Do nothing, Be happy!

Where does the time go? The weekend is over and I feel as though I didn't get much accomplished. I guess I need to forgo the list of things to do when we are not feeling well.

Lily has had this chest thing for over a week now. It has not really been slowing her down at all but you can hear the rattle in her chest when she breathes. It was this weekend that made me realize enough is enough and I need to get her into seeing her doctor. Not so much because there was a huge change with her, although she was more clinging to me but she vomited on Saturday I think due to congestion and a gourmet grilled cheese we had at a friend's house earlier that day. And to top it off I started feeling unwell Friday evening. I had to cancel all plans because as I found out on Saturday, even driving in the car was too much for me and my head.

I take all this in stride and that it is a clear message I am to do nothing except "be". Be with Lily playing, cuddling, watching favorites on Treehouse and eating lots of fruit. So that is what I did but it was not without resistance as I looked around my house and new that I still needed to paint, organize the office, clean the porch, rake the leaves, organize the new kitchen cupboards that Erik assembled...see that is the list that never ends and it is my own nightmare.

So, facing a new week I shall be taking Lily to the doctors first thing on Monday, I have also vowed to finish existing house projects over the next two weeks and not take on anything new until mid January. We all need a break and some time to do nothing but sit and play.

Anniversary of Referral

I was a year ago today and I was sitting at my work cubicle on a Thursday afternoon. Recently I had a conversation with M at my agency and she thought my referral would come by the end of the year but it could be into the new year. I had no inclination that a referral of my sweet baby would come that afternoon.

I had a phone call from D and as soon as I heard her voice I knew it needed to brace myself. She spoke for what seemed to be forever and then suddenly she asked if I was near a computer as she was sending me an email with 4 photos. I couldn't type for the life of me but finally made my way and plugged in my password to find an email. With great anticipation and excitement I clicked on the email to see this photo of Lily My Yen:


I was overjoyed and loved her face immediately, her eyes, lips, wee hands, all the hair and of course how could I not noticed the horizontal stripes in orange. She was my wee pumpkin for sure. Then I scrolled further down to find three more photos. Some with a loving nou nou holding her and then another that had my giggling ...and you will see why.

Here is Lily, and when I first saw this picture I thought that she was a very big baby. And even as I received more photos during my wait to travel the same thing struck me...that she is a BIG baby. Well for those that have met Lily and held her she is just the opposite. Light as a feather, tiny but mighty. When I travelled to Vietnam I asked our country host why she looked so big and L told me it was because she would use her zoom lens when taking the photos.

Happy Referral Day Lily My Yen.....November 19, 2009 was the beginning of a loving family. That day, and without you really knowing, you changed my life forever and brought something I had always wanted (a family).

My thoughts this morning as I type this and Lily is still asleep is that "hope" wins!

Settling in to Daycare

I am on week four. I think Lily has adjusted better than I have but that does not surprise me. We do have one small problem....the little mouse is not sleeping at daycare. With me she would sleep in the morning and then a nice 2 hour nap in the afternoon. At daycare she may have a 10 min. nap in her stroller in the morning but when the afternoon arrives there is so much unpredictability. Yesterday we both got up at 6:30am (due to the time change) and Lily did not nap until 4:00pm. OUCH - I am having a hard time adjusting to this.

Suggestions are welcomed here on my site. How do we get her to sleep??

For the most part though she is doing so well. Yesterday I was told she may have said the word "Up" and some form of the word "Banana". Trying to get her to say it to me has resulted in nothing remotely sounding like these two words.

Some really good news is that my upper cabinets in my kitchen were hung over the weekend and it is starting to really look like a kitchen. Doors are on back order. Photos to be uploaded over the weekend.

Well this morning I woke up thinking it was 6:40am only to get dressed and come downstairs to make coffee and the actual time is 5:45am. Ooops! I forgot to change the clock radio across my room and that is what I looked at when I first woke. Hence my blog entry : )

October 31st

Ooooo....it is the scary Tiger Lily. She is going to get you!!

