Rosie's 2 Year Old Check Up

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I was really excited to head off to the pediatrician this morning for Rosie's 2 yr old check up because she has changed so much lately that I just couldn't wait for Barbara to see her. I have been thinking that she has gained some weight because now when I carry her for any length of time I have to shift her to the other side however I have also noticed that she is looking a bit thin through the ribs but I just put that down to the fact that she is getting taller.

At 24 months Rosie is now 32 inches tall which puts her in the 10th percentile for height and she now weighs 21 lbs which puts her on the chart finally. She is in the 3rd percentile for weight...very wimpy! In 3 months she has grown 2 inches and lost 1 lb. The Dr is not at all impressed with the weight loss because she really doesn't have any room to lose any and she has had Rosie on a high fat diet for the past 12 months! Since her heart has been fixed now for 4 months she should be gaining weight quite rapidly. So now we are heading back to the hospital to see a pediatric GI specialist who also specialises in nutrition. The Dr thinks it is one of 2 things, either this is just her or something in her diet is reacting with something else and making her get thinner instead of bigger. We will find out shortly as she has an appointment on March 12th. So much for me thinking she is getting heavier...I must be getting weaker.

I am really bummed about all of this. She eats well but her favourite foods are fruits and veggies. Just so that you know I feed the kid this is what she has consumed today.
Breakfast. one whole weetabix with whole milk and a sprinkle of sugar. Half a tangelo.
Snack. Since she had to have 2 shots at the docs which she hated I let her have some yogo's,
Lunch. 2 vienna sausages, cheese, 5 cheetos (purely cos the weight loss has me freaked out) strawberries and a yogurt.
Snack. grapes
Dinner. noodles, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and a whole chicken drumstick and a couple of leftover bites from Lily's, followed by an Edys all natural orange popsicle. I then gave her 3 squares of Cadbury chocolate to get her fat!
Add to this vast amount, 2 large cups of milk and a cup of diluted juice and water.
The kid should look like a sumo wrestler.

She is on or ahead of target for all the 2 yr old milestones so all in all she is doing really well.

There is a little imp that lives in Rosie's crib somewhere and he comes out while she is sleeping and messes with her hair...big time. Rosie has typical asian hair, straight as string and currently very fine so please explain to me why she wakes up in the morning looking like this >>>>>

Rosie sporting her morning woozel.

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Her hair is dry when she goes to sleep and her sheets are cotton so what gives with this woozel of hers?

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Perhaps she does headstands and other gynastic feats throughout the night rendering her head a mess and burning excessive amounts of calories!

Happy Valentines Day

I love, LOVE. Strange thing to say but I love the way it makes you feel. Young love, old love any love I just love it.

I asked the girlies first thing this morning if they would be my Valentines and Lily said yes so of course Rosie said yes too. Lily told me she is always my Valentine, and Daddy's too.

We had a fun day, they got lots of gifts mostly from my clients who spoil them so very much. Rosie got a big ball so we took her to the park to play with it and she ran about forever. Lily is loving her new American Girl book and DVD and of course they loved all the edible goodies and seemed to be on a sugar high for most of the day.

I love my girlies, my hubby too.

Ahhh I just love the warm fuzzy feelings that I get.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

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Everyday when Lily sits down to do her homework she is accompanied by her little sister. I have to give Rosie a workbook and she just sits and works away. Today things were different. I think she really wanted to get on top of things.
The photo is a bit fuzzy cos I dare not stop and focus and faff about I just needed to take the photo and get her little monkey bum down.

Today is the one year anniversary of the day we headed to China to bring Rosie home.

Our Little Money Maker.

A few months ago Lily participated in a Math-a-thon to raise money for St Jude's Children's Research H0spital. Her school sent home a letter explaining what she would need to do and all about St Jude's. As soon as Lily found out that she could help children in a hospital she wanted to do it because "Mummy, Rosie was in a hospital because of her heart so I know it is important."

So I signed her up and a few weeks later her math book arrived along with her sponsor sheet. Since we have absolutely no family around it was tough asking people to sponsor her as I detest asking friends to do this kind of stuff. Anyway she got a few sponsors and we stretched it out to look like more by adding my father and Jeanne individually and throwing in Uncle Mike for good measure even though he had no clue and each night she would sit down and work on her math book. She finished the whole book and got all the answers correct so we gathered up her money and returned it to school. I don't remember exactly what she made but it was in the region of $150

I forgot all about it as it was eons ago but when I picked her up today she was carrying a large bag and wearing an enormous smile. Once she was dismissed she ran to me and could barely contain her excitement or her pride. She had received a certificate of participation from St Jude, a backpack, a t-shirt, a free pass to 6 flags and a radio. All the kids got a certificate and a t-shirt but she got the extra stuff cos she raised more money. She is very proud of herself and we are very proud of her too.


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Lily, all proud.

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Since Rose saw the camera appear she insisted that we take her photo too.

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In A Nutshell.

