Hoppy Easter to all my Peeps

Spring 2011 Hannah Update

Favorite Color ~ Pink  :-/

Favorite Toys/Activities: Play dough, scented bubbles, riding the penny horse at Meijer, playing with toys at Bella's house (even if she has the same ones at home that she never touches), breaking things, spilling things, waking up from 1 to 3 am for no reason.

What She is Afraid Of: Santa, the Easter Bunny.

What I Am Most Proud of: Her politeness. She always said please and thank you. Also the fact that she has no idea who Spongebob or Dora the Explorer are.

Favorite Books:  Once Upon A Potty, Polar Bear, Polar Bear,  Biscuit Goes to The Beach, Miss Spider

Favorite Foods: Chick Fil A, Skyline chili spaghetti, drinkable yogurt, Grandma's scrambled eggs, and anything Mommy is eating. 

 Funny Things She Does:  Insists on looking in the mirror every morning and exclaiming " Hannie Cute!"

Most Disgusting Thing She Has Done This Year: Eating a fruit snack off the bathroom floor in the bowling alley

Interesting Party Trick: she can name the President of the US, the VP, and the Governor of Ohio

What She Can't Do: Dance.  Only her head moves. She looks like she is having a seizure.  Reminiscent of a young Elaine Benes from Seinfeld.


If I had to guess right now what she will be doing in 20 years, I would have to say Veterinarian.  She loves animals, especially dogs, and is very gentle with them.


Upcoming events ~ Disney World/Kazapalooza, Moms Club trip to the Zoo, Krohn Conservatory Butterfly Show, Kings Island, planting a garden, getting a swing set!

 

Hannah is enjoying all the Easter Festivities that come with being almost 2.  As you can see from the pics, the Easter Bunny Picture was about as much of an epic fail as Santa, but she does get into collecting eggs and snarfing down whatever candy is inside.  This month we went to a Spring Carnival and our friend Emily hosted a happy little Easter Party for a few friends and our little "bunnies."  I guess 25-27 was/is a really common age to have a baby because almost all my friends have kiddos exactly Hannie's age (and weirdly enough, they are mostly girls) and I feel very lucky about that. So anyway, back to the Emily's Easter EGGstravaganza, where the kids dyed eggs, ate bunny shaped macaroni (no carrots, Hannah won't touch them), hunted for eggs, and played outside. This weekend is filled with Easter activities as well, a bunny breakfast, more egg hunts, and a party at a friend's house.     

In Kazakhstan news, President Nursultan Nazarbaev, has according to recent reports, sacked six Supreme Court judges suspected of corruption.
Is this good news?  For those of us in the adoption world the answer is...maybe.   As my friend and fellow adoptive parent William reminded me, "It is always a mixed blessing when a virtual dictator takes a stand against corruption..it's usually only the corruption they don't benefit from...."  

Also, for those of you interested in following this sort of thing, The Astana Times, an English language newspaper, has been launched. It provides interesting news and opinions on the recent developments in Kazakhstan.  The web address is http://astanatimes.kz/

Happy Spring to all my PEEPS!!!

I Should Be Cleaning Out My Car Right Now...

First haircut --screamed like a howler monkey.

 But instead I'm going to blog....

Three naked Kaz babies swimming in the (covered) pool

1st Easter Egg Hunt

 We looked in the back seat and there they were holding hands.  BFF's and double trouble!

 Spending the day at Parky's Farm with Emily and Bella and Cath and her kids.

 Not super excited about the horse.  Funny, since this horse was actually smaller than our Great Dane, who she absolutely loves.

Riding a John Deere with Landon.

So I was reading back through some old posts and I realize that I talk a lot about Hannie's 1st year but not much about my first year as a mom.  It has without a doubt, been the most amazing, stress-inducing, happy, wild, enlightening, roller-coaster year of my life.  Here are some things I have learned....

