A year and a scosh

As we are just on top of our blog and keeping all those who eagerly await our updates with anticipation, we've just had our first 'famiversary' as of a couple of weeks ago. It is hard to believe that Ella has been home for over a year. She is growing fast and she is doing well in all other regards. She can sing 'Twinkle Twinkle' all by herself and does a heck of  job on 'Old McDonald's Farm.' 

We are in Seattle for the holidays with Julia's family and, then on the way back to Wisconsin, we are taking the train in order to stop an see my parents for a few days. All in all, it is nice to have the university schedule with the long holiday break. The only downer to the trip is Roxie being in the 'doggy gulag' for 20 days. That is a long time in lock up and I worry about her. Not much of a Christmas present for dog. 

Ella has been enjoying her new daycare at UW-Stout. She has been going there since she officially turned two in November. (Nice birthday update we provided, huh?) It is quite the daycare; very posh. She is still going to one of her others that she was attending before. We couldn't stand breaking up some of her friendships at the other place. She'll keep that up trough the Spring Semester and then next Fall we'll see if she is unifies or stays split.

Our life isn't as exciting as a year ago, and I wish I could say I feel better rested. Actually we are accomplishing that bit. It is hard to reminisce about a year ago as it is all one giant sleep deprived fog. Having Ella home has been a bunch of fun.

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season. The way we are for updating, see you in March.

Kent. 

Hepaloo?

How do you correct those pesky little pronoun errors, anyway?

When Ella wants us to help her with something--- a tricky strap on a sandal, trying to get her dollar-store mermaid doll to stay on its cheap-o seashell stand, taking the wrapper off of a Hershey's kiss--- she asks "Hepaloo?" If we don't respond in .025 seconds, she repeats the request, in increasing pitch, urgency and frequency: "Hepaloo!? Hepaloo!!? Hepaloo!?!!" (This is accompanied by a sort of spastic hippity-hopping/running in place foot dance-- and if we have failed to respond by .05 seconds, she will collapse in a heap on the floor, sobbing.) We try not to let it get that far.
Our response is to say "Do you want me to help you with that?" And she says, in the affirmative, "Hepaloo!"
What she's saying is "Help you?"
Meaning, of course, "(Will you) help ME?"
But we can't ever figure out how to model the 'me' part, since the only way to say it TO her is by using 'you'......
English.....!
We know she'll self-correct soon enough-- (she's already begun to put the "oxy" in the dog's name, so she's now more often "Woxy" than "Woky")--
So for now, we're just enjoying the cuteness of "Hepaloo!"

An update on "What Ella is listening to these days..."
Now she has a thing for Amy Winehouse.
Seriously. She will even sing along to the chorus in 'Rehab': "No, no, no!"

Just when you least expect it....

Speaking of the Minnesota State Fair (see 9/11/07 post below).... As I mentioned, Ella loved the little kids' carnival rides, especially the purple race car. We also put her on this garishly cute little choo-choo train, since she rode one earlier in the summer at Como Park and LOVED it. This one had an African safari animal type theme, and she was very excited to ride in the car that had the giraffe on it. (One of her favorite animals-- also stemming back to the highly influential Como Park Zoo trip, when she got to be practically nose-to-nose with one of the beauties there). But I digress...take a look at how excited she is to be riding in the giraffe car here....

And here.....


So just imagine the shock and sickening feeling we had when we saw that THIS was the image painted on the side of the car that our gorgeous, brilliant, resilient, smart-as-a-whip Ethiopian toddler was sitting in...


Yep, yep, your eyes are not deceiving you, it is exactly what it looks like, all right: the incredibly racist cartoon of the savage African tribesman, lazily napping while his 'dinner'- the bumbling white explorer escapes from his big cauldron. Complete with bone-in-the-top-knot, no less.

Speechless, sad, and nauseous too.

Summer Recap

The wind picked up this afternoon, and blew in the crisp air of autumn. Summer is over. We had a great summer with Ella-it's been so much fun to see her dicover new things.

