Sherman Family Reunion and Then Some . . .

Hi Everyone,

Josie Dong Dong continues to do wonderfully in Day Care.

She quit crying at drop offs half way through last week (only her 2nd week!).

I think day care has been a big help toward Josie realizing that people come back-- not just leave and then never return.

Before she started day care I would have to rock her until she was asleep before putting her in the crib. Shortly after she started day care, I was able to rock her for a little bit and then put her in her crib before she was asleep. She is able to go to sleep on her own now. She fusses a little bit, but not full blown crying-- just making noise and she is usually out within a few minutes. Sometimes she stays up longer talking to her stuffed animals-- it is pretty funny to listen to her on the monitor.

She plays with the other kids in her class and has lots to talk about when I pick her up. They sing songs, dance, read books, have free play, play outside, make crafts-- heck, I want to spend the day there! She has also started trying to talk more-- she babbles a lot more than she did before day care.

I can't wait until she starts talking for real! She is trying and is now starting to say a few words that we can understand-- like, 'no' (of course), 'all three' which is more like 'ah tee.' That one is a longish story.

She says 'Da" for daddy and Dog.

She doesn't really say Mommy, which drives me slightly bonkers. She was saying it in China! Shortly after we were home, she dropped all her Cantonese except the 'Mmmmm' for 'no.' She held onto that for a while and then it went too. I guess she figured she was starting all over again.
She understands almost everything we say to her and she frequently sits on my lap and points to me and then to herself to which I say our names, Mommy-- Josie Dong Dong. She likes to do that ritual throughout the day. She is having a blast with her new friends. In the past weeks she has had opportunities to play a violin (not sure how that really works with a 20-month old), play water table games, see a magic show, and make lots of crafts.

Her special this week is a sun visor.

"Quit tickling me Daddy! I'm trying to give Mommy my 'cool' look!"

Our anniversary this year was a threesome event (absolutely no complaints from this couple!). This is Josie waiting for Daddy so we can go out to eat. It was a nice evening and Josie had a blast at the restaurant.

Daddy took longer than we expected, so Josie encouraged me in a few rounds of "Itsy bitsy spider." I made up a 2nd verse where the spider crawls all over her to bite her nose, toes, ears, and eyes.

As promised-- here are some picts from the Sherman Family reunion a few weekends ago.

Josie wasn't too sure what to think about her new surroundings and surprisingly enough-- it didn't turn into a thumb-sucking moment.

She quickly made friends with some of distant cousins and had a great time hanging-out with the big girls.

"This is a little different than what we usually do."

Josie Dong Dong making friends with her 2nd cousin, Emma.

"Hi Emma. Will you be my friend?"

Josie and Emma were soon joined by Jemma, whom I believe is Josie's third cousin.

"Wow! You girls have some really cool toys!"

Josie Dong Dong and the girls had lots of fun together and happily posed for a group shot.

Here is Becky and her daughter Emily. Emily is trying to figure out how to use a spoon.

"This has to be close to right-- mommy is always sticking one in my mouth-- Where's the food?"

Emily was full of smiles this afternoon and had a blast playing with Josie Dong Dong.

Cousin Marie holding Baby Emily.

Josie became very curious about Emily's bottle. It was somewhat of a trial to get Josie to completely get over not having a bottle anymore. I think there was a bit of envy in her stare.

"HMMM? What is going on here? What is that I see that Baby Emily has?"

"Um, is everyone sure it is OK for Baby Emily to have that Bottle?"

"Ok, but I at least want my sippy cup!"

Nate was also full of energy at the party. He is the master of all 3-year olds at giving "five" and getting into mischief. Josie loved watching him run around giving five and she picked up a thing or two.

Here is Josie playing coy with Nate.

Nate moves in for the cute-attack.

So much for being coy . . .

"Come here Nate. I've got "5" for you!"

Josie was so riled up giving five with Nate, that Daddy couldn't resist swooping her up and giving her a big tickle bug.

All three first cousins playing together.

It was a great time and wonderful to meet so many relatives on the other side of Wim's family.

Until our next post, here is Josie Dong Dong with her new kissy-face. We've moved on from open mouthed kisses to this!

"Can I have a kiss?"