Hey ho, hey ho, its off to China we go!

Ballet Class

Every morning Lulu works diligently to perfect her ballet moves.

Practice finishes up with the particularly difficult and yet stunningly elegant "sideways one leg stand" - and the crowd goes wild!

Adoption announcement cards

When I was looking for an adoption announcement  I knew what sort of thing I wanted but was having trouble finding it until I came upon Purple Stork.com  This is such a great company, they were super nice to work with, nothing was too much trouble and they created exactly what I wanted.  Delivery time was great and the quality was too. 

They do all sorts of photo cards and I highly recommend them. 

I think pretty much everyone that reads this blog - that would be my Mum and assorted friends already has this card but if I didn't send you one (because I didn't have your address) and you would like to see it here is Lulu's Adoption Announcement

That'll be TWO stickers - thank you nicely!

Today it was Lulu's turn for the dreaded jabs.  I was so proud of her as she marched into the doctor's reception full of confidence, Hello Kitty bag swinging on her arm.  She immediately went into her world famous "stand on one leg routine" * and, with the "Finger of power" ** pointed at the doctor and receptionist, demanded that they too stand on one leg.

All was going swimmingly well until she spied the actual needles and then the horror of the trap she had walked one leggedly into dawned on her!  Luckily the doctor was super quick and it was all over in the blink of an eye and several ear drum bursting shrieks of indignation from Lulu.

And then, . . . . then the magical stickers appeared.  If I love me some comments, well Lulu loves her some stickers!  I loved the way she demanded a second sticker from the doctor, this kiddo knows the score - two jabs = two stickers, "cough 'em up Doc-ey person"

Behold the joy of not one but TWO stickers!

* We are considering taking the "world famous stand on one leg routine" on a world tour but only if her manager can negotiate an appropriate amount of stickers

** The "Finger of power" - nobody dares disobey the "Finger of Power" we can only hope she will continue to use if for good not evil.

I loves me some comments!

Ooooh I do love it when I get me some comments, however, I'm about as good at replying to them as I am at posting.  As penance I will write out 100 times "must do better at replying to comments that lovely people are kind enough to send".  Of course that will be my excuse for lack of posts - too busy writing out my penance lines.

Thank you to everyone who posted such nice things about the Lulu Monster, I never did a 100 good wishes quilt for Lulu (surprise, surprise) but I think the lovely things people have said on here are her 100 Good Wishes - thank you.

For Karen who wanted to know about the pants with the "L" on I got them from this shop and they are made my a company called Tiny Bubbles.  The website doesn't show the shirts but they do a long sleeve and a short sleeve Tee to match.  They were rather pricey but they were my "Hoorah, hoorah we've got our referral" gift to myself.  For those of you not in the know, this is an actual requirement from the CCAA, Clause 12 states "All adoptive parent/s upon receipt of referral are required to purchase an expensive item of adorably cute clothing for their child".  I always do exactly what the CCAA tells me.

Here is the link

As for the diaper bag, well I got this one by Oi Oi  because I love the fabric but really its bigger than I would like and I wish it had a magnetic closure  for the top instead of the zip.  One of the good things about it is that the changing pad can be removed so at least that's one less unnecessary item to carry.  I'm not one for lugging aload of stuff round with me and I am still on the search for a smaller one.  I lot of the time I just shove a diaper and bottle in my handbag or I use a little draw string bag that has our agency's logo on it.  Most places we go its only a short walk back to the car where I keep a stash of diapers etc. so I just carry the bare essentials with me.

Tammy wanted to know about the Zooper Boogie and I did start a post about "How I went from Stroller virgin to Stroller whore" but at the rate I'm going your daughter will be in college before I post it.  I don't really know anything about the Zoopers except that some people say they find the seats a little small.  Personally I think the 3 wheelers are always a bit long which makes them tricky in the Mall - you know when your buying that "expensive item of adorably cute clothing" as per Clause 12 from the CCAA.

