Happy Birthday, Maya!

Maya turns two tomorrow. Yayyyy!!! I can't believe she will be two already and yet at other times I can't believe that she is only two by the number of things that she can do and knows. I keep thinking back to nieces and nephews and to children who I used to babysit, wondering if they did these things and knew these things when they were only two years old? We were told by two different Chinese men that she will be smart because of the province that she is from in China - Jiangxi, and from what we have seen, I think they are correct. Maya watches EVERYTHING that I do and I will see her trying to imitate my actions at later times - she was even wiping the counter while we were baking and tried to sweep the crumbs into her hand with the dishcloth. Tooooo cute! We are off to Better Beginnings tomorrow at Taylor School and were busy making cupcakes today to take for snack - I'm sure there will also be a helathy snack provided by the facilitator. The big party day is on Saturday at one of our hotels - the only one with a pool and waterslide (which will hopefully be fixed by the weekend as there are three pool birthday parties the same afternoon as Maya's). We have invited family and friends for the big event. It should be tons of fun! I'll post some pictures later on after everything is over. It feels like Christmas all over again...I can't wait until morning!

Home from "Cool" Cuba

We arrived home from Cuba last Sunday morning. I say "Cool" Cuba because it was +13 degrees Celcius, misty and windy when we arrived on the Carribean Island. This lasted for three days!!! We sure were glad to have Maya's winter jacket, toque and mitts with us, (it took me a day to realize we had her jacket - she had it on when we went from the Airpark in a van to the airport. We had her in layers of as many long-sleeved shirts and lighter jackets as we could fit on her. Our resort was great - Sirenis la Salina, Varadero. It was a large resort and quite spread out, which we liked because then we were able to walk off the meals, Pina Coladas and Rum Punch (and Cerveza, of course!) Aside from the booze, having it be a large resort meant more choices for eating, snacking, swimming and just hangin' out. Our block of rooms was fairly close to the beach which was handy for the end of the week when we finally made it to the beach. Only one day was spent at the pool because the water in the ocean was warmer than that in the pool. They heated the activity pool a little, but the beautiful 'quiet pool' was unheated and FREEZING! Maya didn't mind wading in a little ways, but Les and I took turns - and took turns to get some circulation back into our legs. I'm serious! And of course, Maya came out to warm up every once in awhile, as well. Because of this, there was no one in this beautiful, gigantic pool. Usually the weather is much, much warmer in Cuba and the heat from the sun would help to warm the pool, but after several days of cool, cloudy days, that just didn't happen.

On one of the cool days at the beginning of the week Les and I took the tour to Havana, with stops along the way for Pina Coladas - which were the best! Mom and Dad kept Maya with them and had a blast back at the resort. Later in the week Les, Maya and I went on a Jeep Safari Adventure which was loads of fun! Maya, our little Chinita, was in her glory for the whole trip to Cuba. Everyone adored her and she loved it! She made friends with every other little person who we saw. She still comes out with, "Hola" every once in a while. She even got to perform with the band in the dining room one evening. By the end of the week, the weather was much, much nicer and we were glad to finally be able to relax on the beach. The beach and water were beautiful and Maya enjoyed having the waves tickle her toes, but only a little bit. She preferred playing in the sand.

We returned home to close to 0 degrees Celcius temperatures which was very odd for the middle of January. We weren't complaining as it made travelling home that much more pleasant.

In the fall we were privileged to have an article about our Journey with Maya featured in our Adoption Agency newsletter. I was just interviewed this afternoon over the phone for an article on being a Multicultural Family for a free local magazine titled "Westman Parent". Wow, what an honour! You can view earlier editions on-line at http://www.westmanparent.com/. This edition goes to print on Monday, should be out in the Westman area by mid-week and will hopefully be on-line for viewing by Friday. Thank you so much Jolene and Shawn! I cannot wait to read it!

Cheers!

Lori

Cuba Here We Come!

We head out to go to my parents' place tomorrow, for the night, then it's off to Winnipeg to catch the plane to Cuba on Saturday. I hope the weather cooperates and we get some nice beach and pool weather. Two days to go!

So This Is Christmas!

The BIG Day!

My New Kitchen

Keyboard from Grandma and Grandpa

Isn't This For Me? (Maya also thought she would try out the stroller and the high chair after this - didn't happen!)

Ladybug Pillow from Aunty Wendy

Papa and Maya

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Shirley with Maya

p.s. Seven days until Cuba!!!