Life has been pretty full on but wonderful around here. For the last month i have been saying i must get onto my blog &  post an update but there are a million things to do in one day now it seems that i never accomplish “all” of them!

We are taking time out to smell the daisies & enjoying every day with our gorgeous little girl. She is growing so fast & so many milestones.  Just a mere 3.5mons ago a child that didnt have good head control, couldnt sit, crawl etc & is now any day on the verge of walking. It is mind boggling for us & some days i think it is overwhelming for her! 

Now to the heading of this post, Yes we have a Velcro baby another reason i have been struggling to get alot done thru the day.  According to  Pinky McKay, Parenting Editor, Author, Infant Massage Instructor and mother of five children,

“A velcro baby is clingy, fussy, high need – she doesn’t give a damn about the labels. Unless she’s attached to you (constantly), she yells!”

This pretty much sums up Jessica for the majority of the day.  She loves to play in her playpen, perhaps she feels secure in it?  She also likes to sit in her stroller to watch her favourite show “In the Night Garden” so during these times it gives mummy an escape route to get some much needed house work done.  We joke around here that Mummy has a little lamb because as i walk around the house Jessica is in hot pursuit after me!  When she is on the other side of a baby gate & can still see me (which in her books isnt good enough) we certainly have one good ole tantrum.  Personally i think we are going thru a few different stages here at once: anxious attachement, the witching hour - when trying to get dinner prepared and she is often on the other side of the gate & also Separation Anxiety!

March 26th: Slightly back tracking abit here as i keep forgetting to mention it in blog posting but on this day we received Jessica Rose Ke Gui’s citizenship certificate.  I think we might have created some record here of being the fastest to get paperwork into DIMIA & receiving her Certificate a mere 23 days after returning home from China. We wanted to be quick with this as we wanted Daddy Major to present her certificate during his mayoral year & as we had heard of other families that had hassles with DIMIA , medicare etc   we thought we would be quick of the mark.  Mind you we had NO hassles with any of the paperwork for the various government departments.

Her citizenship ceromony is next month so we will have pics for you then.

Developmental Updates:

Week of 18th May -  Began crawling the “traditional” crawl. Had been previously Commando crawling.

May 20th - Began pulling herself up & walking around holding onto furniture.  

7th tooth:  On the horizon but not thru just yet!  Yes another one but this one is a big molar - ouch!  not out yet but by the looks of the drooling, dirty nappies and hard bruised gum it will come thru this week sometime. 

Favourite Games/Toys: peekaboo, shape sorter, any musical game, the TV remote control - we have actually resorted to finding an old remote control for her,  keys - she has her own play set as well.  We still love our Ducks as well. Another favourite game at the moment is when you give her some finger food ie” small pieces of toast she says “Ta” for every single morsel of toast she is given & if you dont acknowledge her good manners she BELLOWS out TA continuously until you do acknowledge her manners. She LOVES patting the dogs & it amazes me how gentle she is. Molly just adores her & fudge is more hesitant with her but is improving daily. We have been spending alot of time  teaching her appropriate behaviour around the dogs. Over time she will learn how to interact with the dogs - the signs are already there!

Sleeping Routine:  Jessica has so far been a good sleeper at night but her daytime sleep hasnt been crash hot since we have been home.  She used to go down for 2 naps a day but only sleeping 20-40mins each time and still being cranky upon waking so we decided to do the one nap a day!  I was rather hesitant in trying this and i was worried what happens if she still only sleeps 20-4omins for the entire day!  arrgghhhhh!  but guess what it worked she has a 2.5hr and sometimes close to 3hrs a day!  It has worked like a treat!  

We are having our first mini  “family” holiday soon off to Tasmania on the boat. Will let you all know how it goes after we get back.  The week after we get back we are going down to Apollo Bay for the weekend to spend time with our friends & their little girl from Korea.  Cant Wait looking forward to getting the girls together for some fun!

The Chapmans have set up a Journal for those that wish to leave condolences can do so. The link is http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/ 

The Last time i visited there were over 16,000 entries

IN MEMORY OF MARIA

 American Christian Music star Stephen Curtis Chapman  http://www.stephencurtischapman.com/   a great advocate for adoption & his wife Mary Beth  have 3 girls adopted from China & 3 biological children.  Under tragic circumstances their youngest daughter Maria was killed yesterday http://www.smh.com.au:80/articles/2008/05/22/1211182968194.html

One of Stephen Curtis Chapmans songs was when “Love Takes you in”  here are the lyrics

 I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

The  yearly birthday pics of Jessica & Mother’s Day pics that we will make public for 2 weeks are now under password protection.  In case you missed them the password is the same as what i have sent out in emails to those on  our emailing list. 

To be included in our mailing list just click “EMAIL UPDATES FOR JOURNAL” over on the left hand side in the navigation panel.

Today i celebrated Mother’s Day for the first time it was a pretty low key day for us today but also remarkably very special.  We have had a really action packed month the first celebration was my parents 60th Wedding Anniversary on the 10th of April, followed by our 20th wedding anniversary, my neices 21st Birthday on the 5th of May & Jessica’s first birthday on the 9th of May.

The Day started with Jessica waking up screaming (not her normal self) actually sobbing saying  “Mama, mama” which melted my heart!  She squealed with delight with the flowers (pink roses) when daddy & her handed them to me!  Her mother’s day card was gorgeous and when i read it to her we got more squeals of delight.  I also got the Gilmore girls 7th season DVD, yes i am a Gilmore Girls fan! lol & a beautiful digital photo keyring so that i can show off our beautiful family!

 We had a BBQ  at home for lunch, Just us  3 & the ever faithfully Molly & Fudge (border collies)  & pottered around the house & garden catching up on some renovation projects that remained unfinished. 

I am one very happy Proud As Punch Mama tonight! 

To the mothers who can only hold their children in their hearts today, to the mothers who are more blessed than they know to hold their children in their arms, to the mothers of children who are grown, to the mothers of children who have passed on.  And to the mothers who we can only hold in our memories. 

Finally to the many cyberbuddies that i know read this blog whom dearly longed for children & havent followed down the  adoption path, you are truly remarkable, very special women & i think of you often. Be extra kind to yourselves today & celebrate all the positives you do have in your lifes as it is hard day for you guys i know.

Happy Mother’s Day!

You little one, are mommy’s heart
I knew it right from the start
the way you hold my finger tight,
when  we’re alone late at night.
When I cradle you in my arms
you smile and show all your charms.
Then you drift off to sleep
sometimes I can’t help but weep,
how lucky I have become
to actually be the chosen one.
To have and hold a child like you
now life seems too good to be true.
So I look up at the sky so blue
and thank the heavens for giving me you!

Author:  Christine Michaels

Guess who turned the BIG one today! Not to hard to guess is it!  Our precious little girl is One today!  Words cannot describe how delighted we are that we can celebrate your first birthday with you!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Luv

Mummy & Daddy & of course Molly & Fudgey (woof woof)

xx  xx