ALICE MEETS BIRDS!

Lots of fun, very few moans despite no sleep.

She loved seeing every bird - she knows and can name ducks and geese and tell you that they quack or honk, a flamingo is a 'Fl-go!'.

She watched closely and would look for the things that we were showing her.

She loved every bird and couldn't get close enough. She showed no fear and was also keen to feed them, shouting, 'Ta!' to try and thank me for giving her the birds' corn!!

After all her adventures she was happy to sit in the cafe with a drink (sports bottle tops are the latest obsession and really help to get her to drink) and she even tried our ice-creams!

SL1MBR1DGE

(Our local (ish) bird reserve)

Some bad choices tried to spoil the day - we didn't leave home til after 1pm, I forgot some essentials, Alice didn't sleep in the car on the way there, a hotter than anticipated day, the wrong route home. I learnt many valuable lessons today.

MILESTONES - FIRST CAKE BAKE AND BATTER!

Our Learn1ng T0wer arrived on Monday (apart from stubbing my toes on it very regularly) it's great, Alice likes it and it's already helping.

Today we used it to make a cake and MORE IMPORTANTLY to taste the cake scrapings (no comments please about the risk of salmonella) and pronounced them, 'Num, num!'

Fun times.

TODAY'S NOTES!

Up promptly (hard after such a full day yesterday!), supermarket and then to soft play by 10am - that's an achievement any day (even without the supermarket visit!!) Lots of playing, fun times, friends, snacks and giggles before coming home for lunch with K, J, E and A - some of the family we will be with in France very soon! Simple but tasty lunch - cold meats, scrummy new potatoes in their skins, salad and coleslaw followed by Eton mess (Kate style) with strawberries and raspberries - YUM!

Alice went to bed and E and A had a quick play before saying goodbye. Alice slept for 60 minutes longer than usual - catching up from yesterday. This afternoon was a simple playtime with Shr3k 2 for our viewing pleasure - known as 'Dec' to Alice!!

Tonight C came over to tackle a craft machine - we both bought one of these over 12 months ago. Individually we've both done battle with it and failed - unusual as we're both quite techie and not frightened by crafting or technology. Tonight we tried again and WON!!

SM@RT1ES - THE LAST RESORT

We've had a busy few days.

Today we went to Berkshire for a Christening. It was a super day but a super long day too. By the time we were nearing Bristol this evening (160 miles and nearly 10 hours after leaving home), Alice lost it - she'd wedged the emergency bag of cheesy 'bics' down the side of the car seat and was inconsolable that she couldn't reach them, luckily I remembered the Sm@rt1es (and could find them) - peace and a smiley child!! What a relief!!

The rest of the day? Prompt start, I almost forgot to bathe Alice, she wouldn't eat breakfast (Spec1@l K - her fav!), drove to the church, changed Alice, walked her round (to stretch off the effects of 90 minutes in the car), jam sandwich picnic by the church and then she waffled LOUDLY throughout the service - except when I was reading, she tried to blow out the Pascal candle at the font and then the baptismal candle. As soon as we were out of the church Alice was quiet - the service was lovely despite Alice's attempts to sabotage it, it was very personal and relaxed. We went for champagne and cake before a meal together.

On the way home we stopped at GMJ's to drop off P's 4th birthday pressies (4, 4, 4 - can't be 4, must be wrong, where does the time go?!) as we will be in France for her birthday (so sorry - this will be the first year that I've missed it). Alice slept before GMJ's house for 30 minutes or so, she was very shy when we were there (despite having been there the previous weekend, but she was very tired this time) but intrigued to watch P. On from GMJ's house, Alice didn't sleep, she coped really well til Bristol - by then she was getting fractious and lost it completely when she got her packet of Cheesy biccies stuck down the side of her car seat, luckily I remembered and could find the Sm@rt1es - they saved the journey, my sanity and Alice's temper, phew!!

