Top Ten Things I Love About The Chunster

1. The way she says "AI CHUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" when you say her name - especially if you leave off the AiChun part.

2. The little snore she makes when she sleeps. You would think she is an 80 year old man. So cute.

3. The way she tells me she needs a bow before we leave the house. Like I would forget hair accessories!

4. The way she LOVES the letter B. She loves to say it, write it, recognize it on paper. She will take an O or T in a pinch, but she really likes Bs.

5. The way she puckers up her lips and waits for me to say "cockadoodledoo!" anytime we see a picture of a rooster.

6. The way she gets so excited and screams "shu ma!!!" and signs the word "panda" when she sees a picture of a panda.

7. The way she says "Jesus".

8. The way she loves to sing "This Little Light of Mine" over and over (and over) again.

9. The way she runs into my arms when I pick her up from daycare - like the greatest joy in her life is seeing me walk through the door.

10. The way, when she thinks I am asleep, and she is supposed to be asleep, she will arrange my covers, brush my hair off my forehead and put a gentle kiss on my brow...just the way I do to her.

What a joy!
Amy

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung in our part of the world! The weather has been warm, the birds have been singing, the rabbits have been out eating our plants...the world has been a happy place. Amelia AiChun's world has been filled with evening walks, trips to the park, watching friends play baseball, and planting flowers. She seems to be enjoying springtime!

Enjoy,
Amy & The Chunster

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Amelia celebrated her first American Chinese New Year recently with two fun parties. The first party was with our close friends at our favorite Chinese restaurant. We love going there because the people that work there are from Chengdu, and they love Amelia. When we go in, they run to her and say "AiChun!!!". We handed out traditional red envelopes to Amelia's friends (with a dollar inside!) and let our friends sample some little candies we bought at our local Asian market. We had a grand time!

Our second party was with our local group of families that have adopted internationally. Our group has children adopted from many countries, but typically, only the families with children from the Asian countries celebrate the special New Year. We had the party at Lilly (from Vietnam) and Kunal's (from India) house. Everyone brought a dish from their child's country. Amelia and I took fried lotus root. Yes, I fried them myself!!! We played with our friends and even got to play outside since the weather was nice.

Our group has several "big" kids, who are sweet and funny. We also have lots of toddler-aged children. In fact, there are at least 4 other 2 year old girls from China in our group. They weren't all at the party, but if we ever get them all together, won't it be fun?

Amelia's newest tricks: (1) she hides things behind her back and says "where'd it go?" and then laughs like a loon when she pulls it out from behind her back;
(2) She says "I love you" - to Elmo, but not to her Mama; (3) she tells to "wah hair" with "shapoopoo"; and (4) she likes "choo choo" trains, and she thinks everything that makes lots of noise (firetrucks, etc.) are choo choos.

Yes, we are having FUN!

Amy & Amelia AiChun