Up..up and away..

Up..up and away...

Today we headed out to the Balloon Fest in Readington, NJ.

Below is a picture of the ascension. They had over 125 balloons that were supposed to take off together. However due to high winds about a 100 never made it off the ground. :o(

A real shame as tomorrow their last day at the Fest is supposed to be pretty rainy.

Oh well maybe next year?

Tamara watching the balloons take off.
The twin bees. At least that's what I called them. I'm sure they have a name.
Held at the Solberg Airport in Readington... it was packed. Just a sea of people and cars.
Tamara eating her first ever funnel cake. She loved it.

I learned something today.

Mommies shouldn't order funnel cakes (which come smothered in powered sugar) especially when wearing black on a windy day. Eeek!!!

Tamara snacking in her stroller. We brought a blanket with us but Tamara wanted to be strapped into her seat? OK?

All in all a fun day. Tamara loves to watch people.

Hum??? Maybe she's become a shrink someday?

~

OK I hear thunder... see ya or as Tamara would say Nite! Nite!

~~~

Oh Ducky.. she says BLUE!

Oh Ducky

Tamara loves her Rubber Duckies so much.

She especially loves her bath robe and slippers.
Cute no?

This week she's been getting more independent. She's trying to do more herself. Now she sits on this wicker bench / toy chest while dressing. Honestly she is capable of doing 90% of it although she does still like Mommy to help her. My baby is already growing up... sniff, sniff :o(

It's a delicate balance between giving her the toddler Independence she craves and the mothering she never had before. Although many "experts" will say do everything for them for the sake of bonding. I'm pretty confident Tamara is happy here and is bonded pretty well. Each day holds a surprise.. each day she has another first moment.

Today's word was blue. Blue crayon... Blue berries (which she loves)

Can't wait until tomorrow.

~~~

My Pet Zucchini

My Pet Zucchini ...

Today we went to check on my parents gardens and fish pond. It's hard to believe 2 weeks have already flown by since my family left for Croatia. Wow.. time does fly when you're having fun. They'll be back before we know it. I am a little disappointed though.. you'd think that one of them would have set up a blog so I know what's going on? LOL

Oh well...

This weekend is my cousin Martina's wedding so I'm sure they're all having fun.

Congratulations Martina & Steve. We'll have to celebrate when you get back home. Yes they live in New York but their wedding is in Croatia. Talk about a destination wedding. And you all thought I was crazy when we got married in Wisconsin. ;o)

OK.. I'll get serious.. here are today's pictures.

Daddy and Tamara walk down to feed the fishies...

Hi Mom
The fish are jumping ...
We're going to do what?
I fell on my butt in the Zucchini patch... now Mommy says I have to stay here and watch. She said Karen needed to see this picture. Something about my hair?
Mommy is looking for cu-comebles. She keeps saying ouch! She says they have thorns but I think they bite her.

Daddy found some huge Zucchini in the garden. This one I keep.

It's a little heavy but I think it will make a good pet.

No you can't have it Daddy.. it's mine now.

