Catching-Up

Wow---4 months have blown past since our last post and we don't even know where they went. There have been so many firsts that we cannot even count. We are talking today about our upcoming 1st Forever Family Day and how we plan on celebrating it. That day will be another first. In the meantime, Halloween went off without a hitch. Chloe-Xin finally decided that the pink doggie costume was her favourite and by the tenth house, she was running up to the door herself, ringing the doorbell and shouting "trick or treat". The Halloween fairy left her a terrific exchange present for her candy (the plasma car from Indigo--pink no less). Next came going to a dayhome one day a week. We were lucky enough to find a fabulous place with a wonderful woman not far from our home. She has a daughter that is Chloe-Xin's age and two of the other girls are also treasures from the Far East. We went for a meet and greet and then on her first day she made herself at home and told us to go away and that she would see us later. Once again...our little trooper handled this new situation with ease. Not long after that, Mama went back to work parttime and Papa started staying home with Chloe-Xin parttime too (the dayhome is a once a week thing when we both have to work). I think it has been a real bonding experience for the two of them...this girl loves her Daddy. Of course, Christmas was a big deal in our house too. It started with writing a letter to Santa. Chloe-Xin asked for a pink book, a pink microphone and Max & Ruby toys. Unfortunately "Santa" was not successful in finding a pink microphone or M&R toys, however, a friend of ours did find a pink microphone (on a fluke) and just yesterday we found Max & Ruby toys. Of course, Santa made up for the shortcoming in other ways...and the pink book (My Little Pony) has been a huge success. Chloe-Xin declared early on that she "loves her Santa" and we reinforced, early on, that if she didn't go to sleep that Santa would not leave any presents. So, gladly, our little girl slept as if it were any other night. She was unsure what to do come Christmas morning though...until we encouraged her to start opening her gifts...and then she ripped into them. It was quite a sight to see. Chloe-Xin also did her first Christmas play with her preschool class and was a great success as an elf (and Mama did pretty good with making a costume of sorts too). Ringing in 2010 was quiet at The Rouse House, but not long after came several other firsts: snowman making, sledding and cavity filling. She's registered for Kindergarten in the fall. And we are certain that her language will be up to par with her peers by then or close to it. She is quickly learning the alphabet and can write several letters. We are just now learning on how to put them together. Chloe-Xin continues to meet with the speech therapist bi-weekly and this helps to reinforce the proper use of her language. Her ST commented the other day about how well she is doing and the progress she is making. Last, but not least, we recently celebrated Chinese New Year. We had the big family and friends dinner on the Eve and Chloe-Xin received alot of hongbao (which she spent on Barbie dolls of all things...in fact, today we are going to spend the last of the hongboa on a boy Barbie doll). Although the days are long sometimes...we are so grateful to have our little girl. She is a bundle of energy and keeps us on our toes. She surprises us with her caring and empathy that was clearly instilled long before we became a family. She is a joy to have as a child and we look forward to all the other firsts that will come our way. Now for some pictures and then the promise to update this blog more frequently. Bye for now from The Rouse House.