old little girl. I could not wait to see my daughter after this long wait.

We arrived in Xi'an on Sunday September 20th. This is when things started to go a little crazy. We arrived at the Gloria hotel at 1:30, and our guide (who is a tourist guide, never had an adoptive family before) tells us to hurry and get ready. We are going to meet our girl ASAP. Oh, and you have to change your money over NOW. We were told by our travel agent (agency rep.) that we did not need to change our money to RMB (I double checked with her 3 times about this). I knew that she was incorrect but she said that the orphanage told her they wanted American money for the donation. Anyway, after running around like crazy for 2 hours, we were taken to the civil affairs office in Xi'an. We had our guide and another guide who would take care of the adoption paperwork part.

There were 3 families meeting their children and each of us had our own guide plus the paperwork guide. I found this to be very strange, but I digress.

To be continued.

Do you think she likes shoes?

I keep finding her in Avery's room, playing with shoes. What can I say, the girl likes her shoes!

When it rains, it pours

The only thing I can do is laugh, it's just my luck.

Guess who needs a root canal?? Give up, why yes it's me. What the freak? I go in for my routine visit at the friendly neighbourhood dentist. No cavities, check, gums look good, check. I thought I should mention that my front tooth has been a little sensitive lately, I'm sure it's no big deal. The hygienist's thought the same thing, but recommended having an x-ray because I did have that tooth filled years ago (chipped tooth). First thing the dentist says is "I think you need a root canal, you can probably wait until January though". Gee, thanks.

What is the cause of this root issue? Sure, you think it's just a chipped tooth, but apparently, your root can be damaged and not bother you for decades! Here is the moral of the story: don't hit the bottle when someone is drinking out of it. My friend in 5th grade hit my juice bottle, causing me to chip my tooth, and 25 years later a root canal!
Or, it could have been the time in University when I was drinking a beer on the dance floor and someone bumped my arm, again causing my tooth to chip but I digress.

Oh, and I also found out I'm having some minor day surgery next week. See, when it rains it pours.

Have to say that yesterday was not a banner parenting day! Or course, it also wasn't Avery's best behaved day either.
Let's see, it all began with Avery ramming her sister with the kiddie shopping cart, pushing her over, body slamming her (that one is Dad's fault, he let's Avery watch him play wrestling on the x-box), and more.

It came to a boil when she had a fit because I put her in time out for the 100th time and she smacked my arm. Not a good move my little angel. I do admit that I may have lost my cool and the neighbourhood may have heard a little shouting. I swear I used to have so much patience, where has it gone??

Anyway, we had to miss the moonlight magic tree lighting festival that evening. It was a difficult punishment, only because I really wanted to go. However, nothing else was working. Once I explained that Santa was there, all her friends were there and that she would not be able to have any of the hot chocolate, the crying began. It was really because Avery loves her hot chocolate, but whatever works.

That was our fun day, good times. Let's hope we make it to the Santa Claus parade this evening.

Made smoothies for the girls last week. They were such a hit as you can tell by the pictures (there was a bit of a smoothie accident so Brennyn's shirt had to go). Great way to get them to eat different kinds of fruit. Actually, fruit eating really isn't a problem around here. These girls love their fruit. Brennyn will still eat anything and everything, but she has slowed it down. She even uses a spoon.

Oh, and we finally made it to the hair salon (sounds fancier than saying First Choice). Avery had her hair chopped, it looks so cute!

Still no new pictures, bad mommy

We're all feeling better here. Pink eye gone (thank goodness), colds seem better. Now if we could only find the magic cream for Brennyn's skin we'd be golden. Her eczema is just not getting better. We've tried 3 different creams, decided to give up on the cortisol cream (apparently that is not good to use on baby's skin).
Going back to the Doctor next week, so we can finally get a referral to a dermatologist.

Avery asked me why I had big purple spots under my eyes. Couldn't have anything to do with Miss Avery waking me up at 12:00, 4:00 and 6:00ish. Who knew that the sleeping issues would be with my almost 4 year old, argh.
She wants to suddenly sleep in our bed, but I'm that mean mother who says NO. Okay, so I did cave at 4:00am and slept in her bed with her for 30 minutes.

I'm actually having a mommy day on Sunday. Going to see New Moon with a friend, cannot wait!

Pictures soon.

Just put a sign on our door, keep out

The sick germs seem to have finally found us here at our house. Oh we tried to outrun them and hide but to no avail.
I have a cold, went to bed at 7:30 last night thinking I'd watch a little tv. However, by the time Blair had put Brennyn to bed at 7:45 I was out cold.
Brennyn has the same cold, plus a nasty infection internally. She is on antibiotics again (poor girl). I will say that it seems all of Brennyn's infections/ailments seem to be orphanage living related. What can you expect when 100s of kids live in one area??

