1st Gotcha-versary!

One year already since Gotcha Day! Unbelievable how time with Tanje just flies so quickly! It's been a year of laughs, cries, giggles, growth, cheerful early mornings, exploring, trying tons of new things, learning to enjoy eating (and oh, does she ever - yippee!) and already a lot of chatting and even singing (yup!). Tanje already knew so much when we met her, and even so, she knows tons more now! She's become our little chatterbox, comedian, and best friend and big fan to her big sister. In a couple of weeks, she'll have spent half her life with us. We're so grateful she's here, and that she's the precious little girl she is : )

Princesses and Chipmunks

It's official - Tanje's 1st Hallowe'en was a raging success. She looked mystified by it all at the first house, but by the second, she was getting right in there, trying to shove aside Savannah and her friend Maddyx to get to the door and candies first! She dressed as a 'princesse' for daycare, then as a chipmunk (costume made by Maman) for the evening, and had tons of fun. Special thanks to Nanna who fed us and helped us get on our way!

I'm a Big Girl!

Happy birthday, little Tanje! You're getting to be a big girl -you even look a little older, somehow, and sweeter than ever! Tanje had not one but three separate birthday celebrations: one with just Grande Soeur, Papa and Maman, one with Tante Elaine, Grandpapa and Grandmama, and one with Vanessa, David, Oncle Mike, Tante Josee, Nanna and Poppa! Yippee! Lots of cake (an ice cream one, and a chocolate one as well as cupcakes, the latter 2 in a fall leaf theme), and some pretty thoughtful gifts, including a soft hand knit sweater from Grandmaman. Heartfelt thanks to all for celebrating this very special day for this very special, funny, energetic, chatty, playful little girl!

First Full Sentence!

It's finally happened! Tanje said her first full sentence! Unprompted, completely out of the blue, and not once, but twice (and again, when she saw how delighted Maman was)! We were having breakfast together, and all of a sudden, she yells out "Sassa, viens manger"! It shouldn't be a surprise, really, as she sure loves her Grande soeur! And Sass was thrilled to tell about it! Sweet!

Everything's Better When It's Done Outside!

Outdoor tea parties, swimming, camping, glamping, playground-hopping, picnicking, sandcastle building, puddle-jumping, wagoning, tumbling, biking, Tanje's done it all. And loves it!

And Tanje doesn't go anywhere overnight without her trusty 'Bébé ' (fear not - she has three at home and one at Garderie, and always at least one in the wash, as they're soggy from spending time in her mouth!).

Best all, the sunshine just loves Tanje, gently kissing her silken hair and making it shine!

From the Heart

Tanje's Viet Nam colourful scrapbooks are well on their way to being complete. There are three, plus at least one photo album. They are a work from the heart, representing hours of work and thought to what might be important to her later and what is important to us now and always. They're really a labour of love. They chronicle the journey we had to meet her (a very and unexpectedly bumpy one before our family's file ever got to Viet Nam), and the experiences we shared in coming together in the land of her birth. The pages strive to help Tanje and all who see them better appreciate her heritage, acknowledge her losses, celebrate her gains, and mark her life-changing journey. I'd been saving some really cute stickers over the last few years, before we even knew there would be a Tanje, and never really knowing when or where I'd used them, but wanting to apply them to a very special project. Now, we know: we'd saved them especially for Tanje! Looing forward to Tanje adding her own pages to this tribute to her!

Meanwhile, Tanje's continuing to grow, runs faster and faster, chats up a storm and climbs anything she can. She thoroughly enjoys her sister, her papa and maman (especially tackling us with Savannah's help when we play outside on the grass - they just find that hilarious, as do we) the library, her swings and slide, any playground we visit (lots), her cousins, her grandparents and matantes and mononcles, truck rides, and just being on the go. She's happy and thriving. Zoom!

Caught on Camera!

Aha! We finally caught Tanje's smile on camera! Not that she doesn't smile often: she does. She also giggles impishly when she figures she's pulled one over us. It's just that she doesn't like to stay in one spot for very long, and by the time the camera focuses, she's outta there! This time, she actually sat for a few minutes, and when I asked for a smile, there it was! Brilliant!