Figlet - y'wanna stroller rumble do ya - just name the time and the place and me and the Bebecar will be there.  Just be warned after you see the Bebecar in action the Bug just isn't going to do it for you ;)

Okay, I'm off to write out my lines.

First Father's Day

For Daddy love Lulu x
  
   

 

Last shot.

Today Simon and I went to the Travel Clinic for the last of our series of three jabs for immunization against Hep A/B  The first two meant we were safe for travel to China and the third means we now have life immunity which is "Handy Harry", especially as we hope to make many trips back to China.

I am proud to report that neither of us screamed despite there being no lollipops on offer.  Lulu was fascinated by the whole process and was particularly gleeful that it was us that were getting jabbed instead of her - for a change.

Being the soppy sod that motherhood has rendered me I found myself feeling quite verklempt at being able to introduce the nurse who did all our shots for us to Lulu.  It was exactly 11 months ago that we started on the various immunizations that we would need for our trip to China and it was lovely to finally walk in with an actual real live walking talking baby in our arms.  The nurse was always so excited for us about the adoption and it was always a "shot in the arm" (ha ha I crack myself up) after visiting the clinic because it made it feel a bit more real - the adoption I mean  - and not so much like something I had made up that would never actually happen.

Photo 1. Lulu says "suck it up Daddy, at least its not a jab in your bum"

Photo 2 & 3.  Lulu steps out in her gorgeous dress from Auntie Kikilee while clutching her beloved bag from Auntie Sparky

Oh bugger!

Guess which ninny left the tap running and then got distracted by the Lulu Monster?

I came back to  a couple of little rivers flowing across the kitchen floor and the cupboard under the sink was holding a nice few inches of lovely sudsy water - ahhh well it needed a good clean out.  Its surprising how dirty my house is considering the number of cleaning products that were under there, including a total of eight Dobie scribing sponges, guess I can cross those of the shopping list.

And you can take that smirk off your face - like you never left the tap running.

THE Kiss

I kiss Lulu a LOT, firstly because come on who could resist, and secondly because I think it helps with bonding.  In the early days I would kiss her cheek and she would come over all shy and bury her head in my shoulder, then she got used to me FOREVER kissing her and didn't really take much notice, she appeared to be pretty much nonplussed by all the kissing.  Then she started to air kiss me back but always with her head turned to the side.  Well today I received the most amazing "made me walk on air, giddy with love" kiss from my darling little L. 

Usually, I kiss Lulu on the cheek, or sometimes I'm over come with baby lust for her chubby little legs or her darling tummy and I just have to cover her all over with smackers but after I have changed her diaper and she is lying on our bed all mellow I always lean over and give her a gentle kiss on the lips.  So today, I lean over as always but I stop a few inches from her face and just gaze into those deep brown eyes and she just gazes right back at me and then . . . . .  OMG then these two darling little baby hands, light and gentle as can be reach up and cradling my face bring my lips down to hers for THE KISS, it makes me get teary just remembering.  It might sound like nothing but trust me this was huge, she reached out to me, she initiated the kiss and she gazed long and hard into my eyes, relaxed and calm as if she were saying "oh I know you Mama, you need a little kiss don't ya"

Oh how I love this child of ours.

Ready, steady, go!

My baby isn't a baby anymore she's an actual bona fide toddler who took her first independent steps on Friday evening.

Lulu is all about the walking, even in China she was working, working, working on mastering this skill.  She started out with a tippy toe style and it has taken her a little while to learn to push down her heels "but good Lord, she's got it, I think she's really got it".  The squeaky shoes have helped her with this since she loves to hear them squeak and to make them do that she has to put her heels down - see their not just a fashion statement but a learning tool too.

Its wonderful to see how overjoyed she is at being able to do this.  Currently she will only walk without mummy or daddy's hand if she is going backwards and forwards between us but its not going to be long now before she is toddling all over the place.  Let the mayhem begin.