Happy New Year!

The Lunar New Year was Thursday -- this year is the year of the rat. We had wanted to take a photo of CJ next to one of those really big inflated rats by a union picket. But perhaps as a token of better labor-management relations citywide, we were unable to find one.

So instead we have a photo of CJ showing off her New Year's loot.



Chinese custom is to give kids a little red envelope with money, the more 8s in the serial number the better, as 8 is a lucky number.



Special thanks to Louise, who had no idea how lucky her cash was until I rifled through her wallet.

Monique visited us tonight

CJ was yet again a most gracious hostess with the most-est!

A new addition to the website

What with Super Tuesday approaching, I took the liberty of providing all of our blog viewers with a counter to when our current president leaves office. Technically speaking, it's not really related to CJ, although I could perhaps rationalize it as that her world will certainly be a better place once he's gone...

Catching up

We've been hard at work this month, at home and at the office. Can't you tell?



The weekend after Christmas, we visited cousins Sara and Alyssa, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Mark. We gave Alyssa an airplane ride:



CJ played us a few soulful ballads from her latest album:



And then the visit degenerated into a big game of twister.



Last weekend, Wendy, who used to teach us Mandarin, came over to teach us how to make dumplings.



CJ was taking notes.



After the dumplings, Meg and CJ rode out into the sunset...



CJ has also taken an interest in photography, or at least taking photos with Mommy's camera case.



It's good to have another shutterbug in the family!

One year anniversary

CJ, Meg and I just had a lovely dinner to celebrate the first anniversary of when we all met. The past year has been quite crazy in so many ways, but she has been an amazing beacon of light and love through it all.

I have wished on occasion that the adoption process had moved more quickly, but if it had then we would not have met CJ. We are completely blessed to have her in our lives.

Many thanks to everyone who gave us their love and support while we waited for CJ and during the trying times afterwards.

We are very grateful for the time we have had with her already, and look forward to a more tranquil second year.

Happy New Year

Here's to a more tranquil 2008!



(fyi, our holiday cards will be mailed by the weekend. Sorry for the delay!)

Christmas presents and feasting

Christmas with CJ was wonderful, as joyous as the holiday is supposed to be.



The presentfest began on Christmas Eve, with a visit from NaiNai and YeYe. CJ liked bringing everyone their gifts.



The best gift was a little tea set for CJ. Here she is serving tea for the ladies:



Christmas morning, there were more gifts. CJ especially liked the book about you-know-who.



Later in the day, we visited Jay, Grace, Aunt Susan and Uncle Frank. CJ enjoyed Grace's new kitchen set.



The adult's liked Jay's new racetrack.



Jay was happy jamming on his new guitar.



Earlier in the week, the whole family went to a lovely dinner at Aunt Susan's and Uncle Frank's country club. It was nice to have everyone all dressed up for family photos.







The gingerbread man, unfortunately, may not have had such a nice time.



One last shot that I thought I'd sneak in -- Meg and CJ had a surprise party for me at the beginning of the month featuring many of my oldest and bestest friends. A special thanks to all involved in that special event.



Happy holidays all!

No piggies!

Christmas photos to come next.

Children can be very disarming

And CJ? Moreso, of course.



CJ and Daddy are healthy, but Mommy of course took care of everyone so she needs some extra catch-up work on her sleep so she can get better too. Here we are this morning, catching up on work.

Out sick

This week, we have been sick. First Mommy, then CJ, then Daddy. CJ hasn't been sleeping at all, so Mommy and Daddy take turns catnapping and watching CJ as their fevers burn.

CJ's been a trooper for the most part. It's her first time being sick since she joined us. It helps that the tylenol is super sweetened and tastes much better than that fake cherry drek we had as kids.

Because we've been sick, we're way behind on Christmas cards (not to mention buying a Christmas tree!), so look for your card in the mail before New Years.

Another "almost christmas card" shot

Maybe I'm biased, but I do think she's quite photogenic.

The holiday season begins!

Here's a cute shot of CJ, from one of several photo shoots for this year's Christmas Card:



For all those interested, I think I took the winning shot today, but don't be too surprised if you find this one in your mailbox.

The Sunday after my birthday, we visited with the Dailey's (of Dailey Update fame. CJ got everyone doing the 'remote-control conference-call' game. You might remember Father's Day?





You could say she really knows how to throw a good party line!

-- Dan

Birthday season

The end of November is officially birthday season: CJ's birthday and Daddy's birthday bracket Thanksgiving.

For CJ's birthday, we hosted our family and Dan made them Peking Duck. There was some good story reading to be found in the living room:





And then, somewhere between stories and cake, the duck was served. Apparently, no one bothered to take a photo, and the duck didn't really last too long. And then the birthday cupcakes were a big hit:





On CJ's actual birthday, we gave her a nice doll of an ethnic group from her home province (something you can only find shopping in New York).



On Thanksgiving CJ watched her first football game:



She then did her best Joe Namath imitation, much to Bogey's delight:



And then goofed around with her cousins.



Once again, we were too busy eating to take pictures of the food. The next day, we all met for breakfast, and then took Daddy on a surprise jaunt around Van Cortland Park. Here we are at the diner:



CJ wasn't too enthused about Talk Like a Pirate Day this year, but next year might be a different story.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we went out for breakfast, where a somewhat furious game of "Telephone" broke out.





And then, back to the birthday celebrations, here's CJ helping Daddy blow out his birthday canoli.





I think she liked it. She's definitely getting a leg up on the whole eating scene!

Catching up: Halloween up through the birthday season

CJ thoroughly enjoyed herself on Halloween. Here's CJ in her ghost costume, taking a break with cousin Grace from preparations before going out trick or treating:



Meg reported that CJ thought trick or treating actually meant trading pieces of candy; here she is enjoying the back and forth:



And, after the craziness, here she is sucking down a nice cold one in front of Uncle Frank and Aunt Susan's house:



This fall was unusually warm and the playground season lasted through November. CJ was happy about that:



In the beginning of November, CJ and Mommy visited Cousin Susan and Great Aunt Jane in New Jersey.



The Halloween decorations were still out.



We also went for a number of nice long walks in Van Cortland Park this fall, taking advantage of the global-warming-extended foliage.









CJ loved the fall foliage. We still have a number of leaves around the house that we collected on our walks.

Daddy turned 40 today

Here's all we have to say on the matter:

The eyes have it

Here's looking at you, kid...