An Online Journal of Our Adoption Journey

Christmas, Birthday, & Re-Adoption

January 23, 2004
Autumn has reached the ripe old age of two!  She's putting words together and, of course, now being two, saying "NO!" a lot.  Daddy's shoes, Mommy shoes, Doggy walk, I got juice, Mommy work, Doggy toy, are just some of the combinations she's putting together.  She's also saying Hi and Bye to anything and everything.  Leaving for daycare in the morning it's Bye doggy, Bye TV, Bye table.  

The times with Autumn are precious.  The other day she tripped on the rug and bonked her head.  I held her while she cried big tears.  Then she suddenly stopped, sat back, looked at me and said, "Hi Daddy," in a very tiny voice.  It brought tears to my own eyes.  

The times can also be draining.  She's starting to realize causality.  Dropping Mommy off at work leads to an extended time without Mommy.  Daddy turning on the DVD player means time for Elmo, or something similar.  This means her whining has increased, as have her tantrums.  Nothing very bad yet but I foresee the first big showdown.

The holidays have be packed full of events.  We went to the FCC-SD (Families with Children from China, San Diego Chapter) Christmas party in mid-December.  Autumn was mesmerized by the magician, but she missed seeing Santa.  It was past her afternoon nap time so we left the event before Santa got there.  

But Christmas morning Autumn found lots of presents under the small tree.  She quickly got the idea of ripping open the gifts to see what was inside.  Her favorite proved to be a Winnie The Pooh baby that glowed and played music.  

Then all of our friends got together on New Years Eve for the gift exchange and Autumn got to tear open presents once again!  

Two weeks later she was enjoying the thrill a third time as we celebrated her second birthday with pizza, cupcakes, balloons, and gifts.  Her favorite this time was a stuffed Barney that sings "I love you."  

Autumn was re-adopted on January 23, 2004, one year and one day after receiving her referral photo.  It's mostly a formality, giving us a US document stating that Autumn is our child, as opposed to a Chinese one.  So, with a US passport, a US social security number, and now a US adoption decree, Autumn is most definitely a US citizen and our child.

The event took all of five minutes, not counting the half-hour wait before hand.  The judge was warm and congratulatory.  We even got a picture snapped up on the judge's bench.