Adoption Day Anniversary

One year ago, on July 2, 2006, we were united with our daughter. Amid confusion, crying and more than a little consternation, we were handed our beautiful little girl. While the legal paperwork was done on July 3rd, for us July 2nd is the day that Kiyomi came into our lives and we were a family.

Over the past year, Kiyomi has taught us so much about ourselves, about her, and about the world around us. She has opened our eyes to the wonders of a pond with fish, has us laughing hysterically at silly faces, and shown us the need for compassion, generosity and acceptance in our world – virtues we cherish now more than ever so that we can pass them along to our daughter.

Our family’s journey, in may ways, was easier than most. Kohji and I didn’t spend years and years thinking and dreaming about our family. Our hearts told us that we wanted to have a child, and adoption was the best route for our family. While there certainly were dissapointments and frustrations, our path was probably staighter than most, with few obstacle. Nontheless, as the consummate geeks that we are, we read, researched, talked to parents - including our own - sought advice, guidance and input. We felt we understood the joys and challenges of parenting. We were ready for the emotions – the highs and the lows.

However, we never could have possibly imagined what Kiyomi has indeed brought to our lives. It is something even I – rambler par excellence – cannot put into words. We are more than we ever possibly could have thought ourselves to be because of her. That she has had to go through so much to bring us this incredible gift makes us honour and cherish her in indescribable ways.

On the anniversary of her adoption day, we can only brush the surface of the gratitude and respect we feel for her, her biological parents, her country of birth and all those who helped us in our journey to each other.

Rather than an update this month, I’m suggesting a look back, in order to remember the journey our family has taken and offer a quiet word of thanks to family and friends who helped us get here.

A pink Marvin

Many of you may remember watching Bugs Bunny as a kid. Maybe it was even a weekly Saturday ritual for you – eating sugary cereal and zoning out on hour after hour of cartoons. Ok, maybe it was just me. However, if you happened to have been a regular watcher of the Bugs Bunny Hour, you may remember getting pretty jazzed when you got to see one of the rather elusive Marvin the Martian cartoons. You know, the little guy with the massive space helmet who always said: “You have made me very, very angry”. Well, I know how much you miss the little guy, so may I present to you, Marvin, the next generation:



All it took was one bike ride, and she ceased fighting the helmet, or “ ’at” as she calls it. Now she even asks for a ‘wriiide’, and is happy to wear the massive pink casing. No one tell her that it gives her an uncanny resemblance to a rather psycho-alien creature.

It’s pretty much summer here in Ottawa, so we’ve been engrossed in all things summery, like bike rides, ice cream and trips to the park. We have even made our first cottage trip of the season, where Kiyomi learned the true wonders of a Canadian summer – Victoria long weekend at the lake. Not only did she get to walk up and down the dock looking for fish, she also got to drive the boat. Of course, she was physically incapable of moving anything but her little finger because in typical Canadian tradition, it was cold. The girl was bundled up in about three layers, plus a life jacket. I think she was able to move her arms though, so Colin gave her her first driving lesson.

We’re also into full ultimate season, and Kiyomi has been an awesome side-line supporter. Ok, so she’s really barely acknowledged us, and we’ve been relieved that there have been other spectators willing to entertain her so she doesn’t go wondering onto neighbouring fields or try to join us on field. That said, she’s certainly learning what to do with a disc, and might be able to sub by the end of the season… Ok, maybe next year… Given that I seem to have done something rather unpleasant to my knee, I may be on the sidelines full time for the next little while.

We also had a visit from aunty Miyo and cousin Mika, which was the highlight of Kiyomi’s month. Big kids are still her favourite toy, so to have one in the house 24/7 is like a dream come true. The girls colluded and conspired, giggled and gabbed, screeched and scrammed. Aya and Kenji’s cat is still a little traumatized by the scream train that paraded through the house, quite uninvited by Nikoli. Mika spent a little time trying to decipher what exactly was going through Kiyomi’s mind and why she couldn’t just “say it”. However, as a great big cousin, Mika was patient and made sure Kiyomi toed the line when necessary. Kiyomi proved beyond any doubt that her vocal range is well above what her height might indicate. I didn’t realize such young vocal chords could reach to that rather piercing level.