Like swimming. I actually feel a bit guilty- I'm a terrible mom- because we didn't get this child into a swimming pool until practically the end of summer. She is crazy about everything related to swimming and the water (including her beloved bathing suits).
Ella's first pool experience was the last weekend in July or so, when we attended the Ethiopian adoptive families celebration in the St. Paul. We stayed at a hotel where I got to meet several 'forum buddies' - women who are also ET adoptive moms and their amazing kids, and got to catch up with a few of the folks we traveled to ET with back in December. SO great to meet these extraordinary families, and to see how everyone's kids are doing! (Did I take pictures? No. I was too busy keeping track of my wild child to pull the camera out, except once, when I got a shot of E. up on the outdoor stage during the Ethiopian dancing. She's not even dancing. She's pouting, as I recall...)

Back to the swimming-- she got to do a lot of it during our two week trip back to Montana. We spent a week in Chinook with Kent's folks and various siblings and their families. Here she is with also-2-year old cuz, Nevana. Such cuties!

Here, cousin Nathaniel doesn't seem to believe Ella's fish story....

Those Dolezal love to do the BIG FAMILY thing: we had 7 kids in the house, 4 of whom were 3 and under! Getting out the door was pretty much like this:

We then spent a week in Bozeman with my brother Chuck, his wife Ann and the World's Greatest 1st Grader, Annika. The girls met back in March, and got along very well, considering they're both only kids, and we were still in the first few months of attaching with E. (A bit of a problem with jealousy there...). But this time, just a few months later, and the girls were just great together. Ella ADORES Annika, and followed her around everywhere, imitating everything she did. Annika was super-patient and a great big cousin! Here are some super-cute pics of the Goggle Girls. And look how cute they are in their pumpkin helmets...

And finally, a few pics from our day at the Minnesota State Fair a week or so ago. The amusement park rides for teeny kids was a big it overall, and she found a ride she loved even more than Pronto Pups-- the race car ride! I love her two-handed steering here and the rapt expression, her silly grin and then, the ride ending, she signaled "more" as the car came to a stop right in front of us.

In other big news.... Kent began his master's program at the Hubert H. Hmphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the U of M, so he's driving in to the Twin Cities at least 3 times a week. It's not a bad drive- a straight shot west on 94 to MSP, but it takes up to an hour and a half, depending on city traffic. Just two weeks in, and he's so excited by his courses, the dynamic and fascinating instructors, and his fellow grad students. He IM'd me the other day from the grad student lounge at 'the Humph'- he was so excited to tell me how plush it was, and how you need key card to get in!

VID KID: What Ella is listening to these days

To keep a little Ethiopian culture in our daily lives, Kent and Ella have taken to watching videos of Ethiopian singers he finds on YouTube. The music we like is a sort of Ethiopian pop-dance music, highlighting aspects of ET culture. Some wonderful dancing, and great shots of rural life in ET.

For those of you who grew up as part of the first MTV generation, you may find these reminiscent of some of those early videos from the 80's-- simple camera tricks and angles and, oddly, the distinctive sounds of a Casio keyboard.(A word of warning: the comments frequently left on a video's site regrettably have little to do with the video itself or the musician- instead, they are often disturbingly vitriolic rants showcasing the Ethiopian-Eritrean animosity, and general racist @#$%.)

Here are a few of Ella's favorite 'bibi-ohs.' The first one is by an unknown singer- the opening shots of a traditional Ethiopian house or tukul and the woman in white had Ella transfixed from the first viewing. We wonder if these images stir memories for her of her first year of life.....



This next one is of the beautiful Monica Sisay singing "Shekshik." It appears to be her celebration of the multiple ethnic groups, represented by the differnt dancers wearing colorful traditional outfits. This one has Julia practicing her neck bobs and uulations. Great fun!



Next up: The stunning Tigist Weyso, singing an untitled and very catchy song. This video is much like any pop music video you've ever seen, with what is perhaps an Addis-specific theme (where roads seem to be perpetually under construction): the attractive single woman (with great boots!), the broken down car, the attractive road crew forman.... Ah-haaaa-aaa-aa! Ah-heeee-ee-ey!



