Epcot and Roasting Marshmallows

This weekend was a busy one! Saiya had dance class on Saturday morning. She absolutely LOVES it! Early Saturday morning, she came running into our room yelling “Dance! Dance! Dance!”. By the time I crawled out of bed, she was already in her room completely naked with just her panties on, holding up her dance bag and her leotard, still yelling, “Dance, Mama!! Dance!”. I said, “can we at least eat breakfast first?” haha!

Saturday night we went to Uma and Umpa’s house to watch the boat parade. It was cancelled due to bad weather, but we saw a few boats go up and down the river. Saiya loved it! We had a nice dinner and then headed home.

Sunday, we took Saiya to Epcot at Disney World. Epcot was nice, although there wasn’t much for her to do there. We didn’t go on any of the rides, but we did get to see Captain EO (which Chris was VERY happy about). Saiya watched the whole thing in 3D, which surprised me. Maybe she is ready to go out to a real movie. The weather was overcast and chilly, so by the time we were ready to leave, poor Saiya was a little cranky. I think it was more because she was cold than because she was tired. She is a trooper, though. She walked most of the time we were at the park.

After Epcot, we went back to Uma and Umpa’s house for the rescheduled boat parade. The boats were nice and Saiya had a great time! She even roasted marshmallows on the fire pit. She doesn’t like marshmallows, but she sure liked to roast them!

She is out of school for the next two weeks and we are getting ready for Christmas and our vacation in Indiana. I am so excited!!

Happy Holidays!!

We went to the mall yesterday to see Santa.  Saiya did great!  I really think that they celebrated Christmas at the orphanage.  Saiya saw some wrapping paper on the table at home and said "Santa!"

I said "You know who that is?"
"Yes"
"What does Santa Claus do?"
(un-identifiable words)
"Does he bring you presents?"
"YES!"

Haha!!  So Cute!  So we took her to see Santa at the mall and she did great!  When it was our turn, she walked right over to him and climbed into his lap with a big smile.  We told her to tell him what she wanted for Christmas so she proceeded to tell him she wanted a pony!  Hahaha!!  Don't they all!?  Not only did she tell him, but she even showed him how big of a pony she wanted (spreading her arms as big as she could).  Everyone thought it was absolutely adorable!  When she was done, she hopped down and he gave her a candy cane.  She was all smiles for the rest of the night.  :)

Pictures of Saiya's Dance Class

It is so hard to take pictures of Saiya's dance class.  There are other kids there (with parents who might not want pictures of their kids posted all over the internet) and, of course, lots of movement.  Saiya barely holds still when she knows we are taking a pitcure of her, but it is even worse at dance class, where she is having so much fun.  She still loves it!!  Friday afternoon, she came home, grabbed her dance bag, and said "Mamma!!  Dance!!"  She ran around the house yelling, "Dance!  Dance!  DANCE!"  I'm so glad she loves it so much!

Girl Vs Dog - Battle of the Monkey!

This morning we were getting ready for school and Saiya had her little purple monkey in her hands.  I grabbed her jacket (because its FREEZING outside) and told her to put it on.  I was holding her jacket while she slipped one hand into it.  When it came to her other hand, she had to drop the monkey in order to slide her fist into the sleeve.  Rhaina was standing in the kitchen watching, waiting, prowling, anxious for Saiya to put her beloved monkey down.  Unthinking, she dropped the monkey on the floor to slide her hand into the jacket and immediately realized what she did as Rhaina inched closer to it.  She held up her hand and said, "No! Rhaina! Go Way!"  Shaking her hand vigorously at the poor dog.  Before Rhaina had the chance to grab at the monkey, I scooped it up and tucked it under my arm.

Disaster averted!  We won the battle, but the war over the stuffies is still on!

Girl Vs. Dogs - The War is Started

Since day one, the dogs and Saiya have gotten along pretty well.  For the most part they ignore each other. Saiya steers clear of them and they are indifferent towards her. She hates it when they nose her in the face (especially since they stand eye-to-eye with each other). The dogs have several toys that look like stuffed animals and as you can imagine, Saiya has TONS of stuffed animals. The dogs have recently discovered that they can take Saiya’s stuffed animals out of her room. They do not really tear them apart, they just slobber on them a little. Of course, Saiya screams when she sees her stuffed animals in the dogs’ mouth.

