Boo at the Zoo and Neighborhood Halloween Parade Oct 27-28

We had another fun filled, but busy weekend. Our friend Tanya came over to go to Boo At the Zoo, and we met up with Ellen, Rick and Sarah there too. This is annual fundraising event for FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo). The Zoo is decorated and there are stations from one end of the place to the other passing out various treats and goodies. In our rush to have everything for Indigo, "we forgot the bottom pants of her kangaroo costume", but she still looked adorable (Melanie says - hmmm, the famous "we" - no mind, as our friend Tanja said, she was a kanga zebra - kangaroo top and stripey legs. We also were fortunate to find our friends Mary, Terry and their two kids, Alex and Adam among the throngs of people. Indigo absolutely loved the chocolate covered ice cream dips that were among the many goodies handed out.

Our Halloween festivities would continue with us participating in our neighborhoods Halloween Parade on Sunday. This time Indigo was in her full Kangaroo costume and she looked very cute. The parade goes from Beach 5 to Beach 3 with the local police shutting down the street.

The parade has fire trucks, the local High School marching band particpates and hundreds of residents came out either to march or watch. Then their are goodies and drinks with the band performing down at another beach. Indigo loved eating the home made cookies and sipping lemonade. Later that day, Melanie left to volunteer at Boo at the Zoo.

Sarah's birthday at Sesame Place and the Pumpkin Patch Oct. 19 - 21st

Our friends Ellen & Rick invited us to join them in celebrating their daughter, Sarah's 2nd birthday by going to Sesame Place in Pennslyvania. We all drove up together in one car together on Friday after work - the girls were very good. We had a nice dinner together and then tucked in for the night - it was a brand new experience for Indigo to sleep in the pack-n'play and she took a while to fall asleep. We were in our bed and she kept popping up and saying "hi" and then she would make kissing sounds at us. However, she did eventually fall asleep and slept until morning. Bright and early on Saturday morning we left for Sesame Place to attend a breakfast with Elmo, Big Bird and friends. Indigo was wide eyed taking in all the new sights. While she enjoyed pointing and looking at Elmo and friends, she did not appreciate when they came to close to her. We were teasing Rick when Burt came up - don't you think they look alike with the hair? We had an absolute blast. Sarah and Indigo enjoyed riding in the double push cart and loved playing together on this massive soft footing type thing where they could carry large soft blocks and other shapes around. They were also entranced by an Elmo show. Sesame Place was having a Halloween scavenger hunt so we enjoyed following the clues and collecting goodies. Rick and I enjoyed smashing potatoes and throwing balls at targets to win stuffed Elmos for the girls and then Melanie & Ellen played games and also got smaller stuffed Elmos for the girls so they ended up with quite a lot of Elmo loot! Later in the afternoon, we lined up on the parade route and right before the parade started Indigo fell fast sleep on the side walk. She slept all during the noisy and festive parade which Sarah watched with joyful glee. We came home on Saturday night after having had the most marvelous time. We all now have a season pass for next year and can't wait to the take the girls back. It was very emotional to celebrate the birthday of precious Sarah - we were with her parents just days after she became their forever daughter in China and their bond is so strong and Sarah is just thriving in their loving home. It was brought us great joy to celebrate her birthday with them.




On Sunday, we went to the mother of all pumpkin patches at Cox Farms where we were meeting with some of the other families from our same adoption agency. It was so fun to see most of our group with their girls. Indigo had an amazing time, playing in the hay, riding on a hay ride, sliding down slides with daddy and seeing many animals, including pigs, chickens, and turkeys. She also got to pet a cow and loved petting all the goats too - she wanted to get her hands on all the goats. We also celebrated Sarah's 2nd birthday with all the other families and were able to wish Toni & Tom farewell as they would be leaving for China at the end of the month for their daughter Erica. Toni & Tom had a later log-in date and are the last of the families we have been getting together with for well over a year to finally get to hold their daughter in their arms. It was wonderful to celebrate that their moment was arriving. Indigo was so tired that she fell asleep before we even got out of the parking lot!






After we got home we put her down in the crib and she continued to nap so long that we finally had to wake her up because we were going to dinner at Melanie's cousin Ruth and her husband David's new place. We had a lovely dinner with them and enjoyed catching up. We were pretty exhausted by the time we all fell into bed that night.


The rest of the following week was pretty routine and then on Thursday, when Melanie was off work, she had lunch with Ellen and Sarah, Karen and Ava and with Toni, which she really enjoyed. After lunch, she stopped by our friend's Laurie and Marty's house and visited with Laurie. They have a brand new 10 week old yellow lab puppy - Cody. Indigo really loved the puppy and after he got used to her he was trotting all around the house after her. From the pictures you can see the puppy is quite adorable.





Indigo has been come quite the daddy's girl. When I arrive home from work she will often joyfully shout "hi, daddy" and stomp her feet with excitement while having the biggest smile. She then wants me to pick her up and not put her down for quite some time.

