Just under a month from her 2nd birthday, Megan decided to start using the word, "no."  Of course, prior to this momentous occasion, she had many different ways of telling us she didn't want something.  It could be anything from shaking her head to throwing a mini-tantrum (or the full-blown thing).  But, just this past weekend, she started saying, "no." 

And, she really seemed to enjoy this wonderful word.  We asked her questions like, "do you want something to eat?"  Megan: "No."   "Is this your da-da?"  Megan: "No".  "Are you a cute girl?"  Megan: "No."  It seemed she was so fascinated by this new method of communicating disagreement that she would use it for pretty much everything.

Now, I must report that she hasn't given up her other methods of expressing disagreement.  She still will cry, whine, or even throw something if she doesn't like what is going on.  But, it seems that the word, "no" has now entered permanently into her vocabulary.

Lest you get the wrong idea, let me set the record straight... Megan is a wonderful child and all-in-all, is fairly easy on her parents.  So, let me dwell on some really cute moments. 

Just recently, Megan had difficulty sleeping a number of nights.  So, we decided to switch back to me putting Megan to bed.  I used to do that all the time, but then we started giving her a choice - and it would usually be ma-ma.  However, for some reason, she tends to go down more calmly when I put her to bed.  We figured perhaps that might help - plus I kind of missed doing that.

I decided to go back to my old routine.  I let her turn off the lights, then she goes into her bed.  I then pray with her.  But, this time, she tells me, "do it," which means she wants to do it.  (I know... It's amazing how I figured out that, "do it" means she wants to do it - I'm very perceptive.)  So, I tell her to go ahead.  I hold her hand, and she says, "Dear Jesus," then just kind of mumbles a bunch of stuff.  Then, after a while of doing that, she says in her own way, "A-men."  (Actually sounds more like, "A-meeeean," but very cute.)  Is that cute or what?  I then sing Jesus Loves Me three times or so, with her usually singing parts of it.  Then, I kiss her good night - and that's pretty much it.  She usually plays around in her bed a while before going to sleep, but no more crying just after we put her to bed.

Ok - that was really long.  But, I haven't posted in a long time. :-)  I could tell a lot more stories about how much she's changing and growing, but given anyone who is still reading this post deserves some sort of medal for getting this far, I'll stop for now. 

It's amazing how fast time flies by!  Although we have been posting some pictures, we haven't actually posted an update since March.  Megan continues to do very well and is changing a lot.

Megan is a very sweet and social girl.  She loves to hold hands, greet people as we're walking around outside, etc.  We've probably met more people in the seven months we've had Megan than we have in the last two years! :-)  She generally sleeps through the night and eats well.  She's speaking more and more words, which is very fun.

Now, before you think, "wow - what an absolutely perfect child!" let me assure you that she does exhibit plenty of signs of the sinful nature! :-)  She has a bit of a temper.  For example, if she doesn't want something or is growing tired at dinner time, she'll start throwing things on the floor.  Or, if some toy frustrates her, she'll chuck it across the room. She's also been known to throw some temper tantrums. 

All normal kid stuff, from my perspective, which is why our role in providing a consistent, stable, God-centered family environment is so vital and important.  Even at this young age when most anything she does seems cute and funny, she needs to be trained and guided in the way she should go!  As all of you parents know, that isn't always easy to do.

Anyway, both Carolyn and I experience a lot of joy in being Megan's parents.  We also enjoy having a lot of family who live close by.  For part of the summer, we have my dad here, so she's spending some quality time with Grandpa!

Thank you for your love and prayers!

We just got home from a week-long trip to North Dakota, where we spent some time with my sister and her husband.  Way back when we planned this trip, I somehow had it in my mind that this trip would be a piece of cake.  We flew Megan all the way from China, so flying within the US should be way easier, right?

Well, as we got closer to departing, I soon realized that this would be nothing like the flights from China.  Megan is a completely different girl than she was when we brought her home from China.  She's walking, very active, chattering, curious about everything, wants to get her way all the time - basically the normal toddler ingredients!

And, as I suspected, the flights were very interesting.  She did not like being contained at all.  It would have helped if we had bought a seat for her, but we figured we'd take advantage of her ability to fly free until she is two.  We may be re-evaluating that for our next trip! :-)

All-in-all, she actually did quite well compared to some kids I've observed on planes.  But, it was a little difficult for her to adjust to the major change in her routine and the confinement of an airplane.