The last couple of days, the dogs have been getting brave. They have discovered that they can take Saiya’s stuffed animals right out of her hands and run off with it before she gets a chance to do anything about it.

Last night, Saiya was very tired. She fell asleep in the car on the way to dinner and then we walked around Walmart for a bit looking for Christmas presents for my niece and nephew. By the time we got home, she was a little cranky, so I was getting her bath ready when I told her to take off her shoes and put her things away. All of a sudden, I hear a (THUMP) come from the living room and she starts crying. I head into the living room and ask her if she fell down. She said “no” and then proceeded to whine and cry at me, so I figured she was just throwing a fit because she didn’t want to take a bath and head to bed. So she reluctantly takes her shoes off and continues crying, all the way through her bath, and while I am putting her to bed. Poor tired girl.

She knows that she is only allowed to have three stuffed animals to sleep with plus Yoshi. I am looking all over for Pongo (a new panda bear that a good friend gave to us). She goes on and on about something when I asked her where he was, most of which came out as whining. Chris looks in the car, under the dining room table, in the kitchen, and finally he finds it under one of the dogs in the living room. As it turns out, one of the dogs stole her panda bear and ran off before anyone saw it. That’s why she was crying when we first got home. I only felt a little bad because she was not very clear when I asked her why she was crying. She simply threw a fit and most of what she said came out in between frustrated screams, whines, and sobs.

The dogs are sneaky enough to know not to take her toys with us in the same room…  When did we get "Special Ops Recon-Dogs"??  Let the battle begin!

Saiya’s Dance Class

Saiya LOVES her dance class!  Her first day was a little hard because she didn’t really understand the concept of “dance class” but after three days, she has come to LOVE it!  Now when we get her all dressed and ready to go to class, she is so excited!  She follows along and dances with the other girls.  It’s SO CUTE!  Of course, there are those moments when she is fooling around or not doing what she is supposed to be doing in the class and I just want to jump through the window and make her pay attention, but according to the other parents, that feeling never goes away, even when they are MUCH older.  HAHA!

She was measured for her recital outfit on Saturday and the poor girl doesn’t even fit into an extra small!  We might have to take it in a little bit depending on how much she grows between now and May.  The outfits are cute, although I don’t really agree with the song they picked.  The theme this year is “Hollywood”, so the teacher picked Elvis’s “Hounddog”.     :P     Oh well.  It’s going to be a tap dance, which I’m also not fond of.  As long as Saiya has fun, I guess it doesn’t really matter.

One item I am particularly proud of is her dance bag.  About two years ago, my father brought back a designer bag from China that he got at a discounted price (because everything over there is cheaper…).  It was pink, leather, bulky, and had a BIG swirled flower on the front of it.  It may very well have been a Prada bag, but I was never going to use it.  It was one of those things that I didn’t have the heart to donate or sell on E-bay, yet hated to use because it was very ugly, so it stayed in my closet.  I only felt slightly guilty about taking it apart somewhat and making it into a dance bag for Saiya.  It was the perfect size for a dance bag and I didn’t want to waste the money on a new one since I have a billion bags at home I never use.  I removed the zipper and the big flower on the front, added Velcro so it is easy for a four-year-old to open and close, converted the straps into a shoulder strap and Voila!!  Instant designer leather dance bag!  She absolutely loves it!  I also ordered some cute ballerina patches to put on the front of the bag.  Looking at it, you would never know I took it apart.

I’m so happy that she loves to dance!  I hope she sticks with it for many years to come!!

Getting Ready for the Holidays!

We are not going to be home the weekend after Thanksgiving, so we decided to put our tree up a little early this year.  I pulled everything down from the attic with the help of my ever patient husband and we proceeded to put the tree together.  Last year we had a very nice 9 foot tree, but this year that tree will be set up at my parents' house for their holiday party (we are doing that tomorrow afternoon).  So we are stuck with the very sad looking 7 foot tree I got on discount after Christmas the year before last.

