Six Spectacular Months

Here are a few pictures of Sylvie taken during the last month. Our baby is growing up so fast!

Playing around...


Getting my first hair cut at Beaners. My bangs were too long!


Riding the hippo after my hair cut. This place is pretty cool!


My new fire fighter hat!


Sylvie loves going to gymnastics with her Daddy, but this is what happens on the drive home!


I love doing somersaults!

Present from Manitoba!

The other day a package arrived for Sylvie on the greyhound. It was a present from Grandpa Irwin and Great Auntie Kay. Grandpa Irwin made Sylvie a little bed for her stuffies (he's a great wood worker). Great Auntie Kay made little sheets, a quilt, pillow, and mini crocheted blanket for the bunny also found in the package (she's a good sewer). As you can see, Sylvie loved the bed, bunny and bedding! Thanks so much Grandpa and Great Auntie!

Bed and bedding made with love...


Loving my bunny stuffie


Wait a second, that bed looks comfy...


Ahhh....that's better!




What else can I do with this bed??? Hmmmm....



What? Beds aren't for standing on?

Post Placement Report - Check!

On Halloween morning we had our Social Worker come over for our first post placement meeting. China requires that two reports are completed after arriving home from China, one at six months and the following at twelve months. In order for the documents to be translated and sent to China for the six month date, our meeting actually took place a little over five months home. Our meeting went very well, although I have to admit I am always nervous leading up to these meetings.

We stated off by talking about Sylvie's physical development, she has grown 8 cm and gained 6 pounds during the past six months. We talked about her physical development (fine/gross motor skills) where she is doing well, and also her emotional development.

We discussed how we are practicing attachment style parenting (only parents hold Sylvie, feed her) and how we feel this is helping us develop a strong base for building trust between Sylvie and us. We also discussed how we "the first time parents" are doing with the adjustment of having a family. When we reflect back on the last few months, we can see how much better we're doing with just learning to relax and sit back and enjoy each other. In the beginning, every time Sylvie sneezed or had a tumble we would be very concerned. Now we know kids do get colds and owwies happen. Luckily our family doctor is very kind and supportive whenever I call or go in, and reassures us (or rather me) that everything is fine.

We look forward to the next time we sit down with our Social Worker to complete the final post placement report. That will be the last paperwork required for Sylvie's adoption from China. We are hoping to still send pictures of Sylvie as she grows to her orphanage for the Director and nannies to see.

Since this meeting took place on Halloween, I thought I would put a couple of pictures of her dressed up in her Tigger costume. We went to our music/art playgroup and had fun singing and decorating cookies with our little friends.





Here is a short video with Sylvie playing with her rhythm sticks while the kids and music teacher are singing about her costume. I was so happy to see that she was watching the other kids and following their actions, she is no longer throwing the sticks - yahoo!

A Perfect Fall Day

Well today was a perfect day. The weather was warm (12 degrees Celsius) and sunny. We started the day off by sleeping in and having Sunday breakfast together. Then we headed outside to tackle some yard work. Now that Sylvie is almost 20 months old, it is so much easier for her to be outside in the yard with us. While we raked leaves and mowed the lawn, Sylvie entertained herself in her playhouse and on the slides. All the fresh air and work playing in the leaves helped her to have an early nap.




Once Sylvie woke up from her nap we headed into town to a BC Adoptive Families event to celebrate our families (November is Adoption month) at McMillan Farms. We met up with some friends that we see often, and others we haven't seen for a while.

Sylvie loved the tractor ride and going through the hay maze. She also enjoyed playing in the corn pit, which was like a sand pit with buckets and shovels, but filled instead with kernels of corn. I thought that was pretty cool - not to mention cleaner, way better than sand (little chance of a kitty passing by and using it as a bathroom).







After spending the afternoon basking in the sun, we stopped off to have some dinner together and did a little grocery shopping. While the day in itself was pretty low key, it was a wonderful day. Everything went smoothly and we were relaxed the whole day through. It just feels like we are in a good place, and we have lots to be thankful for.

Five Fantastic Months

We have now been togther as a family for five months. To celebrate the three of us went out for Chinese food for dinner. One of our fortunes from the cookies tonight seemed to be particularily well suited for us. We agree, our good fortune IS clearly evident!



