Patient Sam

Today, Mia was delighted to learn that she can pet Sam not only with her hand, but also with her foot. Surprisingly, Sam stood still for it.

Student Teaching

Mia has been using her baby signs more consistently, perhaps because the speech therapist instructed us not to anticipate her needs so much. She said Mia should have to sign “eat” if she is hungry and “more” before getting seconds. Her newest signs are “yes” and “drink”. Last night during her bath time, Mia grabbed my hands and made me sign “more.” She loved it when I made the sign. Jeff informed me that this morning, she picked up her Chinese baby doll, patted her on the head, and then made the doll make the “more” sign. Is there a bigger meaning here? We don’t know. Maybe this is just Mia’s way of playing school.

New Words

Mia is attempting to say lots more words, and many of them qualify as true words rather than word approximations. My favorite new words are "way" and "row". Here is how one particular conversation went.
The scene: Mom is just home from work. Mia misbehaves.
Sarah (sternly): No way!
Mia: Way!

For now, we think that is cute, but just wait until she is a teenager.

The word "row" is typically accompanied by a rowing motion, as Sarah has been teaching the song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat. It is really precious.
The speech therapist coached us to make Mia ask for what she wants. When she wants to be picked up, she has to say "Up". She can't quite say up yet, instead it sounds like "pa", as if she is pronouncing "up" backwards. That is good enough for now.
Mia is also saying "woof" and "moo". And though "ball" is still a word approximation, she is getting closer. Instead of "bah" it now sounds more like "bow."

Pat-a-Cake and Other Amusements

Up until now, Mia has not shown much interest in dancing and movement. Imagine my surprise the other day when the background music in an educational video changed to a march. Without warning, Mia stood up and marched in place. I suspect her new preschool music class had something to do with it.
We can see signs that Mia is understanding more and more words. She had her first therapy session with the speech pathologist yesterday. After the session, the therapist reported that after she engaged Mia in a game of pat-a- cake, Mia stopped the action and went to her bookshelf. She searched a while among the stacks and then produced a book called Pat-a-Cake!

Happiness is...

Mia loves her blocks, the color blue, and stacking things high. I love it when I can capture her expression of sheer delight and share it with her fan club.

“Do You Solemnly Swear…”

So began Mia’s re-adoption hearing this morning. While Mia’s adoption was finalized in China, we were advised to re-adopt her to give the U.S. courts full jurisdiction over the adoption. Also, this enabled the state to issue a birth certificate, meaning she will be able to get copies of her birth certificate in the future without having to contact the Chinese authorities. The hearing took place in the judge’s chambers (for privacy) and there was only one attorney present - ours. The judge had already read everything there is to know about how we became a family. After Jeff and I were sworn in, the questioning was pretty simple, confirming the representations we’d made in the court filing by answering “yes” to each question. We had to testify that:
· We are who we said we are
· We are married
· We live in the city stated in the paperwork, and we have lived in this state more than 6 months
· We adopted Mia in China
· Mia entered the U.S. on a valid visa, and she is a U.S. citizen
· We were asking the court to “domesticate this foreign adoption” and have the state issue a birth certificate with us as the parents

Sarah captured it all with the camcorder. (That's Sarah in the photo.) Mia looked beautiful in her red velveteen dress and sweater. Her outfit was all-American, and red is the traditional color of celebration in China. After the questioning was over, the judge ruled that we had adopted Mia.
After the hearing, Jeff and Sarah left with Mia while the attorney and I went to another part of the courthouse. The clerk of court entered the order of judgment and gave us certified copies of the decree. The order was immediately sealed so that no one can ever look at all the supporting evidence, which includes Mia’s Chinese birth certificate, the Chinese adoption decree, our home study, etc. Adoption decrees may be the only thing you can’t get on the Internet.
I took the adoption decree straight to the county’s vital records office, and a mere half hour later I had Mia’s new birth certificate listing Jeff and I as the parents.

Dear Mia,
If you are reading this someday, I want you to know that this was one of the happiest days of my life. The other happiest days were the day we found out we had been selected to be your parents, the day your Chinese nanny first put you in my arms, and the day we brought you home to America . I love you very much. Every day I thank the Lord that am your mother.

Trick Rider in Training

In four short months, Mia has gone from being afraid to straddle the Bounce & Spin Zebra to riding it full tilt. It is quite a show. Last week I was trying to get a picture of her riding the zebra when all of a sudden she climbed on its back. I quick snapped the photo before grabbing her to prevent the inevitable fall.