Our 1 Year Anniversary! GOTCHA DAY!

Today we are celebrating our “GOTCHA DAY” 1 Year Anniversary! What a fantastic year! Love and congratulations to everyone involved with Group 1921! What a wonderful group of people to travel with. I'm sure today we are all asking ourselves, "Where did the year go!?" It seems like only a short time ago we were in China. 

Our first family photo. 11/5/2012

Tian is a 2 ½ now and doing great! She’s such a happy little girl. She loves to sing and dance. On the way to school, we still sing “Twinkle, Twinkle”, but now have added “The Wheels on the Bus”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and a bunch more. On Thursdays, she is taking ballet and loves it! She wears the whole pink get up! Shoes, Tights, Tutu! It’s adorable.

Lately we’ve been spending a lot of time on the swing set. She likes the bucket swing, but can use the normal swings too. What girl doesn’t like the swings? I think we do some of our best bonding out there.

Her vocabulary has exploded. I’m not going to bore you with the list, but she’s getting her point across most of the time now.  She knows the ABC song and can point out the colors. “Please”, “Thank You” and “Bless You” now come in flurries. Lots of 3 - 4 word statements. And finally, a crystal clear, “I Love You Daddy”. It’s the best. Just saying.

At Sazio's in Delray Beach.

What else can she do? Well, she’s completely figured out my iPhone, uses both the ladder and rockwall to reach the slide on the playset, rides her trike, is in charge of music and lights at naptime, loves to help clean up (unlike her big brother) and feed the puppies. 

Halloween was the best! Kerry's favorite holiday. Hunter was a Ninja and Tian, a ladybug. She had a blast. Norah and Jacob went house to house with Kerry, Hunter and T. I heard Tian trained them early. She would follow the boys up to the door, say “Trick ‘o Treat”, grab the stash, then back down the driveway. Now this is where it gets good. She hands the bucket to Norah and raises her hands to Mom to be carried to the next house only to be repeated. Classic.

Tian is very healthy.  She's made great strides with her weight and height. Gained over 3lbs and grew more than 4 inches. She has a super appetite, tons of energy and sleeps well through the night. And according to her teachers, hitting all the age appropriate milestones and excelling in other areas. We are very proud of her knowing what she has accomplished in only one year.

Of course, I can’t leave Hunter out of this blog. I’m putting him up for Sibling of the Year Award. I’ve said it before. The kid impresses me every day. He has shown loads of patience, genuine caring and concern; and lots of love when it comes to Tian. It's obvious she loves him so much. If I don’t tell you enough Hunter, your actions speak loud and clear. Great job buddy. I love you very much too. Sweet T is a very lucky little girl to have a big brother like you.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. We are really looking forward to the rest of the year. It really has been a fantastic, busy, exciting, mind blowing year. Thank you again for letting me share our family updates and photos.

Our best to all of you!

Dustin, Kerry, Hunter and Tian

Sadly, Summer is over... But bring on the School Year!

I hope everyone has had as good a Summer as we have. Lots to share since the last post over 2 months ago. Tian is doing really, really  well. As of August 8^th, she was 32.5” tall and I’m guessing, about 24 pounds. I’m probably off on the weight, but I’m 100% on the height because, ha! I put a growth chart on her wall. She’s pushing 18M clothes and ready for the next size. Hunter has continued to be a great big brother. I'm impressed by him everyday.

Ok. So this doesn't really show the love, but I promise. It's there!

Her vocab is exploding. We sing “Twinkle, Twinkle” almost every morning to school. The Alphabet song too. She can count to 13, but skips seven for some reason. Then with a little help, to 20! The latest is, “Where did ______ go?” (Enter Hunter, Momma, Dada, Dexter…) Then after you answer, she follows up with “Why?” Then you answer. Then “why?”. Then you answer again. It’s become a game for me to see how many answers I can come up with without repeating myself. Whoever quits first loses. It’s really tough when she replies with “why?” 6 -7 times.
 And she says “I do it! I do it!” from putting on her shoes to climbing into the car seat. She also says “please”, “thank you” and “bless you” at the appropriate times. We are still working on a crystal clear “I love you” from her. Almost everyday is something new.