BAD NEWS BUT GOOD NEWS!

Good Rock didn't win . . . but they came second and polled enough votes to get through as a runner up!

Thanks to all who voted, stayed tuned - I'll remind you when to vote again!

WEEEEEEEHEEEEEEEEE!

- my exact words this morning, coming downstairs for the second (dressed) time ready for breakfast I spied an envelope by the yard door. It was too early for our post, a small envelope but it looked official - I'm not good at dealing with post promptly but this was intriguing!

What was in the envelope - Alice's passport, weeeeeeeeheeeeeeee, we can go on holiday!!

BAA-HUMBUG

I've had several requests to post about issues on my blog, but this blog is about our family, Chinese adoption and things that relate to these things or interest me - so if the requests don't match these things then they don't make the blog. Sounds harsh until you consider the blog as a scrapbook relating to the things listed above.

Today I posted on a very well known Chinese adoption forum about Good Rock - a charity that supports Chinese orphans. My post was deleted as the forum doesn't support this charity - despite the fact that the forum and the charity are about aspects of the same subject but it does support other charities doing similar things - helping Chinese orphans. Harsh, I think. The same forum allows people to post about voting for their children in photo competitions and such?

PLEASE HELP GOOD ROCK

The Good Rock Foundation will be one of the five featured charities
on the www.optimistworld.com website for the week of Friday 11th -
Thursday 17th July. This is for UK registered charities with incomes
below £750,000.

Site visitors can vote for their favourite charity. The two most
popular charities will go onto feature later in the Autumn with the
chance to win a cash donation.

Ultimately, if we can get enough votes, we could go on to become the
Optimist Award Charity of the Year and be awarded a further cash
donation of between £10,000 and £20,000.

For a small charity, such as The Good Rock Foundation, any additional
funds are vital and make a huge difference.

Voting is easy - go to www.optimistworld.com and register. The click
on the khaki coloured tab marked "Charities". You will find that
week's five featured charities - scroll down to see The Good Rock
Foundation feature.

On the left hand side you will see the option to vote for your
favourite charity. Each registered user has one vote per week.

Please get all your friends, family and colleagues to vote for us
too - we need as many people as possible to support us to try and win
the week's vote. So don't delay....we are only featured for one
week - 11th-17th July

With many thanks -

From all at The Good Rock Foundation

ABOUT GOOD ROCK

WHY WE ARE NEEDED
We are a humanitarian aid foundation which believes that every child is precious & deserves to have a life of hope & opportunity.

China's special situation & a cultural preference for boys leads to abandonment of girl children & those with disabilities.

Our reputation & positive relationships in China place us in an excellent position to champion these children & bring a positive change. We are working with China's social services to improve child welfare policy.

China is now experiencing a rapid economic growth however there remains a deficit in social welfare for the disadvantaged such as the children we are reaching. Xinjiang is highlighted as one of China's poverty provinces & the economic boon's of recent years are slow to reach many parts of this remote region.

We work in the belief that what is needed are tools to enhance the opportunities for the children & their carers 'Give a man a fish & you fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish & you feed him for life' (Chinese proverb).

WHAT WE DO
FOSTER CARE:
We are passionate about foster care as we see the many benefits the children enjoy. Their health & development improves, they learn to become attached to others, trust & show affection.

We are confident that foster care is the positive long term solution for China's orphaned and abandoned children. In 2002 foster care was formally endorsed by China's Ministry of Social Welfare & Civil Affairs. Our international standard foster care guideline's helps ensure quality care by well supported foster families.

SPREAD THEIR WINGS:
Is our pioneer project for the disabled children who are growing to adulthood. We are creating community centres where the young people can engage in life skills training, socialise and become connected and contributing members of community. Our research shows that we have to be realistic & creative about the future of disabled children in foster care. We are addressing the special needs of these young people with solutions in adult foster care and group homes. We believe that this issue is one of the most vital to be faced by China's orphanage's & those of us who work alongside them.

