Really?

I knew that Lulu might cause a few stares -- partly because she is the cutest/wildest thing ever, but also because she looks so different than the rest of us. And while I hate being looked at, I totally understand. I think adding Perrin in to the mix makes it even more confusing (are they both adopted? different fathers? is she from another family? if they can have biological kids, why would they adopt?). But, I have been surprised by some of the questions people ask.

"Does she look like her father?". "Can I assume she is adopted?". "So where is this cutie from?".  I don't mind any of these questions and kind of find them funny as I know what they are asking and appreciate the attempt to be polite.

But last weekend we had our first truly annoying experience. We were at a car dealership beginning the process of finding a new car. I hate buying cars, so I was already in a foul mood. First there was the saleswoman trying to emphasize the small third row in a competitors car.  "The third row is so small you can only put children or Chinese people back there!" she squealed. I let her know that I have both -- and furthermore my Chinese child could take out her dumb Caucasian toddler. Later that day I brought Lulu in to test drive a few cars -- and perhaps cause a little chaos in the showroom. As I walked through the door carrying my little bundle of joy, a salesman stopped me in my path and said, "Is that your daughter?" After I replied yes, he leaned in for a closer look and said, "Really?".  It would have been an appropriate time for Lulu to reach out and pull his hair or pinch his nose, but she just sat there and smiled. Maybe she saves the pain for those she loves, or maybe she just pitied the man. I was too speechless to react and just stammered, "uh..yeah".

Thankfully the majority of people are lovely and accepting. And, I have noticed that if Lulu is with me I can get away with all sorts of things. I can push to the front of  a ticket line, I can take 30 items through a 15 item express lane at the grocery store, I can even get away with lots of crying in public places (both Lulu and I) without any dirty looks. I just hold Lulu up in front of me like a trophy and most people smile and give me a break. I even rolled down my back car window the other day to show the person that I had honked at a view of Lulu's cute face. Their frown turned upside down and we were all happy.  Next up is robbing a bank -- baby needs a new pair of shoes!

As time goes by...

Lulu is such a happy little girl. But, also a loud little girl. I can't believe she has only been with us a few months as she seems such a big part of our family. She no longer walks anywhere -- she runs full tilt. She always has a few cuts and bruises from the inevitable falls, but I am amazed at how agile she is. I think Perrin was just learning to walk at this age!

She spends HOURS on the slide Kristie gave us. At first it was just learning how to climb the ladder and go down. It has evolved in to balancing on her tip toes at the top and attempting to walk straight down the steep incline. It is hard to watch, and she does fall a lot, but she keeps trying.  At the playgrounds, slides are always her favorite. She will take off at a run and I have to sprint to catch her before she attempts to climb up backwards. I do so much running after her these days that I always wear an exercise bra and sneakers. She wears me out!

Lulu and Perrin have become much closer. She loves to sneak up behind him and climb on his back. The two of them spend a lot of time playing ball and laughing together. I had to tell both Neal and Perrin to use 'real' words and appropriate body motions with Lulu. They spend so much time joking around with her using silly words and patting their bellies that I am starting to worry it could impact her development! She does have a fabulous laugh...

Lulu seems to love most food other than yogurt. She is a fantastic vegetable and fruit eater and may be the only person in the house that truly enjoys kale. I know it might not last, but in the meantime I am having fun stuffing as many vegetables in to her as I can. She especially loves warm tomato based soups. It reminds us of when we were in China at a small local restaurant with Zhou-Feng and Hong Bin. They had ordered tomato fish soup and it was one of the first real foods we gave Lulu. I was overjoyed that she ate most of my portion.

We are working on words, and while Lulu seems to understand quite a bit ('put the ball on the slide', 'can you bring me a book?' and 'put the baby in the stroller"), she isn't saying much. I think I heard her say, "in" one afternoon while we were practicing putting cough drops back in their box. And she says some type of "Hello" with a wave to strangers who don't immediately coo at her. I am not worried as she seems to be coming along very well. She occasionally will repeat a phase immediately after I say it, but not again. Most recently it was, "F**k it!" right after I banged my head really hard. It was clear as day coming out of her mouth, but luckily never again repeated.

All in all she is a joy and fills our hearts and makes us laugh on a daily basis. But, man am I tired at the end of the day!