We ~heart~ cherries!

Can a baby eat too much fruit? Based on the three diapers I've changed this afternoon, I think the answer is "yes" if the fruit in question is blueberries. Beatrice LOVES fruit. We haven't met one yet that proves that statement wrong: bananas, apples, pears, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, kiwi, avocado (is that a fruit?), pineapple, tomatoes (which technically are fruit I think), watermelon, honeydew, canteloupe, and yesterday we introduced cherries, pit-removed of course. It was love at first taste and she grunts loudly as soon as the bag comes out of the fridge. One of the things I looked forward to when waiting for Beatrice was introducing her to fruits and vegetables during summertime since she could get a lot of variety and have it be fresh and tasty. I am so, so, so happy that she enjoys produce, and I only pray it doesn't change like many people tell me it will. I never liked veggies as a kid, I think in part because most of what we had was canned, and and my mom never bought much variety of fruit, so I was limited to apples and bananas for the most part. One teacher's salary feeding a family of seven in the 70's doesn't necessarily afford for loads of fresh produce. I do remember loving fresh green beans from Farmer Joslin's garden in the summer and I would eat them until my mother made me stop. I can't help but wonder if things would've been different had I been offered fresh fruit and veggies. We are off to the farmer's market where we go once or twice a week to "see what the farmers grew this week." I really hope that Beatrice develops into a lifelong healthy eater.

**UPDATE** Add raspberries to the list....she snagged three of them right out of the container on the way in from the car.

Summer Afternoon

Bizou inherited this red push car from Truman and Hank and she absolutely loves it. I'm optimistic about her future driving skills since she placed her hands right in that perfect "10 and 2" position on the steering wheel. She is really loving sliding down the slide and it's amazing how fast 18 1/2 lbs can go on that thing! Here she is in "big finish" mode, which actually is her turning around to try to crawl UP the slide. It's amazing at how innate that desire really is.

My girl wants to party all the time, party all the time....

Who remembers that embarrassing Eddie Murphy song/video from the 80's?????????Beatrice went to my cousin's daughter Angela's 3rd birthday party today and it was complete with about 15 toddlers, a bounce house, and a pony for riding, which unfortunately we missed because we had to head home early. Beatrice wanted no part of the bounce house upon first placement but, about 20 minutes later, thoroughly enjoyed crawling around and having her sense of balance messed with and getting stepped on and pushed on like the rest of the kids. Her cousins Truman and Hank were there and stayed right by her side as her "bouncers," no pun intended. She shocked us today when I let go of her hands while she was standing and she remained on her feet for 5-10 seconds. She did this several times today but of course never when the video was running. She is walking really quickly when her hands are held, and Truman had a great time escorting her around the yard. It's amazing that those size 1 feet can hold her body up. Now that the beautiful weather has finally arrived, she's had lots of time to enjoy her swingset this weekend, feeling very comfortable in the bucket swing, loving having her body held as she races down the slide, and really thinks she's "all that and a box of chocolates" when sitting up in her playhouse. Anthony and I were both with her for nearly an hour yesterday, he sitting in there right beside her and me outside playing peek-a-boo through the wooden slats. She was so, so happy and Anthony got overwhelmed with emotion seeing her act like such a typical joyful child. We will never forget Thanh's words to us about the fate of an orphan who doesn't get adopted in Vietnam which, needless to say, is not good. It is an incredible gift to see the world through her eyes, to watch her enjoy every simple thing and see her eyes brighten and widen over each not so simple thing. Beatrice has so few expectations and her disappointments are fleeting. These are two of the many fine qualities we hope she can somehow hang onto throughout her life.

Virginia Visitors

My cousin Marianne and her kids Kristin and Erik, who live in Newport News, VA, stopped by last Wednesday for the day to finally meet Beatrice. And I finally got my hands on the Nikon to download the photos from the event! Beatrice warmed up to them very easily and had a great time. We went out for Japanese food and Beatrice enjoyed her first sushi and clear soup. We hope to spend a day with them next week at their beach house in southern Maine. The weather is finally gorgeous today and hopefully this rainy streak has ended and it can start to feel like summer around here. After Beatrice wakes up from her nap, we're heading out with Sula for a long overdue hike.

Thank you Uncle Moe & Aunt Sharon

My brother Maurice and his wife Sharon offered to buy Beatrice a swingset shortly after we came home from Vietnam. We thought it was insanely extravagant, but they insisted. I grew up with a rusty metal swingset that gave me plenty of bee stings, calluses, and entertainment, especially as I'd watch the hunk of ancient cement threaten to uproot from the ground every time I would swing back and forth. Seriously though, I loved that thing and as I aged used to jump off the neighbor's wall just behind it onto the top bar, pretending I was an Olympic gymnast on parallel bars. That's where the bee stings came in because inside the metal post bees would build nests and I landed my palm right on them I don't know how many times. Maurice and Sharon decided Bizou needed something a little more "high end" and here is what got installed on our property this week. Right now she can pretty much just use the bucket swing, but I'm sure before I know it she'll be climbing across the bars on the top of it and giving her parents heart failure.

Our summer is going along wonderfully. We are having great days keeping busy and settling into somewhat of a routine, at least moreso than the past few weeks. Somewhere along the way, this baby of mine has become a toddler. It hit me like a ton of bricks when we were at a restaurant recently and the waitress brought crayons and a coloring placemat and she actually sat there with crayon in hand and colored. She's self-feeding at lunchtime when I give her all finger foods and chewing really well now. She still eats pretty much everything, with chicken, sweet potatoes, cheese, toast, yogurt, mango, banana, eggs, any type of soup, and Kashi crackers being favorites. Strawberries, sushi, cucumber, tuna salad, and lentils are all new foods that she's enjoyed too. I nervously introduced peanut butter and, to this mama's joy, I have a fellow peanut butter lover. She's just started to use a couple of signs that I've been using since we got her, just as I was about to give up on them. She mimics everything. I was tracing a circle on a circle card from a Baby Einstein set she got as a baptism gift and later that day I saw her pick it up and trace it with her pointer finger exactly the way I did. She will sit and listen to books for longer and chooses them on her own to flip through. She loves to blow kisses to people and will do so unprompted, and walking independently is so, so close. She has discovered our old, out-of-tune piano and begs to sit and play and can literally do so on her own for 20 minutes or more, very focused. It was eerie when we watched her on it last night as her face was so serious and she focused on hitting one note at a time with one finger from each hand. I won't go on record as saying she's a prodigy yet, but I've never seen a child that young treat a piano in quite that way. Her understanding of spoken language surprises us every single day and, more important than any of these above things, her attachment to us is incredibly strong. We have no doubt that Beatrice knows we are her parents and, incredibly, she seems very, very happy and content with that.

Tonight we're off to the gallery stroll here in town and this weekend we have my cousin's birthday party to attend and, perhaps, first fireworks. There's been a lot going on in our lives but truly every day is a celebration and something to look forward to even when we just sit home. Life is so, so good.