Now on to Avery. Poor Avery seems to have developed a lovely case of pink eye. Her eye was glued shut this morning! We first noticed the goo last night, but it is much worse today. Lucky for us, our doctor prescribed some pink eye drops for Brennyn when she first came home but we never needed them. We do now!

We were thinking of heading to Toronto to watch the Santa Claus Parade (and visit with our China travel mates more importantly) but that's out now. Guess the girls will have to settle for the big Orangeville parade. I mean it's almost the same as the Toronto one (NOT).

Going to put that warning sign up now.

This picture says it all

"Honestly mom, I don't know why she is crying". Okay, so Avery wasn't about to attack her sister in this picture, she usually waits until my back is turned. Guess she hasn't learned that I have eyes in the back of my head!

Decided to cut my hair off the other day while at the salon. Talk about spur of the moment. Made Blair take a picture before we headed out to the wedding (I seem to usually be the person taking the pictures so there really aren't that many of me. Would have had the girls in the photo but Brennyn was having a slight meltdown at the time.
I was goofing around so it looks like I was trying to strike a pose.
Oh, and it's also proof that I do wear a dress the odd time. It probably happens once or twice a year!

I suggested some sort of Chinese food dish for Avery's day. Did anyone listen to me?
What can you do, it was Avery's day and she lives for PIZZA. I was outvoted (see, she is just like her father).
We discussed the day we met Avery and became a family (just like my parents did with me).
That evening I asked Avery why we celebrate her day. Her profound answer "cause I really like cake".
We did make a cake for her day, it's become a bit of a tradition around here. Avery added all the candy, which was great because we used up some of her giant bag of halloween candy. Even with her dad dipping into her stash, because her mother would never dream of stealing candy from her child (heh heh heh) it's just not going away. I've never seen so much candy.

Happy Avery Day

It's your day today Avery. Hard to believe it has been 3 years since the day we met. I will never forget a single minute of that day. I was scared, excited, nervous, and happy. As soon as you were placed in my arms I cried. Yes, they (the experts) say not to cry as you may frighten the already terrified child but I was just so overwhelmed. I could not believe that I was finally a mom and that you were my daughter!
You love to hear the story of that day and how you cried and screamed for 3 hours straight. You love to hear about the man who handed you to us (Mr. Tu), and we love to talk about it. Okay, you don't love it as much as the stinky poop story (when you filled your diaper and shirt at a restaurant in China and the ladies were running out of the bathroom because of the stink and poor mommy had to try and change you while daddy laughed from the hallway).

I love your beautiful smile, inquisitive nature, how you love to dance and sing, your shyness (just like mommy), the sound of your laughter, your love of books (again just like mommy), your humour (even if it is usually related to potty jokes). I even love that you like star trek and Dr. Who just like you Daddy. I love that you would rather play cars than dolls, colour or read books instead of playing with toys.

I know you are going through some big changes right now and as you say "it's hard being a big sister". I just want you to know how much we love you and how happy we are that you are our daughter.
Somehow I became the mother to this child, it amazes me every day.

EDIT:posting this the night before, no time tomorrow. We have special food to make, cake to eat. It's a tradition in my family to let the child choose what meal they want for their special day (my parent's still like to celebrate my day, even though they adopted me 35 years ago and we don't even live in the same town anymore).

Also, the baby picture is of Avery on her first night with us in China.

Poor kid, sick of Doctors already

Saw the pediatrician today. Brennyn started screaming as soon as the secretary/nurse tried to measure her. It brought back bad memories! Last week Brennyn had to have a sore drained, it took me, the doctor and a nurse to hold her legs down. I don't think Brennyn is going to forget that experience for a long time.

The good news is that she doesn't need to see the ped. again. He feels confident that Brennyn is healthy enough to stick with our family doctor (except for the plastic surgery, but he has nothing to do with that anyway). Speaking of family doctor, I am very impressed with mine. She just called me at 8:30 pm from her clinic. I was surprised to say the least.

Anyway, Brennyn does score high for height on the North American charts. Don't know why I was surprised, she is almost as tall as Avery (of course, Avery is barely on the charts for height, but I digress).

Speaking of Avery, let's just say that I am happy we don't have to see that Dr. again because I was a tad embarrassed by my eldest daughter's behaviour today. Wow, it was like she was possessed by another child. Usually, she is shy around other people which works in our favour (people think she is really well behaved). Nope, not today, unless running around the room while the doctor is trying to speak to us is your idea of well behaved. Oh, and she also played the bongos with his chair, while he was sitting on it. There may have been a few moments of crying and screaming thrown in as well. Good times!!
Seriously, I think she was jealous that the doctor was only paying attention to Brennyn (just another hunch).

