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What a difference a year makes. A year ago, our little love was whisked away from the only home she had ever known to start a new life with a couple of crazy Canadians. I can still picture her sitting in the lobby of the building with a nanny--dazed, confused, scared; her whole body hitching as she quietly sobbed. It broke my heart to see how petrified she was.
That night was challenging for all of us! Luckily, it only took her a few days to get used to us. By the 6th day, Pat was Baba and by the 7th day, I was Mama. Now I am Mama, mom, or mommy. Pat is BAAAAABAAAAA, Dad, Daddy or bobby. Pat asked her why she calls him bobby and she responded with "mommy!" as in, if Mama is mommy, then Baba must be bobby.
We want to wish all our travelmates and Maeve's Xinyu sisters a Happy Forever Family Day! We miss you all and long to see you again. Please keep in touch so that our girls can virtually grow up together.
We had a wonderful visit with Elizabeth and her family on Saturday. Elizabeth and Kate have grown so much in the past year. Maeve is certainly tiny in comparison. It was a treat to see them again (oh and Aggie and Rob too). As promised here are some pictures from our visit.
Hugs and kisses to you all!
Much to our surprise and delight, Maeve loved tobogganing. New Years Eve day was a bit cold but not snowy. Our daredevil went to the local hill with Baba, George, Basil and Violet. They had a blast and she wanted to go down the steep part of the hill with lots of bumps. Apparently they made well over 20 trips down the hill. I wasn't there, so there are no photos or video from that outing.
On New Years Day, we went again with Carolyn and Violet. While it was warmer, it was also snowy and a bit windy. Maeve didn't like the snow and wind blowing in her face, so she only went down a few times.
Here's a short video of their first slide down on New Years Day. That's Maeve out front, with Violet behind and Pat in the rear.
Well, it was a crazy first Christmas for our little family. Pre-Christmas was busy as ever, with Christmas parties, shopping, getting our first family photo card prepared, choir rehearsals, Christmas concerts, etc. Maeve did really well throughout, despite her aversion to Santa (or Ho Ho as she calls him).
But then a couple of days before Christmas it all caught up with Maeve. She developed a chesty cough and a fever that we couldn't keep down with infant tempra and baths. She was tired all the time and wouldn't eat anything except Clementine oranges. So after 2 days, on Christmas Eve, with a fever that reached 39 degrees C we took her to the doctor. He put her on penicillin (banana juice) and the next day she was much better. But alas, that was not to be the end of our holiday medical adventure...
I guess she must look like our daughter because the doctor asked us if either of us was allergic to penicillin. We answered that she was adopted. :-)
Maeve had fun opening presents Christmas morning. Santa brought her a tricycle that Mama or Baba can steer. She got to ride it around the Living room for a while, but it has been put away in the basement until spring now. And then she continued to get lots of love and fun and presents from everyone we visited over the holidays!
We went to Uncle Peter, Aunty Carolyn and cousin Connor's house for Christmas brunch. She was feeling much better and managed to wolf down sausages, french toast and lots of fruit. Her appetite was back with a vengeance.
On the 27th we had the whole Forde clan over. With 16 adults and 7 kids it was a pretty full house. We had a wonderful time and Miss Maeve stayed up until 10pm! Needless to say her sleep patterns have been completely out of whack since then. The next day we cleaned the house, visited Grandma and Grandpa and then hit the road for Ottawa to visit my parents.
Once in Ottawa we noticed that Maeve had developed three suspicious spots. Maeve had the Chicken Pox vaccine in October, but with little cousin Robyn also visiting, we needed to rule out Chicken Pox. We took her to a clinic. The doctor could not say one way or the other if it was Chicken Pox and she never developed any more spots. Our friends George and Carolyn graciously put us up so that we would reduce the risk of exposure to Robyn. Poor Maeve didn't know whether we were coming or going. But she had a wonderful time visiting all our friends and their kids. She did get a bit of time with PoPo and GungGung, and was sad to leave them.
Despite being sick, Maeve had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. Thanks to all of you who love our Maevey so much. It means the world to us.
Heres to an amazing 2008!
Some random shots from the holidays.
**Added note: Maeve appears shy and retiring, but there is a daredevil lurking under the surface. On her first toboggan adventure, she couldn't get enough and insisted on going on the big hills with the big bumps. She's full of surprises this little one...