I get the feeling that they celebrated Christmas in China in the orphanage because Saiya knew exactly what it was and what you were supposed to do with it.  She even pointed out that it didnt look like the tree in the picture because it didnt have any presents under it.  Clever girl...  She helped decorate it and insisted on clumping the ornaments together on the same two branches.  Not sure why kids do that, but my niece and nephew did the same thing last year.  Its almost like they claim part of the tree and its a race to see who can cram the most ornaments into their section.

After a bit of rearranging, we now have a lovely tree sitting in the living room!  Saiya put the star on top (of course!) and she even hung her stocking up over the fireplace.

I can't believe we have had her for almost three months.  Wow! How time flies!

First Ballet Class and Dim Sum!

Saiya loves her dance class.  At first, she was crying, but once she got in the room and calmed down a little bit, she was fine.  The dance teachers were great and really took the time to walk her through the whole dance class thing.  After awhile, she followed along with the other girls, tapping her foot and pointing her toes and such.  It was so cute!  She loved the noise the tap shoes made on the floor, but was very unsure about hopping up and down on one foot with them.  She was very excited about the dance class.  She loved it so much that she didn’t want to take her leotard off when we got home.  I’m glad she likes it.  There are only four girls (including her) in the class, so it makes it really nice and easy for her to adjust.

On Sunday we went to dim sum with my parents.  For the first time, Saiya let papa (grandpa) pick her up and hold her hand.  She even wanted him to sit next to her during lunch!  I’m so glad she is coming around to him.  This was the first time that she has actually responded to him at all, most of the time she just stared at him.  Lunch was great!  I couldn’t help but notice how much the restaurant looked like the restaurant at the White Swan Hotel in China.  Hmmm….  How very interesting!

Shots, Snow Boots, and Cotton Candy

Friday Saiya had her first doctor’s appointment.  She was there for a checkup and for her last Hepatitis B booster.  As soon as we were taken into the clinic area and led to the scale, Saiya started to cry.  The clinic area looks very much like a clinic and she remembers well the vaccination clinic in China.  They got her height and weight and then moved us to the room (after trying desperately to bribe her with stickers and lollipops).  The doctor examined her and she was being uncooperative for the most part.  Still crying, even though nothing he did hurt her in any way.  Then the nurses came with her shots…  The screaming began and it took two of us to hold her down so they could do both shots at the same time.  She was not a happy camper.  After the shots, she started to throw a temper tantrum and flung her GouGou at one of the nurses.  She picked it up and handed it back to her and I was like “Don’t give it back to her, she will just” ((FLING)) “… throw it back at you…”  Ugh.  But overall the check up went really well!  She has gained 2 pounds and three inches since her physical in China on September 7, nine weeks ago!

I was away for the weekend, and Chris was home with Saiya.  Friday night, Saiya spent the night with my sister who took her to Syrafina’s skating practice Saturday morning.  I’m not so sure Saiya liked it.  My sister said she was crying because she was cold.  She had a hat, mittens, and her winter coat.  Not too sure she will like Indiana in December.  Hahaha!  Poor kid.

Saturday her Uma and Umpa took her to the fair.  She had cotton candy and loads of fun, although she wasn’t tall enough to ride any of the rides.

Yesterday we received her snow boots that I ordered for the Indiana trip.  As I was opening the box, I was very excited and telling her that her new shoes were here.  She was excited too!  I pulled the boots out of the box, unwrapped them and went to show them to Saiya and she made a face and ran and hid behind the living room table.  I called her and she squeeked.  All I could do was laugh.  I don’t think she has ever seen snow boots before.  She kept looking at me like “Those are NOT shoes!  I don’t know what those are, but they are definitely NOT shoes!”  I sat down on the floor and pushed the boot to the side and asked her to come and give me a hug.  She tentatively moved towards me, eyeing the boots the whole time as if they were going to jump out and grab her.  Once she was sitting on my lap, I asked her if she liked them and she said “DON’T LIKE THEM!”  Awwww!!  I said “why not?”  She says “Don’t like them” .  I tried to show her that they were fine and wiggled them onto my foot.  “See?  Shoes!  Does Saiya want to try?” 

