Princess Swan Kitty

Kaylin is consumed lately with pretending she is a kitty. She crawls around and meows a lot. This can be a little tiresome but I do find it better than when she felt the need to be a dog (there was just too much barking involved). It is a little sweet, though, when she "crawls" into my lap. A good kitten likes to cuddle. Well - this morning Princess Swan Kitty (her alter ego name) insisted I give her some milk on a plate so she could lick it up. The rational part of me hesitated but gave way to the small easy-going part of me. I placed the plate on a bench (so she wouldn't have to compete with the real cats). She went to town lapping up the milk. When I turned around to look at her she was on her knees, her face was in the plate and she had one hand behind her back. I guess that's how a proper kitten drinks it's milk. One day this phase will be over (hopefully sooner than later) and I'll look back and laugh.

Gotcha Day

In May of 2004 James and I started a pregnancy. No – it wasn’t the traditional type of pregnancy. It was what we, adoptive parents, refer to as our “paper pregnancy”. Though a biological pregnancy lasts nine months a paper pregnancy can last much, much longer. In our case it lasted fourteen months. It’s not an easy process. Oh – the paperwork isn’t that bad. It’s the waiting that’s hard. Unlike a biological pregnancy there is no definitive due date. We wait and we wait and we plan the best we can for the arrival of our child. And then one day – the phone call comes. Travel arrangements are made. It is time to hold our baby for the first time. This is what we refer to as “Gotcha Day”. For James and me this event took place four years and 1 week ago on July 18, 2005. In the heart of China – Chongqing to be exact – Fu, Ai Ying became Kaylin Ai Ying Gage. It was a day we will never forget. We had seen videos of other families’ “Gotcha Day” experiences where babies cried and cried as they were placed into the waiting arms of their parents. I had dreaded that possibility. The last thing I wanted was for her to be afraid. During our pregnancy we prayed often that God would give her peace and that she would actually be expecting us (even at such a young age). When we walked into the room to receive our baby girl, there were definitely babies crying – but not our little girl. When they placed her into my arms she was calm and simply studied us. She never once hesitated. She never once cried. It was if she was thinking “Ah – so you’re the ones I’ve been waiting for. Great! Let’s go!” She was perfectly at peace with us from the first moment on. We had her laughing and smiling literally within minutes. I cannot tell you how much that initial interaction meant to me. It will forever have a special place in my heart. God truly blessed us that day in many ways. We knew in an instant she was ours. But more importantly – she knew we were hers.

It’s been four years and I can’t believe how the time has passed. I thought I would share some photos from our “Gotcha Day” as well as a few others. Kaylin has changed a lot but in many ways we still see that same little 10 month old from four years ago.

The Birth of an Education

When we moved to Colorado I don't think I fully imagined the farm life adventures that Kaylin (or I) would get to witness. I grew up in the city and so did James. And well - most of the people in the U.S. live in cities. Farm adventures are witnessed by most on television, county fairs or sometimes at the zoo. So - in this respect I find our first hand experiences to be a great education for our curious four year old. In April we were having dinner with some family friends who own a dairy. As it happens quite often there, a cow was in labor. This time, however, the cow needed some "assistance". James took Kaylin outside with he and his mom to go witness the assisted birth. I wasn't sure this was something Kaylin really needed to witness but I was overruled. To my surprise she was completely untraumatized. She came back and explained to me the whole process.

A couple of weeks later her grandparents' cow "Tuesday" gave birth. The funny thing there was that none of knew she was pregnant until about a few days before she introduced her young one. The whole thing was serendipitous (making a desirable discovery by accident). This past weekend there was another addition to the family. The pictures are below. The first is of Sera (short for serendipity) and the next two pictures are of Daisy. Already in Kaylin's young life she is experiencing things I never did. I don't think there is anything quite as educating as life itself. So whether or not I think farm life is for me in the long term - I am excited Kaylin gets to experience things she otherwise probably wouldn't have. (They are kind of cute, aren't they.)

Kaylinisms IV

"Necessarily" is a big word for a four year old. So Kaylin says "I don't nescer like that."

She picked this up from her dad. She says "I'm not a big fan of..."

And this is classic: Yesterday I was organizing Kaylin's toys. I divided some of her toys into three small baskets and told her what was in each. One was for doll toys/dress up items, one was for kitchen toys and the third was for the leftover miscellaneous items. Later as we were putting the baskets back in place she said: "This is my miscellaneous basket. Did she give those (toys) to me?" I was thinking "Who?" before it dawned on me. You know - "Miss Cellaneous". Too funny!!

I Love You 61

There's nothing in the world quite like hearing your child tell you that they love you. Of course it always sounds nice when Kaylin says it back to me after I've said it to her. But the best is when she randomly says it during the day. It goes something like this: "Mommy", "Yes, honey", "You know what?", "What?", "I love you." There's something about an unprompted "I love you" that warms the heart. Sometimes our love turns into a counting game. I say "I love you." She says "I love you too." I say "I love you three", She says "I love you four." You get the picture. Somewhere after about ten or twelve she decides to make a big leap. She says proudly and with full conviction "I love you 61.". You can tell she feels confident that 61 is a huge number and that she loves me (and/or James - whomever she's playing with) in such a huge way. Someday she'll figure out there are much larger numbers than 61 but for now - I'm content knowing she loves me with the biggest number she knows. And someday she'll understand there aren't enough numbers out there to tell her how much her Daddy and Mommy love her.

Update: tonight Kaylin declared her love up to 61,000!!