Head, shoulders, knees and toes...knees and toes!

Maeve and I started our 'mommy and me' swimming class on Monday at the Y. I wanted to get her used to a pool and swimming... and I thought it would be fun! The class description read something like this..'mom and baby will...learn to blow bubbles...learn to get in and out of the pool...float on back and stomach...etc...Nowhere in the description did it say 'Mom must know the lyrics to every children's song, or else, all the other mom's will look at you as if to say "Loser! how do you not know the words?? I mean, I just instinctively know the words...I knew the words before my baby was born..cause that's what good mother's do...you suck!!!" Okay, not really...no one said anything, but that's what my insecure little self heard (in my head). I would have been fine, I mean seriously, I was doing really well with..."head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes" that was easy, but without warning came "and eyes and ears and mouth and noes" or my version..."and blah, blah, cough, blah blah."

Needless to say, I have spent the last few days googling hundreds of songs. I will not be looking the fool at the next swimming/singing class...no freakin way!

Take care..brush your hair..

Good news...Saucy is sleeping in her own room! She was sleeping in our room, in a crib next to the bed, since we came back from Vietnam. We never felt comfortable with her sleeping in bed with us...just too dangerous...Chrisfeeney might roll over and crush the poor thing. Anyway, after being home for two weeks, Maeve starting sleeping through the night. She would go into her crib between 7:30 and 8:00 and sleep until about 7 am. So, last Sunday we decided it was time for her to start sleeping in her own room. She didn't seem to mind, so for the last week, she's been cribbing in her room. Needless to say, I was very happy to get her out of our room and into her own. I was like "see ya kiddo, don't let the door hit you in the diaper on the way out!!!!"

It's hard to believe that we have only been together for a little over a month now. Saucy fits into this family perfectly. She's a bit goofy and twisted, like her mommy, but she can be very serious and focused, like her daddy (she's more like me though :) ) She really is just a sweetie pie!!!

Baby Einstein???

Is it just me or does listening to a Baby Einstein video make anyone else want to jump off the roof? Sure, the baby enjoys listening to the music, but I seem to 'play' the music over and over and over and over... in my head for the rest of the day... which isn't a good thing!! I feel like writing the founder of Baby Einstein, Julie Clark, and asking her to come up with a video more tailored towards my musical interests. As much as I think Baby Incubus or Baby Tool would be awesome...that might not be appropriate for Maeve (not yet anyway). So I was thinking maybe.... Baby Radiohead or Baby Coldplay or even Baby Steely Dan. Just a thought.

So Maeve had her appointment with the International Adoption Clinic at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) on 3/26/09. The occupational therapist said that she was right on target developmentally for a 12 month old. The Dr. said that was amazing for a baby who spent the first year of her life in an orphanage. Maeve also went to her pediatrician on 3/31/09. He was lovely (had a good sense of humor too). He ordered 3 stool samples, a urine sample, and gave her 3 vaccines... Yuk!!! and Ouch!!! She was a trooper though..forgot all about the pain the second we walked out the door. Maeve is in the 15th % for height....10th % for weight...and her head is in the 45th %.

We all seem to be adjusting well and have established a nice daily routine. Even Nigel, who likes the fact that she throws her Cheerios on the floor for him to eat, has stopped barking at her every time she moves...thank goodness!!! Maeve goes to bed between 7:30 and 7:45 each night and sleeps until about 7:00 the next morning. She sleeps in a crib next to our bed right now, but we are going to transition her into her own room in the next week or so. That should be fun...NOT. Nap time has gotten better as well. She takes an afternoon nap, which she is not at all happy about, and sleeps for maybe an hour and a half or so.

Maeve had a couple of play dates last week. On Thursday we went to visit Caroline, who is 6 months old and cute as a button!! And on Saturday we went to visit Ava, who is 19 months old. Ava is also from Lang Son and is just a sweetie pie!!!...they were soooo adorable together. It's funny how her social calendar is quickly becoming full, while I can't even remember the last time I actually did my hair and put on makeup! My, how life changes when you have a saucey little toddler running around. Oh, and she is a saucey little minx!!!!

Babies are like Aliens!!

They come from nowhere/Vietnam.....invade your planet/home...and next thing you know you're taking orders from them. Our little Alien happens to be called Maeve and she totally tells us what to do. It's okay right now, since she is just getting used to us, but soon enough, I'll have to let her know that I'm the Mommy and she's the baby (not the other way around).
We've been home for two weeks...and if you want to know how it's going, please check out my friend Marci's blog (you can access it through the comments section). She summed it up rather nicely...and accurately. Just remember to substitute the name Maeve whenever you see the name Echo:)

Since I am too tired to write a lot, I'll just say a few words about Maeve. She has a great appetite. I can't figure out how an 18 pound baby can eat 20 pounds of food??? She is generally happy....She loves her Daddy...She hates the car seat....she likes to tease Nigel by holding a Cheerio in front of him and then eating it herself......she can stand up on her own and take about 7 steps before she face plants it into the cold, hard floor. She loves the bath.....she wants to be held, like all the time.....and if only she would take a nap I might be able to hold on to my sanity (what's left anyway):)