So, we put the boots on her and she is stomping around the kitchen with them.  After a little while I tell her to take them off and she shakes her head and starts to cry.  So in a matter of 30 minutes we went from “Oh My God!  Scary Shoes!” to “No, I won’t take them off, they are mine!”  Hahaha!  She was so cute.  All I could do was laugh!

Tiny Dancer

Saiya’s Halloween costume consisted of a leotard and a ballet skirt (along with the ears and tail for the bunny part).  When we put it on her she was twirling and dancing all over the place like a ballet dancer.  So we decided that she was ready to try ballet class.  We visited the two dance studios in our town and we very impressed with Heather’s Dance Studio.  The parents there were eager to talk to us and gave us lots of information about the school and how the whole dance class thing works.  Saiya wasn’t very excited about being there, but I think she will warm up to the idea once she sees kids her age dancing.

So I called and registered her for ballet class.  The teacher I talked to was very nice and informative.  I gave her some information about Saiya and a little bit about her background.  Her class is very small (there are only five other kids in her class) and I really think that she will be able to get the extra attention she needs.

We are very excited about dance class and I hope that she loves it!

A Girl and Her Daddy

Just a cute story about our girl and her daddy…

Yesterday I got home from work a little earlier than my husband (who usually picks Saiya up from school in the afternoon) and watched him pull into the driveway from the living room window.

He and Saiya walked side by side down the driveway to the mail box to get the mail.   Saiya was bouncing along evenly stepped with her daddy and they chatted the whole way down there.  When they reached the mail box, he handed her the magazines and other bulk mail to carry back to the house.  She bounced along beside him the whole way back into the house.  She had a big smile on her face the whole way!  It was too cute for words.  All I could do was stand there and watch the two of them walking side by side.

She loves her daddy!!  To think, in China she would not even let him hold her hand…  My, how far we have come!

Happy Halloween - Part 2

 

We took Saiya Trick-or-Treating tonight with my sister and her kids. Saiya was dressed as a bunny. I used some of my sparkly make-up to draw a cute bunny nose and some whiskers on her face. She loved the glitter!! She kept asking me to put more on her. After we were done getting ready, we took a bunch of pictures and headed to my mom’s neighborhood to walk around her development.

Saiya was super excited about being dressed up and got the hang of Trick-or-Treating really quickly. Of course she had two older kids there to show her how it was done. After the first few houses, she was a pro! My child is a trooper! The circle around my mom’s neighborhood is about 2 miles, add in the length of the driveways and such and she walked almost three miles in three hours. We brought along a little cart and by the end of the night all three kids were in it, but they were all great! No complaints, no whining. Just happy kids with bags full of candy!

Getting Saiya to say “Trick-or-Treat” was cute. She would say it loud and proud and bring her candy back to us to put in her bag (which after awhile was in the wagon because it was getting heavy). We scolded her (and the other children) for taking more than one piece at homes where the people were more lenient and the rest of the night, she only brought back one piece of candy from each house. It was so cute! One man actually came up to us and said that she looked at him kind of funny when he tried to give her two pieces and she shook her finger and held up her hand and said “No, only one piece.” It was so funny, we had to laugh! How do you explain to a child that she can only have more than one piece if the people offer more than one piece but otherwise she can only have one piece? That was quite a predicament and a true testament to the language barrier. So, I was feeling bad and told her that she can have two pieces. Not sure if that helped or not, but she was happy to get whatever the people gave her. She would coming running back to us holding the candy high with such a proud look on her face.

I’m sure she must be thinking… “WOW! I love America! And free candy!!”

Rails...

