Big Eyes

When we were in China adopting Choe, we were stopped by a lot of Chinese people who remarked about how big Chloe's eyes were. Little did we know at the time, but now when we look at those photos, we can see that she was scared. Nevertheless, her eyes are a bit rounder than the average Chinese eye and we still hear remarks about Chloe's "big eyes".

Earlier this evening, Chloe went upstairs to her room to put on her pajamas. She likes to do this at least an hour before bed, often even before her bath. Tonight I noticed that she was dressing in the dark and I remembered that Chloe is afraid of the dark. I turned the light on and said, "Chloe, what are you doing dressing in the dark?" She replied, "It's OK Mom. I have BIG EYES!" Then she proceeded to turn the light back off.

Preschool Open House

Chloe and Pearl both attend the same preschool. Chloe goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Pearl attends on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Chloe was very jealous last year when Pearl went on stage to perform and she couldn't go, but this year was different. Chloe had so much fun and we all enjoyed ourselves. Monday evening was the Open House and it was very crowded.

Solvang

Sunday we returned home from a weekend of camping in Santa Barbara. On our way home we stopped by Solvang, a Danish American community. This tourist town is lots of fun and very charming. We enjoyed a nice lunch and lots of window shopping.

El Capitan Canyon

Kern County Fair

On September 26th, Pete took Chris and the girls to the Kern County Fair.

3 Birthdays and a Moon Festival

September 22nd and September 23rd was a very busy weekend. Chloe and Pearl celebrated Jack and Patty's birthday on September 22. Jack turned 6 and Patty turned 5. The very next day, they attended Keeley's birthday celebration. Keeley turned 4. All of the kids know each other from daycare.

After Keeley's birthday party, we all went to a celebration of the Chinese Moon Festival in a park. It was hosted by the Kern County Chinese American Association. That isn't the exact name, but it is fairly close. I guess the Chinese community is rather small in Kern County. We ran into Chloe and Pearl's former pediatrician and also their new pediatrician. We had to change doctors when my work changed insurance providers. I even met a couple of work associates. It was a nice gathering, but we didn't get any good photos. Chloe met a little girl and immediately befriended her. Chloe kept leading her around by the hand. I have never seen Chloe behave like that before. They were only one month apart in age.

Preschool Open House & More

Another activity that occured during my blogging hiatus was the Kern County Fair. Pete took Chris and the girls to see it and play on the rides and see the farm animals and eat the food. Since Mom wasn't feeling that great, she was able to rest at home for a couple of hours. Pictures will soon follow (maybe even this evening).

Last night was the open house for the preschool that Chloe and Pearl attend. The girls got up on stage and sang three songs. I was pleasantly surprised to see Chloe singing and going through the motions, even with a big smile on her face. Pearl also did well, but was a bit hidden from view in the back row. These two just love school so much and they really enjoyed showing us all of the craft projects that they have been working on. It was such a fun evening.

Stay tuned. I have some pictures to post this evening and I have more to put together.

Where have we been?

I was doing so well too, blogging at least twice a week, and then BAM!! Nothing. Oh, I let a couple of weeks slip by. I wasn't happy with the pictures I had from the two birthday parties the girls attended or the pictures from the Moon Festival celebration. I wasn't feeling "creative". Then I managed to come down with my first cold of the season. Before you know it, another couple of weeks slipped by. If this is anything like last year, there are another 7 or 8 colds to follow.

But wait, this blog isn't about me. It's about Chloe and Pearl. Their lives haven't stopped. They have been quite busy. Let's see, I mentioned the two birthday parties, the Moon Festival. What else did we do? There were a couple of slow weekends at home and I am sure there were some more outings that I forgot about. Dance class is going great. Last weekend (September 29th), Chris had her photo session for her senior class pictures. They were beautiful and as circumstances dictated, I also had both girls with me, still in their dance outfits from class. The photographer took the opportunity to take a few photos of the girls too, even though this was supposed to be Chris' session. She even took some great pictures of all three together. Once I order them, I will be sure to sneak a picture or two onto the blog.

