I've done my share of observing children, and their interests. I've had my hand in raising 3 step children with my ex-husband, and raised my own son who's now 24 years old. They've all shown interest and talent in certain activities, and done quite well at them.

And by the second day we were in China with Cady, we knew from her movements and her grace, and her body form that gymnastics was something she would grab onto and never want to let go of.

I took her to her second gymnastics session today, and she was like a thoroughbred biting at the bit to get out of the gate. She sat there, attentively, and watched the teacher jump on the trampoline then summersault off the mat, and walk backward on the balance beam. At least once every 30 seconds, Cady would jump up onto her hands, and squirms her feet around in the air while she waited her turn to copy the teacher. She is so precise in her mimicking that, with just a little practice, she "gets it".

She's cautious at first, but the second time around, she is extremely confident. With a little help, she was flipping over the lower uneven bar. And pulling herself up on the rings while her legs and feet came straight over a lower bar. And when she runs with her hands on her hips, she looks like she's ready to do a floor exercise.

The Tot's class is just to get them to feel comfortable with their large motor skills, and next it will be Kindertots.....same thing really, but more "fun" But when she turns 6, look out world! This Gymnastics place is fairly close to where we live, so as long as she shows interest, she will go there, and I'm going to be excited to see if she wants to compete as she gets older. Two of the girls at this place recently earned scholarships to an out of state University because of their ability to compete. Wouldn't be so bad.

And better late than never...
Here are some Easter pictures from last weekend

It was our "Gotcha Day"

What a magical day it was.
We were told by our guide the night before, that the girls would be brought in to a certain meeting room at the hotel, at 8 am sharp. So, of course, as expected, we all gathered that morning around 6 am, and after breakfast, we snuck around to that meeting room, hoping for the chance to see the girls brought in, and catch the nannies off guard. Of course that didn't happen. While we were being obviously inconspicuous, the guide came into the meeting room to tell us that they had arrived and were taken to the "real" meeting room.
When we walked in, there was our daughter, sitting in a nanny's lap and looking around. They took her jacket off of her, and called Mama forward. It was all so fast, but it was as if time stood still. All the times I had played that moment in my head, and replayed it. But, nothing I had imagined was as perfect as that moment.

This was the post that Scott made, just a few hours before we met her.

To our sweet Cady
03/19/06 13:41
There are times in my life when I feel an importance to do something. Often times I may not even know what it is that I am supposed to do, but I just have that urge to accomplish something. Right now is one of those times in which I feel the urgency to write this.

I need to leave this message right now.

Right now, it's 5:45 in the morning here in in the city of Hefei, in the province of Anhui, in the country of China.

Right now, Cady, you are probably awake, and someone is fussing with you to get you fed, changed, and happy. You have no idea what is about to happen to you, but I promise that it is something wonderful. It may not feel like immediately, but today you are beginning your new life. The life you were meant to have. The life you deserve.

Daddy is really nervous right now as he types this. He knows that he and Mommy will be saving all of these messages for you so that you can have them always, and you can see the joy that we have shared with our friends. He knows that this message is very important. As you grow, we will share these things together. You will get to see all of the wonderful wishes that everyone from all over the world have offered you. At this moment, people all over this world are happy for us for having you, and happy for you for having us. In about 3 hours, we will be together, and that will be forever.

I want you to know that this moment right now is the most important moment of my life. If we do our jobs right, by the time you are reading this, you will already know how I can tell you this even now before we have ever touched, held hands, or held on to each other "oh so tight".

I love you.
-Daddy
**********************************************************

It's now been two years since we've embarked on this journey with Cadence. We are still extremely grateful for the opportunity to love and cherish her, more than words can express. Not a day goes by that we do not feel blessed by God for the time we've been given, to share with her.

Below is a link to the first video we created, capturing Gotcha Day and all it's bliss. My heart still skips a few beats every time I watch it.

Our Gotcha Video

I hope you enjoy it too.

So as most regular readers already know, we've agreed on the name Melody for the next little girl to come in and brighten our family. This name seems to just fit so completely well, balancing our naming scheme to a Cadence and a Melody. It just fits, right? It's a lovely name, and will tie in well with our surname as well as a multitude of middle names we are likely to choose when we have baby girl number 2 in our arms.

It's all perfect, right?

Cady definitely has taken well to the name, and it took very little time to get her used to it, including only a little bit of work in getting the "L" pronounced just right. Not a day goes by without Cady making a picture, writing a letter, or at least mentioning something about going to get Melody, or how she will take care of her sister and share things, and so on.

It's a beautiful sentiment, and I am confident that Melody will be truly loved by her big sister when she arrives. We worry about the time frame a little, and that poor Cady just doesn't grasp the amount of time we will be waiting until that magical day we can all have Melody in our home. She's resilient though, and we always let her know that it will still be some time until we get to go to China for her sister.

No, what troubles me more, is that, no matter how hard we let Cady know that her sister will be Chinese like she is, Cady just might have a different viewpoint on what her sister will be like.

From a recent conversation:

Cady: We have to go to Eiffel Tower to get Melody's ticket so we can go to China to get her!
(Now, I know exactly what she's talking about, having watched Little Einsteins with Cady for many many hours)
Daddy: Cady, you do know that Melody from Little Einsteins was a music pet, and not a sister, right?
Cady: My sister Melody will be purple
Daddy: No, Honey. Your little sister Melody will be a little girl, just like you.
Cady: No! My sister Melody will be purple!

So Cady is very smart, and has on many occasions teased me by making me think that her version of reality differs from my own. These situations usually reveal themselves when she can no longer hold her story straight, and she makes that mischievous grin, revealing that she really did know reality, but just wanted to take me on a trip of the alternate possibilities.

So in this case, I wonder if she is just occasionally having her fun with me, or if she really thinks her new little sister will be..

Click either picture or this link for full animated goodness


......A music pet.

Update: I was curious after this posting how Cady would run this same conversation a second time. She did not disappoint.

HA!
Who says you have to wait till summer for swimming lessons? Whatever!

Why wait when you have a built-in swimming pool in your own bathroom?
A pair of goggles...A few diving toys, and
.........VIOLA!



Swimming101