It has been another busy month at the Drinkwater house. We are all doing very well, and luckily no one has caught a cold or the flu. Fingers crossed that we all stay healthy this winter.

At the beginning of the month we celebrated the Mid Autumn Moon Festival. This is one of the two main holidays celebrated in Chinese culture. Traditionally, family members travel to celebrate together, eat moon cakes, and gaze at the full moon. So we invited some good friends the Rowans over, and my niece who is attending university in Kelowna. We ordered in Chinese food, ate "moon cake" and went outside to gaze at the moon. We also took the opportunity to take out the Chinese dresses we bought in Beijing for the girls to wear. Don't the girls look super cute?





We decided to make our own version of a moon cake, as many people do not care for the traditional version. Thanks to our friends for making and bringing the cake, it was yummy!



Sylvie is now almost 20 months old. We went to get Sylvie's next set of immunizations, now she is caught up until Kindergarten. We are very grateful we live in a country that provides immunizations for all children. Here she is getting a kiss from Mama to make her owwies it all better.



While there, the health nurse weighed and measured Sylvie. She is now just under 24 pounds and is 80cm tall. She is now wearing mostly 18 month old clothes. She is still wearing 12 month jeans and pants because she has such a tiny waist, but is getting too tall for them. We might have to go find some pants with the adjustable waistband.

Attachment is also continuing to go well. I am always amazed how I think Sylvie is attached, and then another few weeks go by and I realize how much deeper her attachment to us has grown. Sylvie has now decided that her Dada is the best. I have been telling her this for months. He has much more patience than I do, and he is much better at play wrestling and tickling. Thankfully Sylvie agrees now too. Sylvie is doing well giving kisses and hugs now, and is able to sit in our laps and snuggle now for short periods of time as well.




Swimming lessons have finally finished. While Sylvie loved swimming, two times a week was a little much. I would not have believed that it takes as much time to get changed after swimming as it does to have the swimming lesson. And I only have myself and one child to dry off and put dry clothes onto. I am in awe of mothers with more than one child in the change room. Sylvie is now a pro at kicking her feet and blowing bubbles in the water. She loves the water slide at the pool and going in the hot tub. Thanks to Michelle for stopping by the pool to take pictures for us!



However, Sylvie loved the lockers just as much as the pool itself. Hopefully this will not happen to her when she goes to high school in a few years!



We have also started a morning music/art program offered in the community. There is an awesome music teacher who has the children sing and play with instruments and scarves during the songs. I am impressed how she always alternatives between having the children sitting, and up and moving for the songs. Afterwards there is a art project the kids work on, usually seasonally related.



Sylvie is doing well with her speech. She can point to many of her body parts now, after much practice and is working on identifying items in books and on flash cards. She is mostly copying our words, rather than talking independently - although she still uses Dada, Mama, more, up, down, kitty, puppy, hi, bye bye on her own. We were most impressed the other night when we were playing in the living room and I asked Sylvie to go find her pink boots and take them to Dada. Sylvie went to her room, found her boots, and brought them to Cory to help her put them on. Pretty awesome, a two step direction and she was able to follow it (and not get side tracked on the way). I have included a short video of her pointing to her body parts.

Four Months Together!

Here is the 411 on what’s been happening...

It has been a busy month at the Drinkwater house. At the beginning of September Sylvie reached her 18 month birthday. She is busy climbing up onto the coffee table and is attempting the couch. While she is doing reasonably well climbing up onto things, climbing down remains a challenge. She now eats most of her food with a fork (much less messy than a spoon), but now wants to eat everything with a fork – even food that doesn’t stab so well (i.e. crackers).

Cory has been taking Sylvie to gymnastics on Saturday mornings while I have been taking another course to complete my Master’s degree (my course is usually two Saturdays a month). The gymnastics class is for kids 18-36 months old, but most of the kids are pretty close in age to Sylvie. Her favorite activities there include handstands on the wall, jumping into the foam pit, and being bounced on the trampoline. Luckily there are more fathers than mothers accompanying their little tykes so Daddy enjoys the time too. Sylvie has also started swimming lessons with Mama two times during the week. We are a busy household going to visit friends, playing at the park, gymnastics, swimming, and getting all the work around the house and yard completed.