I like Zucchini Mommy... Can we keep him?

~~~

Oops...

Oops..

Almost forgot these photos. They were taken 4th of July week.

Between my bruised knees and I guess I forgot to mention the hand pain. I was unable to kneel very well so Tamara and Daddy potted some planters for me.

The hand pain actually started before I fell. I was warned several moths ago to be careful lifting Tamara as while most biological parents start with a 7 pound baby and work their way up. When you adopt a 25+ pound toddler you don't have the strength / muscle tone built up in your hands. And a adopted toddler does insist on being picked up and carried alot. Especially in the first few months. So for the past few weeks I start my day popping 3 Tylenol which seems to do the trick for the rest of the day. Just though I'd mention it as I know there are other soon to be adoptive parents out there. Perhaps passing on the warning will help someone else?

~

Below Tamara & Daddy start potting some Geraniums for the back deck.

At first Tamara thought Daddy was crazy when he told her what they were going to do for fun. She doesn't like getting dirty so playing in the dirt seemed insane to her. I dressed her in a comfy washable outfit and gave her.. her gardening gloves, knee pad and gardening tools and she seemed more interested.

All her gardening equipment is designed for small children. I bought the smallest size and as you can see the gloves were still way too big.

After about 15 minutes she was really into it. Filling up the pots with potting soil, adding plants, filling in, patting down the soil and then watering. She's a natural.
Below.. Tamara gets upset as her brand new gloves were getting "dirt" on them. lol. It took a while but she finally accepted that it was "ok" to get a little "dirty" gardening.

"Mommy my gloves got dirt on them."
Too cute.

She takes gardening very seriously.
Tamara hates getting her picture taken.

I think I was getting on her nerves with the camera.

Tamara fills in around the Petunias for the front porch.

"Would you stop with the pictures?"

Daddy and Tamara place the planters on the rail.

OK.. Daddy lets get more...

Wait for me...

Since I didn't get a chance to do much planting before we left and certainly not since our return it was nice to at least have the planters done.

Thank You Bruce and Tamara ;o)

~~

Below Tamara plays with her Vintage doll pram in the upstairs hallway. There's a 64 ft stretch for her to stroll her Dolly.

Road Trip. Tamara loves her Britax Boulevard car seat.

It's actually pretty amazing she doesn't have a problem with harnesses. Considering she had never been in one in Tbilisi it's amazing. Loves the car seat, stroller and swing. No problem with seat beats in shopping cart or high chairs.

Here she's eating Mac and cheese crackers. Something new... she loves them.

"We're back"

Tamara returns with Daddy after one of their walks.

" Mommy.. you sure all the girls wear their hair like this?"
"Who's Pebbles?"
~~~

I can do it...101

I can do it...

Tamara is doing wonderfully. Every day she continues to amaze us. Yesterday she said "blue" when we were coloring. She of course still has issues staying within the lines but Mommy is happy she's coloring on the page and not on the furniture or walls ;o)

Now that we're pretty confident she feels at home and secure we're allowing her to do more on her own. Encouraging her to feed herself. Usually works best with Mac and cheese & ice cream. She will eat by herself if I'm not in the room as soon as I appear she wants me to feed her. I was told before we went to Georgia that Tamara really "wanted a Mommy" so I guess this is part of it. She still craves the closeness / attention that only a Mommy can give. Truthfully I welcome the opportunity to baby her a bit as I too have craved a baby daughter.

When we first picked up Tamara she brushed her own teeth.. then about 2 weeks ago she wanted me to do it.. which I did. This week I decided to take advantage of the double vanity double sinks in her bathroom. I started Brushing my teeth next to her. She watches me intently and brushes hers the same way. Yay.. as soon as I think her little fingers can handle it we start flossing 101. ;o) In the mean time I end up brushing my teeth 5-6 times a day.

Ah... sweet breath...lol

Tamara is also capable of dressing herself but she again prefers that Mommy do it. All part of the bonding process. For me it will be a bitter sweet day when she doesn't need my help.

She's getting stronger. When we first got her she couldn't walk across the room more then twice without resting. Couldn't do stairs at all. This last week she can climb 13 steps on her own. She also has a tremendous amount of energy now. ;o) Now we just have to teach her how to do steps going down safely.

Tamara loves the pool. Slowly teaching her moves she'll need to swim we have her kicking now. The pool is also a wonderful way for her to gain muscle tone. My biggest challenge is having to keep her out of the direct sun. Tamara hasn't really been exposed to direct sunlight before. Between the sensitive skin and her soft spot we really make an effort to make sure she doesn't get over exposed or over heated. So swimming is after 4 pm when the sun leaves the pool. As a result so far no tan lines for Mom either this year. :o(

~

I thought I'd share a few photos from the garden.

Below a patch of Daisies. Tamara often picks one for Mommy on her walks with Daddy.

Too cute!

Day Lillies .. they're going a little crazy this year. We had to pull hundreds just to give the roses some breathing space.

Tamara and Daddy dancing to a large wind chime in the yard. Tamara loves music and will often bop around in a shopping cart or car seat. Very cute .. she has rhythm.

