Keeping his Cards Close to His Chest

 
We're going to work on the finer points of holding cards fan style as we take on "Go Fish" this next week. 

Playing Cards

 
The boys have suddenly become interested in card games and board games. The first thing they learned was trash talking. "My six of diamonds totally kicks your three of spades' BUTT!" Not much strategy in War, but then not much ego investment either. 

Bath Chub

 
She's getting some baby fat. At last weigh-in she was about 20 pounds, which maintains the one pound a week pace since we got her. Wow. She seems to be slowing down a little -- definitely less panicked if we pause in feeding (to get a refill of her bowl). And the big break through: she's eating rice! It's the most textured and solid kind of food she's eaten so far. Woo hooo!

Jasmine has developed or discovered a fear of loud noises. The most common object of fear is the vacuum cleaner. She doesn't cry if I vacuum while holding her, but if I'm not holding her, even moving the unplugged cleaner back into the closet will have her running away and crying. 

Playing in the Tub

 
I'm not sure why I like this funky picture so much. 

Kai and Lexie

 
The birthday kids.

It was crazy windy and I thought for sure we were going to get some rain. That was the worst of it and it got me out of blowing up balloons. :)

The kids played at the park and Traci and I didn't have any party mess to clean up after. Yea! 

A Girl and her Croc

 
We'd shown her this toy a few times, but this particular day she really took to it and pulled it around all day. 

Croc Training

 
Li Mei's teaching her croc to sit up. I wonder what she's using for treats. 

Mirror Dancing

 
Jasmine just got her glasses to correct for near-sightedness. With her newly improved vision she laughed and ran fast in unfamiliar places without asking for anyone to hold her hands and show her around. This explains her nose, a little skinned on the tip after a high-speed fall on concrete.

She loves playing with her shadow, but now the lower contrast mirror is fun too! 

Aaaack, He's Seven!

 
I won't be able to take many more bathtub shots. Kai, oldest son, is now seven years old and almost as tall as I am. AAAAck! The party with his friends will be tomorrow after school at a local park. Today we just did a ton of presents.

Tomorrow's party will be a joint party with his good friend Alexis who shares his birthday. Kai tells me they're twins. Okie dokie. 

Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force GO!

 
The above is a title of a silly anime-tribute cartoon. Rowan's cut-out kinda reminded me of a monkey. Maybe this should be more of a religiously themed blogspot: Rowan channels Hanuman or Sun Wukong. Hm. Well, I could probably talk more knowledgeably about cartoons.

We like the cartoons. Don't tell anyone, but the kids are really just a cover so we can watch cartoons without anyone looking at us funny. I'm not sure it's working. People still look at us funny; maybe we should just fess up.

In the Teen Titans (one of our current favorites), the character Raven has a meditative chant/battle cry that is ubiquitous during the show, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" Theo came up with a Weird Al Yankovich version: I'm a rat, metronome, zen floss! 

Snoozers

 
So far, our main problem is one that Kai shared at the same age: Li Mei never wants to go to sleep. She'll go until she collapses quietly on the floor. I guess she's also like her Mom that way.

If you haven't heard Sandra Boynton's music you need too. Philadelphia Chickens is one of my all-time favorite albums -- and it would be even if I didn't have kids. :) Check out this blog entry appropriate song:
"Snoozers" by the Bacon Brothers  

Look #217

 
I think every kid has library of "looks". This is a very typical Li Mei look. 

Cutie-Wootie-Widdle Hiking Boots

 
I don't get into many girlie things, but I will coo over widdle hiking boots. Jazz likes them because they stomp good. 

Hiking Boys

 
Poor guys haven't had their fair share of blog exposure. Cuties. They were real fun on the walk today.

I had them hooting with laughter tonight when Li Mei had the crazies during story time. I decided to take a song break because it was nearly impossible to read. Songs didn't calm her crazies. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The last few songs had standard tunes (Frere Jacques and Twinkle Little Star) but they all had to do with things about Jasmine: chewing on books, sucking on cheerios, playing with shadows, her love of shoes and the smell of her diapers. Kai and Rowan were howling with laughter which made Jazz giggle, squeal and screech even louder. 