Now that we have been together for four months, Cory and I are amazed at some of the changes and growth in Sylvie during this time. I was putting away the lawn mower this afternoon and Sylvie came down the steps and walked across the grass in her bare feet towards me. This is huge; when we first came home Sylvie hated the grass - big time. Even with her shoes on and sitting on a blanket she was uncomfortable and would fret. Now we can play outside in the backyard (bare foot no less) or in the park.

Sylvie is continuing to expand her vocabulary. She has added down, bye-bye and more to her words. She has also mastered all the requisite animal sounds (Thank you Sandra Boynton books). You can ask her “What sound does a _____ make”. She has puppy, cat, cow, duck and sheep down pat. Her favorite used to be meowing (mostly at the kitties), but she now loves to go “ruff, ruff, ruff” and luckily we have many dogs in the neighborhood for her to call to when we are out for our walks. While Sylvie likes to call to the dogs, she is still a bit hesitant around them and prefers when they are in a kennel or behind a fence to pet them.

Sylvie is also continuing to pick up more on directions. If I say to her “Time to change diaper” she now walks to her room to get changed. I can then tell her to “Lie down” and she does – as long as nothing interesting catches her eye on the way ;) We can also ask her to stand up, sit down, pick up, and put down with her understanding us. Since she comprehends pick up and put away she has been helping to clean up her toys at the end of the day and put her laundry into the basket. We usually cheer her on, clap and give high fives when she completes these tasks. She is definitely motivated by positive reinforcement, often when she is playing if she puts a toy in a basket she cheers and claps for herself!

As for attachment…
This month has been much better for Daddy. If you remember from last month, Sylvie was not very happy when Daddy tried to do things with/for her – particularly when Mama was in the room. We started having Daddy doing of the bedtime routine (bath, teeth, books, bottle, bed) most nights without Mama in eye or ear shot. While it was hard in the beginning, lots of tears, it quickly just became Daddy - Daughter time with Sylvie giggling in the tub. While we still feel it was important in the first weeks to do everything together as a couple with Sylvie, when Cory went back to work, it was hard on Sylvie when Daddy came home at the end of the day and wanted to do everything with Mama and Sylvie.

Sylvie has begun giving kisses and hugs independently now, as well as when we ask for them. She also blows kisses to us when we come into the house or are leaving. Sylvie really likes blowing kisses, and usually blows them to anyone. While we worry on one hand about teaching her about whom to show affection for and appropriate actions (often children with attachment challenges have difficulties with boundaries/indiscriminate affection), we also realize she is also a toddler who has learned a new behavior that gets her attention and as such she will probably do this quite a bit. We are however, trying to show her how that hugs and kisses are for Mamas and Daddies (and any hopefully future siblings). It will continue to be a balancing act remembering that she is a child who spent 14 months in an institution, but still a toddler as well. For all you BTDT adoptive parents reading this, any advice?

So for those of you who ask “Can I hold her yet?” the answer is still “No” and we are not sure when that answer will change. Some Adoption and Attachment professionals suggest as a guideline ½ the time in her new home vs. her time in her previous one. So for Sylvie, since she spent 14.5 months in her first home, then that might equate to about 7 or 8 months. Other professionals recommend at a minimum the same amount of time in the new home as the old. When talking with other adoptive families who now have older children, they always say the same thing “do it longer than you think you need to”.

Since we are asking others not to pick up Sylvie, what can you do instead? We are encouraging high fives and hand holding – which can be really difficult for some as she is really cute and persistent when saying “Up”. We know that some people do not understand why we are making this choice to use attachment style parenting, or think that enough is enough already. We know we are not harming Sylvie by practicing attachment parenting and are hoping that these choices are preventing/limiting Reactive Attachment Disorder or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that some children develop due to their experiences in orphanages.

And here are a few pictures of the over 300 we took this past month. Thank goodness for digital cameras!

Uh oh! Can you see what I dragged behind me?


Gymnastics with Daddy & Sylvie


Cuddle Time


Sylvie & Mama at Davidson Orchards


On the horsey swing at Davidson Orchards


Dancing in my car seat to my favorite song "Evacuate the Dance Floor" by Cascada


I love climbing stairs!