We’ve also spent a lot of time at the local parks. It’s fun to see Kiyomi explore further and further. Although, I have to say that her daredevil comfort range is well beyond mine. I’m convinced she’s a little thrill junky. From the beginning, she seemed to be fearless at the playground. Willing to go higher and higher on the swing, happy to climb ladders on the older-kid structures, never deterred by the height or steepness of any slide. Well, as she gets more and more comfortable, it’s nothing but high thrill escapades. No toddler play structure for this one – she makes a bee line for the climbing holds, rock walls and steep ladders. Sound like anyone we know? I swear, if she starts climbing limestone buildings, there’s no hope.

Her latest obsession, however, is ‘isshis’ (aka fish). It seems she believes that fish can lurk anywhere – a sewer grate, a puddle, the map pocket in the car, under the porch stairs. Her world is populated by fish everywhere. Of course, this obsession is helped along by Kohji putting a plastic fish under the air intake grate and Laura and Sue taking her on a fishing hunt to a nearby pond. Before you ask, no, we have no intentions of getting her a fish tank.

A lot of changes in the next few weeks. I head back to work in two weeks, so Kiyomi and I will both be facing a new daily routine. I’m not eager to get back, but I can’t say I’m dreading it either. I do know that I’m going to miss her like crazy, and we can expect to face all those lovely challenges which plague all two working parent families. Sigh…

I’ve got a couple parting shots tonight. Couldn’t resist. Fair warning, they definitely fall under the sickeningly cutesy category. Good night from Ottawa.

Finally "ousiiie"

It took awhile, but mercifully, spring has finally arrived. I tell ya, another sleet encrusted day, and I was going to pack up and move to Florida… and I don’t particularly like Florida. Needless to day, we’ve been luxuriating in the warmer climes and thanking the weather gods profusely.

Things have been toddling alone nicely in our little home. Kiyomi’s favourite word remains “ousiiie”, which is toddler speak for outside. She loves being able to get out of the house and has spent many a happy hour at the park, walking up and down the street with her toy stoller or scribbling all over everything with sidewalk chalk.

We've all been loving the nicer weather. Winter is always great, but having a kid means loving summer. Part of it certainly is that you don't have to fight over hats, boots, mites. But, the bigger part of it is that who have this massive playroom addition to your house known as the outside. It doesn't matter how many toys you buy or how creative you are, there's just no way to make the indoors nearly as interesting or fun as the outside. Let's face it, you can't compete with pigeons, squirrels and ants. The nicer weather brings all these new toys gallavanting out and lets you watch them for hours.

We are, however, developing barrette wars. You may remember the hat wars of a few months back? I, foolishly, thought I had won that particular war. Well, I’ve learned that all I won was a minor skirmish compared to the battle of the barrette. It would seem Kiyomi’s hair is finally thickening and getting long enough that part of it falls across her face or pokes her in the eye. Now, there isn’t enough there to take scissors to (and in fact given how thin her hair is, I’m loath to cut any away). The solution, to my mind, was a barret. The problem? It doesn’t matter how many times you put it in, how often or enthusiastically you exclaim how pretty it is, or what kind of bomb proof barrette you invest in, this child will figure out a way to yank it off. Short of glueing the thing on her head, I’ve exhausted all ideas. It’s never been in there for more than 5 minutes.


Nana and Zufu came for a visit. This was the first time Zufu spent time with Kiyomi on her home turf, and it would seem she's got him wrapped pretty good around those chubby little fingers. Those of you out there who know my dad will not in the slightest be suprised to hear that on the first time they went out for a walk, Kiyomi came back with a great big Haagen Daz ice cream bar the size of her head. The 2nd time she took Zufu for a walk, they wound up standing on a busy street corner waving an Ottawa Senators flag (they're in the playoffs) and waving at the cars who honked in response. I'm fearful that the next time they "go for a walk", they're going to come home with a puppy.

Our big trip for this month was a visit to the US midwest to wander the “windy city”. Kohji had a conference, so Kiyomi and I tagged along for the free accomadations at a fancy hotel. The trip was great, although a little exhausting – Kiyomi and I went to the aquarium, the zoo, the Art Institute, the Field Museum, the Children’s Museum and we walked a lot. The architecture is amazing, and it's a really easy walking city. Given her adoration of fish (or ‘sishi’ as she says), we imagined that Kiyomi would go apoplectic at the Shedd Aquarium, but she was only mildly interested. What really got her going was Sue the T-Rex and the elephants at the Field Museum, both in the main lobby. Oh sure, there were all sorts of other animals throughout the galleries, which we dutifully visited, but really, we could have spent our entire time at the museum running between the elephants and Sue and she would have been equally as happy.

