Thanksgiving

We spent the day with friends Kathy and Jeff and their 7 year old, Zach. Makana thinks Zach is the best and we love spending time with Kathy and Jeff, so it was a good day! Cody came with us and we all ate and laughed a lot. Kathy took some photos to use for our Christmas cards and we took some of the kids too. Cody stayed over until Friday night and it was good to just hang around with her again.

On Sunday when Gil was off work we needed a little late lunch before I cooked dinner. We stopped at a Sonic and Makana said she wanted a corn dog, when we got home and she was eating it and singing "dip, dip, dip" as she dipped into the ketchup she announced, "I don't like the skin!" I look over and she is peeling the corn part off the hotdog. I told her that was what makes it a corn dog and if she did not like it she did not have to eat it, but that she should just get a hot dog next time. She did not say anything, but after eating the hot dog she went back and ate the "skin" by itself! Crazy girl!

She often sings when we are shopping, (well any time really) at the top of her lungs she will sing her ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, some of her Chinese songs or just that she "is a princess" or "we are happy". Then she acts totally shocked and shy when strangers look at her and tell her she is cute. Of course this is really funny when she is wearing her ladybug sunglasses upside down on her forehead and carrying her green lame purse that Carol gave her!

No Halloween trick or treating

This picture is from the last day this week that Makana felt good enough to go to school. She has had a fever and a cough all week so mom did not get anything done! 3 costumes and no trick or treating. We stayed home and carved a pumpkin, made caramel apples and hoped trick or treaters would come to us. None did. We are still in the apartment and I guess that most of the kids go to neighborhoods to trick or treat. I am glad I did not buy very much candy as I seem to be the one eating it! We were told this week that our house will be ready in December instead of January. So 3 days before Christmas we will be moving! I am excited and worried too of course. So much to do!

almost Halloween for a funny girl!

Here is what is new with my funny girl in the last couple of weeks, she keeps me laughing:

Knock knock jokes:

dd: Knock knock

mom: who's there?

dd: me

mom: me who?

dd: Makana

drinking apple juice in car seat, arms behind head, straw in mouth, cup precariously balanced on the bottom latch of her car seat!

When she thinks I am upset with her she asks, "Mommy are you funny? I like you funny."

She has been enjoying playing in her costumes, I don't know which one she will actually wear for Halloween. She wears them, dances around the house and sings "Twinkle twinkle"

I got a new camera this week, so I should post more often as I have more pictures to share!

Baby Ballerina

Makana got this for her birthday in January, but she was having so much fun today I had to take pictures! She was posing and dancing around and doing jumping turns saying "tip toe, tip toe"! I wish I could post the video! These were taken with my camera phone as my digital camera is not working properly, so I apologize if the quality is not great.

We are enjoying Chinese schools on Saturdays, she was singing herself to sleep the other day with her Chinese songs and making up the words that she did not know yet. She does a good job in class of repeating things for her teacher. She won't always repeat for me, but she sure does for her teacher.

Today I came home from work and Gil reports to me that he heard Makana repeating a choice swear word. It is not something we say and we try to shield her from that type of language, so Gil asked her where she heard it and she said, "Chinese school," now I am with her in this class and I know she did not hear it there, but it could have been her preschool. It could also be that she is trying to say a Chinese word and it sounded like a swear word. We will have to wait and see, hopefully she won't say it again!

Introduction

I finally decided to start a blog, I thought it would be a good way to share photos with family and friends and also a way for Makana to learn about her early childhood. We adopted Makana from the People's Republic of China in 2005. We travelled in October of that month to Jiangxi province to meet our beautiful daughter and brought her home to Aurora, Colorado. She is now 2 and half which she will proudly tell you. She will also be happy to tell you that she is "from China" and that she is going to get "babysister." Makana is a happy, talkative, bright child who loves to play in her kitchen. She is currently in her room changing clothes, I just hope she gets them all back in the drawer so I don't have to do more laundry. Here are a few funny things she has said lately:

Made her father sit in the bed room and told him he is "not allowed to talk"

Told me, her mom, that I needed to go back and "watch TV"

She loves "her songs" in the car and makes me play them every time we go somewhere, by the way, her songs are by Laurie Berkner.