Happy Halloween

 

Megan had a ball trick or treating with her cousin Alex!

Happy Gotcha Day 2008!

What a blessing this little girl has been to our lives. It's hard to believe that two years ago we were in China, flying from Beijing to Guangzhou. We got onto our tour bus to the hotel and were told that the babies would be arriving at the Civil Affairs office at 3pm! We unpacked a few essentials and off we went. I think the best description for me was nervous excitment and numbness...it was just that surreal. Megan amazes us daily. She has blossomed into a lovely young lady (especially when she puts on a dress with a big skirt!)who is compassionate, helpful, and has a great sense of humor.

(I don't know why it's posting the photo page twice...I've tries to edit it, but I'm too tired to keep messing with it and since it's a cute page, it's staying!)

 

Making Pizza

Megan had a blast last Saturday making pizza with Grandma. She's a natural...it was delicious!

Birthday Pictures

Question at the door...

Most every night, I have the privilege of putting Megan to bed. Megan gets in her bed, I turn on her music (she used to listen to Mary Poppins music, but lately it's been Christian children songs), and we pray. I stay around for three songs before kissing her goodnight. The last song that plays before I leave is, "He's got the whole world in His Hands."

Of course, being a father, it's my job to introduce things that sometimes causes her mother to cringe a bit. But, hey, that's part of my role and duty as a father and I'm determined to do it well! So, a while back, I started changing the lyrics to things like, "He's got the whole world, in His hair." Oh man, she totally cracked up and loved that. Not only did she like it, she started making up her own things, like, "He's got the whole world in His Papa Bear." (Papa Bear is her favorite of all bears and usually one of the animals that must be present at bedtime.) Anyway, Carolyn told me that if her preschool class ends up singing that song Megan gets in trouble for introducing creative lyrics, it's all my fault.

Anyway, after the usual routine of praying and singing, she informs me that she wants to ask a, "question at the door." When this first came up, I was not quite following what she wanted. So, she looked into my eyes and spoke it more slowly and forcefully. I soon realized that she wanted me to go to the door, and pause there so she could ask a question. Yeah, I know, not too hard to figure that out, but hey, I don't pick up on things all that quickly sometimes - just ask Carolyn. :-)

Anyway, lately, it has turned into two such questions. Her first question goes something like this - it's really sweet:

I love mommy and daddy, I kiss mommy and daddy, and chocada wee-wee-wee all the way home.

Now, I know... this actually is not a question. After she started this bedtime tradition, I was quite confused (a somewhat normal state of existance for me) but came to realize that this, "question at the door" was... Well, I still don't know really what it is. And, I really cannot figure out the, "chocada" part. And, I really, really want to know what it is. So, earlier today, Megan actually said this whole phrase even though it wasn't bedtime, so I started to ask her what this, "chocada" was. She tried to explain it to me. But, I still didn't get it. I asked her whether she could use another word. Or, perhaps she could show it to me. She finally got tired of me asking questions about, "chocada" and asked me to join her tea party. I accepted her invitation.

So the mystery of the, "question at the door" remains... Perhaps someday I will discover the true meaning behind this phrase - I mean, question. Of course, it is more likely that she will grow a little older, stop saying this phrase, and it will become one of many treasured memories of her childhood.

Now, I earlier mentioned that she now asks two, "questions at the door." Her second "question at the door" is usually just this, "I miss you daddy." I smile at her and tell her, "I miss you too - I love you, sweet dreams, I'll see you in the morning." And I walk away smiling and thinking, "what a wonderful, unique, sweet, and awesome child we have - thank you, Lord!"

My How She's Grown...

Pre-Birthday Celebration

We actually started celebrating her birthday yesterday at school with her classmates, and my students, too, since I wanted to be a part of her special day. It worked out great since one of my students, Annelise, and Megan have bonded. Now that Annelise and Megan are buddies, Megan will willingly eat with the "Lunch Bunch" kids and play afterward! This is a definite answer to prayer as it allows me to get my prep time done so we can get out of there in a timely manner!

Happy Birthday, Megan!

Today is Megan's 3rd birthday! We started the day with having breakfast at the Pancake House. Then Megan and I took off for Disneyland where we intended on stuffing an animal (probably a rabbit) at Build-a-Bear. It didn't happen...I had promised her an autograph book on another trip to D-land and decided to make good on my promise. The rest of our afternoon was spent getting autographs! Oh well...if the birthday girl is happy, we're all happy, right?

What a Couple of Hams!

Wednesdays are still our official playday with Ya Qin and her mom. In addition to playtime, we also recently enrolled them both in the Yak Academy, which is play-based, full immersion Mandarin lessons (http://www.yakacademy.com/). It's really great, and the girls are enjoying it...sometimes I think a little too much. Plus, we mommies get 75 minutes of peace!!! Once we're sure the girls are comfortable and secure, our plan is to head to Starbucks to work on the girls' lifebooks...hopefully we can get them done sometime in the next century!

So, today we headed to Del Taco for lunch and play after class. It's been really hot around here, so an indoor playarea is like gold. The girls were in a very hammy mood which had us all cracking up.