First of all, go check out my blog (Birds at the Feeder), link is in the sidebar to the right. I uploaded some wonderful videos of our hen and kitty together.

Here's a video of Eliza doing some signing. Some signs that aren't on the video are: book, i love you, walk, bad, good... I think that's it. You still have to demonstrate for her, but more and more she is doing spontaneous signing for things (just now, she signed help because she wants to watch a video on my laptop and I'm typing on it). So, she's finally learning some positive means of communication, but with that, she is learning the power of communication -- so when she doesn't get her way and she has signed something to you, she gets very annoyed. Note to self: I need to remember to learn the sign for wait and/or patience!!!

Spring keeps teasing us w/ barefeet days... I just love Eliza's artwork that comes home with her from school. Wish my toes were this pretty!

Got my computer back w/ a brand new keyboard...ahhh...happy fingers again. Also, I had gotten some bug on my hard drive, slowing my processor down terribly, so they fixed that too. In the meantime, something happened to our ability to view Eliza's videos. She was devastated (as you can see by her tears in the video that I uploaded here). Thankfully, we fixed it. She loves watching herself on the videos and loves to "do" whatever she was doing in the video when the video is over (dance, jump on the trampolene, play knock-knock with her house and mommy). It's really funny, she'll sign "more" while she watches herself on the video signing "more". After every video, she gets down from my lap or the chair, runs and does whatever she was doing in the video then comes back to watch another one. Smart cookie!

Sorry I've been such a lazy blogger...I've been other-blog obsessed lately: I was obsessed with checking Megan's blog 100 times a day while she was in China the last week and a half. I was obsessed with seeing Mia Hope finally join her family as I checked Robin's (Red Threads) blog 100 times a day... This week there are 2 families in Nanning (where we will be) receiving there daughters. One is from Meiying's orphanage and the other is not, but she's 10, so I've been obsessed checking their blogs. I'm definitely getting the China itch and am in that 2nd/3rd trimester stage of being foggy brained and tired all the time (pollen, I know), gaining weight and nesting (throwing out all the clutter)! Alright, gotta scoot to the UPS store to send off documents to the NY and Los Angeles Consulates for authentication!!!

Eliza's class usually has one field trip per month focused on a sensory-rich exploration. I had forgotten to post the last trip (I posted to Facebook, but not Blog...shame on me). Anyway, that trip was to rollerskating! Wow...that was so fun. Eliza is a natural. They tighten the kids' wheels; they can still roll, but have to work at it more. She was off on her own tho. Me...it all came back 30+ years later...the twirls, skating backwards...such a good time. E loved skating into the middle and then watching everyone whiz by her. She was smiling and dancing to the music. It was so cute. Next time, loosen her wheels; my girl is ready to roll. Count on it.

So, today, E had another big day. She rode a school bus for the very first time! Her class was invited to join the kindergarten class on their field trip to the Marble's Children Museum downtown Raleigh. Of course, I went along, but had to drive by myself. She had a blast. I forgot my camera, but her teacher took lots of pics that she said she would e-mail to me. (Her veteran teacher kept pointing out older kids that were non-verbal at E's age and would say, "Look at them now!" It was very sweet of her. ) I've always said that I long to hear Eliza's voice, but being able to communicate with us in a non-verbal way is okay; just want her to be able to communicate in a positive way and a way that other's will eventually be able to understand (ie not hitting her head out of frustration, scratching you to get your attention, throwing a water bottle at you to tell you she wants a drink -- thankfully, she hasn't done any of that for months now).

If I ever doubt that Eliza isn't listening or watching, she washes away those doubts in amazing, surprising ways....DRUM ROLL PLEASE: Tonight, E kept getting out of bed and coming downstairs. After several times, I got up and intercepted her on the stairs. This time, I asked her to tell my why she wouldn't stay in bed. I said, "Talk to mommy and tell me what you need." She looked me deep in the eyes for seconds, then slowly and steadily she looked at her hand...(Eliza will quite often tell you what she wants by looking at something or looking deep into your eyes, like "read my thoughts, mommy, you know me" and it's important to not give it to her, but rather have her point to it or sign). So on the stairs, I slowly followed her gaze and I saw that she was signing the universal handsign for "love" to me. Wow! A tearful moment and overwhelming love washed over me. You can imagine. It felt like it happened in slow motion and just like when we occasionally hear her say a word, you are almost in disbelief. But I saw it and I made sure I said it out loud to her so that she knew I understood what she was telling me. Don't you know, she stayed in bed after that. She had to tell me that she loved me. Beautiful!

Her teachers have noticed that Eliza is so on and doing things so purposeful and we've noticed it too. Problem is, because she's so quiet, if you're not watching her, you can miss some things. Like tonight on the stairs, had I not followed her gaze, I would've missed such an important communication. It was purposeful and it was as good as words to this mommy's heart.

Here's some video; you can see how purposeful and receptive she is to the beat and the lyrics that thankfully, she doesn't understand much of in this distasteful song (I'm feeling very old). Forgive my 13 year old's music choice and my hunky (not to be confused w/ honky) husband's dance moves! Enjoy...

This is a double post because I'm not sure if everyone here checks my blog for Meiying. Here's some news worth celebrating:

Immigration approval received TODAY, in record time...just 12 days after our Homestudy was filed!!!!

Here's some more birthday pictures. Make sure to watch the birthday video; it cracks me up every time. You'll see in the video that she finally "got it" this year...my little sweetie pie. She is making progress, slowly, but that's okay! Birthday gifts included the trampolene, a new Barney book, Fancy Nancy book and (my favorite) Puff the Magic Dragon book (remember that song?). The book came with a CD of the song (not the original PPM version, but a solo version by Peter of PPM -- Peter, Paul & Mary, if I'm dating myself -- and his daughter. I love it! Anyway, E came down w/a cold last night at bed time and was full-blown today. The trampolene is not staying in the house, but since there's snow on the ground and she needed some exercise, we began setting it up today. Of course, we let her jump on it!! Tonight, she wanted me to lay in bed w/ her...sniffle, sniffle, cough, cough. In true Eliza form, she started out snuggling tightly into me and then became giddy with love (hee, hee) or sensory (probably), but started tugging on my short hair (giggling), then found my ear lobe and tugged on that (giggling)...over and over again. I had to laugh with her. She is so funny at times.

More birthday pictures to come later. For now, enjoy the snow...yes, on Eliza's birthday...March 2!!! Unbelievable...and yes, school was closed. So, here's Eliza's birthday song for today: "It's my birthday and I'll play if I want to, in the puddle if I want to...and you can't stop me 'cause it's my birthday...dah dah dah dah dah dah dahhhhh!"