Chinese New Year

While not up to celebrating a fully traditional Chinese New Year, we did our best to start some traditions of our own for Cara to grow up with. So I picked up a tray of traditional sweets, some decorations for the door, a big bag of oranges, just some simple stuff to brighten up the house. And we bought her a brand-new outfit. Actually new, not from the consignment shop.


Of course, we got the clothes a bit big, since Cara had just gone through a major growth spurt. Recently her growth has slowed down considerably, although she is still outgrowing clothes. Mysteriously enough, she doesn't seem to be growing into many of the new clothes. But we know she will eventually. Meanwhile we can roll up the sleeves a bit, tuck in the shirt and as long as she has something to carry, Cara is ready to go.




The New Year is also a time for family visits. C was off for the month on Feb on a work trip, but one of J's sisters in Ohio kindly volunteered to come to Seattle to help out and meet her neice. They had a good time together, and Auntie C enjoyed reading to Cara. The downside of the visit was that Cara grew increasingly fussy during her Aunt's visit and, unusually, woke up a few times in the middle of the night. We later discovered an emerging molar was the cause of all the unhappiness. But the visit was still a good one, and J appreciated the wonderful job her sister did cleaning up the yard.



C's dad also lent a helping hand and made a trip north to see his granddaughter. She was delighted to see him as always and enjoyed a few extra trips to the park. We took advantage of a sunny day and went to the zoo. Cara is still indifferent to most of the animals, finding looking at the other children much more interesting. But what she really enjoyed was getting to push her stroller. Better keep an eye on those car keys! Many thanks also to Grandpa F for his hard work finishing the new windows and trim in the living room.

Trip to the snow

The third major event of January was Cara's first visit to the snow. Some friends invited us to join them at a cabin near Leavenworth for some kid and adult fun in the snow. We had been wanting to get out skiing with Cara and the opportunity to go with some seasoned outdoor families was too goo to pass up.


The trip didn't get off to the best start. We thought we were being clever by leaving Seattle at Cara's bedtime, figuring she would sleep in the car and then be easily transported into the cabin to fall back asleep in her portable crib. We were right about sleeping in the car, but once in the cabin she was having none of going to sleep in this strange place. It was a long night. Luckily some people thought to bring earplugs.

We were all pretty tired the next day, although Cara gradually relaxed and started to enjoy herself in the cabin. The day's outing was pretty much limited to the area around the cabin where we did a few short sled runs, made snow angels and dragged Cara around on the back of the sled. She wasn't really sure what to make of this cold white stuff, especially on very little sleep. But we have a feeling she'll get more used to it.


Saturday night we all got some much needed sleep, and Cara even got a short nap on Sunday morning as we started to clear out of the cabin. After lunch we finally attempted our primary goal of the trip - to ski with Cara in her Chariot, the amazing multi-sport kid trailer. Mostly we've been using it as a bike trailer, but some friends lent us the ski attachment. It went together easily and we were soon gliding along, with Cara being pulled by her Dad.



And with Cara screaming. She just wasn't a happy camper in her snug little pod. We skiied for a bit more, trying to go faster, find some hills, anything... And just as we were about to turn around to go back to the car, she fell asleep. So C and I had a nice little ski tour along the river and got back to the car just as Cara was waking up.

Being back in the car was a huge improvement as far as Cara was concerned. She had a snack and fell soundly asleep for most of the ride home.

Talking

January definitely was a month for some major milestones as it brought not only walking but also Cara's first two words. It probably took us a day or so to realize that when Cara said "mama" (or often "amama") was not just random babbling, but she was actually referring to someone. Or someones - she definitely uses for both her parents, and when I showed her Ms. A's Christmas card (with a picture of Ms. A with her sons) Cara also said "mama". But she definitely has the idea that we as a select group of people have a name.

Her second word was quite obvious, and has gotten a lot more exercise. "Uh oh!" is now the favorite expression. Context appropriate of course, when she has purposefully dropped her cup off from her chair. She taught it to her friend Isabel, and Ms. A got a kick out of the two of them uh-oh'ing away at lunch. We're still waiting for the first sentence which is bound to be "Uh oh, Mama!".

