threewillcomehome.com

For those of you who were unaware, Missouri lost the big 12 championship but was still selected to go to the Cotton Bowl. You can watch them on New Year’s Day, I know we will be watching them.

Recently while Catherine was out studying for her boards, I bundled Li Li up to go to the playground. This level of bundling would have passed the Chinese grandmother test because Li LI must have had 5 or 6 layers of clothes on including her hat and mittens.

Li Li absolutely loves the playground especially swinging. Even though it was about 25 degrees with a bitter 20-mph wind, Li Li kept asking for more using her sign language. She is not happy merely swinging back and forth a few feet. She wants big swings and she wants them often.

Of course I give them to her because they make her so darn happy. How can you resist a smile like this?

While I was pushing Li Li at her beck and call I was also playing with Maggie in the park since no other parents were crazy enough to be outside on such a cold, blustery day. I would push Li Li several times and then toss a stick for Maggie. I must have repeated that particular sequence of motions about 30 times before I realized that one of the three of us had to be a responsible adult – and Li Li isn’t quite ready to take on that role. Finally it was probably time to go back home and warm up.

Of course one more picture was required.

Li Li decided to climb on some equipment and Maggie promptly joined her. Li Li was able to climb up the equipment to the top of the slide and then slide down all by herself. I was poised to catch her if needed but as unsteady on her feet as she is sometimes, she was able to climb and slide without any issue- even with a 65 lb dog nudging her periodically. I figure eventually she’ll be so used to being bumped by a big dog that she’ll be a force to be reckoned with on the field hockey field or Soccer pitch.
We’ll see where her interests take her. That’s all for now. -t

Obviously Li Li’s support is what tipped the balance for Missouri against Kansas – that and Chase Daniel’s incredible perfromance.

Mizzou is finally emerging from the fog of the 80s and 90s where most games were decided in the 1st quarter and the only question was whether or not to stay until the end of the game – not whether Mizzou would pull out a win.

In fact my friend Mary and I went to many games together – the most recent in 2005.

Catherine has been to one Missouri game – but because it was Nebraska before Mizzou figured out how to beat the Huskers and the aforementioned policy of staying until the end of the game regardless of score – she has expressed a singular desire to never attend another Missouri football game. Now Li Li will be different – I can’t wait until she’s old enough to go to a Missouri football game and have her first slice of Shakespeare’s pizza.

The game is on tonight at 8 and we’ll all be singing the Mizzou fight song

M – I – Z, Z – O – U

I am really bad at dates but I took LiLi with me this morning to my haircut and my hairdresser, George, very kindly trimmed her hair(or more importantly cut her mullet off). He then put her hair clippings into an envelope for me and dated it. I would never have thought to do that. LiLi then went off with her Nana as happy as could be barely even saying goodbye.
It was then I realized that it was a year ago when we first got our referral. What a difference one year makes. I cannot remember what our lives were like before she came into it.
When I went to pick her up from Nana and Poppie, I kept thinking how she seemed to change last night into an older toddler. She looked older(it could be the haircut and her outfit but I don’t think so) and she is acting older. Yesterday, she also started trying to have a real conversation with me where she would babble and I would answer and she would babble off again. Before that she has babbled at us but this was different. She is trying out a couple of new words a day now. She learned wall yesterday and we had to stop and run our hand along the to of every stone wall in the neighborhood and it turns out that there are quite a few. Of course, she also stopped at every crack in the sidewalk and put her finger in it and looked up at me. It was a long walk home. But the other amazing thing was how many blocks she walked by herself and most of them without trying to get me to pick her up. Then tonight as I drove into the driveway and we were listening to “Yellow Submarine,” she said submarine(ok, not exactly like it sounds but you can definately differentiate the sub part) and repeated it multiple times.
Here are some pictures to show the difference between then and now:

One of our referral pictures. Who would have guessed that she would tend towards curls in her hair

Here she is with me looking at bird videos at the National Geographic site. LiLi is a bit obsessed with birds

Here she is with food on her face and parts of her new cousin’s quilt to be around her neck.

Here are some pictures of LiLi taking Maggie for a walk or the other way around.

LiLi leading Maggie on a nice walk up the street

Maggie decides to stop and LiLi tries to get her to move

Daddy, LiLi and Maggie on a walk

And one other picture unrelated