ONE YEAR AS A FAMILY OF FIVE!!!

WOOHOO!!! It's been ONE WHOLE YEAR since the very day that Tiny was placed in our arms. I simply can't believe its been a year. Its SOOOOOO FAST!

So fast in fact, that I even missed my January update!!! January was a super crazy month... I'm so glad its over!!! Quick recap - went back to work, kids still on school holidays, my parents came to stay, we packed to move house, Tiny kept climbing out of her cot at night, so we put her in a bed... which didn't go so well, so she's in the portacot now! We moved house, our house started construction (just across the road, from the rental we're in!), we kept our previous house and will rent to international students (so been organising that too!), had loads of issues getting our shed (barn) delivered, and loads of work issues too!!! S0 we move into February, and I've started toilet training Tiny! Its going very well. I've just gone straight to knickers, I think those pull up nappy things are just TOOOO expensive!!! We've been going four days now, she has fewer accidents each day, but there's always more success than accidents anyway! HOORAY!

So, its been a year. I sat down last night, and went though the photos from China... it's just SO evident that our tiny daughter was so scared. She was so QUIET in China!!! She is definitely NOT quiet anymore!!! You've never heard a child scream, like Tiny screams!!! Its rarely because she's upset, its because she's excited, or simply wants to be heard!!! But good grief!!! The volume is amazing!!!

Ahhh... the photos.... I was tearing up in moments! Our bald little bubby!!! I remember all the emotion of Tiny Time. Yet on the day, I was so bewildered, I didn't cry at all!!! I just couldn't believe the day had final come... that this tiny girl in front of me, WAS MY DAUGHTER!!! It suddenly dawned on me, she is real. She's not a dream, not a story figment of my imagination!!! And there she was - in the flesh. We'd be taking her home. We really ARE a family of five!!!

She is now a full blown toddler. Can pitch a fit with the best of them! Has become the fussiest eater on the planet... but can see the golden arches a kilometre away - and screams "Chippy". She's still quite reserved in groups of people. Still doesn't really like men (unless she's around them regularly - my Dad is beside himself - she'll finally sit with him, give him a kiss and let him hold her - only because they've been living here for almost 2 months!). She LOVES D0ra. I bought some NiHao KaiLan DVDs and she's pretty chooffed with her as well! She loves music and loves to dance. Clothes still don't fit her properly - I have to pin all her waistbands! She's moved up into Size 1, although, all her summer dresses are still 6-12 months! She's gone up one shoe size, in the last year, and is now wearing size 5... sort of! They're all too wide, but she copes! Knickers are a nightmare, they're all WAY too baggy. She pee'd once, and the knickers were still dry... the leg holes are so big, they don't even touch her leg, so the pee ran down her leg, completely missing the knickers! I think HMan is the favoured sibling at present... she screams his name, when he comes home from school! She does love Miss M, but I think Miss M is a like a little Mummy, and bosses her around more than she plays!!! Tiny isn't very happy when I go to work. She knows the days I'm going, by what I'm wearing!!! As soon as I come out of my bedroom, she starts whining!! She is a sugar freak! She loves to brush her teeth (good, due to the previous character flaw). Being on the farm, she has discovered a real love for Chewy dog. She follows him around everywhere. She tries to ride him (he's a terrier!) She mimicks us, if we yell at Chewy... in her tiny unauthorative voice! She loves being outside. She LOVES the shower and the bath.... and swimming pools... it'd be safe to say, she just loves any form of water! Every 5 minutes she's trying to get her gear off! She also loves to be naked! She loves her batch mates - and can repeat all their names. We see them most Monday's at Playgroup. Its so good to see them so often! She really cries now, if she hurts herself - in the early days, she'd look like she was biting her lip, in an effort not to cry. She had her last vaccinations yesterday (hooray!) and MAN! did she cry! Poor baby was NOT too happy at all. She had a few months there, when she had very disrupted sleep - but seems to have settled back down, and is sleeping up to 3 hrs during the day and a good 11-12 hrs at night (most night's she has a little whinge around 1am, but settles very quickly).

All in all. We are ever so blessed to have this tiny livewire in our family. We are in awe.

Here's my celebratory layout.

I was going to upload a heap of photos... but realised I didn't compres them! Will do it in a few days!