Loves to spin ...
OK.. break time... time to come in.
Tamara also loves to help around the house. She helps with laundry, she can dust and has been eyeing my Dyson. So when we went shopping at Toys R Us and we found the baby Dyson it was a no brain er. Here you can see how serious Tamara is about her vacuuming. She was concentrating so hard I couldn't get her to look up for a picture.


I vacuum first and then she does her thing. She has me move all the rugs, chairs and anything else that moves so she can clean. It's unfortunate that baby Dyson doesn't pick anything up as she would do the entire house if I let her.
Here she's calling me to move an area rug.

FYI: Although cute for her to play... with Baby Dyson does not do what they claim.
Mommy ... I can do it
Tamara enjoying the Hammock she gave Daddy for Father's Day.

Tamara has mastered closing the buckle on her life vest. Luckily it will be a few more years before she can unbuckle it.
Daddy pushes Tamara on the swing at the local park.

Tamara loves the swings and did very well on the slide. Although she does still need help to stay safe.

She's such a peanut... tiny cute little thing. She has a fantastic sense of humor.

~

We're still waiting for test results... hopefully we'll have them this week.

So far she's gained about 2-1/2 lbs and it looks like she's about to out grow her size 6 shoe.

It hard to believe we've been home 6 weeks today.. Wow that went fast!

It's also hard to believe I've written a hundred posts. This being #101? WOW. I count 90 something but Blogger insists it's over 100.