• I have been busy and just haven't really been near the computer. My camera still refuses to upload videos and it is annoying me to the point to desertion. What is a blog post without Lily and Rosie's photos in it?
• Rosie is now talking in leaps and bounds. Tonight when she saw me set the table she ran into the living room and yelled, "Dinnertime" as clear as a bell.
• Rosie has a cold. It isn't fazing her in the least but the kid is producing snot by the gallon. We have gone through 2 boxes of tissues.
• She is aware of her bodily functions and now when she "pops" she says, "Butt talk" and then she makes a raspberry noise. Very delightful and I am sure it was taught to her by her dad!
• Lily is growing up way to fast. She still makes me giggle on a daily basis. She loves being a big sister but is occasionally a bit too bossy.
• Lily loves to read. She reads anything and everything. I learnt that you shouldn't take a young reader into the card department at Tar#get cos they can read the cards and not all the cards should be read by a 6 yr old. Oopsie.
• Sometimes I just cannot believe that I have 2 kids. It makes me smile when I realise it is true.
• We were planning on moving soon but our house value has sunk to lower than a snakes belly button so it looks as if we might be a bit stuck. Not to worry we like this house but just not Miami. We will move just not quite yet. I don't mind losing a little money to gain alot but this, well this is absurd! I feel like I am on a roller coaster with the move at present.
• One year ago this week we left for China to bring home Rosie. I read the blog posts from a year ago everyday to see how excited we were. I think Jacob and Lily are sick of my morning Tribune.
• I suck at Face*book. It's is to "in your face" for me. It would be like going outside on a windy day with no knickers on.....risky.
• Some fellow bloggers are either in China or very close to heading that way and I just can't wait to see them with their babies in their arms. There is something so very special about Gotcha day.
• That's it, in a nutshell.

Happy Birthday To Our Little Girl.

Rosie officially turned 2 today. We celebrated her birthday on Sunday so this morning she opened her gifts and cards and got on with her busy day being two.

I was thinking earlier about her birth mother. The usual stuff: I wondered if she felt sad, I wonderered if she recognised the day, I hope that somewhere and somehow she knows that her little girl is loved, safe, very happy and always protected. As I was thinking I realised that 2 years ago today, in a faraway land, a woman gave birth to a child, a girl, that she probably already knew that she she couldn't keep. I wondered if she had a name chosen for her child. I wondered if after delivering her if she held her close and breathed in that tiny little soul and whispered her name into her ear. A name that only she knew. That would have been Rosie's first name, a name to accompany her first breath.

Three days later Rosie was taken to an orphanage and given a new name. I am not sure how much thought went into her name but it means, quiet or serene prayer. Such a beautiful name, well I think so. Again, a new name for a start to her new life. Qi Min used that name for 11 months.

A few days after Qi Mins 1st birthday she was taken to the Civil Affairs Office in Guandong Province and given a new name to accompany her through the rest of her life. In addition to being Rose she is now also called, daughter, sister, grand daughter, great grand daughter, niece cousin and friend.

Happy Birthday to my little girl, a girl that has worn so many hats in her little short life. This new hat suits you Rosie Posie and I hope that you always wear it with pride and with your head held high.

Being 2 is an adventure. You will grow in leaps and bounds, your words will start to flow and your personality will blossom even more. The things that you found so hard to do before will suddenly become so easy, you will become a little person with opinions and ideas. We can't wait to see you spread your wings more and more.
We love you, so, so much.

Rosie's Birthday

Rosie Posie will turn 2 on Tuesday. We really can't believe that she is two already. In a couple more days she will have been a member of this nutty family for a whole year. Alas, I digress. Chinese custom states that if you cannot celebrate a birthday on the actual day then it must be celebrated before the actual day and NEVER after.

Who are we to mess with tradition? Today we had a little BBQ for the munchkin and invited a few very close friends and we celebrated her day. During her nap Jacob, Lily and I transformed the house into an Elmo land. She had Elmo everywhere including balloons. Her little face lit up when she saw the balloons and then Lily showed everything else and she really went berserk, it was so much fun. Once the guests started to arrive she became alittle bit shy cos she still doesn't do crowds very well but she warmed up and sat and ate her lunch with everyone and enjoyed the fact that Caro and Lucy were fighting over who would feed the next mouthful to her.
I do believe that the Elmo birthday cake was the icing on her day! (God I am corny)At first she just sort of looked at it but once she tasted the icing there was no going back, she was hooked! She enjoyed being sung to and blew out her candles.

She was very confused and every time anybody said, "Happy Birthday Rosie," she would say, "no, Daddy's birthday." Total confusion aside she had a ball. She has shown a big interest in tricycles of late so that is what she got. Her very own pink and purple Radio Fl*yer trike. She was thrilled. Over and over again she kept saying, "rider" which is her word for anything you can ride. Even though we had friends over we had to keep going outside to give her a ride.

I don't have one good photo of her on it but I have a feeling it is going to be a staple part of our day so there will be lots of pic's coming soon. I do however have lots of photos of her and of course video but by now you all know the deal with the new camera and videos....arghhhhhhh.

The birthday girl spots the balloons. BTW, her pretty dress was a gift from Lori, Marc and the Dynamic Duo, when she came home. The hat lasted about a minute :(

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She wasn't being very photogenic...it must be true about being 2 and having a 'tude

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Some of her fans

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More of them

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Rosie's finger heading straight for the cake!

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From the cake to her mouth

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And back to the cake.

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And back to her mouth

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I was trying to slice around the licked bits....it's a good job we were all GOOD friends cos no one seemed to mind and everyone ate the cake.

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Just a little icing on her chin

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Lucy and Caro. Caro took my camera and just kept taking photos. It was really lovely to download them this evening and see loads that I didn't recognise.

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Trying to coax the birthday girl to look at the camera.

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Ebby was tired of ALL the girls so he went outside and got his snorkeling gear on???

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Once she received her trike that is where she held court and wouldn't even get off of it to open her other gifts

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Hidden behind some tissue paper as she sits on the "rider' and opens her gifts.

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Having fun

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My dear friend Jakie and her daughters, and mine too!

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Thank you to all of our friends for making Rosie's day so special. And also for including Lily....she was shocked, me too!