Lily feels a kinship with her dog Charlotte...both soft with brown noses.

We had a carve off and yes that pumpkin was way out of the reach of children. That pumpkin was Eriks.

This one was my creative.

And this pumpkin went to bed long before the door-bell stopped ringing.

First Steps

Lily has been standing up on her own for about 2 months now. Only two weeks ago she took one small step forward at daycare on her first day. Since then I have been pretty low key on her walking to Mama. Well tonight after dinner, when we were both so tired, Lily decided to walk.

I am just so proud of her determination. I am also finding out that Lily does things on her own time.

Take a look:

A Few Firsts in Lily's Life

Well, we are into the second week of daycare and back to work. My house is a mess, my dog is not getting as many walks and I am going into the change jar to by transit tokens. Can't wait for that first paycheck so I can say goodbye to EI.

Lily seems to be enjoying daycare and has transitioned well for the first week. She does cry at night when I put her to bed which she did not do before. Tonight I had to rock her to sleep when she just wouldn't soothe herself. It is a big transition for the both of us so a little extra cuddling is needed.

The first day of daycare Lily took one step towards me at the end of the day. I am so worried I am going to miss this so I will leave my video camera there everyday and hope it will be captured. All the other kids are walking and I can see Lily wants to be up with the kids. She is doing a lot of standing but is not too eager to take steps.

Below is a picture of the first day I dropped her off and our provider, Natalia immediately took her to the water table where she forgot all about her mama.

At the end of last week we went on a big road trip to Sudbury to see her Vietnamese "brother" and to help celebrate his birthday and his Baptismal. It was a jam packed weekend with a Hallow e'en party with the Asian adoption community in the afternoon. Lily was dressed as a Fairy Mouse and I went as Jeanie. A blondie I am not!!

Following that party we joined a family who travelled to Vietnam with us (Cedric's mom and dad) to celebrate a birthday party for Cedric with the inclusion of Lily. It was just adorable and we had so much fun with lots of their family members attending.

Of course we can't help ourselves to gush over both of these babies and match these two in a marriage when they are older. If not marriage then wishing them a life long friendship of course. Below is a picture of the delicious cake that was made. All through our trip and when we arrived back in Canada these two got the names Pebbles and Bamm Bamm for obvious reasons.

Cedric's Baptism was a wonderful event and I feel so very proud of him. I was asked to be his Godmother and it is just such an honour to be in this little boy's life. We all wore traditional Vietnamese dress and celebrated afterwards with a brunch. Boy these babes were so tired by the end of this very busy weekend.

I just finished day one of my second week and today Lily went to Aunti Andi's house for the day. She got to play with Samantha and Jack. Lily loves being with this family and always has so much fun. I feel so thank ful to have such caring people close by. It makes going back to work just that much bearable.

Daycare and Back to Work

It is the eve of my going back to work and Lily attending her daycare. Yup, I am feeling a bit stressed on both fronts but what keeps me from going over the edge is the fact that Lily is very social and loves to be with other kids. Her daycare is bright and cheery and there are three other wee ones. Two little girls of similar age and a boy. We have been a few times already but last Friday I left for an hour and besides the scream that lasted all of 5 seconds she was just fine.

So I will do a gradual back to work/daycare over the next three weeks so we can all adjust slowly.

I calculated that I will have three hours a day with Lily during the week. The daycare provider will get to have about 7 waking hours with her (I am jealous already). Well I will just take one step at a time and hope for a positive outcome.

The past three weeks I have noticed that Lily has gained a very strong attachment to me. A couple days ago when we were at my friends for a playdate, Lily screamed for me as I left the room. It was a chilling scream that I had not experienced with her in relation to me leaving her side. That was a first. This past weekend while at home I have had to be very close to her. Could be that she is sensing something with the trips to the daycare OR it could be that her one year molar has just started cutting through.

Much more to do before lights out. Here is a picture of Lily and Char just after a walk in the neighbourhood. The new present came from Aunti Georgie (used toy for Lily's b-day). She had so much fun driving the car.