Uncle Trouble, Aunt Kathy & Jaden

Uncle Trouble, Aunt Kathy and Jaden are travel friends from China. We got to experience the joy of adoption together and have a connection that will last a lifetime. Since October 2006, we have just chatted from time to time on our travel Yahoo group. So you can imagine how excited we were to see them in person again when we heard they would be passing through and staying with my brother and sister-in-law (also China travel mates) for a few days.

Stan, aka Uncle Trouble, has a heart of gold, but we wondered how Elle would take to him. They arrived late the night before, but when Kathy and Stan came upstairs the next morning, Elle leaped into their arms. She could see their hearts and maybe...maybe she remembered our time with them in China! This family was a blessing to us in our China adventure and continue to bless us with their sweet, Christ-centered spirits.

They came bearing gifts - beautiful dresses and teddy bears for the girls, Ami and Elle. Jaden, their daughter, is oh so cute and just growing up into a lovely little girl. It was really special to see the three girls together. We enjoyed our short visit and treasure the time we had again with them.

Here are some pictures from our weekend with the cousins, Stan, Kathy and Jaden. You'll notice some wet ones, as Elle and the kiddos enjoyed running in the torrential downpour one evening! Too much fun!

Potty training...oh yeah, baby!

My niece, Ami, started potty training about two months ago. I am so proud of her! She is quite remarkable; really and I'm not just saying that because I'm her aunt! I had fun hearing about all the details and it definitely raised my curiosity. Oh the idea of losing the diapers - how wonderful that would be! But I was feeling pretty sure that Elle wasn't quite there yet, mainly because I had read that your child should start waking up with a dry diaper or keep a diaper dry during the day for longer periods of time. Elle never wakes up with a dry diaper and usually soaks through a #5 once a week! (She normally wears a #3 during the day!) I was also changing around 8 diapers a day. Elle drinks a lot of water. We're big water drinkers!

She did have a concept of the potty and we had been talking about her little potty seat that has been sitting in our bathroom for months. She would pretend potty and also signed potty when she was going in her diaper. Then I started thinking...with all the water she drinks, would she ever have a dry diaper for a period of time or wake up dry?

So, with it being summer and no big plans in the immediate future, we started prepping. We made a potty chart, we talked about the rewards, we bought new, pretty, pink panties, and on and on....

It was Monday, we were psyched and the area rug was rolled up. Fortunately, we have all hard floors in our home. I gave her extra fluid, without thinking that she already drank enough to help with training. Oh my, she was hydrated and peeing about every two minutes! I barely had enough time to wipe, dump, cheer, reward and put a sticker on her chart before we started again!

Well, Elle and I have gotten better at our roles and three weeks later, things are going very well. She's running errands, going to doctor appointments and church in her panties. We're still using a nap and bedtime diaper, but we can get through the night in a #3 now and with the donation of Ami's diapers, we shouldn't be buying any more diapers. Knock on wood!

In the Kitchen

Elle is a great help in the kitchen and really enjoys pushing a chair up to the counter and getting her hands dirty with Mama. With some help, she can break eggs, but is really skilled at whisking them up. She keeps busy with sweeping the kitchen floor and finding yuckies to throw away in the trash and often reminds me of the boiling pot of whatever on the stove that's hissing and popping while I'm in la-la land at the sink. She is also developing some preference on spices and helps to shake those into the dinner pot. Still a lot of culinary exploration ahead of us so that means more fun in the kitchen to look forward to. This day she was helping me wash strawberries. Of course, the cook always gets a taste and if Mama forgets, Elle clearly says, "Taste, taste!"

Oh yeah, the bummer of it all, we discovered that Elle's allergic to strawberries. :(