Tanje sure enjoyed getting a ride from Savannah, and jumping in and out of the car a zillion times - good thing it's just her height. Thanks Grandpapa for fixing it!

Tanje's continuing to use tons more words, climbs the steps to her slide (and slides down like a little fearless daredevil), and totally loves to imitate her big sister. She saw her first sunfish today, and laughed and laughed when we let her touch it.

I'm #1!

Yeah!

Here I am, practising `clicking` my lifejacket. Houdini has nothing on moi!

One happy `glamper`

 Two happy `glampers`! Thanks Chartrands and Morrises for a nice long weekend together! Tanje`s counting the weeks `til next time!

Still Runnin'

Tanje's still as active as ever, and now, she's starting to 'jargon' a storm. She's also using quite a few words, including 'lait, bebe, poupou, en haut, en bas, encore (pronouncing it 'enta' - so cute!), debarquer, dehors, maman (still calls many adults this, but getting specific more often), papa (although she still also calls him maman, but has started calling him papa spontaneously more and more often), d'autre, dada (for Savannah, although recently she occasionally uses 3 syllables to refer to her), oreille, main, pied, nez, and tete.

Tanje absolutely loves going outside, taking wagon rides, running, playing ball, climbing stairs, playing in her playhouse, and now, going for car rides (must be the DVD player!). She is a big fan of her big sister, knocking on her door and calling her in the morning, and imitating her moves.

A Going Concern

Tanje just never stops moving, except to crash out at bedtime (phew!).
She has 2 speeds: stop, and go go go! I thought Maman was just being a wuss, but even the daycare staff say she's a going concern, non-stop. No wonder I'm fried by 2030 every night!

First full day at daycare, and first pigtails! So cute! Tanje adapted quite well, and made quite an impression with her smarts, and her right away seeming to catch onto and follow the routine e.g. washing her hands, lining up behind big sister Sass to get her hair done...

Baptism

Tanje was baptized at St Thomas d'Aquin by Pere Jean-Marc Raymond (as was Savannah) on January 23rd. She didn't cry until we tried to hand her to Franco, her Godfather. Hmmm! She seemed fine with Godmother Joanne though. Vanessa read beautifully, and David kept Savannah entertained. We shared the day with cousin Michel LeBeau, who was baptized as well.

Then, we all went to Terrace Suites for a delicious celebratory breakfast. We celebrated the double baptism, but also, 2 birthdays: Savannah's, who turned 3 the same week, and Tanje's, to coincide with Tet, Vietnamese New Year, which falls on February 3rd this year, and is the traditional time when birthdays are celebrated, no matter what the date of birth, which is good news for us, as we got to celebrate Tanje's first birthday after all! Tanje loved the beautiful cupcakes Tante Josee so caringly made for her, and so did we!

Our Growing Girl

Tanje loves to imitate big sister Savannah. Here she is with a tweeny-looking headband.

Hmm...Wonder what the future holds...

Tanje's doing amazingly well. She's made some big strides. She eats like a one year old should (not the picky kind, more the eating machine kind; picky comes later). Yesterday, I caught her running - fast. Yikes! And her babbling suddenly has gotten much more complex: she repeats up to 3 syllables surprisingly intelligibly e.g. 'boire du lait' which is definitely her favourite. Can't wait for her to talk! She uses sign language to tell us she wants milk, food, or more of something. That's a big help - the guessing was hard on us and more so on her. She goes for a nearly daily sleigh ride, and is quite alright once she gets through the dressing-me-for-outside-in-the-dreaded-snowsuit routine. This gem from the tropics will become a Northern girl yet! And the best of all? Seeing her dance and giggle with Savannah. Oh the mischief they'll create together! Look out, World!