Friday October 12-Thursday October 18

On Friday the 12th after work, I caught the metro to the MCI center for another night of the horse show. David stayed home with Indigo as he felt it would be too late of a night for her (and he was right). I joined Robyne and Tricie with Robyne's little baby and Tricie's girls. We had another wonderful horsey night of musical freestyle dressage and exciting jumping events. On Saturday we had a nice family day around the house and running some errands. We went to the bookstore and Indigo just loved the kids book area. Later we took the dogs to the dog park so they could have a good run. Indigo loves seeing all the dogs.

On Sunday we went to Tricie's daughter Louisa's 2nd birthday party. The pretty outfit Indigo has on is from her Grandma Lee. The birthday party was a lot of fun and all the kids had a super time. The birthday girl is in pink and in the fluffy pink tiara - and later in the fancy dress playing dress-up. Proud big sister, Anna Kate, is the red head. We had glorious weather and were able to play and eat outside.

Indigo's big things right now are patting the bed in an effort to get the dogs to jump on the bed with her, she is also obsessed with hair clips and will even wake up from sleeping patting her head and saying "eh, eh". Of course, we're losing hair clips at a heck of a rate because she pulls them out as fast they go in but she keeps wanting to have them put in and then pulls them right out again. When you put them in and she sees herself she just gets the biggest grin. She has said "on" a few times for having shoes put on and has been saying "eye" Doggie remains her very favorite word. She has been saying "dadadadadada a lot, and tends to shriek it loudly. She is starting to have a version of saying her own name which sounds like "igaga" We're seeing some signs of potential upcoming tantrums - David had an event at the CVS where she threw a bit of a fit over wanting to be able to run free. I am sure our feisty girl is going to give us a run for our money.

After a nice weekend, on Monday there was a work again. Because I had an IP retreat that I had to be at on Wednesday and Thursday, I had the Tuesday off and we met Ellen and Sarah for a nice lunch at our Canton place. After lunch the girls were walking around and playing a little game which involved taking turns looking at each other under the barstool rails but that was about the limit of what Ellen and I could figure out about the rules of the game. After lunch Indigo and I went to run a bunch of errands. On Wednesday and Thursday I went to the IP Retreat. On Wednesday, after the session and before the dinner, David brought Indigo to the hotel to visit with some of the work people who were keen to see her. She was very funny and greatly amused everyone. David did a really good job of being the primary caretaker those two days.

P.S. I wrote this post at least 2 weeks ago but had to get the photos added. I know it's been a while so I will get another update done much more quickly.

Friday September 28 - Thursday October 11th

Well, here we go again, it's a coffee break catch-up. We left off just before the last weekend of September. That weekend was really fun. On Friday the 28th I spent the day working (the fourth day that week (on my three day schedule) but that's the way it goes sometimes. The USPTO has put out a massive revolting package of new rules (no offense Terry and Mary :-) and in my role as the IP trainer for the firm, there has been a big effort to get the information disseminated as quickly as possible to all people working in IP across the firm before the new rules go into effect November 1, 2007 so it has been really busy at work. It's been an incredible team effort so I have actually felt really good about our IP team at work. Anyway, after a long day I had a great opportunity to head up to the zoo to see Jeff Corwin speak. The zoo volunteers were invited to see him speak before he did a big fund raising event for the zoo later on Friday night. I have to say that he was really incredible. I have periodically enjoyed watching his show but to hear him speak in person was just amazing. He did a brief intro but spent the rest of the time doing Q&A and I was in awe. I did get a picture taken with him on the camera phone but the odds of that making it from the camera to the computer are slim to none. I had taken the metro from work up to the zoo so David and Indigo came and picked me up and we went over to our friend Tricie's to hang out and have supper. It was a nice end to the week. When we got home, David had been very busy for my birthday and had done a photo framed collage of China photos and hung it in the hallway - it's a very special gift and definitely earned him some brownie points!
Saturday, September 29th was my birthday. We had a busy day planned. We met at a local restaurant with two other families who had adopted from China and all had lunch together. It was really great to see the other families and to see the other babies. The babies in the photos are Lillian (in the stripey dress), the daughter of the Gunns who we had met earlier in the summer when they came to the lake. The other little girl is Kaileen (in the pink dress with little blue flowers) and she is the daughter of Michele and Mark who were part of our GWCA mid-atlantic group but they had traveled to China two months before us - they had a LID date of a mere 4 days earlier! It was our first time seeing Kaileen so that was great. She is older than Indigo but is a real little peanut and is not a whole lot bigger.
After the lunch we headed down to Orange, VA to visit our friends David and Elizabeth and celebrate the sixth birthday of their daughter Phiala. We caught the very tail end of her art party which seemed to have been a lot fun. The kids did Jackson Pollack inspired artwork - fortunately, it was a glorious day for outside painting. Indigo loved being with Phiala and gave her kisses and had a lot of fun pinching her hair clip! Zephan, Phiala and Indigo all had a climb on Elizabeth's David - well deserved! You can see Phiala wearing her hot pink pants we gave her as part of her birthday present - she is a very stylish girl who loves clothes.

