Good stuff

A big congratulations is due to our Drama Queen.  She won Best Classical Monologue at her Juries yesterday.  Great stuff!  And if you are confused (like I was) Juries are when all the students in the theater department - Freshmen through Seniors - present a classical and a contemporary monologue to an audience and a judge.  Yesterday's judge was Jane Brody, who teaches acting at The Theatre School and has been an award winning casting director for films like Fargo and Groundhog Day.  So it's pretty great that she judged Drama Queen's Lady MacBeth as the best classical piece of the show.  So proud!

(No pictures of her because she's camera shy)

As for little one, I think I am going to start calling her Stinkerbell.  I found the nickname on a friend's blog, and it suits her perfectly!  She is into everything!  We are getting a second opinion on her leg this week, so for now we're just living life.

Zoe is making major progress on the mobility front.  My big brother and his wife gave her an enormous teddy bear - bigger than her.  Who could have known it would be the perfect therapy tool?  Zoe sat on it (as any toddler would) and realized she felt safe there.  So she started standing up on her own.

She was sooooo proud!

Since then she has been standing alot - even without the bear.  Two days ago Drama Queen swears she saw her take a step on her own.  She'll be walking any day now.



The other day my boys wanted to make Peanut Butter Balls for some friends who have moved into the neighborhood.  They had a blast, and so did little sis:

She decided to tell them how to do the job.

And once more, some random pics of cuteness for your viewing pleasure:

Shriners and Social Workers

Things have been rolling along very well in our new family of 7.  Zoe continues to make amazing gains in her physical and language development.  She yells GeGe (brother) when she wants their attention, and she says - very quietly - Night Night and Bye Bye at bedtime.  I swear she understands everything we say.  She can say Nose and Eyes, and point to the appropriate feature, and she says Uh-Oh when she drops something - especially if it makes a big noise.

Zoe loves music, and will wave her hands in the air when she hears a song she likes.  She also likes the piano, and mostly doesn't pound (thank goodness).

We had her first post-adoption visit with her social worker.  China requires multiple reports ranging from 1 month to 5 years after adoptions.  Along with the report we needed some photographs, so we quick got together a family picture:

It turned out pretty well, I think.

Yesterday was Zoe's first visit to Shriners Hospital in Chicago to have her limb length discrepancy addressed.  We didn't even have x-rays, so had very little idea what was going on inside that leg and foot.  It turns out that Zoe has Fibular Hemimelia, aka longitudinal fibular deficiency.  Basically, Zoe has no fibula in her right leg, her right femur is slightly short, and she has a 2-ray foot.  However, her tibia looks strong and straight, if short (about 7 cm short right now, with a projected difference over 6 inches by the time she stops growing).


The doctors and nurses at Shiners were very kind, and spent all the time we needed to answer questions about our options.  We have two.  One is limb lengthening, which would involve two 6 or 7 months sessions of stretching her leg bone, one when she is 7 or 8 years old and one when she is about 13.  The problem with this is that her little foot will probably not be able to support her appropriately as she grows up.  The other option is amputation of her little foot at the ankle and a prosthetic lower limb.  The problem with this one is, well, it's an amputation of a cute little foot that we all rather like - especially Zoe.  Either option will involve hard things, so we are taking some time to pray and consider before we make a choice.

I do know this - Zoe is an ambitious, persistent little girl who REALLY wants to walk, and to run.  One of our goals will be to get her up and walking as soon as possible.  After observing her for a little while yesterday, her social worker suggested the word Driven to describe her personality, and we agreed.

So - after all that heavy info, how about some great cuteness to brighten your day?

Ready for Winter

Scooting around in the great new coat Grandma and Grandpa gave her.

Playing Smash with Daddy

Love how her hair is getting longer!

Our Community

Yesterday we introduced Zoe to our church, and our wonderful church community welcomed her with great enthusiasm.  The Man and I shared our testimony of God's goodness at the beginning of the service.

Our wonderful pastors welcomed her.

 And multiple people came up to bless her.

We are truly blessed to be part of such a wonderful church family.

Zoe really liked the music during worship - she went along with The Man as he paced back and forth like he usually does.

After a while of the walking and the music, she fell asleep.