We also spent a great deal of time wandering the halls of the hotel, which was rather entertaining as there was a lot of empty hallways on the conference room floors that we could happily explore. Kiyomi even got a taste of some of the music for which the city is famous. We peeked in at a reception in one of the conference rooms where a band was stationed right by the door. You should have seen her bopping to a jazzy version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious”. There were all these people dressed up coming and going, and here’s a toddler with a runny-nose standing out front just givin’ her, with a woman (that would be me) laughing herself to tears on the floor beside her. I’m sure it was quite the sight for the reception guests.

It was just Kiyomi and I for the most part, as Kohji was pretty busy with shmoozing commitments so I was really grateful that Kiyomi seemed to really enjoy being a tourist. We went out to dinners, wandered the hotel or museums. Of course, I only went to family restaurant type places, but not a single meltdown from her or temper tantrum ...... that was until we landed back in Ottawa and were trying to get off the plane. We were flying back without Kohji who stayed on in Chicago for another day for work stuff. Kiyomi had fallen alseep half way through the flight, and was not happy about being woken up to get off, and made sure the whole plane knew of her displeasure. She wailed through the terminal, she wailed in line at customs, she wailed while the customs officer was asking me whether I had a letter from my husband (apparently, you need a letter from the other parent if you're going to be crossing borders, which I didn't know), she wailed as I tried to heave the bags off the carousel one handed because she refused to be put down. She finally stopped wailing when we got to the car (thank god). This meant I didn't have time to use the washroom at the airport, so I was bursting by the time I got home. I got in the house, ran to the washroom. Kiyomi walked in the family room where she was promptly met by the cat who let out a bit of a blood curdling meow at the sight of Kiyomi. As a result Kiyomi leaped up and attempted to scramble up my lap – keep in mind, while this was going on, I was still using the facilities. Imagine if you will, sitting there, trying to get off the toilet, with a wailing toddler who refuses to be put down. I've learned that pulling up your pants is no mean feat with you have a toddler clinging to your leg with what can only be described as a death grip! I swear I almost sat down and started wailing myself (without pants on). It wasn't a pretty picture.

Kiyomi’s vocabulary just keeps growing. It's impossible to keep up with a listing of the new words as they seem to pop up daily. This week alone, it's ‘mappp’ and ‘amimal’. I think we have Dora to thank for thoses. Over the last couple of months or so, she has successfully jumped a handful of times. I concede, her vertical ain’t great – only a couple of centimeters – but let’s be honest here, mine’s not that much better. She can now go down a slide all by herself and climb into her stroller and wagon all on her own. Last week at playgroup, she clambered onto a riding toy and took off. This was a toy which she hadn’t even been able to touch feet to ground on when we first started going to the community center. She’s also started to join the toddler throng at baby library time and at playgroup, rather than hang back with me. Standing back watching her, I can’t help but see the little girl she’s growing into and marvel at how she is now starting to move into the world as her own person. It may only be a toddler mosh pit, but it’s still her place in it, not hers and mine. I guess these are the first of many “my baby’s growing up” moments.

The parting shot for tonight is one of those "like daddy, like daughter moments." Good night from Ottawa.

Spring has sprung… sort of

Well, it’s mid-April, and in typical Canadian fashion, the flowers are peeking up, April showers have been a sprinkling and we are facing the prospect of 10 cms of snow overnight. What the ….? Ahh, Canada at its best. It’s gotten so desperate that we chose to escape the horror of an Ottawa spring by traveling to … Winnipeg. You can smell the desperation in that move.

The temperatures have been reasonably mild, however, so there is hope. Kiyomi’s favourite word these days is “outside”, pronounced by skipping the “t” and stretching out the “i” to obliterate the “de”, so it’s more of an “ousiiiii”. She gets her point across though, and we have been spending a lot more time in the if not great, at least reasonable, outdoors. As the pictures attest to, there is a wee bit of desperation in our outdoor escapades – you’ll note a general absence of any other living souls in the vicinity of the camera. Ah well, she’s got Winnipegers for parents. That’ll learn ya, kid, toughen ya up.

A big hit in the great wide world has been Kiyomi’s footwear. Specifically her froggy rubber boots with great big eyes that stare up at you (thanks to Nana for that find). Not only do they amuse Kiyomi to no now end, people seem to notice her boots before anything else about her. Of course, given that it’s -10, it’s not so surprising all you can see peeking out of the layers of clothes, hats, mites, are the eyes from her bright green rubber boots (it’s April gosh darn it, we’re getting out).

