Everyday is a New Day

For instance, the other day I could get to BBC.com, but not CNN.com from the hotel, but now I can only get CNN.com.  Also, we learn that Maya supports mommy in all things over daddy, one example being the Great Phone Debate:  Mommy's iPhone vs. Daddy's Droid.  Let's ask Maya what she thinks:

"I tested both of them, sometimes at the same time, and I definitely prefer mommy's cool iPhone over daddy's sucky Droid."

Ann bought her a little sheep phone to try to distract her (after all, mommy refers to the iPhone as "Precious" and we know where that dark path leads).  Mommy learned an important lesson:  give a toddler a toy that makes a sound and you get to hear that ridiculously insipid sound over and over and over and over and over and over again.  Then mommy made her second mistake:  she removed the battery.  No sound.  Sheep Phone went flying, hysterics followed.  So, we taped over the speaker.  No difference.  So we played the swap out game last night while playing with Maya and the phone.  Daddy hid the phone under the bed for a while and after Maya went to sleep, stuck it where she can't find it.  So today, every time mommy pulled out her iPhone to take a picture, it ended up in little sticky hands.  On the other hand, she's figured out how to get the iPod on it to play.  I'm waiting for Angry Birds.

Maya had a bit of a rough night last night, getting over her cold, so we let her sleep in a bit, but she seems better today.  Daddy and mommy not as much (daddy especially), but we're managing.

We did well at breakfast, letting daddy feed us (or rather sit with us while we feed ourselves, while mommy was able to get up a few times and get her own food).  Eventually daddy got to eat, too.  Our favorite foods so far seem to be ham, cheese, and bread (pretty good for kid who grew up on rice porridge and chicken).  We're not much into vegetables, but fortunately mommy and daddy brought some Gerber Graduates, which we loved, and now we're getting some baby food to suplement our meat-and-cheese-and-bread diet (oh, and cheerios of course like nearly every other kid on the planet).

After breakfast, we went out to mommy's favorite store (yes, the one with the green mermaid logo that rhymes with Our Bucks).  We actually walked most of the way holding mommy's hand.

Otherwise, today we did a bit of shopping (got name stamps aka chops for Ann & Phil -- we got Maya's the other day), went on a couple of walks around the island, played in the play room a couple of times, and spent some time with the other family with our adoption agency who just arrived late late last night from another province with their new son and their daughter.  Dan & Kathy and their kids are really nice and easy going and we all had a great time at dinner and in the playroom (and earlier in the afternoon Kathy and I got all our paperwork ready for the consulate appointments on Tuesday).

Maya and I are bonding even more, though there are limits.  She has decided that only mommy may push her in the stroller, which we're usually not fighting unless Ann is really tired--after all this is not only a toddler asserting her power, but also a child who has had no control over anything in her life, especially in the last week.

Not only did we all play really well with lots of smiles in the play room, but also when we came up to get our bath and get ready for bed, we let daddy hold us while mommy gave us the towel bath.  And the big hysterics Ann and I were expecting when we washed her hair (I hold her on her back over the sink while Ann washes her hair using water from a cup -- last time was a Total Baby Meltdown) never came.  Perhaps humming the pink panther tune on a sore throat while bouncing her helped, but maybe we're all just getting more used to each other.

And I actually got two kisses before bed (then I got a hand in the cheek, but that part is par for the course -- I'm just glad that chomping on baby fingers brings out smiles most of the time).

Until next time, keep those cards and letters coming.