THERAPY CENTRES:
Many of our children have special needs. We equip therapy centres in small orphanages & the villages where our children are in foster care. This means that the children receive regular mobility training & their foster parents are trained and encouraged to bring the children on at home so that they learnt the skills they need for future mobility & independence.

MEDICAL ATTENTION:
A number of children in our care have been born with profound disabilities or are in need of urgent medical care.

Where possible we arrange for the children to receive medical attention locally or arrange for specialist care in one of China's specialist centre's of excellence.

NEW ORPHANAGE PROJECTS:
As resources allow, we expand our foster care & therapy projects with orphanages. Promoting our child sponsorship programme helps us help more children so please consider spreading the word about Good Rock.

COUNT ME IN:
Many orphaned or abandoned children have already reached their teens. Without our help their prospects would not reach beyond a life of drudgery in a menial job. We help fund their further education for college, university or provide opportunities for vocational skills. All of which translates to hope & opportunity. In Sept 2007 a total of 95 young people have been helped by our education programme

BLOOMING BABIES:
Good early nutrition is vital for every child's growth and development. Enriched baby and toddler milk is expensive in China and beyond the budget of many orphanages. Our support makes the difference.

IMPROVED ORPHANAGE CONDITIONS:
We provide child care training, aid for the special needs children, better nutrition & daily necessities for all. Our projects are in co-operation with local government - we don't take the responsibility from them & we require them to match funding in many of our projects.

www.goodrock.org.uk

SMALL EVENTS MAKE SIGNIFICANT DAY

This morning we went to school to watch the Junior performance of 'The Wind in the Willows'. It was a long performance - nearly 90 minutes. Alice was very good for most of the performance - with 2 notable exceptions, ugh!! As Toad escapes from prison and catches a train, the guard shouts, "All aboard!" Alice perked up at this point and shouted it several times herself - just in case anyone missed it the first time!! Several minutes later she also shouted, "Mummy!" - during a quiet solo, ugh.

Whilst we were away last weekend it was obvious to see that she won't be comfortable in a travel cot for much longer. Since we've been home I've done some research into 'Ready Beds', I found some good deals and then discovered that there is a first stage RB with a Fifi cover - that had to be the one. The cheapest I could find was on the High Street and not online (surprised me!) So today - with the magnificent T at home while Alice napped, I popped into A and bought the bargain (ish) Fifi Ready Bed.

When I got home I decided to put it together and let Alice try it out - to see her reaction. It was easy to inflate and Alice was happy to get into it and lie down - she seemed to know exactly what it was about and proclaiming "See-see!" (Fifi) in a happy voice. The little dogs were very interested in it too. No surprises until we deflated it, Alice insisted on sitting on the deflated bed but when we separated the bits to wash the outer and put away the inner- then Alice had hysterics while shouting, "Bed, bed!" in a very cross and determined way, she did calm down when I showed her the outer in the washing machine. It isn't often that Alice gets cross so it's always a surprise when she has a hissy fit.

We went out shortly after the bed went in the washing machine, all has been calm since - but Alice did carry the RB box around for most of the rest of the day!!

I won't forget today in a hurry - I suspect it's another day making family folklore!!

SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE FRIENDS

We've been gallivanting again.

We left home first thing on Saturday morning. The new car seat (yes, I finally managed to find a pink one!) had its first outing and proved a success - Alice was asleep before we got to Bristol! We got to GFW and Aunty J's by noon, Alice got to meet Baby L again and considering Alice isn't quite 21 months old herself she did pretty well.

Yesterday we hit the road again - to visit the H's to celebrate W's 3rd birthday. Alice was OK to begin with but got clingier and clingier as visitors and the clown arrived, she wouldn't be separated from me at all for over 2 hours, until the food arrived!! She did relax eventually - the distraction of food and balloons helped alot, by the afternoon she was happy to follow the big boys around the garden and investigate alone - she was quite independent once she'd settled in! She was asleep within 5 minutes of leaving.

