Headed to Four

Just a quick note to let you know all is well with Gracie Xue.  She turns four very soon and we are planning great things for this month.  This weekend, she attended her second musical of the fall (and a third one is teed up for next week).  She is a great theater-goer, and has the etiquette down pat.   She also had her first swimming lesson which went -- well, swimmingly!

I am taking a few days off before Christmas and will use some of that time to update her photos and current interests.  It's been a rough year for technology at our house, and the laptop we currently have is finicky and difficult to use so please bear with me.  I hope next year is one filled with reliable hard drives and no little software goblins.  Speaking of goblins, Grace went as a ghost this year for Halloween. Don't think daddy got any pictures and mommy was out of town but we did get a few at her preschool parade.  Hope to post updates soon -- no major changes (although she is over 30 lbs and 36 inches now) but still as beautiful as ever.  Happy Holidays, everyone!

Gotcha Day 2010 Campout!

For our third Gotcha Day Anniversary, we had a cookout on the deck and then Grace and I slept in a tent on the deck.  We were joined in the morning by one of our dogs.  

Lemonade for Sale!

Grace's first foray into commerce.  Although the advertised price was 25 cents, if asked she would reply "Five Dollars!"  She loved counting her money.

Pixie Pics

The Lost Pics

Computer failures this spring caused me to lose about 3 months of photos and 5 months of videos, including her sled dog ride (which I failed to capture well anyway due to operator error with the new video camera) and her first gymnastics performance (cute, but largely chaotic), some cute songs and the slow documentation of about 1.5 inches of growth. Rats.  Most of the photos you see in the last posting are from the lost files, so this blog is the only place in which they exist anymore... And where is that, anyway?  In the "cloud"????  

So, now our computer is repaired (cross fingers) and I will be backing up BEFORE reformatting the SD cards (lesson learned).  New photos coming soon. She is changing by the minute.

Also, some milestones passed while we were off the grid, notably, the third anniversary of "meeting" Xue Chun via the referral and pics in July 2007 (was it the 9th?  I think so.)!!!   What an amazing time that was, and how time zips by, and oh so many changes have occured here in our family.  More to come.  We have the third Gotcha Day coming up in August -- maybe I'll organize a party this time to celebrate beyond just our family of three. 

Oh yes, and it's HOT HOT HOT here.  Dogs are drooping.

2010...at the halfway mark

Busy, snowy winter; scarlet fever and hives; trips to LI, Rochester, and more coming up.  This is one active three year old.  Still in preschool, she is writing her name and other letters.  She sings a lot, makes up some stories once in a while, hates to be videotaped, still loves her blankets and stuffed animals (Baby B, Pink Stink, Meow Meow and a host of new additions).  She eats everything (even tried mussels and said they tasted "different" but refused to eat the foot; can you blame her?).  She has only gained a few ounces since December but has grown about an inch and a half.  She turns on lights, crawls onto the bath vanity to brush and floss teeth.  She is fascinated by the little black and red box elder beetles that scatter when she pokes the cluster of bugs on the side of the gazebo.  She is still crazy about animals and can recite the text of many books, especially those with animals (Roly Poly Pangolin and Puffling are her latest).  Last Sunday, she saw her first in-theater movie, Toy Story 3 -- she was great and at the end immediately posited that there would be a 4 and 5.  She loves to ride her bike or ride in a seat behind me or her dad.  I gave her her first big haircut, a bob, around Memorial Day to help keep her cool.  She loves short hair and hates to be sweaty (especially, for some reason, on her feet - couldn't keep her in socks or slippers this winter).

The computer has been on the fritz for many months but I just got it back and will upload some pics.  Here are a few from February to May, including Easter egg dying, Valentine production (which stretched into March - sorry we never sent them!); the SNOW (nearly 50 inches in one week); and more.  Missing are pics from her gymnastics performance and her new haircut -- they are on the video camera and phone camera and I need time to figure out how to transfer those files.  More to come, hopefully by August.  Grace and I are headed to Maine where I hope to pick blueberries with our little Sal.  Coming up on three years together this summer with this amazing child.  Love to all and thanks for your support!