This past weekend we decided to try "luxury camping". We went to El Capitan Canyon, just north of Santa Barbara. It is camping with cabins and tents already provided. You don't have to bring any gear. There are luxury linens, king size beds, kitchenettes and even room service. It's like a hotel room in a campground. There were children everywhere and the beach is within walking distance from the front gate. On Saturday night, they had a big BBQ and a band playing great rock and roll dance music. Chloe cried for the first three songs and then decided she was going to have fun, so she asked Daddy to dance and it was all giggles and wiggles from that point on. Pearl loved it from the first moment and both girls were out on the lawn dancing until exhaustion set in (at least for Chloe). Pearl is like the Energizer Bunny. I don't think I have ever seen her tired. Getting her to settle in for bed every night is a little bit challenging because she has to kick and move around a lot before she goes to sleep. These girls had a blast and I have a feeling that we just started an annual tradition.

You will have to be patient a little bit longer. I have some pictures to post, just to prove we really did do all these things. I will start getting them up this week in the evenings....maybe not tonight, because it is Open House at Chloe and Pearl's preschool. Which of course, means more pictures! Until then...........

An Ordinary Weekend

This was one of those weekends to just hang out around the house. We started off Saturday morning by going to the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast. We had to go a little early since the girls had dance class afterward. Since we were early, we didn't get to socialize with as many of the local citizenry, but we did see the girls' preschool teacher, the town judge and a few friends.

Today was the first day of dance class for Chloe and Pearl. We decided to split the girls up this year so that they wouldn't goof off together like they were beginning to do near the end of last season. They seemed to do just fine being apart.

The rest of the weekend was spent just playing around the house and going to the park. Chloe and Pearl played dress-up with a Dorothy outfit and a princess outfit. They really had fun doing that. Mom and Dad even managed to fit in a movie (with Chris).

My Heart is Melting

Chloe has been asking me to "Check up" on her in preschool. Tuesday, I told her I would and then promptly forgot. Boy, did she remind me that evening!

Today, I wrote it on my calendar to be sure not to forget to stop by and see her in preschool. I arrived around 10 AM and just watched her from a distance for awhile. She was in the "Art Room" with two other children. The rest of the kids were in the main room.

Staff encouraged me to go in, so I walked up to Chloe and she had this disappointed look on her face. She asked, "Why are you taking me away?". I told her that I wasn't here to take her home, but rather to just check on her like I promised. She gave me a big smile and a hug and exclaimed "Mommy, you are getting bigger!" (Just what I wanted to hear) I think she meant it as a compliment.

I fastened her shoe and she ran off into the other room, leaving me behind with one of her teachers. Mrs. White turned to me and expressed what an adorable child she thought Chloe was. Of course, I took it to mean that my child was the most adorable child in the world. She then mentioned that Chloe nearly brought her to tears when she told her the story of her mommy and daddy going to China to get her when she was a little baby. Chloe has such a sweetness and she is so proud of her story and sharing it, that it just melts my heart.

Another Day of Celebration

Well, it seems as though Chris and Pete and many others had a great day of sailing. Pete was tired and sore. They arrived home the next day, so Mom and the girls didn't get a chance to celebrate Chris' birthday with her. We decided to go out to dinner and couldn't find a restaurant without long lines outside in 105 degree heat. Finally, we decided to try our favorite local Teppan restaurant. At 4:30, we made reservations for 5:30 and then we drove across town to buy Chloe and Pearl new shoes for school and dance class. Both girls loved their new shoes and we got back just in time for dinner.

We had been avoiding this place, largely because we didn't think Chloe would behave herself, but tonight she was great. Chloe and Pearl were amazed at the tricks performed by our chef and they really had fun playing with the chopsticks. It turned out to be a fun evening for the whole family.

