Hair Issues

It's fairly customary in China for infant and toddler girls to get their heads shaved. Our adoption coordinator in China said it helps them to have beautiful, thick hair when they grow up. Looking at poor Maya's sad head of hair, I must say that I'm almost tempted to pull out the clippers!

It's growing at the top and we have enough for some respectable bug antennae, but the sides stubbornly refuse to grow.

Unfortunately the back is also growing quite well. Adam commented the other day, "Isn't her hairstyle called a mullet?" I suppose it is.

Didn't I promise you'd see more of the picture face? This, once again, is the "picture face delay".

I trimmed up Maya's bangs today because she had a few hairs that were straggly looking, but obviously most of it is still pretty short. Now that it's a little more even, I think it just looks like I cut way too much off on top!

In this photo, Maya jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!!" It did surprise me because that's the first time she's ever done that! I'm so happy I got it on film. What a funny girl!

When and if her hair ever does grow, I do think it will be beautiful. It's very shiny and smooth and for the first time I'll be dealing with a non-curly female head of hair. Lyle tries to spray Maya's head with water and do the "scrunch" technique that works quite well with our curly heads, but I think no amount of scrunching will do the job on Maya's head!

Although this has nothing to do with hair, I want to share a sweet Maya story that just warmed my heart last night. I was putting her to bed, a time when she's always snuggly and sweet, and she said without any prompting, "I love you, Mama." Then she blew me a kiss. Any stress or expense incurred with bringing her home is such a distant memory. She is such a blessing.

Adam Turns 13!

Do you think it's a tad foreboding that our first child entered his teen years on Friday the 13th? Yes, it makes us a little nervous! Unfortunately Lyle missed the festivities as he is off in Oklahoma City, the city of his birth, for a dental meeting. As I've heard the story told, I believe Lyle only actually lived there, outside of the uterus that is, for less than a week. The family was waiting on his arrival so they could move to Idaho Falls.

So, while Lyle was in Oklahoma reconnecting with his roots, we had a tasty birthday spaghetti dinner. If I wasn't in single parent mode I might have made the table look a little more festive, but it was pretty delicious sauce, if I do say so myself.

Oh, and I should mention that Lyle had called and left a message on the answering machine wishing Adam a happy birthday. When Adam heard it he said, "You know, he's such a great guy. I hope I can be just like him someday." He does occasionally like us!

Lyle has convinced the Qiuster that she can and should feed herself. You can see the results. That's an apron I have tied around her neck, but really, nothing adequately does the job. When I try to feed Maya she turns her head, clamps her mouth shut, and reaches out her hand for a fork, waving her chubby little fingers. I like how Lyle "teaches" her these skills but isn't around for the cleanup.

Also, this is her new picture face. Get used to it because I have a feeling this is what we'll be seeing for awhile.

This is Exhibit A.

And here we have Exhibit B. This one is a slight variation on Exhibit A. I call this the "picture face delay". If I wait a few seconds she'll usually sneak open one eye to see if I'm still there.

Adam wanted brownies as a birthday cake substitute. Unfortunately, the kids saw the brownies on the counter after school and thought it was an after school snack. Hence the half-eaten pan. It wasn't a birthday feast that would rate very highly for looks, but I think the kids had a good time.

Adam hadn't even seen the present yet and was just being a ham. It's hard buying gifts for a teenager! The present was actually a digital camera. I have no idea why they packaged it in such a huge box! Adam said, "Thanks, but I don't really see why I need a digital camera. I always use yours." Exactly!

Tonight when I put some laundry in the washer, I found a paper in Adam's pocket that was apparently from his health class. It listed different moral dilemmas and asked questions like: What do your parents think about this? your friends? media? and finally, What do YOU think about this? The one that made me laugh was his answer to the question, "What do YOU think is appropriate dress for you?" His response was so perfectly Adam-- "I don't wear dresses."

I do feel for Adam being the oldest. He gets us at our most paranoid, inexperienced parenting selves. I hope we can avoid any Friday the 13th bad luck and that he'll be kind to us during his teenage years. Happy birthday to our teenager! We love you Adam!

Spring Break 2007

What a gorgeous spring break we've had! Lyle and Adam are off in San Francisco this week having a blast but we've had a pretty great time at home as well. Today we headed out to an old favorite, Fay Bainbridge Park. This was Maya's fist time.

Our beach toy set unfortunately has only one shovel. Can you guess who's ticked off about scooping with the sifter?

There's Abby's pretty smile!

Maya definitely set some type of speed record on these slides! As you might imagine, trying to get a picture and trying to catch her couldn't simultaneously happen. Sorry Maya!

This picture does a good job of highlighting her uneven hair growth! The top grows, but not the sides. In this photo she looks like a man with a comb-over out in a windstorm!

I love this picture of all three girls.

Madeline and Abby love the tire swing. Maya most definitely does not! She's smiling in this photo because they hadn't spun yet. When they did, her little eyes kept darting side to side, like when the doctor has you follow the little flashlight, but turbo speed. Her head rolled around and she almost instantly turned a funny color. We got her off, put her down on the ground and she looked like a drunken sailor for a good 10 minutes.

So Cute