Putting decorations on Grandma's tree.
Big kisses for Mil and Bram!
Hey Maeve, check out this pot holder.
Santa brought the trike, but Mama had to assemble it!
I think Santa's been here!
Hey lady! You gotta license for that?
Feeding Calin with her new baby bottle.
Trying out Baba's new walking sticks. Arizona here we come!
Making friends with Connor's stuffed animals.
Eating grapes with Grandpa and Grandma.
Visiting with Robyn.
Maeve's amazing new advent cabin from Cousin Robyn, Uncle Andrew and Aunty Evelyn.
Playing with her new best friend Julianne.
Bracing herself for the toboggan adventure.
Down the hill with Baba and Violet. Maeve is out front!
The rosy cheeked cherub apres toboggan.
Hanging with the Ottawa gang.
Baba come play with me!!!
Last year at this time (and for the two years before that) Pat and I had a secret which we kept from most of the Forde family... her name is Maeve. We didn't tell most of the family because we knew the wait would be long and we weren't really sure how long. We wanted to save them from the torturously long and frustrating wait that we knew we'd be enduring. As it turns out, the wait was more than twice as long as we expected because we were originally told that we would be expedited and that turned out not to be the case. We're thankful that is one disappointment we didn't have to put the family through.
But finally, on December 1s, 2006 we got the news and the pictures of our darling Maeve followed shortly after. What an amazing weekend! We wanted to tell the world, but decided to wait until Christmas Eve when most of the family would be together to spring the news.
Our nephew Christopher, who was one of the family members in the know, filmed that revelation. We wanted to share that wonderful moment with you. As you know, my darling hubby is the Venus in our relationship. So while he had prepared an eloquent and magical way to share our news, he was so emotional that he had a hard time getting the words out.
Its a bit long, so you might want to grab a tea and a kleenex first.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was away in Chicago for 5 days last week at a tradeshow, so things have been a little busy.
Maeve and Baba did very well while I was away. Although she's extra concerned that she knows where both of us are at all times now that I'm back. When she's with me, she wants to know where Baba is. When she's with Baba, she wants to know where Mama is. I think she still has quite a bit of separation anxiety. Yesterday, I went in to get her up and dressed, which is usually a Baba task. That got her very worried that Baba had now left so she kept asking for him.
Yesterday, we had breakfast with Santa! We were about 45 minutes late as our daughter/alarm clock didn't wake up until 8:30. She usually gets up between 6:30 and 7, but not on the day when we have to be somewhere early. Oh well.
She is pretty much deathly afraid of Santa. When he came into the room she didn't even want to look at him. She just clung onto Baba for dear life. She did get to see some of her friends who are also from China and got a nice board book from Santa. Or should I say I got the book from Santa and passed it on to her.
In the afternoon, we decorated our Christmas tree. Maeve was more interested in taking the decorations out of the boxes and then putting the boxes neatly away than in hanging them on the tree. I don't think she likes the feeling of the needles against her fingers.
Well the cold weather has hit us. Today we spent a few hours in the morning shovelling out the driveway and walk only to have the plow block us in with a 3 foot wall. Thankfully, we have a snowblower for just such occassions. Needless to say, I didn't make it to church. Maeve had fun helping us. I would take a shovel full of snow and she would push it off into the pile. She kept saying "WOW!"
Someone mentioned wanting stats:
-> as of last Friday 20 months
-> 30.5 inches tall
-> 22 lbs
-> just graduating to 12-18 month clothing (but they are big on her)
-> size 4 shoes (sometimes 5 depending on the make), it was pretty tough to find winter boots for walking that were small enough; her Robeeze boots fit, but they are soft soled
-> we still have her carseat facing rear
She's still just a slip of a girl. She still eats like she may not see food again for days. I'm not sure where it all goes because she is still so tiny. She does have quite the Buddha belly going though.
Some recent photos:
Helping to put the snow tires on the cars.
Don't let the scary Santa guy see me!
The other kids seem to think he's ok. I guess I can listen to a story.
Lauren and Maeve check out their new books.
Maeve's not big on posing for photos. "Down?! Down?!" As in please let me run around.
Maeve helps Baba take the ornaments out.
Hello? Is this the Santa hotline?
This tree is prickly!
Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings...
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