ZHU NI SHENG RI KUAI LE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
March 7, 2006: Two days ago on March 5th, we celebrated Eleanor's First Birthday! It was quite a day! The celebrations started earlier in the week when we gave her a peach which symbolizes long-life in Chinese tradition - typically you would have sou bou which is a bun shaped like a peach and filled with red bean paste, but we actually had good peaches at the store! As you will see from the picture, the peach was a hit (and a mess). Then on Saturday, Eleanor and I made longevity noodles which is another Chinese birthday tradition. The noodles are VERY long and you are not supposed to break them when you eat them. Rich, Eleanor and I had them for lunch on Sunday and again, good, but messy!
Eleanor's actual birthday started bright and early -- at 1:00 am to be precise. Yes, our daughter who sleeps from about 6 pm to 6 am like clockwork decided that 1:00 am was as good as time as any to try and stand up in her crib. Which is a fabulous idea if you know how to sit down --which she doesn't. Hence, the crying which woke me up and then she could not get back to sleep until about 3:00 am! Oh well. Must have been the excitement of the big day!
In the afternoon, we had Rich's family and some of our friends over for cupcakes and ice cream! As you will see from the pictures, we continued on our theme of, yes, good, but messy! REAL messy in this case. However, suffice to say that Eleanor had a great time and seemed to enjoy every minute of it!
There were two additional Chinese birthday traditions that we included in Eleanor's big day -- the first is actually a tradition that is typically celebrated at the 30-day "birthday" and that is the giving of dyed red eggs -- an even number for a girl, an odd number for a boy. Then we played a game in which you put out various items that represent different professions: a tool, a stethoscope, a coin, sewing, a book, jewelry, and a pen and then you let the child choose one and that is supposed to be an indicator of the child's future career. After great deliberation (okay so it was 2 seconds), Eleanor chose the coin! Perhaps a career in high finance? I'll have to see how see reacts to a picture of Donald Trump.
Eleanor continues to do well, including gaining 4 pounds in one month! Okay, yes, Rich and I think we may have been feeding her a bit too much -- but she is an eating machine! Don't believe me? We went out to lunch with a friend and here is what Eleanor ate: two small ramekins of oyster crackers, a grilled cheese sandwich (yes, the WHOLE thing), and a serving of applesauce (known as applecrack in our house for its apparent addictive qualities). All of this and no apparent discomfort! In fact, quite the opposite! I guess we have no hope of saving for college because clearly our food bill will prevent that!
Still, the people who have seen her over the last couple of months tell us that she really is a changed little girl. That is hard for me to see, but makes me feel good. Eleanor continues to be a happy, funny girl, but she is not as quick to turn on the charm for strangers as she once was -- we think that is a sign that she is attaching to us and understands that she does not have to do that to survive anymore. Or perhaps, she had gas before -- who knows!
She has started to do a combat crawl across our floor -- think baby 'Nam. This was in large part due to a visit from her Ayi Janice who worked hard to instigate crawling by training us to not get everything for Eleanor so that Eleanor sit in one place while we retrieved for her! Apparently it worked! I think the hard wood floors present a bit of a challenge, but she has started to get up on hands and knees though her real Holy Grail is to stand by herself. We are at the point that her toys are gathering dust because the only game in town is to hold onto us and pull herself up (and after the 1 am wake-up call, to learn to sit down). This is definitely a kid who wants to get walking!
She also remains very inquisitive and curious about everything -- when we walk outside, her head is whipping from side to side to see all that there is to see. Of course, several friends told me that with girls you really don't have to babyproof as much because they do not get into as many things. The first day she could "crawl" Eleanor went for two things: the outlet and a lamp cord. Clearly Eleanor did not get the memo that went to the rest of the babygirl population!
So all in all, we are settling in to being a family and in to being parents though we have had our bumps along the road! During the week of her birthday I thought a lot about her birthparents and what they thought and felt. It was strange to feel that on her birthday, we were in some way connected to people we do not know and who live half a world away. And while I will not ever pretend that I know how they feel or what they felt when they left Eleanor to be found, I AM left with one simple truth: they must be incredible people to have created such an amazing little girl. And for that,we will always be thankful.
|