What a cutie!

Later in the day some good friends came over and played with Zoe - she quite liked all the attention. Though when they arrived she was a bit of a mess!

We got her cleaned up and they played for a while.

My good friend Sonia has a wonderful idea for helping young people remember their identities.  She has come up with some label designs for clothing, meant to be worn on jeans or other items.  Sonia gave Zoe her first prototype:

Isn't is great on a pair of overalls?

Sonia would love to have more people wearing her identity labels.  If you're interested, leave a comment and I'll get you in touch with her.

New Things

Zoe's life lately has been full-to-the-brim of new things.  New brothers, new sister, new foods (cold foods), new language, animals in the house (she LOVES the dog and cats, they don't so much like her much), gifts to open, people, friends, a car seat.  Considering all the new things, she is adjusting amazingly well.

We continue to discover new things about Zoe.  She loves to have her legs and feet rubbed and lotioned.  She adores music, and will sing La La La whenever music comes on.  She likes to drum with her daddy's drumsticks.  She loves baths.  She hates cribs.  She very much likes to be clean.  She understands just about everything we say to her, and she's starting to repeat sounds.  She gets sad at night sometimes.

Zoe has passed several milestones since we've known her - her first scoot (becoming mobile) December 7.  Her first pulling to stand December 20.  Her first standing alone (she was so proud!) December 27.  Her first cruising - from the couch to the footstool - December 29.  Notice a trend here?  She's definitely on the move!

Here's a couple cutie pie pictures for your enjoyment:

MMMM - Oatmeal!

And speaking of new things - The Artist was cast as Edmund in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.  He's thrilled to have such a major role, and decided to get an Edmund haircut.

Here is he before the cut  - looking handsome but shaggy.

And after - a perfect Edmund - and a pretty cute Artist!

No. 1 Son is also in the show - as a evil wolf and as Father Christmas.  No haircut allowed for him.  If you are local and can come see the show, it should be great.  Click here for more info.  We'd love to see you there!

A Beautiful Christmas

A very Blessed Christmas to everyone!  I hope your holiday was full of joy and the presence of our Saviour.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve - some good friends came over and we sang carols and hung around together.  Drama Queen accompanied us on the piano.

We've discovered that Zoe likes to sing.  She La-la-la's right along with us when there is music.

Our gifts were up on a table to keep little hands from demolishing them too soon - here's a pic of our tree.

The Artist had wrapped most of the presents that were not for him.  He got into making them interesting and beautiful - here are some examples of his ribbon art attachments for the gifts.  I love how he thinks outside the box!

Our lingering jet lag made for an early Christmas morning - we woke Drama Queen up at 6:00 am to join the rest of us for presents.

The Man's sister and her family came in from Nebraska.  Zoe had a good time getting to know her cousin - trading her bear and doll back and forth.

We ended our day with dinner in Chinatown.  It was busy over there - we weren't the only people with the idea.  It was a wonderful Christmas!  Hope yours was wonderful too.

Winter Wonderfest

One of the only things the boys asked to do for our shortened Christmas season was go to the Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier, so the other day I took them, Zoe and a friend and headed downtown.  It was busier than I had hoped, but they still had a good time. 

Z-Man loves the slides.

There was a skating rink, which The Artist and Z-Man both tried out.  Their friend was a much more experienced skater, so he helped Z get moving on the ice.

Zoe watched from the sidelines.

She got to enjoy throwing around foam balls - it only took one or two times of showing her for her to catch on.

She's adjusting well to life here in Chicagoland.  She keeps waking up around 3:00 AM, which is a challenge for Mama, but that will end eventually.  In the meantime she's definitely making herself at home.

Still on China time

I feel like my body still wants to live on China time.  Zoe is having the same problem.  She woke up at 3:30 this morning, and we began our day.  They she took a 5 hour nap this afternoon/evening.  I joined her for the nap - it makes the 3:30 do-able.

Zoe had a fun bath last night - she doesn't even mind water on her face!

She was in a great mood afterward and played with Drama Queen.

Today she and Z-Man had a nice game of chase going - until I got too close and distracted her.  Here's a little video I took.  To see it click HERE.

Maybe tomorrow we'll be on a more normal schedule?