Walking

Soon after the New Year Cara decided that walking really was preferable to crawling and, except for an occasional scoot, she's been up on two legs ever since. As expected, the best part of walking upright is that Cara can carry things.

Little things aren't so exciting, since after all she could crawl okay with a spoon or a small stuffed animal in her hand. She even managed to crawl with a small book. But her laundry basket? Now that's really something!



Cara's also become more attached to her stuffed animals, so of course they get carried around a bunch too. And we've discovered why so many toys come with handles - all the better for carrying them!

The downside to her fascination with carrying things is that the house quickly becomes littered with everything that Cara can get her hands on. Those slippers could be almost anywhere.

Re-adoption

Beside playing with lots of new toys and enjoying having Mom and Dad around, the week between Christmas and New Year's Day saw another important event in Cara's life. While our adoption of Cara in Taiwan is fully legal and binding, there are many benefits to re-adopting her in the US, including providing her with a Washington State Birth Certificate and a legal name change. Our social worker recommended an excellent lawyer who completed the paper work quite quickily, so before the end of the year we were able to appear before a judge and finalize the readoption.

The big surprise of our court appearance was finding ourselves with the judge who married us a little over 10 years! A really wonderful coincidence.

Toys, Toys, Toys!

So about those toys... As you may be able to tell from the background in the photos, we're mostly natural material type people. Wood floors, wool rugs, nuetral paint tones. But Cara is definitely changing our decorating scheme and we have had a sudden infusion of large, brightly painted toys, many of them plastic. And Cara is definitely having a good time with them.


Mommy and Daddy's big gift this year was something called The Learning Home, probably with a TM symbol. It's a simple door she can go through, a window that opens and closes, a mailbox and other fun little bits that she can interact with. She seems to enjoy it, and the electronic noises it makes aren't driving Mom and Dad crazy.

Then there is the walker that converts to a scooter from Grandma and Grandpa L. Complete with fun shapes to twirl and move around, plus a horn to get us slow-pokes out the way!



We also have plenty of additions to the wood collection, both natural and brightly colored. Craig found this wonderful xylophone in Norway, and Grandma and Grandpa M have started her wooden block collection. Lots of fun things for all of us to play with.

Christmas

Both C and I have many fun memories of Christmas growing up, and although we don't celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday there is something irresistible about enjoying the traditions of the season. We held a Solstice Open House in mid-December as a fun way to get together with friends and co-workers, and as a side effect we decorated the house in holiday cheer. We risked putting up a full-size Christmas tree, and fortunately Cara has been content to look at the (unbreakable) ornaments on the lower branches and otherwise leave this new addition to the living room alone. She didn't even do much to the present that gradually accumulated under the tree, except to pull off a few tags and inspect some of the brightly wrapped gifts.


Seattle has a tradition of Christmas ship cruises that visit local waterfront parks and carol (over loudspeakers) the listeners on the shore. We took Cara to one of the spots on Christmas Eve eve, and stood in the cold drizzle, listening to the music. Cara enjoyed the experience, including looking at the bright lights reflected on the dark water and feeling the wind blowing. She loves music and was swaying to some of the tunes. A luckily she isn't old enough to question the bizarre tradition of listening to music out in the cold and wet - definitely not a Taiwanese tradition.


Christmas Eve, after our traditional trip downtown to Pike Place Market, was time for more lights. A street near us turns into Candy Cane Lane in the weeks around Christmas, and since it wasn't raining, we took a walk to look at the lights and decorations. Cara enjoyed the lights and the Nutcracker figures (the theme for the year) as well as looking at all the other families who had the same idea.


As we put our little girl to bed that night, we thought about how in future years she will be putting out her stocking and asking about Santa coming. But this year Mom and Dad were far more excited by Christmas than our daughter. Part of the evening was spent in what will probably become a tradition of assembling Cara's toys.


And she had fun on Christmas Day! Santa, Mom, Dad, grandparents and friends all brought many goodies to our house. Enough presents we had to spread out the opening of them over several days. Cara greatly enjoyed opening the gifts (she loves tearing paper), playing with the boxes and, eventually, playing with the toys themselves. It is hard to believe I was once concerned she didn't have enough toys - she has plenty now!