Kai Flirts with the Park Ranger

 
I didn't catch her name, but this park ranger came out to hang out with us as the visitor center was closing. Kai quickly moved in. I asked him later if he liked women in uniform he responded matter-of-factly, "Usually." 

First Hike

 
So we took Li Mei on her first hike, nothing hard, 'bout 10 miles and we carried her pack and water.

Okay, not really.

We only went about two miles and she walked in a couple of the sunny shadow producing areas. It was late afternoon so she had some great shadows to play with. I have to admit that I've been wanting to take her on some walks but always nervous about the sun exposure. This seemed like a good start; we made it though with no sunburn that I could see.

We went to Roxborough State Park; it's a very close park (near the better known Chatfield State Park) and the main geographical features are stunning red standstone flatirons jutting from the landscape. This picture was taken after the hike at the visitor center. 

When Does It Go Upside Down?

 
Theo and I found out that Li Mei likes being thrown up into the air, flipped, spun in circles and so forth. We do a lot of that, I think we're addicted to the giggles. So anyway, it was a bit of an anticlimax when she got her first swing ride. She was very polite about it and patiently waited until we took her out.

We went into weigh Li Mei again. It's been two weeks since she weighed in at 16 lbs. Today she was more than 18! Woohoo! Given her lack of physical development and obvious lack of nutrition, we were worried about how her various physical tests would turn out. They all came out great. It was weird -- even our pediatrician, the wonderful Dr Ken Katz, was slightly stunned that there was no sign of disease, lead poisoning, parasites, even nutrition tests indicating protein levels came out within the normal range. The only thing slightly off was one of her numbers that relates to her reactiveness to Hep B. She wasn't very reactive, so she may not have gotten the vaccine. Re-doing all the immunizations isn't a bad idea.

Poor thing got five shots, the first of the whole series from newborn to age three. She was a real trooper when she got the shots, crying normally and then cheering up quickly. Later in the day she started running a slight fever and has been grumpy. That was so weird, Li Mei is never grumpy except when food is late or it's time to go to bed.

In other news, she'll be getting her teeth cleaned and if they find any cavities (they haven't found any yet), they'll fill them while she's knocked out. So far though, everyone's been amazed by the good condition. Other than massive tartar due to an entirely liquid diet, her teeth look pretty good.

And the eye doctor had good news too. While she's significantly near-sighted (correctable), the vision issues related to albinism (not generally correctable) aren't as serious. Until she's a little older with some language and patience, it'll be hard to get her glasses. Her retinas were too light for him to get a good reading and an exact prescription for glasses. We're still looking into some OT specifically for blind and vision impared kids.

So, that's the news. Amazingly good, but the thing that amazes me most is the joy that Jazz has. She seems to have so little anxiety and so much wonderment and humor. 

Rowan and Jazz

 
The boys are both very fond of Jazz, but their ongoing adjustment is slightly different.

Kai started right away stating worries that we loved Jazz more than him. Now he makes sure show up for pajama time to dress Jazz. He also likes operating the diaper pail. Weird. Smelly. I think he's warming up to her as we spend individual time with him and as he realizes that he is needed when it comes to taking care of her.

Rowan was over the moon and still jumps at the chance to get her toys and walk Jazz around, but tonight he was definitely done with sharing storytime with a little girl protesting loudly that she has no intention on going to sleep. "I think it's time to give her to Dad, Mom."

Jazz definitely perks up when we pick up the boys from school and she seems to enjoy having them in the room while she plays. She does like copying them as they clap or endlessly repeat words at her (slowly and loudly). I've only seen her "sympathy cry" a few times, each when either Kai or Rowan burst into tears from a skinned knee or life injustice. This started in China. I haven't seen her react to other children's crying.

Part of her good feelings are probably due to the boys bringing her toys rather than taking them away. If they have to take something from her they know to trade it with a good toy (like a boardbook for a glossy magazine). I'm not sure the depth of her feelings for them, but right now, she seems to think they're okay guys. ;)