Swimming Lessons! (Soo-mee leshah!)

 Justin and Caylie started swimming lessons this week.  I was worried about how Caylie would do, but she is doing GREAT!  She marches right up to her class and gets right in, and does whatever she is asked to do.  It would help if she could communicate a bit better with her teacher, but for this level it's OK.

All ready to go!

And a cheesy grin, just because.  :)

She is the tiniest by far!

Justin is doing well with his lessons, too! 

3 Months

Yesterday marked three months since Caylie JiuChang came to be with us.  In many ways it seems much, much longer than that!  We are getting to know her better every day and can't imagine life without her.  We finally got her Certificate of Citizenship from USCIS that day, as well.  Now we can go stand in line at the Social Security office and also complete her Colorado re-adoption.  

Last Saturday, Daddy officiated a football scrimmage at a local high school, so Caylie and I went to watch and meet some of Daddy's friends.  

We've been practicing riding a teeny tiny little bike.  She can pedal, but she can't steer!   

She's always happy to do anything with big sister Brittany.

On Sunday we said goodbye to our friend Nathan.  (See this post.)

 She likes to tuck all her babies into bed.  And then the rest of us must "Ssshhhh!"  It's very sweet.  (And yes, the Buzz and Woody pillow case is now her favorite.)

And just for a smile, here is Keelan, learning how to buzz his own head with clippers, aided by experts Nathan and Brad.  Haha!

Next post:  Swimming lessons!  Stay tuned.  :)

Agency Picnic!

On Saturday we drove up to Berthoud for AAC Adoption's annual picnic.  We were so excited to take Caylie there!  Last year the boys and I went to the picnic just a few days after we'd gotten our pre-approval and were just beginning our adoption journey.  This time was so much more fun!

Caylie enjoying a yummy lunch!  (And again with the fake smile.  Haha!)

Caylie and Justin getting ready to bounce!

 Me waiting for the bouncers.  (Photo by Keelan.)

The bounce house.  Caylie wanted to get in, but then wasn't too thrilled with her big brother's bouncing!

She's looking at these pictures as I'm posting them, and saying, "Jump!  Jump!  Jump!" and jumping around the room.  She's such a nut.  :)

Keelan wearing Caylie's glasses.  He wore them quite a bit around China, too.  (Also a nut!)

Daddy at the playground.  (Photo by Keelan.)

 Watching some bigger kids.

They had a face-painting booth, so Keelan got some Gateway High School war paint.  Or something.  

Daddy relaxing after lunch.

Justin being Justin.

And Caylie being Caylie.  Or being Justin. . . ?

 Making new friends.

 Face painting!

She was so happy to have a . . . . 

. . . KITTY on her face!

She LOVES her kitties!

With Lisa, who did our pre-adoption training.  

And these are the lovely ladies who helped us bring our daughter home!  (Two of them met Caylie in China before we did!)  Thank you, Erin, Regina, Marissa, and Christie!

We love AAC!

Fun at the Park

This morning we walked down to the park by our house.  We had lots of fun!

She likes to climb up, but doesn't like the slide down anymore.  I don't know why.

 Swinging with Justin.

 She doesn't like swings very much, but tried this one today.

Resting before our walk back home.

Keelan is Off to High School

Ten years ago, this cute little boy started pre-school.  

And this year he is off to high school.

Sigh.

Puddles and Sunflowers

We have actually had good RAIN two days in a row!  Yesterday a storm blew up around dinner time, and after it was gone, we decided to take a walk.  We ended up at the school playground, a couple of blocks from the house.    Caylie decided it was fun to splash in small puddles with bare feet!

She was happy to put this jacket on.  (She's happy to put ANY new item on!)  I bought it months ago, so it's fun to finally see her wear it.  :)

Jumping in the puddle!

Keelan rode his bike on our "walk", as he likes to do.  Caylie gets very worried when he rides out of sight and always CHEERS when she sees "Kee-an" again.

The school has a garden in the summer time.  We decided to take some pictures in front of their pretty sunflowers.  

Sweet girl!

Sweet smile!

There was a beautiful sunset over the mountains, and I wished I'd had my real camera.  This is taken with my phone, and zoomed, so it looks especially cruddy, but perhaps you get the idea.  Or not.  Haha.

Two Months Home

Two months ago today (which was a 38-hour day for us!) we flew from Hong Kong to San Francisco where Caylie became a U.S. citizen.   This is a photo taken just after we went through immigration, and were begging the lady at the United counter for an earlier flight to Denver.  (She got it for us.  Guess we looked especially pathetic, or Caylie looked especially cute!  Haha.)  Anyway, today marks two months since that day, and we still have not received her Certificate of Citizenship.  (Sigh.)  Lest you think we are done with the waiting, red tape, and expense, alas, we are not.  We cannot get her U.S. birth certificate (which will be a certificate of foreign birth) or complete her Colorado adoption (yes, we must do this, too, complete with more forms and fees, ugh) without her COC.  So yes . . . more waiting on government agencies!  

But in the meantime, Miss C is doing very, very well.  She learns more English words all the time and is more and more comfortable with our family.  She will now kiss and hug freely, and will sit on my lap while watching tv.  Attachment is definitely happening, although it is a process that will evolve over years.  

She has loved Toy Story since she came home, and has watched all three movies many times.  She calls it "Buh mm Woo ee" (Buzz and Woody), which we will be very sad to see go when she stops saying it that way!  However, I think she's moving on now, as over the last several days, she wants to watch "dance", which means Despicable Me.  She LOVES to dance at the end of that movie.  It is hilarious.  Perhaps I will eventually figure out how to get a video off of my phone and onto this blog!  

Here are a few photos from our week!

Found this cool CU Buffs hoodie for $3 on a Walmart clearance rack.  She was excited to put it on, although it was 90*.  And like I said before, when I ask her to smile, this is what I get.  Haha.  

New toys and books in the mail are always fun!  (Thank you!)

Fun at the reservoir with brothers and friends.

Waiting for a yummy Mexican lunch with Baba.