Birds and Insects and Snakes, Oh My!

This past weekend, we went to the Georgia Botanical Garden and attended their children's animal "encounter." I didn't know what to expect, but I ended up having a GREAT time. Here is Baba holding me up so I could see everything. They had 18 different stations with lots of fun stuff to enjoy.

We first enjoyed looking at some birds. Here is a little owl that wasn't exactly friendly. But at least we got a picture of him.

And this was a much friendlier, bigger owl. I liked talking to him and saying, "hoo, hoo, hoo." He was so pretty!

Next, I searched for beetles in a pile of leaves. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I just kept ruffling the leaves around.

And then I spotted the beetle! And then the nice lady gave me a toy beetle to take with me as my prize.

Next, Mama and Baba introduced me to a snake. I did not really want to get close to him at first.

But then I decided that if Baba was friends with the snake, that it was OK for me to be. But I still wasn't ready to touch him yet.

I'm going to just look for a a few more minutes. I haven't made my final decision yet about touching him.

OK, I'm ready for a *quick* touch.

Now Mama is holding him. I think I want to try touching him again. He feels so smooth!

Look, he misses me already. He is reaching out and trying to get me to play with him some more!

Ooh - frogs! I love frogs. We have Kermit, our aquatic frog, at home. But these are bright yellow and red and are from the rain forest. I couldn't touch them because they were poisonous!

I'm looking at some butterflies and moths and such in a case. And I'm holding on dearly to my toy beetle. I love him.

Oh wow. What is this I see?

Wow, it's one of those HUGE hissing cockroaches! I am not sure about touching him.

Here is a close-up of Mr. Hissing Cockroach.

OK, we are sitting down for a little break. We get our picture taken in this same spot at least once a year. I have grown SO MUCH since last year!

Oh, and I now have a rubber mini snake to play with. It is pink, and I love it.

Oh wow. There is more to see! Thanks for letting me look around Baba!

More insects under glass to look at - cool! I'm seeing some beautiful butterflies! I love butterflies.

And now we are headed out onto the terrace to hear this guy play some drums.

He's making pretty music.

A giant butterfly is giving me more toy animals to play with. Cool!

Look at this bird. He is taller than me! I'm trying to talk to him.

And now a giant ladybug is giving me more toy animals. It just doesn't get any better than this!

Baba is showing this parrot a picture of some birds. Silly Baba.

Look at him. He is getting friendly and talkative!

OK bird, it's time for me to go. Bye bye!

Those are just a few pictures from our morning at the Botanical Gardens. We had a GREAT time. I love animals and really enjoyed learning about all the ones here - the birds, the frogs, the snakes, the insects. When we left, the nice people gave me a few booklets, two posters and a coloring book to help me learn more about birds that are indigenous to Georgia. I also learned the word "migration" and even saw a puppet show to help me understand what that means.

Well, that's it for now! We look forward to much more fun in the near future when we take our vacation to Siesta Key with Grandma and Pop Pop. Bye!

Happy Mother's Day!

This is Mommy blogging today instead of Mei-Ling, since it's "my" day. I first want to say that I feel so blessed to be celebrating my second Mother's Day with Miss Mei-Ling as my daughter. We've had another wonderful year together. I enjoy so many things about being her mother - from her sweet voice and belly laughs to her boundless energy and joy of living. She is a delightful child with a lot of spirit - sometimes a bit too much - just like her Mommy. She has a devilish sense of humor, the brightest smile, a very inquisitive mind, and a continual thirst for knowledge. She is compassionate and loving. She is, just as her paperwork from China stated - obstinate at times. :) She is everything I could have dreamed of in a child and is many things I would have never thought of asking for. I cannot imagine what my life would be like had I not met Mei-Ling.

We celebrated Mother's Day with a delicious lunch, a little shopping, a beautiful hand-made card to me from Mei-Ling and then another one that Baba helped her pick out and sign. There will be more celebration at the end of the month when we take a vacation with my mother and father and have a three-generation Mother's Day celebration all together. I also want to take time today to honor Mei-Ling's first Mommy in China. I know she probably doesn't even celebrate Mother's Day as we know it in America, but since my own motherhood was contingent upon her sacrifice, I celebrate her today as well. I continue to pray for her every day of my life in the hopes that she and her family are doing well and that somehow she knows Mei-Ling is loved and well taken care of. Maybe one day, we will know that information for sure.

I also wanted to use this post to share the most special moments with Mei-Ling - those from the day her Baba and I met her for the first time. It was October 9, 2006 in Chongqing, China. This is the video of the moment I became her mother. It transcended anything I had imagined or dreamed of. She never shed one tear and by that evening was behaving as if she had known us all along as her parents. So here, again, is one of the most pivotal moments of my life. At 37 years old, I became Mommy to the child I was destined to have in my life:

Happy Mother's Day to my own mother as well. I can't wait to see you at the end of the month on our trip!

Happy Birthday To My Brother Xavier

We recently celebrated my brother Xavier's 11th birthday. This year, he wanted to go bowling. So that's what we did. We let the men bowl while the ladies cheered them on. Here is Xavier getting things set up for the scoring. Oh, and many thanks to Aunt Kim for the beautiful dress she made and monogrammed for me. She actually gave it to me in 2007, but even though it was a 12-month size, it took me another year to grow into it. I love it!

And here are Doe and Grandma doing what they love - playing with me!! They sure do
smile a lot when they are around me.

OK, it's Xavier's turn to bowl. I can't wait to see how he does. That's a BIG ball.

Look at that concentration on his face!

Yaay! Xavier did pretty good!

Wow, and he knocked down a few more with his second ball.

