25 Months

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Catherine is 25 months old today.  One month in her second year of life and she’s already accomplished so much.  She’s a smart girl with a love for life and a deep love for her family and friends.  I didn’t get a chance last month to make a list of all that she is doing now, so I figured I would do it today.  So here it is in bulleted form:

  • The biggest thing she has going on right now is that she is nearly potty trained!  We started getting her used to the potty about two months ago and then we went cold turkey with the diapers during the day on Monday.  We all had a rough day on day one but by early morning on day two, she had it down.  Once she got over her fear she was good to go.  Of course M&M’s help a lot too.  She is still in diapers at night and we have only had two accidents all week (both my fault).  So she is doing very, very well.  I think God knew how much I could handle with this and made it a little easier on me.  :o )
  • She knows her colors.
  • She is incredibly strong and can hang from bar at gymnastics for a good long time.
  • She likes to dance with Yo Gabba Gabba.
  • She is becoming more expressive in her communication.  Her words are still not very clear but she can still  get her point across pretty quickly.
  • She says ‘ni hao’ which a traditional greeting in Chinese.  My Dad taught her that and she loves to say it to everyone, when she’s in trouble, and when we tuck her in bed at night.
  • She loves to tumble and jump.
  • Her best friend is Matthew and she likes to hold his hand.
  • Her second best friend is Ryan.  He’s one of my best friend’s son.  He’s 8 and just loves to entertain Catherine.  They are like two peas in a pod.  Their personalities are very similar.
  • She brushes her own teeth now (I only help her get the top teeth).
  • I can now put her hair in a pony tail.
  • She can drink from a cup.
  • She still insists that one of us feeds her but we are pushing her to feed herself.  She can do it, she just like it more when we feed her.
  • A Bible that her grandparents gave her is her favorite book ever.  She can sit there and thumb through it all day long.
  • She is silly with a funny since of humor.
  • She gets bored easily.
  • She’s not too keen on group activities yet but we are going to be starting a gymnastics class next Tuesday.
  • She is non-stop from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed at night.  Definitely wears us out!

She’s a good girl and a perfect fit for our family.  Tomorrow we finish our last post-placement homestudy.  I can’t believe the adoption process is about to end.  It seems like yesterday and then it seems like a lifetime ago when we started talking about adoption and then signing the paperwork to adopt a little one from China.  It’s hard for me to remember her being so little and now she just gets bigger and bigger every day!  We are so proud of her and love her so much.

Dear God….

deathbuddyDear God,

You know that I like to read PostSecret on Sundays, however I found this secret to be unusually scary since I have to fly on Wednesday.  And God, you know how much I just LOVE to fly.  So dear God, please don’t let me be this guy or girl’s death buddy.  Just sayin…I don’t want to be that kind of friend.  I personally would like to live through  my flight.

Thanks God!

More Gymnastics

Last Wednesday we met up with Catherine’s best buddy, Matthew for some gymnastics fun.  John took Catherine the first time around because I was sick.  This time I got to go and I loved it!  Of course Catherine did too.  She loves to try and swing on the rope swing, even though she doesn’t have the strength yet to hold on by herself.  She also is warming up to the trampolines and the foam pit.

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This is what happens when it’s time to leave:

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The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

We almost didn’t go to the rodeo yesterday due to extenuating circumstances, however some things changed and we were able to go in the morning. I am so glad that we had the chance to go because it was such a blast. We all had a wonderful time and Catherine had a blast around all of the animals.  For the event, Catherine had to be decked out in her best country western outfit and that included a pair of shiny red boots.  They are too cute and too big.  We ended up switching her to tennis shoes after I took this picture.  Maybe next year they will fit.

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First up was the petting zoo.  I love a good petting zoo and this one was exceptional!  They were always in the pens cleaning.  There were a variety of animals and Catherine loved the goats the best.  A deer did happen to fall in love with the dresses we were wearing tried to eat them a few times.  Other than that we had a blast!img_1254b

Next up, of course, is the pony ride.  What daddy doesn’t take their daughter on her first pony ride?  John did a bang up job of walking her around and around and around.  She seemed to enjoy it too.  Her horse was named Sarah.img_1314b

And I, being the daredevil that I am, decided to try the mechanical bull.  When I saw a mom with her young son on the bull, I  knew I had to take Catherine for a ride.  We both hopped up on the bull like we were pros and off we went bucking and twirling, and hopping.  Actually the rider operator did all of this in super, super slow motion, so Catherine wasn’t scared at all.  I think she actually wanted to do it again.  Maybe next year baby.img_1322a

And we much continue our family tradition of posing with longhorns.  My Mom and I and John did it at the Galveston Rodeo, John and I did at the Black Tie & Boots Presidential Inaugural Ball.  Now that we have Catherine, she has to be a part of this rich tradition!  She might of been a little worried but she was a trooper.img_1332a

Daddy is teaching her a little bit about aggie sciences and that one day she will grow up to event some sort of medical procedure or device to help farm and ranch animals.img_1374a2

And last but not least, who can turn down the experience of pretending to be a rodeo clown?  We surely didn’t! So we hopped into the barrell and acted like a couple of clowns.  I’m not sure why my face is so dark though.img_1415-copy

If you want to see more photos from our visit to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, just click on the Flickr photo on the right hand column on the main page.

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