Okay - enough about flying!  We had a great time in North Dakota.  It was a blessing for Megan to get to know her Aunt Jenny and Uncle Andrew.  And, she'll get to see them again this summer when they come out to California!

We're now back home and getting adjusted to "normal" life.  Although Megan had some trouble sleeping our first night home, she seems to be doing well today and we're hoping she'll get a good rest tonight.

We've been home about 4 months now.  In some ways, the time has flown by and it doesn't seem like it's been that long.  In other ways, it feels like this is the way life has always been.  Having a child brought many adjustments and changes to our daily lives, but I wouldn't change a thing!

While we feel comfortable as parents and Megan seems to be attaching well to us, the formal process is still not finished!  The next step involves a social worker visiting us to do the 6 month follow-up.  That will happen in May and Carolyn is working on getting that scheduled.  I believe there are some other things that happen in the future, but I can't remember for sure.

Anyway, Megan is doing very well and has recovered from that virus she had.  Amazingly, we didn't catch the illness from her; it was a blessing to be healthy while we were taking care of sick Megan! 

Next week, we take a little vacation trip to visit my sister and her husband.  This will be their first opportunity to meet Megan.  I'm not sure I'm excited about taking Megan on a plane again, particularly now that she wants to be mobile virtually anytime she's awake.  But, we've put together quite an array of interesting things that will hopefully keep her occupied (and keep us sane)! :-)  I'll let you know how it goes.

It's amazing timing... I had just emailed my dad, telling him how it's been amazing that Megan has not gotten sick the whole time we've been back home from China.  I knew that wouldn't last forever - I just didn't expect it to happen so soon after pressing the Send button on that email message!

Megan was acting a little more tired than usual and not eating as much as normal.  This evening, the poor girl lost the food she did eat at dinner time in our living room!  Poor thing.  Carolyn took her up to clean her while I had fun cleaning up the living room.  (I won't mention the really stupid thing I did while cleaning up the mess... I'm just not ready to share it given how utterly lame it was... I guess more time needs to pass before I remember it as funny!) 

Anyway, poor Megan has a little fever, almost 100.  Not too bad, thankfully.  And, so far, she's sleeping well which is good.

Other than this little illness, Megan is doing great and continues to thrive.  I'm enjoying my Fridays with her.  This last Friday, I took her to a park in the morning to play on the playground.  Megan had fun going down the slides and she also interacted some with other kids that showed up.  She had a great day, but was very happy to see her mommy come home! :-)

Thank you for your love and prayers.

We're now putting our most recent photos on a Google Picasa site.  Please click here to see them! 

We continue to have a lot of fun with Megan.  Most every Friday, I get the opportunity of being the at-home parent.  So, I get to do the full daily routine.  It's on these days that I can see how rapidly she is changing and growing.  Sometimes, I'll see something new and find out from Carolyn that she's been doing that thing for a while! 

Last Friday, our church offered free childcare to families to allow parents to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Megan has been doing great in the childcare on Sunday mornings - we figured we'd give it a try.  She seemed to do fine and we had fun, realizing that this was the first time since we got back that we did anything with just the two of us.

That night, Megan woke up at about 11pm, which isn't too unusual.  After Carolyn went in there, she started screaming.  Carolyn picked her up and she was fine, but started screaming again when she put her back in bed.  After a little while of this, I came in to give it a try.  I decided to try humming, "Jesus Loves Me," which is part of my normal bedtime routine with her.  (She now starts to hum it when she knows we're about to put her to bed - very cute.)

That seemed to work - she calmed down and then pretty much slept through the night.  But, we started wondering whether that childcare thing had some sort of impact on her or caused a nightmare.  On the other hand, she may have not been feeling well (she did have some gas after calming down, so may have been having gas pains).  The difficult thing is that she can't just tell us what is wrong!

The next day, she was her normal self and went to bed without any trouble.  So, while we need to continue to be sensitive to attachment, we also need to be careful not to overreact.  Too bad there is no user's manual with children! :-)

Anyway, we feel blessed and are thankful to God, even during the times that are confusing or difficult.  Thank you for your part in our lives.