After we came home, we celebrated Chris' birthday with another cake (lemon was all I could find on short notice) and some presents. I think Chloe and Pearl enjoyed it as much as Chris.

Chris' Birthday

Saturday September 1st was Chris' 17th birthday. We wanted to do something special, so we planned a day of sailing in Ventura with Pete's friend Marc. Marc is the only sailor we know and he is also a good friend, so he didn't mind spearheading this whole undertaking. We decided the girls were too young and out of control for this trip, so Mom stayed home with them. Fortunately, Chris took some pictures, so that I do have something to post. Perhaps in a few years, we can do this with Chloe and Pearl.

Forever Family Day

August 28th 2007 is the one year anniversary of our life with Pearl. We will never forget the moment we first met her. It had been a very rough few days for us preceeding that. We were sick and Pete's brother had just passed away unexpectedly when we arrived in Beijing.

Pearl was so thin. She had a big smile on her face and she walked right up to the three of us (we had Chloe). She approached Pete first and addressed him as "Baba", then she looked at me and called me "Mama". Then she looked at Chloe and called her "Mei Mei" which means little sister. She seemed so happy to see us. We immediately left the small conference room and were given a tour of the orphanage and we met her teachers/nannies. She proudly showed us off to everyone we met. It wasn't until we headed for the van to go, that she began to realize she was leaving the only home she had ever known for three and a half years, and she started to cry. Fortunately, it didn't last long.

Following is a list of adjectives describing Pearl starting with the letters of her name:

P = pretty (we knew she was cute, but didn't expect her to be so photogenic)
E = enthusiastic (this girl has enough energy and excitement for two kids)
A = amiable (she is eager to please and has a friendly disposition)
R = restless (she is always on the go and fidgets constantly, even in her sleep)
L = loveable (she is very engaging and charming...what a doll)

Pearl is a joy to have around and it is especially great to see the love between her and her little sister Chloe. We are so lucky to parent these two girls. Here's to another wonderful year with our daughters from China.

Chloe's First Day of School

Pearl started her second year of preschool yesterday, but today was the very first day of school for Chloe. She has been very excited about this day for a very long time. She has also been amazingly fussy and impossible this week. I don't know if the two are related, but she did express some fears yesterday about "bad kids" being mean to her.

We reassured her as only parents can and prepared her as best we could the night before. We took her to the school this morning and I think there were at least two adults for every child there. The first 15 minutes was just playing in the playground and we took an opportunity to take a couple of pictures. Every few minutes, Chloe would ask "Are you checking on me?", because of course, I told her yesterday that I would check on her. Finally, she looked at us and said we could go home now; she was fine. After being dismissed, we left, apparently earlier than most of the other parents. I think Chloe is gonna be just fine.

Long Weekend

Well, it was just another two-day weekend, but it felt very long. We had a nice dinner out on Friday with Chris after dropping the girls off at "A Good Time Out". Saturday morning we got up early and drove two hours to the LA Zoo to meet up with some friends. On the way, we got into a small accident when a teenager didn't notice us at a stop sign and ran into the back of us. We had to wait for his parents to come before we could leave. After that, we still arrived 15-20 minutes early at the zoo.

David is a friend of mine from high school. Denise is his wife from Taiwan and they have two wonderful little boys, Damian and Ian. We met up at the zoo and proceeded to watch the animals. It was hot and sweltering and we had some afternoon reprieve with a bit of cloud cover. Both Chloe and Pearl took turns having meltdowns and now Mom was so agitated that she cancelled next week's plans for the girls. We probably won't be going to any zoos or amusement parks for a few months. Next week, Pete is taking Chris sailing for her birthday with his friend Marc.

Sunday, we hung out around the house and played together. We figured out how to get 'Skype' going on the computer with video, so Chris was able to talk with her parents in China and see them on video for free. We also called our first exchange student, Daisy, who was also in China. It was fun to show her the girls and to see her again.

That's about it for this weekend. I'm ready to get back to work. Tomorrow, Pearl starts preschool.