Saiya has been sleeping in her own room for a little over three weeks now.  She has not had any issues and sleeps fairly well.  The night before last, she woke up about 6:30am crying and screaming for me.  So I went to her room to help her go to the bathroom.  When I got there, she was standing on the little mattress that we have on the floor in case she falls out of bed.  I thought it was a little odd since she never got out of bed before, but didnt really think much about it.  I put her on the potty and she started to scream and throw a fit.  She kept touching her nose and wiggled her butt off of the toilet just as I noticed the blood coming out of her nose.  Yup, She fell out of bed.  This was the first time she fell from her own bed, but remembering the night we came home, I knew she landed face down.  So, we cleaned her up and snoozed in my bed for another hour or so before getting up.

Last night I was awoken at 4:30am by the screams of a four-year-old.  She was crying and screaming and when I made it to her room, and picked her up, she was standing on the mattress on the floor again and blood was pouring out of her nose.  She had blood all down her chin, and all over her hands and down her nightgown.  So, for the second night in a row, she fell out of bed.  It took us about 20 minutes to clean her up, stop the bleeding, and calm her down and another 20 minutes to rig up a make-shift rail so we could put her back to bed without having to worry.

Today we went to Home Depot and bought two large PVC pipes and made a more permanent rail for her bed.  They do sell rails at walmart, but they are costly and not very long.  We would need at least two in order be able to sleep well and not worry.  She flops around so much at night that one short rail would not be sufficient.  So, we put rails on her bed...  I'm not sure when we learn not to fall out of bed, but I am hoping that it is sometime before the age of 18...

Happy Halloween - Part 1

We went to Uma and Umpa's house today to meet the rest of Chris's family and spend some time with them.  Saiya did great!  We carved her first pumpkin and she had a blast scooping the pumpkin seeds out of the bowl so we could cook them.  She didnt want to put her hand in the pumpkin because it was WAY too gooey for her liking.  She picked out the cat face, so I carved it into the pumpkin while she scooped seeds.  She had fun.  I dont think she really understands why we are mutilating the poor gourds, but I hope that next year she will be more excited to join in the art part of it.

After pumpkins, she spent hours playing with her aunts and having fun.  I'm glad she enjoyed herself while we were able to spend time with Chris's family.

Traveling Weekend

This weekend was our first weekend traveling overnight with Saiya. We went to Ft Lauderdale for the weekend to spend some time with some good friends we haven’t seen in awhile and celebrate their son’s 2nd birthday. Saiya did great in the car and didn’t seem to mind traveling at all. We pulled in around 7pm and went to one of my favorite places to eat before heading back to their house for the night. Saiya went down pretty easy, although it was a little later than usual, so she was a little grumpy.

Saturday was a whirlwind of activity as we were getting ready for the birthday party. Saiya loved to play outside and spent most of the day running around. There were tons of kids at the party and Saiya did pretty well with them. She didn’t really play with them much, but at least she hovered near them. Haha! When it was time to open presents, Saiya was very confused. She didn’t really understand why she didn’t get any and she certainly didn’t understand why none of the other kids seemed to care that they didn’t get any either. I guess it was too much for her little brain to handle and she fell apart into a bit of a meltdown.

It was strange having to explain to other parents about why she was crying and just pretty much being a brat. I guess, to us, its pretty normal behavior for her, but they seemed a little shocked. After about 20 minutes of her crying, which disintegrated into a temper tantrum, she came back to life and spent the rest of the night playing with the other kids who were still there. Overall, I expected that she would have a meltdown at some point over the weekend. She did really great though, considering it was a strange place and LOTS of strange people.

Sunday we had a nice calm morning and headed for home. Saiya slept the entire way home in the car. We had a nice dinner with my sister and her boyfriend and then headed home for a bath and off to bed. Overall, we had an awesome weekend! I am so glad that Saiya travels well, it makes things easy!

Costume Shopping and More

Yesterday we went to the Halloween store with my sister and her kids looking for Halloween costumes for them.  I was hoping that Saiya would want to be a lady bug or bumble bee or some other really cute thing with wings, but she would just wrinkle her face every time I showed her one of the really cute costumes.  She saw a cat ear set and immediately wanted it.  So we tried it on her and she loved it.  Then she saw a bunny rabbit set and decided that she didn’t want to be a cat any more, she wanted to be a bunny.  I liked the cat better, but she liked the bunny, so we went with that.

