My kid is brilliant...

Maelyn has blossomed over the past few months -- the changes have been amazing! Maelyn is now this funny, energetic, social little girl -- no sign of my little baby left!

Maelyn is talking up a storm lately -- and we are loving every minute of it! She has started to identify colours and loves to count anything and everything in sight. Maelyn has started to recognize letters as well -- six in total so far! Love it!!

Sorting letters...

Maelyn is an observer. She watches what others do and copies it meticulously. Unfortunately, this can sometimes work against us! Maelyn has now mastered the ability to open doors that have child-proof locks on them -- too bad they aren't Maelyn-proof locks! We found this out when she made her way downstairs to visit her Grandpa all on her own -- and then later asked her for a demonstration. Unbelievable! :)

Maelyn is also a jumper-supreme! You should see her when she gets going on her trampoline!

We are now constantly hearing typical two year old phrases such as 'I do,' 'mine' and 'no!' Although it can be frustrating when she wants to do everything for herself and we are in a rush, I love that she is exerting her independence and I absolutely love watching her learn new skills.

She is brilliant! Just blame it on mother's pride.... :)

Cuteness

I have fallen behind when it comes to blogging -- but I promise to catch up shortly! This has been a busy household over the past month, but wanted to share a few cute photos in the meantime...

I received a phone call from a former teaching partner of mine who had substituted in Cassidy's classroom. The class was working on their weekly spelling and my friend asked the class for examples to define the word 'cantakerous.' She told me that Cassidy's response made her laugh out loud in the middle of class....

"Jan's baby, Maelyn, is cantankerous when she doesn't get enough food." Haha! So very true!!

Here is her written response on her test a few days later. Check out sentence # 4....

Jan's baby is cantankerous to deal with because she is a bit tired and grumpy.

Julia gave Maelyn a picture of herself in her Valentine's Day card. I put the picture in her room, to be put away another day. The other night, as Maelyn was getting ready for bed, she found the picture and then carried it around with her for the rest of the evening. In fact, she even had Julia join her for her short movie time. Just wanted to note that she put Julia there all by herself...



A much-needed break

AM and Julia came to my rescue at exactly the right time. This Mama hasn't had a break in quite awhile and was starting to feel the effects of not taking time for herself. Thankfully, my wonderful friend knew exactly what to do -- kick me out of the house! :)


Maelyn was ecstatic that her Julia had come over to play. She wasn't upset at all when both Paul and I left the house. We spent the evening with our neighbours down the road -- relaxing, sharing a meal, and enjoying a few drinks.


I was planning to be home before Maelyn went to bed, but AM insisted she would be fine and to stay out longer. I had to face it -- I have bedtime issues! I honestly have a hard time allowing others to put Maelyn to bed. There is something about knowing that she is in cozy pyjamas, clean and happy and ready for bed. I love our bedtime routine, reading books and singing songs together. The hugs and kisses and tucking her in are nice too.


However, I know logically that she will survive having others put her to bed -- I am not the only one that can comfort our little miss. Funny -- every parent has some 'issue' that they have to deal with, but I wouldn't have predicted that this one would be it for me!


I am very happy that I followed my head and not my heart and stayed out to enjoy the evening with friends. It was soooooooo relaxing -- the martinis helped a little, too. :) It also helped me to begin to get over the hurdle of my bedtime issues -- our little miss will be fine without us once in awhile because she knows that we will always be there for her, loving her to bits!

New Friends

We had the good fortune of meeting new friends throughout our adoption journey. Recently, we have gotten to know Emily and Jason, who are preparing to travel to meet their little girl.

Last Saturday, after having to reschedule due to the snow, we were finally able to connect and get to know one another better over dinner.

Emily and Jason showed up with presents for Maelyn and completely spoiled our little miss! Being the fabulous ECE that she is, Emily knew exactly what crafts and activities Maelyn would enjoy. You should have seen the goodies they brought for her!

We spent most of the night sharing details about our trip, tips and advice and sharing in the excitement of another family meeting their little girl. She is such a cutie!

Wang Feng Yan

June 2, 2009

Inner Mongolia

Canadian Name: Madisyn Feng Yan

Madisyn was born with a cleft lip and palate, just like Maelyn. Madisyn's lip has been repaired and her palate will be repaired shortly after they arrive home from China. Here is an updated photo of Madisyn they recently received....

It looks as though Emily and Jason will be travelling around the middle of April and we cannot wait to follow along on their journey to become a family of three.

Xin nian kuai le

Happy New Year!


We are thrilled to be celebrating our first Chinese New Year with our little miss. I absolutely love holidays and traditions, so I have had a lot of fun getting ready for such a special holiday.


Chinese New Year, or Chinese Lunar New Year, is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is a 15-day celebration, beginning on the new moon on the first day of the New Year and it ends on the full moon 15 days later. This year is the year of the rabbit. New Year has been celebrated in China for over 5,000 years!

There are many traditions that are followed for Chinese New Year. Gifts of "lucky money" are presented in small red envelopes, called hongbao (literally means red packet or red pouch) and are given as special presents to children by older relatives and friends. Red is considered to be a lucky color and will bring good luck to the person receiving the present. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive their money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.


In our household we have put together our red envelopes to give to friends, we have decorated the house and we have cleaned, to sweep away bad luck. Maelyn will wear her traditional Chinese dress and we will share some sweets that we purchased at the Chinese market. This weekend we are getting together with a few of the families from our travel group and we have a dinner planned at the Mandarin.


We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to learn about our daughter's culture and to begin to integrate it into our family traditions. Xin nian kuai le (Happy New Year) and nian nian you yu (wishing you prosperity every year) to all of our family and friends.

This year's hong bao

Maelyn in her dress this past summer...

January Pics

Christmas get-together at the beginning of the month with Mom's side of the family...

Visiting with Pam and having a ton of fun!

Getting together with good friends....

Nice look, Al!

Little Miss not feeling well...

Playing with Daddy

Good times with the best mom's helper, Lauren!

A fun-tastic day at the Woodbine Center with Gamma and Auntie Kara...

First subway ride -- spent the day with Auntie Leanne and Jennie