First Chinese New Year With Chloe

We had such a great time getting together with a local adoptive group this weekend to celebrate Chinese New Year. We have been attending celebrations with this group for years through the waiting process and they have been a great source of support to us. Seeing other people's kids was a good dose of encouragement through our long wait and it was great to finally have Chloe there with us. I hope seeing her was an encouragement to others who are waiting too.

Chloe had a great time playing ball with her friends Brailey and Brin.

It seemed a little odd to have to pack American food for Chinese girl at a Chinese New Year Celebration. Those would be carrots in her mouth. Chloe is on a restricted diet because of the TB medication she is taking and she's not allowed to have any soy sauce. Well just about all Chinese food has soy in it somehow. So it was we Americans who got to eat the Chinese food and Chloe had to eat American.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Time has come to celebrate Chinese New Year. As Christian parents of a Chinese-American girl, it's challenging to find appropriate ways to celebrate this holiday that is so surrounded with superstition. We will not be setting off firecrackers to chase away evil spirits or doing many of the other traditional Chinese modes of celebration, but we do want to honor the culture of Chloe's homeland. So as she grows, we will look for ways to celebrate this holiday with family and friends that are God honoring and that honor the little girl whose homeland is so far away.

Chloe is growing like a weed and sprouting teeth left and right. We like the growing part, but the teeth are not so fun. She got a clean bill of health at her 18 month check this week and has grown 5 inches since we got her 10 months ago. No wonder she's looking so big these days. This baby is certainly becoming a toddler and she's expressing her opinion more "loudly" than ever. Teeth and family illnesses have made this kind of a grouchy month, but lets hope the glimpse of 60 degree weather we saw in Ohio this week is a sign of Spring and healthier times to come.

Chloe unfortunately still struggles to sleep well at night and Greg has taken the brunt of sleep duties since I'm with her all day. We see glimpses of great sleep, but these seem to pass too quickly. Chloe has grown enough to increase her TB medicine, so she is also working through some of those side effects again. She's back to a morning nap and is very sleepy by the time she's allowed to eat breakfast (an hour after taking her medicine). Hopefully, her body will adjust and the side effects will soon not be so noticeable.

Please pray for Chloe's continued emotional healing. This will be the key to her restful sleep. She no longer cries for her Jie Jie, but only God knows what it will take to work through the emotional scars that are obviously left behind by her abandonment and orphanage stay.