Weekend In Ocean City New Jersey

This week the three of us went back to my old stopping grounds in South Jersey. We spent the weekend on a hotel on the board walk. Right outside were the dark green waves of the Atlantic gently rolling across the sandy shell ridden beach. The smell of funnel cake and pop corn gently wafted across the air with the shrill sounds of 50,000 children begging their parents for a quarter for the arcade. Brings back memories. Leia had a great time playing in the surf. The sand itself was a minor barrier for her. She felt safest on our lap while she let the sand pour through her little hands.

While playing feed Dada sand I accidentally bit one of her fingers. Not hard enough to bleed or leave a mark but enough for her to bawl up with the most mournful cry a parent could ever hear. I quickly whisked her away into the ocean where she quickly forgot the sharp bite and began laughing as we jumped the breakers.

We also visited with the other half of my family. They were thrilled to see her. We all shared in a BBQ. My brother and grown up sister was there. Boy time sure flies when you are away.

Pictures are attached for all to see.

Grammy makes a visit.

Grandma Handal stopped by to play with Leia today. Leia had a great time. It looks like she also is fond of hand bags.

Leia Conquers Walking and Fescue

Leia has been walking around much more recently. She toddles throughout the house showing more balance and determination each time.

I am home now on a permanent basis. I still go into work on retainer once a week to help tie up loose ends. I love being home with Leia. There is a lot of one on one interaction between us and I think it has helped her develop so much during the last few months. Above are some videos and pictures.

Leia in West Virginia

We have been in WV for the last few days. Leia has been visiting all of her family here and a few farm yard friends. Pictures above.

Summer Fun

Just some pictures from 4th of July and of the family goofing off around the house.

Fun with Leia.

Over the last few weeks we have seen Leia grow and become more comfortable with her new family. She seems very attached to Nina and I and I cannot help but feel so attached to her. Every day she shows me something new about herself. Gratefully she loves our attention.

My favorite time with her during the day is play time and nap time. When we play we are together on the carpet chasing each other around the house. We play sort of a hide and go seek tag game. She will crawl a way from me for a few feet and then look back with a devilish smile. I will stare at her for a few seconds still as rock. Then quickly I bounce up and crawl after her. This sends Leia into a fit of laughter as I chase her around the table on all fours. Other times I will hide behind an object like her crib and just peer at her with my eyes before disappearing behind the corner. She will quickly giggle and begin to follow me. Sometimes she will see through my plan and do a U-turn to cut me off at the pass. What fun!!!

Nap time is great because we just sit in the rocking chair while she lies on my stomach. I will sing to her the Intsy Wintsy spider song and an old Scottish ballad. As she drifts off to sleep I will hum the tune and then slowly stop. Either I will fall asleep with her or I will plop her into the crib.

Lately we have been going to the pool. She is a real water baby. I cannot wait until she learns how to swim and we can do some snorkeling.

Below are some videos from today's event.

Jesse

One small step for Leia.......

Leia is doing very well. We came back from Richmond yesterday after seeing the doctor who is also a specialist in international adoption. She gave us an evaluation on her health and a second specialist evaluated Leia in relation to none-adopted babies. Physically she is doing fairly well. She is slightly underweight so the doctor recommended we put more food into her belly. And we thought we were stuffing her already. Remember when Garfield would eat so much lasagna his feet could not touch the ground. Leia almost seems to have the same type of belly. She could out compete your typical NFL watching couch potato in belly size.


Milestones wise she is close behind what would be considered normal. Our doctor commented that she seems very well attached to both of us. I guess all of that time rolling around with her on the floor paid off. She is a very physical baby and shows a lot of spunk. I hope she wants to do Ju-Jitsu like her dad because she will be a terror on the mat. She still says Da-Da a lot. Da-Da is me one minute or the remote control the next followed by a cucumber sitting on my plate. Eventually she will learn that I am much more cuddly then a vegetable.


Tomorrow Nina and I plan on taking a big trip out to the farmers market to buy some vegetables and fruit. It is hard to by organic food around here so hopefully the farmers market will have a better selection.


We hope to unveil Leia to the general public on Fourth of July. We think she is ready to see more of her family and in slightly larger numbers. Until then. Below is a video of Leia's first attempts at walking. We hope she leaping over horse jumps by the end of June. We will keep our fingers crossed.