1. Kids are great excuses to do the things you want to do, like jumping on the trampoline and eating ice cream every day. They are also great excuses for getting out of things you don't want to do, like going to funerals and working on snow days.

2.  That so many of the "must have essentials for your new baby" that you buy are unnecessary so don't get suckered in. Nobody really needs wipe warmers, designer diapers, or those little snotsucker things.
  
3.  Never wear white.  Brides wear white because once they get married and have children they will never get to wear it again.  True story.  It has nothing to with purity.

4.  Being a mom means you can buy expensive jewelry and justify it by saying "I will pass it along to my daughter some day." It's fabulous.

5.  That executing your daily hygiene routine is a privilege and not a right. I love Hannah to the moon, but lord help me I'd like to poop alone. 

6.  Every mother in the world is competitive when it comes to developmental milestones in our children.  Determine ahead of time that you don't care what other mothers think.  I've learned that we are all clueless anyway.

7. You will say completely ridiculous things to your children. Just like your mother said to you. You will claim to have “eyes in the back of your head.” You will ask them if they “live in a barn.” You will threaten to “pull this car over right now!”

8.  In a pinch, sip cups can make delightful wine glasses.

9.  For the first two years, your life pretty much revolves around bodily fluids. 

10.  That although I knew I would love my daughter, I underestimated how much I would love my daughter.  She is my air. She is the reason I’m here. There is no greater love.


Let's hear it for the Moms! 

 

Hannah the Potty Animal

 A trip to Flubs with Hannah and Bella, and below, even Roxi enjoys ice cream!

I bet you can guess from this blog title and picture what we did this week!!  Hannie is 20 months old which I am aware is young for potty training, but as of late she has become very interested in all things poop-related, so I thought perhaps we would give it a try.  And folks, let me tell you, she can totally potty like a rockstar.  I assembled the chairs (one for each floor of the house) and she sat down without hesitation and the next thing I knew the duck was quacking and Hannie whoops "I DID IT!" Easy as pie.  No idea what all the fuss about potty training is about. 

Other than that, things are pretty normal.  We did see Despicable Me the other day.  I heard it was funny and I heard it had an adoption theme and thought we would invite some friends over to watch.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the movie, the story line includes a single man adopting three orphaned girls so he can use them to fulfill his evil plans.  During the climatic point of the movie, the evil character-turned good guy sends the girls back to the orphanage (against his wishes, but it's still a disruption). The orphanage caretaker makes the girls sit in the "shame box" because they're returned! The end is happy and endearing, heart warming, tear jerking, etc.  Really, despite the premise, it's super cute. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I feel like I should include a  portion of a review about the movie written by a adoption advocate:

It could definitely be a trigger for traumatized children so be careful! I would NOT recommend it for families that have newly adopted children, have severe attachment issues or that have little girls that were abused by a male figure.

I personally found the the adoption theme is so unrealistic and over-the-top I figure most kids would see the humor in it.  It reminded a lot of "Annie" and I am a sucker for "love wins in the end" themes.  I also liked the fact that, like Juno, and Elf, other movies with adoption-related themes, it definitely sparked some dialogue, especially with the younger kids.  My cousin J and neighbor T were watching it with us; they are both 3rd graders, and after it ended, I told them that "isn't how adoption works, you don't just walk in and get a child.  You have to fill out lots of papers and answer lots of questions do lots of work to adopt a child."  So I guess there is good and bad points to Despicable Me,  and I guess we will just chalk it up as a "teachable moment."
  
I wanted to mention that my friend and I are starting a weekly newsletter of kid friendly events and activities for families in the Cincinnati area! We are going to be giving away tickets, gift baskets, and other great prizes. If you would like to become a subscriber, just message me and I will add you to our listserv.
 
Here are some pics of our week:

Reds Opening Day!

Dinner with the KazMamas at Maggianos ~ Me, Ann, Alaina, Karen, and Karen

 I swear she half Kazakh half chimp.  Have a great week my friends!