breaking the silence

after two months of silence, i figure i should 'step up' for the family and 'represent'. *sigh* being the youngest  in the family is hard work!

"the 10 plagues" in 8 weeks
ok, we weren't really hit with the ten plagues, just the below list with a few weeks reprieve before getting the last ailment:

• coxsackievirus - hand, foot, mouth disease
• croup
• cough/cold
• norovirus

daddy has since removed the large banner hanging in-front of house, which stated, "please leave ALL your nastiest germs here", as it is no longer funny. we were all forced to wear sackcloth & ashes.

ok, perhaps i'm being a little over dramatic, but if wearing something like sackcloth & ashes would have helped us stay healthy, we would have done it! :)

the positives which resulted from our isolation period:

• going to farms & gardens we otherwise may not have made time for; during this time i actually developed an interest for animals!







• visiting a museum we otherwise would have waited to visit



• and bidding adieu to big bro's daytime diapers(!!!)

in mid-december, when mommy & daddy suffered from norovirus, they lay in bed the weekend, while big bro & i played. yes, that's right, we did not fight over toys, but played ... as in "together" ... happily! please don't tell them we're capable of this, they might decide to get sick again!!

celebrations
though we had the 'germies' staggered throughout november, we still needed to party!

as part of big bro's 3rd birthday gift, we went to his dream place - the aquarium. there, he became 'one' with all his sea animal friends, being transported to 'heaven'. from touching bat rays to spotting leafy sea dragons, marveling at life-sized orcas & whale models, to finding TWO spotted eagle ray puppets, he was "happy as a clam". me? i just wanted to do water play and get everyone wet, including myself!

we managed to squeeze a quiet birthday celebration for daddy, to ensure there was room for celebrating my half birthday (18 months)!! daddy's birthday included football, while mine included "vroom vroom" & ice cream!

shoe boxes
while we had a lot of fun celebrating 'ourselves' amidst being sick, we equally had fun packing shoe boxes filled with toys, hygiene products and other goodies for kids somewhere in the world that don't have a fraction of what we have. admittedly big bro picked out a lot of the goodies that went into the boxes, but can i get credit for tagging along? we had a lot of fun including letters about ourselves. we found out our shoe boxes made it to the philippines this year!

road trip
i don't want to sound ungrateful, but can someone explain how this is fair? at 15 months, big bro got to go to disney world in florida, and then at 18 months, travel across the world to venice, italy! where did we go for 'vacation', shortly after i turned 18 months? a ROAD TRIP to palm springs! does it even compare (not that i'm comparing)?!?!

positives: sunny, balmy; perfect pool weather
negatives: retirement community (does it look like big bro & i are retirement age?!), crazy long 10 hour drive (what were mommy & daddy thinking?!?)

clearly, 'whomever' was responsible for researching this destination, was either sold on marketing people's ability to embellish the children's attractions, OR, he/she was thinking he/she could get a few rounds of golf in. the children's attractions were relatively empty (uh, yeah .. it's a retirement community!@##%!), which i suppose, was a positive. we spent a lot of time in the pool, which was very fun, but we didn't capture any of it, because believe it or not, mommy actually got into the water!

so the main attractions were the living desert zoo, which had the coolest, working, model train set up we have seen to date, the children's discovery museum of the desert, and the world's biggest dinosaurs museum, which, ahem, they went to while i napped! our favorite dinner was at roy's restaurant in rancho mirage. they spoiled us rotten there with a treasure chest of toys to pick from, our very own complimentary appetizers, followed by prompt entree delivery, and then the clincher ... personalized kids desserts (HUGE scoop of ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce)!!! they even took a picture for us and put it in a frame!

first US thanksgiving & christmas

just prior to leaving on our road trip to palm springs, i celebrated thanksgiving with grandma G & grandma D (daddy's two aunts).  we spent the day at their house, and had a feast. grandma G makes wonderful, juicy turkey - which says a lot because i'm not a huge meat eater!

while big bro experienced his first tree hunt in toronto, where it was picturesque with lots of snow, my first tree hunt was local, without snow, but still a lot of fun!

this year, big bro chose a "blue urchin" (no one had the heart to tell him it was a star) to decorate the tree, while i chose "cars".

i was told that usually christmas is spent with family in canada, but due to my travel limitations, we spent my first christmas locally. it was actually somewhat relaxing, catching up with some friends and meeting some cousins & aunts/uncles i hadn't met yet. i got to help decorate my very first gingerbread train with big bro & a friend, showing off my dexterity and concentration, which no one thought i had. i met charlie brown & snoopy, which i was a little apprehensive about at first, visited "bethlehem live" one evening to see Jesus' birth reenacted with real sheep, donkey, camel, and even a real baby this year (!), enjoyed time at the beach with some friends while trying to see life in tide pools, took a picture with the saddest looking santa mama EVER saw or met (it was my first, so i didn't know the difference), ate lots of "treats" (home baked cookies from near & far), and opened gifts! big bro got an extra special treat -- playing with a 4.2 lb lobster up close & personal. once again, he was in 'heaven'.

choo choo!
what better way to end 2011, then at the train museum?!

random 2011 thoughts 
in my short 19 months of life, 2011 was a HUGE year for me. i joined my forever family, changing the course of my life and theirs. it's been 6 months that we've been a family of 4, and i am (mostly) having a blast! big bro seems to have found his groove back, and i am showing more vulnerability towards mama & dada. i even show some affection towards 'to-to' when i feel like it! we had our last post placement meeting with our social worker before christmas, which means we are just a few short steps away from finalization my adoption! ... 2012 seems to promise many more changes!! stay tuned ...

photo albums from nov & dec:

2011-11 Fun @ 3 & 18 months		2011-12 Fun @ 3 & 19 months