Meet "Boof"

     Every child needs some sort of comforting device at bedtime or during times of duress. For my boys, it was the "bubbies", or breastfeeding, that got them to sleep at night, and started their day. It was a comfort to them when they fell, or needed some toddler support. It lasted quite awhile longer than we figured, but I was OK with it. As a result, neither of them ever had a soother or sucked their thumb. Nor did they have a Boof.


     I had high hopes of getting Evie on the breast too. When we first came home from China, I had started pumping to get a milk supply going again (colostrum in 4 days!), but found it too difficult to adhere to an every 3 hour pumping schedule and I gave up the idea, albeit reluctantly.

     I did feed her once or twice with the supplemental feeder, where a tube is taped to the breast, and the baby feeds at your breast from a nipple shield, however that whole system is for the younger mother with better eyesight to deal with the tiny tubes and small parts! I wished Bob had been handy to take a picture...I’d like to have evidence that I did try.

     But where this leads to is the Boof. Evie has always had some sort of blanket or cloth to rub against her bottom lip, as an aid to falling asleep. We noticed this right away on Adoption Day, while we were waiting to do paperwork etc. She’d obviously had a long day and was tired. Bob was holding her and she started to make cute suckling motions with her lips, rubbing against his shirt.

     After that, I always tried to have a receiving blanket handy for her to rub her lip against, and then it turned into using the Taggy Blanket that I’d been given. It is simply a small cotton blanket with ribbon tags sewn around the edge.  Some smart person saw how some children like sucking on the tags of toys, so they came up with this.  We used to refer to it as Taggy, then started calling it Boof, which was Evie’s version.

 

The first pic I have of Boof, on the pillow by my head.

Evie was still in a crib prior to the Boof.  Nice to have company one day when Sean came to visit!

     Boof is now a constant at bedtime, and sometimes during the day too. Always Boof is with us on a longer car trip. Evie sits contentedly sucking at a tag until it is soggy, then moves along to the next one. Just about every day there is a mad scramble at bedtime to find Boof, as she has invariably removed it from it’s home in the bed, and has taken it to another part of the house. Auntie Ingrid gave us an alternate Boof, but it won’t do, no no no.

    Boof is probably going to turn into one of those worn pieces of cloth that she will get attached to till she’s way past the age where it’s acceptable, and I’ve resigned myself to that. She has started taking a couple of stuffed animals to bed, so maybe the attachment will transfer, I don’t know. I don’t have experience in this...my father used to remove any stuffed animal or doll I took to bed with me, hiding them so I wouldn’t get attached! (Bob says that explains a lot...)  This response, because he’d seen my cousin get totally attached to....(wait for it).. a scrap of cloth! 

     That whirring sound you hear is my father spinning in his grave....

     Meanwhile, Evie just keeps sucking away on her tags.

Pretty in Pink

Below a ways are pictures of a beautiful outfit that was given to us by a former classmate of mine.

Chun studied Shiatsu with me, and we have remained in touch since then.  He is an incredible example of how we should all age, with his positive attitude towards nutrition and exercise.  He is 80, and swims every day to keep fit.  He still works most days a week in his Shiatsu/Acupuncture practice.  He was very interested in our adoption process, he himself having been born and lived in China.

Doesn't he look amazing?  This is an older pic, taken in August of 2009, prior to going on our China journey.  His lovely wife Luiyi is with us in the picture.

So we took Evie for a visit.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that, I had forgotten my camera in the car, and Skyler has since lost his iPod (see past postings regarding the loss of brain cells in adolescents) which he had taken some pictures with on that day.

But I do have pictures of the lovely outfit that Chun and his wife gave Evie.  Chun had previously asked what her favorite colour is, and of course this is the answer!  She loves Pink!  It's not my fave colour, but it does look sweet on her, and she is thrilled to wear it.  (She is the one who decided to put it on this morning, prompting this post).

As Sky always says to her, "Pretty like a Princess!"

(Yes Lola, you too...)

Evie's Playtime

Our girl enjoys many different things to play with.  Having big brothers, some of their toys they've outgrown are great fun for her.  Lately, she has discovered Playdoh, and the Playdoh Dentist set.

Lots of fun!  We make teeth together.  The original kit came with both white and silver Playdoh, but we suffice with yellow, and blue, and whatever colour is handy (and do a little colour naming practice as we go), and she really enjoys herself.  Sometimes I get a little computer time out of the deal too, since she plays with this in the old kitchen, right beside the computer desk.