Today we said 'Goodbye and thank you!' to the C-Ds and crossed Surrey once again to visit my GM M. It was lovely to see her - she especially enjoyed playing football with Alice and feeding Alice raspberries fresh from the garden, yummy!! Alice once again fell asleep very quickly - love that car seat!!

Once again it's lovely to be home, Alice and the dogs agree and we've all shared lots of cuddles since we've been home. Alice went to sleep very quickly, the dogs are keeping my feet warm (it's chilly tonight) and I'm tired too. Great friends, good times, long journeys and delightful home-comings - special times!

'ONE OF THOSE' AFTERNOONS

Alice doesn't always wake up easily. Occasionally she wakes screaming, most often this happens after her nap.

Today was 'one of those' screaming wake-ups. I took her into my bed and we watched Maisy as she woke up gently with lots of cuddles, back rubs and soft talking. Eventually she was OK, we had a low key afternoon - playing, reading and a dog film.

She was very pleased when she found the bunny ears - she wore them for several hours without taking them off, though she did bend them forward so that she could see them whilst still wearing them!

PROGRESS

We returned to J0 J1ngles today, after a 2 week absence (work got in the way!)

The leader commented at the end of today's session how much Alice has progresses recently, having been away for 2 weeks it was very obvious today - she was much more willing and quicker to go to the boxes to choose and return instruments, she was more vocal and watched the instructor more closely and managed to mimic more than ever!

It's a fun group and it's lovely to see Alice not only enjoy it but turning into a 'big girl' in front of our eyes. The instructor is very talented and is going to start a teaching degree in the Autumn - so, sadly for us, there will be No J1ngles after the summer.

IDENTITY CRISIS?

This is Alice Bunny whilst watching a 1o1 dog film doing her crocodile impression!

CELEBRATING ADOPTION DAY - 1 YEAR ON

I drove to Bath to collect C and L, then we drove onto Longleat.

We did some of the attractions around the House - first the Boat Trip (probably Alice's favourite bit). The boat was quite empty so we could move from one side to the other to see what was going on. We saw the gorilla, lots of sea lions, the hippos and the sea lions and gorilla again. Alice was very observant and obviously enjoyed seeing each animal, it was difficult to keep her hands inside the boat when the sea lions were around!

Then we were just in time for the train ride. Again Alice listened and watched closely. It had started to rain just before the train ride so after that we went for lunch. We were early enough to get a table and highchairs easily and the queues weren't too long. 15 minutes later the skies opened, the rain poured and the restaurant filled up very quickly. Lunch was OK - Alice devoured a huge plate of sausage, mash, peas and gravy, I couldn't believe how much she ate!

After lunch we went to Pets' Corner, Alice and I watched the bird show - L didn't like the noise so she and C went around the other animals. Alice watched intently and screeched with the parrots quite a lot!

We strolled around the gift shops after that, I looked for a 'Muggee' for Alice and she cried when I wouldn't let her have a hard, rough little monkey, luckily I quickly found a nice, soft, squidgey one!

It was still raining so after our retail therapy we decided to head home. Both girls fell asleep pretty quickly.

We had a nice day. It's always nice to see the B/E's and spend time with them. It's especially good when the girls get time just to be together, today with the poor weather they were a bit restricted - we'll make up for it next time!

FOUND - 1 EWOK!!

(Not actually sure what an 'Ewok' is - but S asked for a post-bobbles photo, so here it is!!)

12 MONTHS

WOW.

IT'S NOT JUST ALICE DAY

It's L* Day too.

L is never far from our thoughts - her photos are on the blog, around the house and especially they hang in Alice's bedroom. Recently Alice has said 'Hello' to L every time she sees her in her room and asks every time we leave the house if we're going to see L.

12 months ago in China I gained more than a daughter, our family expanded to include the B/E's.