And finally, the incomparable Teddy Afro-- perhaps Ethiopia's most famous musician, singing the very catchy "Lambadina." You'll find many Teddy Afro videos on the web; he combines reggae and traditional Ethiopian rhythyms to sing about everything from love to freedom and equality for all Ethiopians. "Lamba! dina!"



Ok, one more. Another of Ella's favorites, "The Ladybug's Picnic," from a classic Sesame Street cartoon. She is only two, after all....
Enjoy!

Lazy days of summer

Ella kicked up her heals on one of her many trips to the park this summer.

The summer continues to roll along. The "Baba and Boo Show" is going well. I have been caring for Ella four days a week as Julia has summer school. We've come up with a nice schedule centered on Sesame Street and riding the bicycle. We were fortunate enough to have several days of cool weather; we got a lot of outside time in. We also watched every stage of the Tour de France. Ella really enjoyed it, I think. She asked for 'bicycle' when we would do our rocking downstairs, in the man lounge, in front of a TV. Today, it was hard to break it to her that there was no bicycle.

Tonight in the tub, Ella counted to 10 all by herself. I was a bit flabbergasted. We count how many rinses her head gets and tonight she counted them all by her lonesome. Julia and Ella sing the alphabet song a lot and she can get almost all of it. She skips 'TUV' and 'W' is pronounced "double-lulu." Unbelievably cute.

We will be taking off this weekend for Montana. We will be spending a week with my family in Chinook and then head to Bozeman for another week. It will be nice to feel a dry heat again. I am sick of humidity.

After we get back it will be time for work and school again. It will be hard to not be with Ella everyday. I've gotten used to our little routine and have a hard time comprehending that it is drawing to a close. She'll be in daycare four days a week . . . ouch. But while the weather holds, I hope we can still get out on our bike rides. It has been a load of fun.

Heading out on another bicycle adventure.


Some times our "adventures" produce a casualty.


The ladies having a little lounge in the pool.




Ella regards a bird (robin I believe) that had just fledged and was taking a break on our porch.

The magic of toddlerdom

I know I have a penchant for the obvious, but, like any parent, Ella never ceases to amaze me.

She had a day of daycare today and then after ice cream following dinner, she had her own melt-down. She cried through most of her bath, drying, etc. I finally took her outside. She calmed down quite quickly and then she pointed out a bird to me, "birdie on house." Sure enough there was a robin perched on the end of peak of the house, singing his little heart out. She wasn't that enamored and promptly said "Birdie go!" giving a flick of her wrist.

After I attempted to explain that a singing bird on the house was permissible perhaps even preferred, we went to the garden and looked for sprouts. The seeds have been in just over a week and I think we saw a couple of beans beginning to rise. Ella wasn't too interested. I think that she wasn't quite fathoming the whole circle of life moment we were having or it is just her general dislike of anything vegetable.

Much like me as kid, I don't imagine gardening to be the most exciting element of Ella's childhood. It is only with a few years on does avoiding pulling weeds gain any glamor, laying between rows of corn and taking an unplanned nap. Trying to explain the peppery marks on your face from the dirt, not so glamorous.

She has a little book entitled Baby's First Animals or something to that effect. Julia told me that Ella could name all the animals in the book. The one that got me, besides "goat" (with perfect pronunciation, by the way), was "macaw," said with authority. It literally brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful, amazing experience to witness her learning. Just to be witness to it is one thing, to know I'm playing a part is entirely another sensation.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. We started Monday by watching Julia make her Divine lemon cupcakes. Ella had her first taste of the beater. She took to it like a veteran. We went to a barbecue with friends that afternoon and Ella got to meet a lovely four-year old, Nina. Nina was great playing with her, the running laps in the house through the living room, dining room and kitchen and seeing two girls out of breath from running and giggling collapse into their mothers' laps was one of those magic toddler moments. Ella also had her first taste of Brat. The way she tucked in, she's right at home in Wisconsin.

Julia will be starting summer school in a couple of weeks. I will be staying home with Ella. I am really looking forward to it. Her continued moments of discovery will take the edge off of changing diapers. I'm also looking forward to the naps.

Sorry about the long time in updating. Ella does a great job at running us ragged....

