Laine's new skills

It is hard to believe that Laine and I have been home for over a month. Everyday she continues to grow and amaze me. We went to the doctor last week and other than an ear infection, she is doing great. She is still in the 25th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight. I've pulled out some pictures and took some video of some of the new things that Laine has learned to do over the last month, some of the skills she acquired a while ago, I’m just a little slow with the blogging.




Laine eating Cheerios all by herself!









My friend Alisa was here and finished a mural in Laine's room, here are some pictures of Laine checking it out.

Celebrating Easter with Aunt Wendy and cousin Trey

Laine turns ONE!

Laine turned one on March 15 with a small celebration, enjoy the pictures!

Laine's first birthday

First days at home

Well, after a week of hibernating at home, we have settled into a routine and have been enjoying going out and about and having friends visit. Laine continues to be an awesome kid, she is a very curious and happy kid. She enjoys eating the new vegetables and meals that I’ve been trying out; bread continues to be a big hit and fruits and other sweets are still at the bottom of the list (I can hide fruit in oatmeal, but that is about it.) She enjoys music and books and is becoming more affectionate with me.

I’m enjoying my time-off, it is great to be able to spend this time with my daughter. She is also a good sleeper, so I’ve been able to keep up with things pretty well, we’ll see what happens when I go back to work.

Pictures

Ok, I've given up the dream of catching up on writing more about the trip. I've posted the pictures online, you can find them (lots of them!) at the following links . . .

Beijing

Nanchang Pictures

Guangzhou Pictures

Hong Kong and Homecoming pictures

We're Home

We arrived home late Thursday night and Laine continues to be a real trooper. She slept for ½ of the first flight (12 hours from Hong Kong to LA) and most of the other 2 flights as we hopped our way across the country. She is such a happy energetic little kid, she was constantly checking out what was going on.

I can’t believe that we have only been together for 2 weeks, it is hard to imagine life without her now. She has grown and changed just in this short time. Today she rolled over and started clapping. She is eating more and a third tooth is coming in. Overall, she has is a happy kid with an outgoing personality, although they were not kidding when they said ‘obstinate sometimes’ on the referral info.

I intend to post more pictures and stories from our trip over the next few weeks. I didn’t have the internet access that I thought I would have. We are starting to get our days and nights straightened out, Laine slept until 5:30 this morning. She enjoyed meeting Grandpa when we got home and I’m sure she will miss them both now that they have headed home (especially Grandma since they have spent so much time together over the last few weeks.)

Greetings from Nanchang!

Just wanted to give you a short update as to how we are doing (mostly because I want to go play with Laine!) Laine was already at the hotel when we arrived on Sunday, we quickly threw our carry-ons in the room, grabbed the cameras and went to meet our children. Laine was beautiful and perfect that day, she didn't cry, just looked around in amazement at the chaos and was laughing before we left the ballroom.

Yesterday the adoption was finalized, it was a lot of 'hurry up and wait' at the different offices. I think Laine handled it better than mommy. When we got back I told her that she was adopted and her name was Laine Fong Tinklenberg and she started to cry (but with Tinklenberg as a last name, who can blame her.) Mommy and baby took a nap to recover.

Today has been a much slower pace, just playing, bathing and eating. Overall Laine is doing really well, she makes great eye contact, really only cries when she is tired and is very active. So far she has puked, pooped and peed on me, so I'm well initiated into motherhood.

Love Julie (and Laine)