Three months...

Fun at the water park!

She still loves the water

Blowing bubbles with Dada at the BC Adoptive Families Association Picnic in Kelowna

Peek a boo!

The Before Picture "Just about to get my 4 shots!" Sorry, no after picture, Mama was too upset!

Camping at Lac Le Jeune with friends

Climbing is my new favorite activity


Three months home…
This week marks three months we have been together as a family. We can’t believe all the changes that have taken place over these few months. We feel so lucky that we were allowed to raise this child, we feel she was meant to be part of our family. Her smiles and giggles are contagious to all those around her.

We are amazed at Sylvie’s deepening level of trust in us as her parents. We have only been part of her life for such a short time, but she now relaxes into our arms and seeks us for comfort. She smiles and giggles when we come into her room in the morning excited to see us. She comes to give us hugs, kisses and cuddles. Since mama is home all day with Sylvie, she has developed a preference for mama doing many things for her over dada. While this is hard for mama (sometimes I really need a short break) and dada (he really wants to bond with her) we know this is par for the course in attachment (start with one person and build outward). We have responded with dada being the one to give her a bath at night and read storied to her, he is also and giving her favorite foods of the moment, which right now is cheese(cheddar, edam, gouda, feta, parmesan, cottage any kind).

This month has been a good month for Sylvie with health check up’s. She has continued to grow, she added 4 cm to her height in six weeks, and has also added a little weight to her bones. Mama would like her to gain a bit more, but not sure how that will happen since she is already eating like a horse. Maybe she just has really good metabolism. We also heard back on her EKG, and it seems that her heart murmur has corrected itself, and no treatment will be required - yey! Sylvie also had her hearing assessed and it was determined she hears well, so hopefully her English language development will continue to grow and expand.

She has really shown an interest lately in climbing things and standing on anything to give her a new height perspective. She is stepping on her toys and pulling pillows down to climb on top of. We went to an indoor play center and she loved climbing the padded apparatus and sliding down. Mama was ok with this since everything was covered in mats, so she wouldn’t hurt herself if she fell.

Sylvie has been chattering up a storm this last month, she babbles throughout the day and has discovered how to shriek (she can hit amazing supersonic high pitch levels). She can say Mama, Dada, hi kitty, nana (for banana), ball, book, and up. She meows at the kitties when they do and they are the first thing she looks for every morning. She has been trying to imitate the words we say, sometimes we can hear her clearly, and other times we can tell she is copying the number of syllables. She tries to say bottle, uh oh, diaper, gentle, cracker when we prompt her.

Her receptive language is also developing. We were so excited the other day when she was a bit fussy and we asked if she was hungry and wanted to eat. Sylvie responded by putting her hand to her mouth and making eating noises. We were so proud, over the past few days she continues to respond to this question, so we are confident she understands. Additionally, when we ask her to go find the ball, she will walk over to her toys and find one of her many balls she likes to play with.

Sylvie now uses the signs for “more” and “all done” when we are eating. She also has a sign for “hungry”. When people arrive or leave she knows to wave, and often does it without any prompting. I will try and get a video clip of her waving, occasionally if I prompt her to wave by moving her arm. She will then grab her own arm to make herself wave, it is so cute and makes all the adults laugh, so I am sure we are now reinforcing the behavior. Sylvie can also blow kisses, and when we put her in the crib at night or leave, she often independently blows kisses to us.

As for the adults, we are doing fine in our new role as parents. We think we are very lucky to have a toddler that sleeps through the night, and takes a nap during the day. Sleep is definitely essential for parenting, we’re not sure how parents do it if you don’t get enough sleep. We are lucky to have family and friends who also have small or younger children to get together with, and we have been the recipient of many toys and baby gear that has outgrown others. We are blessed to have a supportive adoptive families’ community to get together with every month. For anyone who is thinking of adopting, or waiting, we strongly recommend getting out there and meeting other adoptive families BEFORE your child(ren) come home. These friendships are essential in the first few months home.

We hope you have enjoyed the updated pictures of Sylvie. We will try to update more often, but who are we kidding! We are too busy running off to the water park or meeting our little friends to play.