There have been a lot of new indoor games as well. Some attempts at crafts (does anyone know how to get finger paint off cats?) and new uses for household items. The cat bed has become a ‘boat’ which frequently gets pushed up and down the hall (yes, my back is feeling it, thanks for asking). You’d also be surprised how long a toddler is prepared to chase rubber balls or bubbles around a room (thanks to Colette for these latest additions to the toy box). Oh yes, and it would seem Dora has taken root in her toddler mind. I thought we’d escaped it, but it would seem that Nemo has nothing on the Spanish speaking wunderkind. Kiyomi actually talks to Dora while she’s watching the show and screeches “THAAAATTT!!” when something interests her. Kudos to the Dora creators though, it’s actually a show that has toddlers interacting with the tv. Don’t know how they managed that, but it’s impressive to watch. Now, if they could only get the subliminal messages going to teach them how to use the potty and clean up their toys, we’d be golden.

Speaking of potties (yes, it’s an awkward segue), Kiyomi has started to take a bit of an interest in the whole bathroom routine. Oh, not to the point that she’ll sit on the potty, but she has developed a fascination with watching someone else. You’ve never experienced shy-bladder syndrome until you have a 20 month old yelling “THAAAAT!” as she intently watches you do your business.

We are also now in the countdown for back to work for mommy, so the project du jour has been child care. We’ve visited a few daycares – the coolest of which by the way was the one that had a Where the Wild Things Are 3D mural. I head back the middle of June, so there are still a couple months left. It would seem, however, that finding a daycare is an exercise in compromise. You start with a clear idea of what you’d like regarding location, programming, hours, etc. and you quickly compromise it all because you really just want to make sure that you do indeed have a spot with a care provider that is somewhat competent. Although, I have to confess that for most of the daycares we’ve looked at, Kiyomi will be eating better than she ever eats at home for lunch! Apparently, instant noodles is not a staple at most daycare menus. Go figure?!

Keeping alive one of the traditions of our pkd (pre-kid days), we took advantage of the 4 day Easter weekend to get out of town. The destination this year – Winnipeg, which lived up to its reputation of Winterpeg with a low of -19 on the night we arrived. You know, it might be where we grew up, but I gotta ask, what’s up with that type of weather. We were escaping warmer weather in Ottawa!

I will say that it was sunny the entire time we were there, so at least some of Winnipeg’s stereotypes are pleasant. Kiyomi got to meet a whole whack of new people, including family and friends. She was a real trooper throughout, despite our doing our very best to completely exhaust and overwhelm her. Somehow, she managed to even survive a day without a nap. We thought we were in for it that evening, but thanks to the magic of toddler chemestry, she happily followed around her two newest buddies, Ava and Tessa, without so much as a temper tantrum. Later in the evening, she had her own personal entertainer in Spencer who worked his butt off putting on a fabulous show for her, complete with dancing and silly faces. Let me tell you, Kiyomi was smitten.

After all that, she was pretty exhausted the next day when we met my cousins for brunch, but as luck would have it, Kiyomi’s two favourite toys were present – older kids and a dog – which kept her happy as a clam. A big thanks to Liam, Sophie and Julia for that.

Of course, we are now dealing with the biggest peril of traveling for Kiyomi. It isn’t jet lag, it isn’t a different environment. It’s the fact that when we get home, she expects us to sit in her room with her until she falls asleep, like we do when traveling. This in itself may not be that bad, but for the fact that she fights off sleep to keep an eye on you to make sure your butt is in that chair. It’s particularly much when you walk in the room - after she’s been wailing to wake the dead for the last 10 minutes – and she stops crying instantly and points to the chair with a little grunt that clearly says “that’s better, now sit!” Didn’t I read somewhere that you’re not supposed to let the toddler control the situation? Well, it’s far too late for that around here! Don't let that innocent little face fool you, she rules with a ruthless dictatorship around here.

As for Kiyomi developments, they are pretty much still on course, she’s growing – sprouted two inches in the last three months – and learning all sorts of new tricks. I was pretty shocked when she spontaneoulsy started riding a tricyle at play group the other day. No idea where she learned that. I guess it’s a harbinger of things to come as she increasingly stakes out her independence and learns things independently of Kohji or I. As with everything else, there’s a sadly sweet feeling watching her change before our eyes and become her own little person.

The parting shot for tonight is proof that it's all worth it. Good night from Ottawa.

Herding cats

It’s official. No further research or attempts are required.