After costume shopping, we stopped by the mall for a bite to eat and we looked for a tulle skirt to put over a leotard for the rest of the bunny costume.  I picked out this really cute pink skirt with a big pink bow in the back, and Saiya took one look at it and wrinkled her face and refused to let me see if it would fit her.  We found a whole bunch of skits of various different colors and I selected a white one, a black one, and two pink ones.  Saiya does NOT like pink!  Hahaha!  She took all the pink ones out of the pile and put them all back on the rack!  So we went with the white one.

After we ate, we went back to the teeny-bopper store to get Saiya’s ears pierced.  I let her pick out which ones she wanted.  They had pretty crystal flowers in white, pink, and blue.  Saiya pointed to the flower earrings, but it was hard to tell which color she was pointing at, so we took the boxes out and showed her the pink ones and blue ones.  Saiya picked the blue crystal flowers (just proving that she doesn’t like pink).  What should have taken about 20 minutes took us a little more than an hour.  Of course, as soon as Saiya saw the rubber gloves she started to cry.  She remembered the vaccination clinic in China well.  The first attempt at Saiya’s left ear, the gun jammed and the post bent, so we had to take it out and do it all over again.  After the first botched attempt, the girl got a little chicken-ish and took entirely too long to shoot the other ear.  I guess maybe she thought we would give up and walk away, but we had already gotten that far, and Saiya was already crying, so why walk away and then have to come back another time to go through the whole process all over again.  It got to the point where both my sister and I were about the take the gun out of the girl’s hand and do it ourselves.  Lots of tears, sniffles, two lollipops, and three small pinches on the ear later, it was all done.  I think she should have gotten a free teddy bear or something…

Anyhow, she loves them and she had to show Chris as soon as she got home and keeps saying “PRETTY!”

The Next Powershot!!

This weekend we took Saiya to the park with my sister and her boyfriend.  The park had a basketball court and a tennis court.  We handed Saiya a tennis racket and a ball and she had a blast trying to play.  It has been ages since I have played tennis (and I’m not really all that good at it), but we had fun!  Maybe tennis is in her future??

What to be for Halloween?

So, we have been trying to figure out a way to explain Halloween to Saiya in a way that she will understand.  I suggested to my sister that we all go shopping for costumes together with her kids.  Maybe having other kids picking out things to dress up as will prompt her to want to dress up too.  So today, we were coloring together and I was drawing butterflies for her to color.  (What little girl doesnt like Butterflies??)  So, I found a pair of fairy wings that I purchased a couple of years ago for a Halloween party.  I had her put those on and she LOVED them!!!  She ran all around the house flapping her wings and laughing.  So, maybe we will dress her as a butterfly or bumble bee or lady bug or something like that for Halloween.  :)

On to a Normal Routine!!

Chris started back at work this week.  Saiya has finally come around to the idea of daycare during the day.  She walks with me to the classroom and I kiss her goodbye and she runs off to color or play.  We are finally getting into a normal routine.  Yay!!

Saiya is adjusting really well!  She sleeps in her own room, plays with her cousins, and sometimes eats the food we cook for her.  Haha!  I can say that we are really very lucky parents!  She is so easygoing and doesn’t really mind change that much, so putting her on a normal routine was very easy.

We picked her up 5 weeks ago, she has been home for 3 ½ weeks and she is doing amazingly well!  The time is flying by!

Day at the Zoo

Today Uma and Umpa took us all to the Brevard Zoo.  Saiya had a great time!  She loves animals and even got to feed the giraffes.  She is such a trooper.  She wandered around the zoo in the hot sun for four hours with no complaints!  We got to feed the birds in the aviary, brush some pigmy goats in the petting area, and then she played in the wading pool.  The wading pool was hysterical as her Uma had her splashing and dumping water on everyone, even Umpa, who didnt look very happy.  Haha!  I'm so glad she had fun!