For my birthday and our friends Tricie and Susan's birthdays, our friend Robyne had planned to have massages for us at her house. So on Sunday I went to her house for my massage with the person she had brought in to do them - it was so nice and a great birthday gift. The other girls had their massages and then David came over with Indigo and we all played and had lunch together. Later that day David and I took Indigo and the dogs to the dog park. Indigo loved running with Daddy in the field next to the dog park and she loved seeing all the dogs. Afterwards we all walked over to the playground and she played there until it was time to come home for supper. It was the most glorious sunset with great swathes of pink sky and the end to a lovely weekend with lots of nice time together.
Monday was back to work but was a significant day in that it was THREE MONTHS since Indigo was placed in our arms in China on July 1, 2007. It's unbelievable that it's only been three months. We cannot imagine life without her. In some ways it seems like forever, in some it seems incredible that it's been that long. We are constantly awed and amazed by her adaptation to life with us. We're so grateful and so lucky to have such a wonderful and special girl - her level of attachment and bonding never ceases to amaze us and how much she understands already is just remarkable. We are blessed and we are so lucky. This little girl just rocks our world!
Tuesday was another day at work and then a trip over to my friend Tricie's to hang out for girls night. Wednesday was a play day -yeah. Ellen came over with Sarah and I brought in Chinese food for lunch. The girls were lovely playing together and we feel so lucky to have a friend for Indigo close by. David had left for Chicago first thing on Wednesday morning for work and was gone for two nights.
On Wednesday, Indigo had the signs of a cold possibly starting but we were not sure if it was just allergies. However, on Thursday it seemed official that she had the start of something more so we just hung out all day. On Friday I worked and then spent the evening caring for Indigo. David's flight was delayed so he did not get home on Friday night until after she had gone to bed - he was sad as it was three nights of not seeing her. I was pretty tired from doing the single mom thing to Indigo, two dogs and the cats for three days, and working, so I was glad he was home + I missed him a little bit :-) My hat goes out to the single moms out there because looking after one small active child alone is exhausting!
On Saturday we took a drive out to our very favorite sushi restaurant and met our friends Jason and Allyson and their sons Jacob and Joshua there. We all majorly filled our bellies on yummy sushi - Indigo stuck to miso soup and a tofu dish. Afterwards, despite being in an almost comatose state we went back to their house for the kids to play. Indigo loves their basement of toys and spent time playing with everything! It was a beautiful afternoon and we were sad to leave but we had get home to care for the boy dogs.

On Sunday the 7th of October we had a now annual event when we headed out to Front Royal, VA to the Conservation Research Center. The CRC is part of the Smithsonian (as is the zoo) but it is usually closed to the public. Once a year they have a Fall festival the first weekend of October and the public can visit the grounds and see some of the animals that are in the endangered species breeding programs there. We met up with our friend Tanja and her mom and also with our friend Liz. Tanja, Liz and I all volunteer at the zoo together. The weather was a tad bit too hot but still a lovely day and we had a super time. In addition to seeing the cool endangered species that are bred out at CRC such as the Tahki horse (also known as Prewalskis) and very cool white naped cranes, they also had a group there replicating the civil war military calvary and so we went up a hill to see them fire at balloons while at full gallop and we also got to go on a hay wagon ride pulled by enormous percheron horses. It was a really fun day.

Monday and Tuesday at work. Tuesday night I did Let's Dish but was not feeling great and by the time I got home I was having fever and chills and spent much of the night that way. However, by morning I felt better which was a big relief. I took Indigo to the doctor on Wednesday morning because despite the fact that she was cheery and happy, her cold was not really doing better. They said that based on the consistency and color of the secretion from her nose that she had a sinus infection so she was put on an antibiotic. After the doctor and picking up her prescription she came home for a nap and then we left to drive down to have lunch with and play with Ellen and Sarah at their house. The girls had a great time and were so cute sharing their food with one another. Ellen had this cool moon sand and the girls spent time making molds from the moon sand - it's all a campaign to get Sarah used to the sand before she next hits the beach with us again. We had a really nice afternoon and the girls played (or some may call it competed for toys) and we read books together. When we were leaving it was so funny because I had grabbed Indigo's shoes and socks and by the time I had her socks on the one shoe was missing. We were searching everywhere for it, only to find it on Sarah's foot!

On Thursday I got to spend the day with Indigo again and we hung out in the morning - she was very cute and was playing with her shapes while sitting inbetween Egan's front legs. After her morning nap we went and met our friend Laurie for lunch which was a lovely time. On Thursday night, David stayed home with Indigo and I joined my friend Tricie to go to the Washington International Horse Show which is an annual event that we have been enjoying for many years - way preceding there being any kids on the scene. We oohed and aahhhed over the glorious manoevers of the dressage competition, piaffe, passage, pirrouets and tempe changes - it was breathtaking. We also enjoyed the international show jumping competition. It was a good old horsey night. And now, because everyone has been so patient and made it to the end of this diatribe, we have (hopefully, if everything goes accordingly to plan) there should be video here of our precious daughter. Enjoy!