Trying to get 9 very excited little girls to sit together on a couch for the length of time it takes to get a picture - which given the number of cameras in the room was actually a considerable length of time – is the equivalent to herding cats on … speed… at night… armed only with a kazoo. It is an impossible task. There is no way to successfully accomplish it, so it’s best to take what you can get in such endeavors. Hence, here is the best picture available from the Chinese New Year celebration.

In truth, if I had the space, and the patience, it’s actually quite hilarious to see all of the attempted pictures in succession. Nothing spells hilarity like 12 adults trying to get 9 little girls to sit still… and smile… for a picture, especially when said little girls are dressed in rather slippery silk and seem to slink down the couch as soon as released. Ah well, no one said parenting would be easy.

Despite the rather ill-conceived picture adventure, a good time was had by all at the first (hopefully annual) celebration with friends from the adoption community. The girls were adorable decked out in their traditional gear, and the wattage from the beaming parents could have powered a whole city for a month. We were treated to some really good food from the Northern Han (a wonderful suggestion from Valerie) and a wonderful song in Mandarin from Allie (who put on a stellar performance of a song she learned in her Mandarin class). The girls all whooped in up and seemed to enjoy the barely contained chaos of 9 little girls feeding of each others excitement.

The only hiccup of the evening for us was when Kiyomi had her first real attack of stranger anxiety. Emerging from her Maru-Maru tent – temporarily set up in the living room for the girls to play in – and seeing neither Kohji nor I in the room sent her into a wee bit of a tailspin, and she made darn sure we were close at hand for the rest of the evening. She seems to have started into a bit of a separation anxiety phase, with a mommy preference. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t music to my ears given all the horror stories regarding attachment and bonding that you hear about during the adoption process (that and a damn undergrad paper on maternal deprivation)! For the moment, anyway, she only shows mild signs of stranger anxiety and is usually pretty quick to get over them, so we’re not too fussed about it.

The week after the party, the whole fan-damily headed out to the wilds of BC for a week of skiing at Silverstar Mountain Resort. While we had been up to Le Massif for a weekend earlier in February, Silverstar was more or less our inaugural attempt at a ski vacation. We went with a group of friends, so Kohji and I each had people to ski with when we traded off skiing half days, and in the end, it worked out well. The first couple of days were a little tough (not helped by about 10 cms of fresh powder and our luggage getting waylaid for half a day), with each of us kinda itchin’ to hit the slopes, but all in all skiing half days worked out reasonably well. Kiyomi had a great time hanging out with her buddy Ella, and pretty much happily followed her around the condo most of the time. When she wasn’t shadowing Ella, she turned everyone in the room into her personal readers. By the end of the week, it’s safe to say that not a single one of the adults really cared where the heck Maisy was!

Upon returning to Ottawa, we were all promptly hit with a lovely little flu. In one of those wonderful parenting moments, we discovered that Kiyomi had the flu when she threw up all over her dinner (and her dad). Sure, she was crying, and tired and cranky, but we chalked it up to jetlag and hunger because she seemed to stop her crying long enough to take a bite. That was, of course, until said bites of dinner (and of her mid-afternoon snack) came right back up again. It wasn’t until a couple days later, when Kohji was laying on the kitchen floor clutching a bucket and I was popping in a video for Kiyomi at 10 am because I couldn’t sit up long enough to read her a book without feeling nauseous that it dawned on us, hey, maybe she had the flu? Ah, proud parenting moments indeed.

Despite our parenting ineptitude, Kiyomi seems to be toddling along quite well, picking up new tricks and skills all the time. Her comprehension is pretty impressive now. You can ask her to do things, and she will actually do them. I know, I know, this is a very short lived stage, and pretty soon, she'll be ignorning me entirely. However, for the moment, I never tire of watching her toddle to the kitchen, open the cupboard and throw something in the trash on command. It's reached a point where we'll have to start watching what we say though, especially given her latest pronouncments. I'm not sure where she learned it (I swear!), but she seems to have started saying "ash hoo" over and over again. Not sure if it is indeed what it sounds like, but if it is, it means we've been baaaad parents, yet again!

Well, that’s probably more than enough info about this little family for one post. The parting shot tonight is proof positive that Kiyomi will be a skier! Good night from Ottawa.

Chinese New Year - Year of the Pig (or Boar)

GONG XI FA CAI

This weekend marks the turn of the lunar calendar. On February 18th, 2007, the calendar officially changes over from the year of the dog to the year of the pig. Chinese New Year is a time of celebration with family and loved-ones. For our family, this marks the first one we will celebration all together.