1 Month Since Gotcha!

A month already since Gotcha Day. What's Tanje achieved? Lots! Formula change, eating a variety of solids, gaining 1 1/2 pounds, understanding 'non' (and wagging her finger as she says it - gee, wonder who taught her that!), saying and signing 'lait', saying 'maman', enjoying brushing her teeth, running away from papa, sleeping alone in a crib (and dark room), running, clapping when asked, dodging her big sister, enduring her snowsuit, enjoying stroller rides (not at first though!), playing peekaboo, and getting into absolutely everything that isn't tied down. Quite a character!

Winter Wonder

Ahhhhhh!

They both slept last night!!!!! yippee! We feel human again! Took Savannah swimming and to the library and forced her to walk outside and play (wah wah!) and that got her back on track (ok, ok, i'll admit it: Gravol was the key). Tanje on the other hand turned around all by herself! Good girl!

Savannah's getting a little possessive of her sister: we were at the mall today, and she would get right near her and pat her cheek if anyone else got close. And she seemed genuinely afraid that we'd leave her with Anna and Joce when we visited today, asking twice, with a very worried look, to make sure that Tanje came with us. Tanje continues to be a happy little person. It's amazing how well she's adapting, trying out new foods, now completely on Canadian formula (phew! thought we'd have a situation here, as the Dialac she was on is only available in Viet Nam, or through some shady Australian distributor I found online). After one of the toughest weeks ever, we're on track, or at least getting there nicely. Thanks to all for your positive words, Sue, Mom, Dad, Jo, Joanne, Julie, Debbie. And to Nanna Carolyn and Joanne for the delicious meals. And Vee for the nice welcome home Tanje sign. Soooooo appreciated. Will definitely return your kindness, y'all!

 Beautiful cake from talented Tante Josee

 Sleeping buddies.

 Best cousin pals: Vee, DaNoMo and the girlz

Proud Grandpapa

Jet Lagged Toddlers Not Fun

Note the time of this blog entry: 0500. Have been up since 0200 with 2 toddlers who think day is night and night is day, for the 3rd night. Guess whose naps will be curtailed today?! Will add some photos of happy toddlers as soon as available : )

Glorious Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay is truly a Viet Nam treasure! We had such a nice trip, and it's as beautiful as we'd hoped. Amazing! The Halong Jasmine ship was just beautiful. Decorated in 1930's Indochine style, it had dark coloured wood furniture and trimmings, and some beautiful asian statues of deer, a drum, a dragon, amongst others. Our cabin was walled and ceilinged with bamboo panels, and the bathroom had a marble shower, a beautiful 'bowl' sink and granite countertop. We had wall to wall windows, one of which we could open, so it wasn't too bad to have to stay in the room while the girlz napped. The ride to there was hell though: took 4 hours (minus a 15 minute stop) to get there, despite it being less than a 200km drive. Savannah was a bit carsick, which made it worse. Gravol helped, but then she had the post-gravol grouchies the rest of the day.

The meals on the ship were beautifully presented and probably delicious, if you like seafood. Judging by the ouhs and ahs at our table, they were a hit. There were plenty of deck chairs for viewing the rocky splendour of the bay. And the waters were almost glassy, so no chance of seasickness! whew! When the boat stopped to overnight in a bay, we counted 11 other cruise ships in the vicinity. Because of the sharpness of the karst (rocks, just using a fancier word), there is little possiblity of building or living on these. But people do live on Ha Long bay, right on their boats! There are whole fishing villages out there. I counted at least 20 floating homes in one area, interconnected with ganplanks. There was even a floating bank! Wonder if they keep bankers' hours?

We visited the "Surprise" caves. Wow! We had to climb up and down, up and down some stone steps, both outside and within the caves. The main cave could hold hundreds of people, and it adjoined to a number of other large caves. Surprise is an apt name, as around every corner we were suprised by how many more caverns there were (it just went on and on!). At the top, where the cave opens to outside, we got a breathtaking view of the bay. We'd recommend the Ha Long Bay experience to anyone who's looking for scenery that's out of this world, and a nice piece of 'junk' to sail upon! http://vietnam.exotissimo.com/luxury/tours/cruise-halong-bay-by-luxury-junk/

We're excitedly preparing to head home. Oh, the packing! : )