One year together! - Our favorite things!

Note that this blog entry is a work in progress. I started it on our adoption anniversary and meant to finish it right up and then post it. But, sigh, 3 weeks have gone by and I haven't finished yet, so I'm going to go ahead and post it and then do updates (yeah, sure). -Andrea

In honor of one year together, here are some of our favorite things from this past year:

Bella's favorite color: Blue!

Bella's favorite animal: Doggies! She loved our doggies from the first and continues to love to watch doggies of all types.

Bella's favorite toy: Mama and Daddy! Doggies! Boxes! Bottles and Jars! Anything Mama or Daddy didn't really want her to find! Okay, her favorite toy that was originally intended as such would have to be either Bubbles, or her Eeyore on wheels. Eeyore was a hand-me-down, and boy were we happy Susie passed it on to us! Before she could walk Bella used Eeyore to become mobile. Once she was walking well we thought she might turn to other things, but she still uses Eeyore several times a week. The velcro tail is a great attraction as well.

Bella's favorite game: Chasing! as in "Chasing Daddy!" "Chasing Mama" "Chasing Zima!" Usually this chasing involves one of us holding her and doing the actual legwork of the chase. Sometimes, though, she will go self-propelled on rolling Eeyore. Zima (dog) thinks this is great fun. Iris runs and hides.

Mama and Daddy's favorite mess avoiders:
Doggies! They clean up the floor around Bella's chair pretty much instantly and also often do the intial cleanup of the tray and dishes (the social workers aren't reading this, right?).
Long sleeved Bib! This is an amazing thing for catching all the yummy yogurt messes!

Favorite books:
A Mother for Choco, by Keiko Kasza. This is the bestest adoption book for wee ones!

The Big Dog and Little Dog books by Dav Pilkey (of Captain Underpants fame). These are sooo funny! And they are the earliest books with plots that a child can understand. It will NOT drive parents crazy to read these a thousand times! Seriously, I read these to my adult friends before I even had kids (okay, so I'm a little weird).

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. This is a classic, and for good reason. The repetition and the monkeys make this oh so fun! Not sure what the monkeys are doing in what is obviously Eastern Europe, but I'll let that pass. Thanks to our friend Richard for this book.

My Friends, by Taro Gomi. "I learned to sing from my friends the birds.... I learned to watch the night sky from my friend the owl... I learned to read from my friends the books. I learned to play from my friends at school.... I learned to love from a friend like you." Awwwww!

A Chair for my mother, by Vera B. Williams. Bella just loves this recently, wants to read it most every night. It is about a family saving their money for a big, soft chair, after everything is destroyed in a fire. The pictures are wonderful and so is the story, but it isn't really meant for a 2 year old. I think maybe it is the fascination with the scary that a lot of kids have (and adults). Not sure. It is a lovely book, though; Vera B. Williams is wonderful!

Belly Button Book! by Sandra Boynton. 'Nuff said!

Snuggle Puppy (a love song), by Sandra Boynton. This is the most wonderful book for professing out and out love! You do have to be able to sing, though. Well, anyway, the whole book is a song. I just made up a tune. We both love it!

Wow! City! by Robert Neubecker. This book has huge, bright, busy pictures of a little girl named Izzy's first trip to The City. Everything is exciting! There are fire engines, subways, dinosaurs (in a museum) and a parade with a huge dragon! And there is a yellow dog to be found somewhere on every page. Highly recommended!

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. This has been a favorite for many months. She doesn't pick it out as often now, but she did just last night at a friend's house. An "old favorite"!


Favorite thing of all: Each Other (awwww!)

One year ago...

One year ago we met in China!

It is hard to believe a year has gone by so quickly.

We are so happy to be a family!

It doesn't seem like nearly a year has passed. And yet Bella has changed so much! And of course we have changed, too.

We love you sooo much, Bella!