Halloween take two

Avery and Daddy were out for almost 2 hours, and it was freezing! She had the best time and has the biggest bag of candy I have ever seen. I've sampled a few treats just to make sure they were safe.

Also, because I have nothing better to do, I decided to make Halloween sandwiches for lunch. Bat, ghost and pumpkin shapes just make the egg salad taste so much better.

Avery designed her own pumpkin this year (with a little help from Dad). She even scooped out the guts herself and Daddy carved, while I entertained Miss Brennyn.

Yes, I did dress up in a star trek uniform this year. My usual creative Halloween skills seem to have taken a dive this year and 30 minutes before the kids started ringing the door bell this was all I had. It was Blair's idea (I think he wants to blackmail me, so I am beating him to the punch) since it is his star trek stuff. This only makes sense to people who know us, Blair being the rabid fan and me not so much (as in not at all).
I do love this picture though, Brennyn looks like she has some serious 'tude!

We are off to get the H1N1 shots tomorrow, or at least we are going to try. Apparently, there is a shortage right now. I think the whole town may be lining up for their shots tomorrow (it's the first day the vaccination is available here).

I knew it was only a matter of time

Avery said it, the one sentence I've been waiting for "When is she going back".

Avery and I were in the car, running errands. I was trying to have some Avery and mommy alone time. We are at a stop light and Avery mumbles "why is Brennyn taking so long". I have no idea what she is talking about so I said "do you mean why she sleeps so much"? "No, I mean why is she taking so long". Still not getting this I ask again, "honey, what do you mean". "Mommy, why is she here so long?"

I couldn't help it, I started to chuckle a bit (that's why I nominate myself for mother of the year again).

I did manage to choke out that Brennyn lives with us, we are her family, etc. Avery asked again "when is she going back to China". I explained that Brennyn is her sister, to which Avery replied "no she isn't" and "She cries a lot".

I just had the talk with her again at bedtime, but I still don't think she is convinced!

Halloween

I took the girls to a harvest festival last Saturday. It involved some trick or treating at the stores downtown. Avery thought she looked pretty cute in her costume. As I was putting her in the car, she said "I hope everyone thinks I look cute, oh of course they will, I am cute". I can't make this stuff up!
I did have to pretend Brennyn's costume was a coat, because there was no way she was going to put that thing on.

Avery is still asking me why everyone kept asking her "would your little brother like some candy too?"

Brennyn won't be trick or treating on Halloween. Too much going on for her!

First sentence

Brennyn said her first sentence today. Okay, so most people probably wouldn't understand what she said but we do. It was "brush please" (sounded like buh peese). We'll take it! She did kind of say "buh buh nana" (bye bye nana) the other day too.

Let me think, what else can she say. I have to keep track on the blog because being the awesome mom I am, I didn't buy her a baby book yet. Yes, Avery has a baby book (I think the last entry was from Jan. 2008, again, awesome mom here).

Back to the words: mama, dada, dog, car, people, nana, please, thank-you, up (her favourite), Avery (sounds like riri), hot, hi, bye, good girl (because we said it so much in China), boo boo, book, duck, yummy (and she rubs her tummy).

Again, most of these words are only understood by us and her grandparents but we still count them! I can't think of anymore right now, brain doesn't work like it used to.

Oh and we taught her the sign for stop but she thinks it means don't cry in Mandarin (because we were always saying that while using the sign). The other day, a little boy was crying in Avery's preschool and Brennyn stopped what she was doing, made the sign and said "bu ku".

Appointments

Just received a phone call from the genetics department. They are now booking appointments into 2011. Great. That was the second choice hospital, we still haven't heard from Sick Kids. We also have not heard from the plastic surgery department either, which is the more urgent appointment. We did get a call from the family doctor letting us know that the plastic surgery department did tell them that we will not get in until Feb. at the earliest.
The positive side to the long wait is that Brennyn will have more time to adjust to us and her new home before she has to have surgery and spend time at the hospital.

At least we are seeing the local paediatrician in two weeks. Our poor girl has developed some seriously dry skin. Avery had dry skin as well when she first came home, but not like this. Poor girls skin is cracking and she scratches at it causing bleeding. My friend bought us some amazing cream (it's so thick you can only put it on at night) so we are hoping it helps.

Sisters

Boy oh boy can these two fight. Not that surprising, but still.
At the same time, Brennyn loves to copy everything Avery does. It is so cute. Not sure if Avery thinks it's cute.
We're still working on the jealousy, but that will take time. Can be frustrating if both kids are playing QUIETLY and suddenly Avery just has to take whatever toy Brennyn has.

Have to say that in one month Brennyn has come a long way. She doesn't even look like the same girl to me. You can see the confidence in her eyes, amazing!
Still long way to go, but wow!