News from this Spring....

We had our courtdate to formalize the adoption in Wisconsin on April 26. With a 10-minute hearing and Julia answering a few simple questions, all the process was over. I got off easy since I didn't do any of the paper work, but it is nice to see Julia's long journey end.

We have a happy baby. She sings and talks, sings and talks. She likes to point out things that are yellow and red, with the occasional blue thrown in. Her vocabulary is around 100 words at the moment. We are nerds - we've been keeping a list on the refrigerator. All of this from an 18-month old. We like to think that she is very smart. We encourage her learning, but since we can't leave the house without forgetting the diaper bag (and we've had six months to learn), we don't like to give ourselves too much credit.

Today Ella got to accompany me to the high school theatre where I am doing the set. She enjoyed watching the show. She sat for about an hour, helped by the ham and crackers I was giving her, and enjoyed her first taste of the musical theatre. She likes to watch singing and dancing on T.V. She watched quite intently. She was also a hit with the kids backstage. She got several "she's so cute"s.

The love of duckies continues. Auntie Heather showed up with the gigantic duck last month...

Ella is really enjoying the nice weather. We like to take a walk to the neighbor's house where she enjoys running up and down their driveway. We go to a cute little park about four blocks from our house. She loves the slide - she fearlessly launches herself down, and giggles madly even when she lands with a thump. Loves the swings too, although she does not like having to take turns when other children want to use them. Well, who does?!

She also likes take Roxie's leash when we walk. Of course, I put another leash on the dog. We'll see how long that lasts. She is also feeding Roxie. She dilligently gets a scoop of food and takes it to Roxie's bowl. If she drops a piece, she will go back and pick it up. 18 months and already she is doing a chore. Again, we'll see how long that lasts. Roxie is so patient and wonderful with the baby-- even when Ella is tugging on her whiskers or messing around in her water bowl. They are great pals! Ella gives many commands to Rox: "Come!" "Off!" "No! No!" She gives these same commands to us too...

Underwear model

It's been bitter, bitter cold here for about the past ten days-- well below zero, dangerous to all exposed flesh, but bright and sunny. We haven't been outside much, in this weather, so perhaps that helps explain these next pictures. We're all a bit cabin crazy, and ready for some warmer weather soon.

Ella's on her third round of meds to combat giardia. It's been frustrating to not have it clear up so far. It's meant we've not been able to have her in daycare 2x/wk, but maybe that's all for the best-- we just keep nesting and bonding around here. In that sense, the horrible cold hasn't been a problem at all for us! - jc

A few weeks ago, we posted a pic of Ella wearing a pair of Julia's underwear, taken from the clean laundry basket and twisted in a most artful fashion around her shoulders.

Well, it seems the child has a penchant for creative dressing .

Here are a few snaps, taken over the last couple of weeks, of Ella sporting Julia's underwear in a number of stylish ways.
Above: She actually "oohed" when she saw these come out of the dryer.

Below: Kent reports Ella wore this pink pair like this for several hours.
It has been very cold in the Midwest lately......

Our kitchen helper wearing undies in the 'classic' syle-- around the shoulders.

And here she's wearing a bib on her head. Rather jaunty!

Scoring perhaps fewer points on the creative scale, but higher on the adorable, Ella in her ballerina gear.

And a photo worthy of a fashion spread. Note the despondent look on the model's face as she contemplates the nothingness of being, while looking fabulous ....

And then, the model gets the giggles....

Ella gets her yogurt on!

Literally.

As you can see.

Honestly, I watch the child. I was doing some dishes, turn around and this is what I found.

It is cute.

Here it is in video. You can see larger sized versions on Youtube. Our name there is AddisAbaby as well. Enjoy! ~Kent

A little bit later. At least she is still hungry.

Here is another picture and video, lunch the day before. If memory serves, she is eating yogurt at this time also.

In the video you can see her sing the praises of "Gucky!"