It's nice that she’s using her words instead of grunts and groans. The downside is she completely understands the word “no”.  Hearing it and using it. We generally have a minor meltdown if we use it towards her. I’m working very hard to come up with an alternative way to address that. On the other hand, and it doesn’t happen often, but when she says “no”. HOLD… THE… PHONES..! Diva Attitude Revealed! Let’s just hope it’s a Terrible Twos phase and it passes soon. All in all, T’s a very happy kid. Everyone loves her at daycare. She plays well with others, always gets good reports and lots of attention. Her fun, playful personality continues to shine through.

And a very proud moment for me… Tian’s first time on the putting green. She loved it and quick figured out exactly what to do. My putter is 34”, but she managed. This week I broke out Hunter’s first set which fits her better and put it in her room. Planting the seed. We’ve played putt-putt twice so far. I hope we get in many more practice sessions.

Shout out to Junior, Melissa, Javy and Ava. Thanks for joining us! 

 

Our Summer vacation took us to the Keys with the Patrons. (We missed you Chris) Hunter went scuba diving and paddle boarding for the first time. We did a little fishing and a lot of relaxing. Tian loved the water.

Breakfast at the Stuffed Pig.

School started last week. Hunter has transitioned into 6^th grade and Tian, from the Ladybugs to the Butterflies. I’m excited for both of them. I still get to sing songs with Tian in the mornings, but Hunt doesn’t start until late, so we’ll be out the door before he gets up. He’s really going to hate us waking him every morning to say good-bye. Hehe.

I picked out the perfect outfit for her 1st day in the Butterflies.

Hunter in Middle School?! And a Gator Mascot! Ugh!

As always, thanks for letting me share.
"Be good Humans" - A.A.H.

GOTCHA DAY Anniversay! It's been 6 months already?!

Sorry, I am way late with this, but it's true. 05/05/13 was our 6 month Anniversary with Tian. Yesterday, June 17th was 7 months from when we brought her home. Congratulations and best wishes to all the Group 1921 families.

Hunter graduated from 5th grade and will be starting middle school in September. Not sure if anyone of us is prepared for this, but I'm sure we will do fine. Lots of good memories and friendships from Westchester Elementary. Looking forward to the new adventures of Sawgrass Middle. But not to fear, Tian will be starting Westchester in 3 years. We get to do it all over again!

 

I had a brilliant Father's Day. Hunter helped with breakfast and I got a beautiful sign written in chalk on the patio. Momma served up on of my favorite lunch and dinner. I got some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I chilled for a few hours in the pool with a few Sweetwater Blues. What more could a fella want? The Friday prior Tian's Daycare had a BBQ for the Dad's in her classroom. I was King for a day, got a Crown with Gems, a D-A-D collage and a pen holder! Sweet!

It's summer time and we are getting geared up for a great couple of months. Hunter's in Basketball Camp, a trip to the Keys is planned and I'm sure many poolside afternoons. Speaking of Poolside, Tian took her first dip in the Phillips' Private Lagoon in May. There was no way to wipe the smile off that face of hers. Full of confidence, it didn't take long for her to want to jump from the edge. Wiggling to get out of my arms, I'm sure Tian does not know she will probably sink like a rock.
I promise to get her into swim lessons as soon as possible.

The kids are getting along great. Hunter is growing like a weed and impressing me everyday. Tian is definitely getting bigger, but still leaning towards the little side. Her hair is getting long, but is so curly. Curls everywhere! He vocab is growing also. Her best word... "HUN-TER!" I love hearing her belt it out when she sees her big brother.

 

A far cry from this...

 

And in the Spirit of a South Florida Summer with a trip to the Keys...

An autographed picture of Andy Divine...
Hope you take some time and get your "Parrot" on this Summer! Have fun and be safe!

A Beach Weekend!

We had a great weekend with the Jeffries! Some fishing before dinner at JB's on Saturday and on Sunday, Ft. Laudy Daudy Beach with lunch at Southport Raw Bar afterwards.

Hunter, Kagan and Jacob.

"What do you mean I'm too small to fish???"

"Then over the side with both of you!"

Kagan Style...

Deerfield Pier.

We didn't catch anything, but everyone had a great time. Thanks for bringing the gear Greg!

Sunday was Tian's first visit to the beach. She was fascinated by the sand, but wasn't overly thrilled with the water. I brought her down to the water's edge. We stood where the water came up to her ankles and squeezed my arm every time the water got close. Then after about 3 waves, she started wanting up. I say it was a good introduction. Pool is getting warm and we are planning to get T in the pool this weekend if not earlier. Stay tuned for pool pics.

Hunter and Kagan fighting the waves.

 

Thanks for these last two pictures Janine.