The First Night

Wednesday night we put Saiya down to bed as usual and we were hanging around in the computer room (which is on the opposite side of the house) when we heard her calling, "MAMA!  POTTY!"  Up to this point we were wary about putting her to bed in her own room because we were not sure how she would do if she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  As it turns out, she can be pretty loud if she thinks no one can hear her.  Its funny, she calls and calls, but doesnt move off of the bed.  She only got up when I walked into the room and she went to the toilet and I helped her a little bit, but for the most part, she did it on her own.  It must be left over behavior from the orphanage.  She will stay in her bed and call and call, but not move until an adult gets there.

So, last night we decided to try to put Saiya down to be in her own room.  We went to Walmart and bought her a CD/Alarm clock so that she could fall asleep to "sleepy music" using the "sleep" function so it turns off automatically (which is what we do in our room) and a baby monitor just in case she has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, we will hear her call for us.  As I was getting her bed ready, she was jumping around and bouncing all over the place.  She had all of her stuffed animals in her arms.  She almost seemed excited about sleeping in her own room.  I piled up the pillows and pulled back the blankets and as soon as I turned off the lights and turned on the night light, she started to cry.  I think it was more because she was tired than because she didnt want to sleep in there.  I rocked her for about ten minutes and then tucked her in bed.  She went down surprisingly easy.  She was asleep in a matter of minutes.

When I got back to our room where Chris was reading, it seemed very empty.  I think she took sleeping in her own room better than we did.  We missed her last night and I was up every few hours to check on her and/or look at the monitor to make sure there was no action on it.  But, she's in her own room, which is better for everyone.  But we still miss her being with us...

Yay!  Progress!

Day 3 of Daycare

Yesterday started off pretty much the same as Monday.  Lots of crying and screaming when I dropped Saiya off at school.  Today, however, was much better.  She walked with me into the classroom and I kissed and hugged her goodbye and she let the teacher take her hand from mine without much of a fight.  She did cry a little bit, but there was no screaming.  I think she is getting better at this!  I hope by next week, she will be used to the fact that she goes to daycare during the day while we are at work.

She was being a bit of a brat last night and I’m not sure if that is because she is now in daycare during the day and doesn’t like the idea or if she was just having an off night.  I was feeling bad enough about the fact that she screams when I drop her off, that she was having an "off" night wasn't helping.  Talk about GUILT!

She has been with us for four weeks and we have made so much progress, I would hate to start going backwards now…  We will see how today goes.

First Day of School

I honestly don’t know how other parents do it.  I got Saiya up early this morning to get ready for my first day back at work and her first day of school.  She woke up really well, I was surprised she wasn’t grumpy.  I packed her back pack last night with a blanket, Yoshi, her favorite book, and a change of clothes.  She put on her back pack and climbed into the car.  She was fairly happy until we pulled into the daycare parking lot.  She hopped out of the car and frowned.  I think she knew what was up.  We met with one of the teachers who showed me how to check her in and stuff and then we took her to the classroom.  I tried to put her down and she didn’t want to stand on her own.  Finally, the teacher took her from me and she started scream “Mama! Mama! Mama!” as I made a break for the door.  I closed it as quickly as I could and headed down the hall to sign her in.  I could hear her screaming for me as I walked to the front of the building.  It took all my willpower and strength to walk out the front doors and not turn around to go get my daughter.

I feel like a horrible parent!  I had to call my sister just for some reassurance.  Haha!  Still feeling pretty bad though.  Maybe tomorrow will be better???

First Boat Ride

Yesterday we went out on a friend’s boat with Saiya.  She did ok.  She hated the life jacket on her, so she cried the whole way out to the islands.  Once we got there and I took her life jacket off, she continued to throw a little temper tantrum for about 20 minutes.  After she calmed down and got used to the idea of being out in the sun, she had a blast.  She played in the water and sand with her cousins.  On the way back to the boat launch, my friend let her steer the boat.  She LOVED it!  She hates having the wind blow in her eyes, so she closed her eyes while she was driving the boat.  We also say a pod of dolphins in the channel on the way back.  She was fascinated with them!  We might have to get her a more comfortable life jacket, but other than that, the boat trip was a success!!