I can do it ...101

~~~

Ouch! She said

OK.. We're back... Thanks for hanging in there with us.

Like I said last week... you just can't make this stuff up.

To give bring you all up to speed it has been a rather weird week for us.

~

One day last week Tamara choked on a seedless grape. She's usually very good at chewing one at a time but like they say all it takes is once.
So my dear darling daughter stuffed 2 in her mouth and inhaled one.
So what does a mother do? Well I surprised myself. Staying calm a found myself racking my brain for CPR recall which amazingly I remembered what to do. Within seconds the grape flew out of her and across the kitchen. She was a little freaked but fine. After a few tears and a glass of water she was back to giggling and playing again.
Mom on the other hand got a major wake up call.
Lesson learned.. Never assume your 3 year old can handle anything. Now her grapes are not only seedless but quartered. Thankfully she still loves them.

~

The 4th of July was actually rather quiet for us this year. The weather was horrid in NJ. Raining the day before as well as most of the 4th.

We wanted to do something with Tamara .. after all is was to be her 1st 4th of July.

So we looked up fireworks online.. found them in Blairstown at some school? So we head out early and decide to stop at a local diner for dinner as there weren't too many options open that night holiday and all.

We park and I carry Tamara towards the diner only to have my toe catch on their curb. Remember I have Tamara in my arms. I fall to my knees (on my knees), catch my self with my right hand, Tamara is in my left. Somehow I managed to lower her safely to the ground. You always hear stories about mothers lifting cars off their children and you wonder if you too would be able to find that quick response / strength to protect your child. This week I found out I could. I think ;o) Yay!

Battered and bruised we continued in the restaurant. The wait staff brought some ice water and lots of napkins. Yes at my age I have scabby knees this week. I don't think I've had those in about 35 years? Ouch!

Tamara was adorable as she looked so concerned about Mommy's Boo boo.

Ouch! She said as I cleaned them and applied ice to them.

So anyway we stayed and ate. Although very painful I didn't want it to spoil our night and I especially didn't want Tamara to worry about her Mommy being hurt.

So after dinner we proceed to try and find the fireworks. As we approach Blairstown we see a huge parking lot with tons of cars pulling in. Some people had already set up their lawn chairs anticipating the big event. So we pulled in and positioned our car figuring Tamara could watch from her car seat. The parking lot filed up quickly and soon a huge white van parked between us and the anticipated fire works display. Grrr... On the other side of us a smaller car pulls in a couple with two young girls. One about 4 the other 2-1/2. Seem like nice people?

When the fire works started we got out of our car with Tamara to get a better view. Actually to get a view as the white van towered over my Rav 4. Suddenly the van starts to ROCK and we hear yelling and someone barking, squealing. We then realized that the woman driving the van must have been some sort of a foster mom? The van was filled with teenage boys all of which had many special needs. Tamara is at a stage where she observes and mimics everything she sees so the thought of her watching these boys in action was not appealing to us. So we move to the other side of our car. The young family I mentioned earlier was there. Suddenly the 2-1/2 year old girl starts screaming at the top of her lungs. A piercing high pitch scream that her parents couldn't control. Tamara watched these two groups which surrounded us through out the fire works. In fact at one point we got back in our car hoping she wouldn't get any ideas. Basically trapped, cornered , sandwiched between to insane situations I was starting to wish we had gone home. :o(

That night when we return home and I was putting Tamara to bed she started to scream just like that little angel in the parking lot. She would scream then laugh, scream then laugh. The laughing must have been from reading the expression on Mommy's face.

"Tamara... please don't do that. Surely you picked up something more useful then this tonight?" And with that she said "Ruff...Ruff" and then giggled.

"OMG" I told Bruce later on that night. " That's it from now on no more strangers"

Like that would even be possible?

Afraid she might continue this new behavior I am delighted to say I haven't heard it since.

So that was the worst of our week. Tamara survived two potentially hazardous situations. I think we've all learned a great deal from these experiences.

Tamara now chews everything really well and doesn't play as much during meals and snacks.

Mommy and Daddy cut everything in tiny pieces for her. And never leave her side while she's eating.

Tamara is walking more since the 4th. Before she always wanted to be carried. Sweet but exhausting after a while. Now she walks more and if I'm carrying her she points out potential tripping hazards to me. So all in all I think we managed to take both situations and turn them into a positive. ;o)

My knees are ok. It was a rough few days. Try giving a toddler a bath with out kneeling. Fun...fun...

~

Below... Tamara with Mommy.

Time to go shopping. OK.. don't laugh.. I dressed Tamara first and then Tamara dug through my wardrobe and picked out my outfit?

She's very good at matching outfits and accessories.

Below a visit to my parent house before their big trip to Croatia.

As soon as Tamara walked in the house Mom.. my Mom was in hot pursuit of Tamara.

Tamara's first time at her Grandparents house started with Grandma giving her a full house tour. I'm not sure I ever got one of those? lol

Here they are in the sewing studio.

As you can see Tamara loves her Grandma.

Dancing with Grandma and Dido

I think they both slept well that night. ;o)

Hold me up Grandma... I'll do the dishes.

A fun visit. My parents were amazed at how much she already understands. Although Tamara speaking is still very limited. A word here... a word there. She doesn't have too much trouble getting her point across.

During dinner she even told my parents about my Boo boo's. Pointing to me and then her knee she said "Ouch!" and then she pointed to her other knee and again said "Ouch!"

When Tamara spilled a glass of water and Grandma got the mop. Tamara insisted on cleaning up her spill. Afterwards she proceeded to try and mop the rest of the house. She became a little annoyed when she couldn't find anything to mop up. That's my Mom. Anyway she then started eating a chocolate chip cookie while mopping. When my mother asked why she was doing that I told her she needs crumbs on the floor or the mopping just isn't much fun. Turns out that's what Tamara was doing. What a trip huh? After she was finished and she handed the mop back to Mom (mine) I asked her if she would put the mop away for Grandma and she did. Amazing little girl. She remembered from the house tour where it belonged. After we picked up Grandma's chin off the floor where it fell in amazement they proceeded to dance and play. Tamara then gave Grandma a house tour remembering all the things that mom pointed to. Cute no?

~

Below Tamara opens her gifts from Auntie Chris and her cousins.

As you can see she's getting pretty good at opening them. By Christmas she'll be a pro.

Thank You ... Wisconsin. She especially liked the boxes. This week she loves boxes?

~

Tamara is also getting more daring with her mega blocks. You can see in this picture below. The structures are getting taller then her. I laugh when I see this picture as I remember for the Denver Questionnaire she needed to stack 8 blocks and she was distracted and didn't do it. Five months later she's up to 38.

That's my girl. ;o)

~~~