Today I remember that special time we shared in China. Tomorrow we will see 2/3s of you (M you will be missed). Tonight I asked Alice if she wanted to see L and C tomorrow, the answer was a very clear 'Yes' (signed) which was repeated more vigorously when I asked if she loved L than for me!!

ALICE DAY - THE TEA PARTY

I'm not good at taking photos during parties - in future I think I'll have to nominate a photographer! (Most of these were taken during the day, except for the ones with pressies which were taken during the teaparty).

GFN and his niece N were the first to arrive. (N it was great to see you and for Alice to play with you, C I hope that you are feeling better very soon, Alice can't wait to splash you!) T and her sons L and C brought pressies (it was supposed to be no pressies but you were very kind and ignored it!), thank you! C also brought books - you know Alice will adore them, thanks! J and D also came for tea - we don't see enough of them.

As you can see - Alice is becoming an expert at opening pressies and enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper nearly as much as playing with the contents!!

We had a super afternoon - nothing unusual but surrounded by special friends. Alice surprised me by helping herself to tea!! We also watched lots of the footage from China, it triggered many happy memories and quite a few tears (not just mine!)

A simple day, a special day - a day that memories are made of, wonderful. When I look at the photos I am reminded in every one of the priceless gift I was given in China - she is so special and we are so lucky. But also when I look at the photos I am amazed at the changes in just a year as I wonder when the baby grew into the spirited, wonderful, special and opinionated little girl!

ALICE DAY - GFN

Where would we be without him?

He came halfway around the world with me, carried the bags, took the photos and video and provided all of us with moral support, kind words and nothing seemed too much trouble for him (and he was very good at sharing his suitcase space!!)

I can never thank him enough for what he did in China and still his kindness continues. Alice adores him - he visits as often as he can and provides Alice with rough and tumble and lots of laughs, magical, special times - just look at the photos and her feelings are obvious!!

ALICE DAY - A GIRL AND HER HORSE!

Most of these photos were taken after Alice's nap but before our visitors arrived. I'd just covered Alice in sunscreen so that's why she looks shiny!!

ALICE DAY - THE BEGINNING

Normal start to the day.

Pressies when we came downstairs - the rocking horse, a Maisy Mouse crockery set and a jungle animals jigsaw. The Maisy set was definitely the fav - no surprise there, I made Alice cry when I took it away to wash it before using it for breakfast and again to wash it up again afterwards, ooops!

Housework and preparations took most of the morning and then lunch from the MM 'crockery' (I think I may be buying more so that it might occasionally make it into the dishwasher!!)

NEW COUNTRY

Iran.

Nearly 35,800 readers.

IT'S . . .

I can't believe that it's been 12 months.

I've been feeling very nostalgic over the last few days . . . remembering what I was doing and how I was feeling a year ago.

12 months ago - the terrifying nerves, wondering how the hand-over would go, how Alice and L would be, how M, C and I would cope. That day in Kunming, 2 special families were created (mine and theirs) and 1 extra special family (both of ours together including GFN) - the incredible process of intercountry adoption created an extra special link with another couple as we met our babies together and helped each other through those first dramatic yet wonderful days.

12 wonderful months later - the joy that Alice (and L too) has bought, the happiness, the laughter, the hope for the future. The link between our families, that friendship has been cemented in the time that we've been home, we just know so much about one another, understand so many things without explanations being necessary and then there's the link that our girls had before we knew them, so special, I am so lucky.

And the plans for Alice Day? . . . a quiet day at home, with friends coming round for a cuppa this afternoon . . . and a few presents (from Mummy, a few too many!) Then tomorrow we'll meet C and L for a trip to Longleat, lots of reminiscing and hopefully a few photo opportunities!! The meeting with L is not before time - Alice has been L obsessed in recent days - saying 'Hello L*' every morning to her photo in Alice's bedroom and asking whenever we leave the house - 'L*?'