She also loves to make "noodles" and pizza from the other bits of Playdoh carving paranephalia (I know that is spelled wrong but I'm having a slow brain day today).  My only problem is that she tends to wander off with the Playdoh, or leaves all the pots unattended and they harden if I'm not on it quickly!

Another favorite pastime is to play with uncooked rice in the kitchen.  This is a favorite of mine too, as it keeps her busy for a bit so I can cook or tidy up.  Trouble is, of late, she is getting more adventuresome with the rice, and it requires a fair bit of clean-up on it's own!

I used to have a rice box for the boys and it worked well with Skyler, but not so well with Sean, who preferred dumping the rice outside the box and creating a total mess!

She seems to be doing rather well making her own little mess....

Sharing the Dolly

Evie with my old baby dolly.  She's holding up well, for a 42 year old babe.

Back in the good old days, when she was first new and had that 1960's-Christmas-morning plastic smell.  Mmm.  I think I called her Jean, not because I liked the name, but because her face reminded me of someone I knew named Jean.

Just a note on the jammies...looks like they were hand-me-downs from some brother of mine, because I don't recall clamouring for football themed nightwear...

Evie in Morning Slumber

 I have opportunity most mornings for about ½ an hour to myself, between Skyler leaving for school and Sean’s waking up. Evie usually sleeps until at least then, but a lot of mornings she reaches out for me in her half-awake state during this half hour. Of course I’m not there, and then she wails. Usually I have the monitor on, and can hear her, interrupt whatever book or newspaper reading or leg shaving activity I’m involved in, and go to her. Some mornings, nasty mother that I am, I’ve forgotten to turn on the monitor and find her a sobbing mess when I realize I have left the invisible cord between us (broken) and go to check on her.

Today I had the time to snuggle in with her after hearing her first waking. She stops crying immediately as I get into bed, and tucks her little feet up against my legs, and drifts back into slumber, sucking on her taggy blanket, or Boof, as she calls it. I watch her go into REM sleep, eyes flicking back and forth, mouth twitching into grins, hands making slight movements, and it is a wonder. I love looking at her in sleep, her face relaxed, smooth and beautiful, I drink in the sight of this amazing little girl who has enriched our lives.

I wonder what features she carries from her birth mother, birth father, and other blood relatives. I realize that her birth parents must be a fair bit younger than me, that her Chinese grandparents would probably be the age of her Canadian and forever Daddy. Thoughts drift to them quite often, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get any answers to these internal questions, nor if Evie will ever be interested in knowing either. Right now it doesn’t matter; what does is that my girl is safe and warm and protected and oh so loved, and that she feels secure in that.

But part of being an adoptive parent to a child of unknown parentage is the detective work, if one chooses to do it. I am trying to piece together as much as I can for her, should she ever ask for it. And I am trying to do it while the info is still relatively fresh, the fear being that the Social Welfare Institute might move or destroy records.

Last summer, I had some research done by a Chinese lady who does this as a business, and recently I hired another researcher (along with a group of adoptive parents) to do further inquiry. Granted, there isn’t much there to work with, but even pictures of Evie’s finding spot, and perhaps a discussion with her finding person, would be of interest. I stress that any info that is found is there for Evie if she wants it and is not necessarily something I would push on her. Nonetheless I feel driven to find out what I can.
Such is the life of the adoptive parent of a baby girl from China.

But oh my, in the meantime, she slumbers peacefully...

My Girl the Fashion Plate

Evie loves her clothes.  She loves to put them on, take them off, take them out of the drawers, put them in the laundry (whether they need it or not), take them out of the laundry, stops in stores to peruse things on hangers, takes things off hangers, puts clothes in the shopping cart (which Mummy sometimes has to sneak back onto the racks), has a grand old time dressing up and looking in the mirror!  Or just posing for me!

I love the little shoes with this outfit, above....I didn't plan it that way, but the butterflies on the shoes match her dress perfectly!!



She got a gift recently of a beautiful LadyBug raincoat.  The ladybug is a good luck symbol in Chinese communities, and is therefore used a lot by parents adopting from China, as a theme on blogs and websites, etc.  It was very appropriate (thank you Karn!). 

Here, we're checking out the ladybug pocket...

                                               ...now let's get ready to try it on!

OK, not all the way on, but just enough to get the feel of it.

She's also pretty entertaining when you're shopping for lipsticks....she has to try just as many or more on her hand as I do....I didn't bring a camera along, so you'll have to use your imagination on that one!