And now it's Baba's turn! Doesn't he look cute standing up there with his big smile.
I love my Baba. :)

Yaay! Baba almost knocked all the pins down!

I love spending a little time in Pop Pop's lap.

Alright. Now it's Pop Pop's turn. He still has some good bowling moves for his age!
(We also won't talk about the fact that a 70-something Pop Pop beat my 30-something
Baba a couple of times).

There it goes Pop Pop! I think you'll knock them all down with this one.

And now I'm enjoying a little tickle-time with my Xavier.

Grandma is having fun watching the guys play!

I'm so happy today Grandma! I love spending time with you.

OK, Xavier just knocked down a bunch of pins! I need to cheer for him.

Yaay! He's doing a great job!

I'm back for another visit to Xavier's lap. I love him!

One thing I really enjoy doing is "honking" people's noses. I'm squeezing
Grandma's right now - "honk honk!"

And now it's Doe's turn for "honk, honk." Here I come!

Pop Pop is flashing us a big smile!

Ooh - Xavier is rolling the ball again!

Woohoo! He did good that time. I hope he knocks all the pins down!

Way to go Xavier!

We did have a wonderful weekend. We went to Xavier's favorite restaurant, Stevie B's Pizza, then bowled, and then went to Chick-Fil-A for their delicious shakes! It just doesn't get any better than that! Happy Birthday Xavier. I hope you had as good of a weekend as I did. And thanks again Aunt Kim for the beautiful dress!

Another Great Weekend!

We attended a wonderful conference Friday night about adoption. Mama and Baba attended a panel discussion and listened to the stories of many adult adoptees. They said that they learned a lot and really appreciated these individuals' taking the time to answer questions and help them to learn what to do and what not to do when I get older! While they were in the conference, I spent time with my mentor, Ji In, and watched a Japanese anime movie called "My Neighbor Totoro." Mama was very excited about me meeting Totoro, because she is a fan of Japanese anime (in fact, in addition to being named after the former First Lady of China, Soong Mei-Ling, Mama was also thinking of an anime character named Mei-Ling when she and Baba chose my name). Then on Saturday, we went shopping. Our friend Sharon (at GC Computer's at the Georgia Square Mall in Athens), who is from China, bought me the most beautiful balloon! It is a big, clear balloon with ivy on it, but it then has smaller balloons inside to form a flower and a butterfly. Isn't it gorgeous? You can't see it as good here, but you will in the next pictures. Oh, and yes - that is my Halloween pumpkin. It is one of my favorite things in the world. I realize it's almost May. I'll just keep playing with it until NEXT Halloween.

Here's a better shot of my balloon, Baby Yang in her stroller, and of course my pumpkin.

Don't you just love how the butterfly is on top of the flower? Miss Sharon was so kind to get this for me.

And here is a close-up of my beautiful balloon.

Now, Mama and Baba have something important they want to say. From the moment they met me in China, people have been so kind, gracious and generous to us. People in China would come up to Mama and Baba and thank them so much for adopting me and tell them how lucky I am. And since we have been home in America, any time they meet a Chinese person, they do the same thing. I have received so many beautiful things from Chinese friends and acquaintances Mama and Baba have met. Mama, Baba and I really do appreciate how hard Chinese Americans work to help me to feel included in Chinese culture and to help me remember things like how to speak Mandarin. It means so much to all of us that you are so accepting of our family and so supportive of us. In fact, even Chinese "strangers" never remain that way for long. Just last weekend we went to eat at a Chinese restaurant in Mama's hometown. The hostess spent almost the entire meal with us - feeding me, talking to me, playing with me. We never meet a Chinese "stranger." In restaurants, in shopping malls - it really touches our hearts how much love and kindness we are shown. And the Asian Children's Mentor Program are another great example of college students who dedicate their time and love to helping Asian children to remain tied to their culture.

But Mama and Baba also want to remind everyone of one thing: I am not the only fortunate one. Mama and Baba say that they are really the lucky ones to have me. We all remain so grateful to the People's Republic of China and to the people who are from there. We are truly all united in love and fellowship.

Happy Birthday To My Grandma!

This past weekend, we visited Grandma and Pop Pop to celebrate her birthday. We didn't end up with any pictures of Grandma and Pop Pop, because everyone was busy taking pictures of me and forgot to get any of them! It's always fun when I visit their house, because they have all sorts of fun things to play with. Here I am with a stethoscope, a flashlight, a Mardi Gras mask and beads - all at once! Mama is smiling because she knows that these things get to remain at Grandma's house. Oh, and do you see those new hot pink Crocs? I love them!

Grandma showed me how to use the stethoscope. And no, I'm not trying to check Xavier's heart, silly. I'm checking for bowel sounds. Well, OK - I suppose I will admit that I am a little bit confused as to where the heart is really located. I'm only two you know.

I think Xavier sounds just fine.

Baba is watching us and is probably trying to communicate to Mama with his eyes, asking her not to take his picture. And Mama is pretending to not get the "message".

We had a great weekend. I was able to spend time with Xavier, Grandma, Pop Pop, and Doe and then went to a baby shower in honor of my cousin Jennifer. We had a really good time - especially eating spicy hot shrimp at Longhorn and then Hunan tofu at a pretty "authentic" Chinese restaurant. I love my spicy food! That's why girls from Chongqing are called "spicy girls!" We are born loving that kind of food.

This coming weekend, we will attend an adoption seminar at the university, and I get to watch my first Japanese anime film! I can't wait to meet Totoro and spend some time with my mentor Ji In! Mama has talked about Totoro a lot since she is a fan of anime. We'll be back to let you know how much fun we had.