Happy 2nd Anniversary to Us!

June 27, 2005

Guangzhou Civil Affairs Office, China

16lbs. 27inches

June 27, 2006

Burger Place at the Riverside Plaza

22lbs, 32 inches

June 27, 2007

Caboose of the Casey Jr., Disneyland

26lbs., 36inches

As you can see from the picture, we celebrated our 2nd Gotcha Day by going to Disneyland last night. Tenley was finally tall enough to go on a roller coaster (Gadget’s Go Coaster) and she pronounced it “cool”. She is still 4 inches away from her heart’s desire- Space Mountain…but I think she’ll make it next year.

WOW. 2 years. I’m really shocked at how fast that time has gone, and yet it still feels like she’s always been here. There’s a group from our agency in China right now that just got their kids, and I can still remember all the feelings and craziness of that brief time… and it just amazes me at how much has happened since then.

The Year 2 Recap: Well. Tenley has embraced the Terrible Two’s wholeheartedly. She actually started with the tantrums around 18 months ( and they continue) and has added whining and hitting herself to her arsenal. Mom & Dad have countered with the time-out. Time-outs work really well for Tenley because she hates to have to sit still, and like the evil parents we are, her 5 minutes doesn’t begin until the screaming & crying stops.

This kid never shuts up. Yap yap yap…all the time and about everything. She’s also begun that hilarious stage where they start making up little stories and singing little songs to themselves. You can also hold a semi-decent conversation with her, and frequently get her dispense information you might be seeking like what she wants to eat, or where she wants to go, or what she did. You have to keep up with what she’s watching on TV, because conversations frequently make refrence to something in one of her shows, and if you’re lucky she’ll announce to you first “I’m Little Bear” or “I’m Tasha- I a volcano sister”. She loves to talk on the phone- we are in SO much trouble as soon as she’s old enough to have a cell ( I see pre-paid minutes in her future). This language ability does come with a downside. Frequent responses to facts given to her are “no it’s not”. She knows she has to say “excuse me” to interrupt a conversation, and it really bothers her if you’re driving and talking to each other, so you hear “excuse me! Excuse me! Excuse me!” and when you respond you get “hi”. She also still parrots everything, so you have to be very careful because you get everything – including “Dammit!” (used correctly I might add) or “I want to go the park -right now!”

Still loves music, still loves to dance. She sits and “plays” piano with Daddy everyday. She saw about 30 seconds of ballet on a PBS ad and has been obsessed with it. As luck would have it, the ballet studio in town has a class for 2-3 year olds…she starts in August.

She grows like a weed. At least it feels that way. She’s gained 4 lbs and grown 4 inches this year- all straight up. She’s really looong but still fits an 18 month waist. She continues to eat just about anything and is getting better with a fork everyday. The only good thing I can say here is that her feet seem to have slowed down- which is good because for awhile I couldn’t keep her in shoes.

She has gone totally girly. Wants to wear nothing but dresses (sometimes with cowboy boots). She loves to get her hair cut, but insists on keeping it short. She likes getting her toes painted, but still likes to pick the polish off. Daddy is still her best guy, and she often tells me "I married to Daddy". She has announced that she wants a big girl bed & Tinkerbell sheets.

We have begun potty training, but it’s going to be a long uphill battle I think. Tenley will tell you she needs to use the potty about every 4th time she goes. This is not so good for Pull-ups which aren’t meant to handle that volume of liquid. I think I’m just going to let her run naked now & see if she can figure it out!

So amazed at how fast she's growing up. I still remember that first picture & how she fit in my arms, now she struggles to fit in my lap when we read stories at night before bed. By next year, we'll have to lay on the bed together...I hope that doesen't come too soon.