Hanging with the Boo

Ella seems, well does, take up most of our time, and oddly, neither Julia or I are complaining much or at all. She is such a wonderful little girl. The screaming (here's a jinx) is to a minimum. I think there are days were it doesn't even make an appearance. She slept through all of last night, not even a wake for a diaper change. I actually got out of bed this morning without waking either lady or the two dogs. It seems like the little one has settled in just nicely.

Ella had another shower today. This fete was hosted by some of Julia's students. She got several nice outfits, including a complete fairy costume with tutu. She got some books, but one person got her the perfect gifts, a 7 oz. Gerber sippy cup and a rubber ducky. Now, I believe, that we have not made mention of either of these favorites in the blog, but somehow her preferences were known. (I have done a complete search of the house for bugging equipment and wiretaps.) A Gerber cup is her favorite and a seven ouncer is hard to find. You can find 10s everywhere but not 7s. The ducky . . . She has ducks on the bottom of her favorite pair of shoes. She can even say "ducky" but it comes out "gucky." She will get a desperate look on her face sometimes and say "gucky" when she is without the shoes, or she will got get them and do the "gucky" thing. It is so cute, and now you know what she's into. She has three little yellow ducks now and one pink, who all reside in the tub with the occasional venture into the rest of the house. She isn't too keen on the pink duck. An added bonus of the new duck is it is also a safety device. It will tell you if the bath water is too hot; there is the heat sensitive rubber disk on the bottom that spells the word "Hot." We tested; it works. The shower from Julia's students was awfully sweet. We'll get some pics of it on here soon.

Last Friday, we went to the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota. Not to say our physicians here in Menomonie haven't been great, but it was wonderful to talk to doctors and nurses who were familiar with the issues inherent in international adoption. Ella was so good, which she always has been at the doctor's office. The visit went really well. Ella is health, with the exception of the Giardia. She was retested here in Menomonie, and has started another round of treatment. The folks at UofMn explained to use that it isn't that much to worry about, or worry at all. Giardia has and is getting tougher and tougher. They lined us out on a treatment regimen and what to do if it doesn't work. They also allayed Julia and my fears of contracting the little bugger ourselves. We do a good job of washing everything; we should be OK. They also ran another battery of blood tests on the girl. That part she wasn't too happy about. The results all came back favorable. She was just a little low in the iron department, but the doctor said that wasn't unusual. IA kids usually go though a growth spurt when they get here (make up) and they pull from their iron reserves to do so. The good thing about her present diet is that she should be eating lots of meat to replace her iron reserves. Yea meat!

Thinking of eating, she ate some peas today on her own. She didn't really like them, but she didn't spit them out either. It's a start

Julia went back to work this week. I took care of the Boo all by myself Tuesday and Wednesday. We had a lot of fun and the house wasn't completely destroyed when Julia got back. It was nice to have an excuse to take a nap. It sure is nice to lay with Ella on top of you. Not only is she a tremendous heat source, but she's a great excuse not move. We watched (OK slept through) a soccer game on Tuesday and then Wednesday saw us nod off to History International.

We had snow this last week. If the picture didn't tip you off. Ella didn't quite know what to think about the whole shoveling the driveway. She sat down for most of it and then got up to experiment with the white stuff a bit later. It wasn't her first time in snow, but the first time she was really in it for a good amount of time. I took her out again on Tuesday; it was sort of cold. We were out with the dogs for about 20 minutes. I figure we were out as long as it took to get ready. She didn't want to get down that time and I carried as I kicked the ball for Roxie. She like to watch her run after the ball, and she also finds the jostling of kicking enjoyable.






















Another development in the food front. She's discovered chocolate and she likes it, as you can see. She also got to try a little Swiss Miss. They make it in Menomonie, I do believe. She was just doing her civic duty.

Those are the highlights of this past week. Of course the nice thing is I can always modify (or Julia can) when I/We remember the most important things.

Ella at home....

Just a few recent pics of our girl......

Our little librarian.....





















Wearing mom's gigantic Dansko clogs....


















Our fashionista....She spent a good half an hour dressing herself from the clean laundry basket. Unfortunately, her chic top is a pair of Mom's underwear. Perhaps she can be on season 20 of "Project Runway"? (The balloons are from Saturday's shower, and an endless source of fun this week!)