Fox can stand!

So Fox has figured out how to pull himself up to a standing position!  We are so proud :)

First "trimester"

If our wait on the Cathwel list were akin to a pregnancy, we would have just finished the first trimester (i.e. first 3 months, approximately) and would have two more to go.  Since this is instead an international adoption, I find myself wondering--how many more "trimesters" will we have?  10?  12? 15?  It is a humbling thought.

My baby is 7 months old

My baby Fox is 7 months old now!  Kind of hard to believe.  He is such a good boy--he's been sleeping pretty well at night, and he is eating great--he loves all kinds of fruits and vegetables, plus grains and some baby yogurt.  He doesn't seem real keen on crawling (he can scoot backwards, but doesn't try to go forwards--he usually just starts fussing), but he loves to be standing and will take a few small steps (with a great deal of support).  Here are a few recent pics - one of him doing tummytime on his neat foam tile flooring and the other one where he is learning to 'cruise' along the coffee table (with some assistance).

Bao Bei

Here is a beautiful song by Taiwanese singer Zhang Xuan called "Bao Bei" (which is a term Chinese mothers use for their babies--I believe it loosely translates to 'precious treasure' so it is kind of like the German term of endearment "Schatz" with some baby connotations).  Cute pictures of little Chinese babies are included!  :)

Fun in the snow!

We played outside today for awhile--Fox seemed to enjoy it pretty well :)

Xmas, scooting Fox

We had a nice Christmas, although the weather was so bad (worst snow storm we've had in YEARS blew in on Xmas Eve) we didn't get to see all of the family members we hoped to see. Fox had a nice first Christmas overall, though. On Christmas morning he demonstrated how he could scoot backwards--his first method of locomotion! He still isn't much of a roller--he pretty much refuses to roll. Here is a video of him scooting backwards, captured the day after Christmas :)

Happy New Year everyone! It would be AWESOME if we received a referral in 2010, but very unlikely. You never know, though!

Baby Fox is 6 months old!... and Taiwan adoption statistics

oday my baby Fox is 6 months old. I can hardly believe it!  He grows up so fast.  He is now in the 90% for height, 60% for his head, and only 3% for weight.  He's a tall skinny boy, apparently!  The doctor wasn't worried, though--she said he is consistent and he is healthy, so we're not worried either.  We will keep making sure he eats a lot, though--I don't know how this little guy is so skinny since he is such a good eater!  I steamed and blended some spinach that Grandpa Dan grew, and so Fox celebrated his 6 month old birthday by eating some tasty tasty spinach.  He wasn't sure about it at first, but by the end he seemed to like it pretty well.  I've attached a video--this is definitely the messiest he's ever gotten!!



In other news, the US State Dept has released the total number of international adoptions in the US for fiscal year 2009, which is interesting.  Last year there were 219 Taiwanese adoptions, and this year there were 253!  So they are still on the rise.  It really is a pretty interesting table overall  (http://www.adoption.state.gov/news/total_chart.html)  As a whole, international adoptions are way down.