We have a couple of celebrations planned for the weekend, including a get together with our travel group (don't worry pictures of all the beautiful girls in their dresses will be forthcoming). We have a little red (colour of celebration) and plan on seeing friends and loved-ones (the pivotal part of the new year celebrations). We may not get around to the deep cleaning (cleanse away bad spirits), but we've got lots of feasting on the agenda and will toast the passing of a year of amazing good fortune and happiness, while welcoming one overflowing with new adventures, challenges and happiness.

Kiyomi, Kohji and I hope the year of the pig brings you health, happiness, prosperity... and lots of laughter.

Six months already ?!?!

Six months have come and gone in a flash. It’s hard to believe that it’s been over six months since Kiyomi’s been with us. I think I can speak for Kohji and I, and our respective families, when I say it feels like she’s just always been here. In early January, we had our 2nd last meeting with our social worker, which is a required 6-month report. Pretty painless and short, interrupted only by the arrival of a package from Nana, containing Kiyomi’s very own singing frog (apparently, they're not just for Christmas anymore).

I’ll admit, I haven’t been that good at updating regularly. To be honest, there hasn’t been a lot new and exciting. It’s winter in Canada – staying inside, sipping cocoa, skiing and snowshoeing, that’s what we do in winter. Singing frogs notwithstanding, we’ve been pretty much getting down to the business of hunkering down for the winter.

While she hasn’t tried snowshoing – or hot chocolate for that matter – Kiyomi has been skiing a number of times now and seems to enjoy (aka tolerate) the baby glider. There isn’t a tone of enthusiasm, nor are there any complaints, so we’re assuming it’s a somewhat enjoyable activity for her. On our most recent expedition, it was -17 outside, so it was quite the endeavour. All there was of Kiyomi was a nose and eyes peeking out from underneath layers of clothing and two sleeping bags. Most people who peeked in were able to see her toy monkey better than they were able to see her little eyes peeking back at them.

Waiting for the snow to fall, we did head out for a morning at the Canadian Aviation Museum. If you’re looking for a place to let your kids run wild, this is it. A big open hanger, with huge airplanes and tons of room to run, run, run. Kiyomi took little interest in the planes, but she did like having the space to test her new found running skills. She especially loved making friends with a couple of older girls who seemed to take an interest in her from the get-go. Before we knew it, they were fast friends, giggling away together.

This past weekend, we headed out to the wilds of central Ontario for the annual Lumina Lodge excursion (after spending some time in Thunder Bay in my formative years, I refuse to call Algonquin Park northern Ontario). It was a small, but hardy, group this year with only us and the 3 Ms. The star for Kiyomi was Mika, and the two girls once again proved that you can have a ton of fun with a … scarf. If I had only known, I wouldn’t have bothered with the whole toy thing and given Kiyomi a box of scarves. A good time was had by all, although poor uncle Martin was suffering not only from a cold, but a mild overdose of Nyquil which kept him uncharacteristically in the cabin.

As for Kiyomi developments, well the words keep coming, as does the coordination, or at least a reasonable facimile thereof. She probably has a repertoire of 3 dozen words, and seems to be learning more and more everyday. The coordination is amazing. She can now climb a step stool all on her own and has been working rather earnestly at jumping. She still climbs everything in sight, but with much more confident and stability now. We’re not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing – one of us is still trying to ensure that she never takes to rock climbing.

Another interesting development is a greater interest in cuddling and hugs. While she’s been acquiesing to hugs when asked for a while now, she has started in the last couple of weeks to initiate hugs and want to cuddle. It’s heartmelting and will make either of us stop in our tracks to be on the receiving end of one of those hugs. Kiyomi has also started to ever so slightly ‘make-strange’. Not an unexpected development at her age, but for those of you who know anything about adoption, it is one of the last milestones to knowing that there has been a firm and stable attachment.

All and all, we’re starting to get glimpses of the little girl inside the baby, and it’s thrilling, frightening and a wee bit sad all at the same time. She’s outgrowing her clothes, getting taller, rounder and working at growing-up, and we can’t stop it (although sometimes when we’re pulling all 25 pounds of her in the baby glider, we sure would like to)! There is, alas, no stopping time and as thrilling as it is to see her learning and growing, there is always a little good-bye to the baby she was.

As for upcoming events, well, the biggy is on February 18 – Chinese New Year. This one promises to be a fair bit different than last year. There is so much to celebrate this year, that we’ve decided to have a party with our travel group and have a little family celebration in honour of the year of the Pig.

The parting shot for tonight is of one of those rare Canadian creatures... the elusive purple snow bunny. Good night from Ottawa.