Christmakuh 2005

Ileana, Sophie and I celebrated our holiday with a gift exchange on Thursday morning. Sophie is now officially a couch potato and has perfected her slouch on a new overstuffed chair. She now “holds court” each evening in this position and we bring her food, drink and toys. She is trying to figure out how to get Princess to join her but I doubt that will ever happen.

The holidays would not be complete without our annual trip to Syracuse to spend time with the Paynes. Sophie did pretty well on the drive and with the marathon meet and greet at various family households. She met her two great grandmothers and also got to meet her grandfather (seen here with both Sophie and cousin Lauren in his lap). She took to everyone very well and particularly loves all of her cousins.

One of the things that fascinated Sophie on our trip was the stairs. We live in a flat so her only previous experience with stairs was on the outside of the house. We first saw Sophie’s fascination with stairs a few weeks ago while visiting friends here in Chicago. This hardly prepared us for what it would be like staying with people with open staircases. She was very bold and walked up, down, and up, over and over again. Needless to say, by the end of the night there were makeshift barricades in that area of the home.

While on our short vacation, we also learned one of the advantages of our camera. My brother John pointed out to me that since our view screen swivels, we can take very clear pictures of ourselves. Imagine how Ileana and I felt as we are now plagued with about a hundred off-centered pictures of us in various locations in China. Morons. Hint to anyone about to travel: get to know your camera and video equipment prior to going to on a big trip.

The highlight of our Christmakuh celebration was when Sophie and cousin Ryan lit the menorah. It was only the first night of Chanukah but since we wouldn’t be in Syracuse for the remaining seven nights, we decided to light all of the candles. Ryan, age five (he is "so not four"), has been egging his parents to let him convert for over a year now. Since Christmas and Chanukah coincide this year, Sophie’s Aunt Lisa relented and finally bought a menorah.

All in all, it was a nice holiday. Sophie got lots of big plastic crap to litter the rooms of our house with. Hell, I only stayed up until 11:30pm last night unloading it from the car. I know I need some exercise but 8 trips up and down three flights of stairs in the middle of the night isn’t quite what I would have chosen for a work out. I am sure Sophie loves every last piece of that stuff and all of the beeping and bopping noises it all makes. Perhaps one day she will thank me for all that hard work.

Sophie's First Blog

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O.K. I know that was ridiculous but she was driving me nuts as I tried to type. I added the cute pic so that it wasn't completely useless. Hope you enjoyed it.












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Pre-Christmas Blog

Before I blog about our Christmakuh in Syracuse, I had to add another link to our site. We typically arrive back in Chicago in the evening and after a long drive, there is nothing more soothing than listening to Delilah. For those of you that don't know her, you must find her on your local station and give her a listen. If you do not get her on a local station, then you must move to a city that airs her - immediately!!! She always knows what to say... ...and what song to play for any occasion. Her show is sickeningly sweet and has enough mentions of God that after listening there is no need for weekly mass. Judging from what I see on the adoption groups, I am sure that this show is a prerequisite for all adoptive parents. If you have a sick sense of humor like myself, I am sure you will find that this is entertainment in it's purest form.

Recovered from Thanksgiving

Sophie has officially recovered from Thanksgiving. We finally got her to eat some turkey by making it into enchiladas with plenty of garlic and cilantro and chipotle cream sauce. She was a trip and enjoyed every bite. She even ate some on her own off the "big persons" fork. She followed up her meal with alternating bites of mandarin oranges and pumpkin pie. She'll be in daycare tomorrow so hopefully they can deal with whatever appears in the diaper. Sophie also introduced us to her new camera smile. No, she is not squinting because of the flash, this is her new camera face when we ask her to pose for a picture. She finished her evening with a book and is now running laps around the apartment. Enjoy the pics.

Sophie's First Thanksgiving - Chapter 4 - The Big Day

Thanksgiving Day was very hectic and so was the day after. Is there any wonder why I am finally updating the blog two days later? Everyone seemed to have a good time and the food was enjoyed by all…except Sophie. The girl that never met a noodle or hunk of meat she didn’t like was not very enthusiastic about putting her eating habits on display for the whole family. She has gone the last three nights without eating and I don’t think it is because she doesn’t like turkey.

We tried to have a somewhat formal dinner this year (what a joke with four babies). We started with a course of rustic tomato soup with tomatoes and herbs from our garden followed by a course of grilled artichokes and aioli. Sophie was not impressed. When we brought out the remaining 8 dishes, she still showed no signs of relenting. I think next year we may have to save the macaroni and cheese for Thanksgiving night!

Regardless of her eating, Sophie seemed to enjoy everything else about the holiday. She spent the past few days following her big cousin Claire around the house, in and out of the laundry basket, and even had a quick romp on the inflatable mattress.

Friday was our annual Christmas / Hanukah celebration. We decorated the tree. Claire was very helpful at decorating the lower branches and Sophie was just as helpful at removing the decorations – I don’t think there will be too many photos of the bottom 3’ of the tree this year as it looks a little pitiful. The lights and ornaments enthrall Sophie – I think she sees the tree as the largest toy in the world.

It was a beautiful night as Chicago received 2” of snow cover. The kids went crazy over all of their presents. The evening was capped with the adult gift exchange. This exchange used to be called the “Chinese Gift Exchange” but now that all of the Yahoo adoption groups have made us more sensitive, we call it the “grab bag” (folks from the adoption community can insert your comments here). Andy chose the highest number, AGAIN, so he had the last pick of gifts. I don’t want to go into too much about Andy’s personality on the blog (someone could write a thesis) but let’s just say that it took a little wind out of everyone’s sails when he announced his number. He ended up with a cool Nano (just look at him, as happy as a pig in shit). Everyone else ended up with nice gifts as well. Chris Anderson really made out with that awesome oversize peppermill – if you knew culinarily challenged Chris, you would find this very funny.

On Saturday we took the family downtown to take in some of Chicago’s holiday traditions. We met Carin, Chris, Joshua and Crazy Nana at the Palmer House. We all posed for some photos by the amazing tree in the lobby. Afterwards, we went to Marshall Field’s and saw the holiday windows and Great Tree and then went to Daley Plaza to see Chicago’s tree, trains, and German Christmas Village. Sophie had a ball and was in a particularly good mood all day long. The downtown sojourn was met with mixed reviews by the rest of the folks but all in all it was a beautiful day and a nice end to the holiday.

Sophie's First Thanksgiving - Chapter 3 - The Sophie & Josh Love Fest

Dinner at our house tonight was something else. Ileana made a fantastic macaroni and cheese. Sophie was all over it. Or, better yet, it was all over her. Josh did not seem as impressed. I guess he hasn't heard of the mystical powers of macaroni and cheese.

Sophie and Joshua got to know each other a little better tonight. There was only a fraction of the crying we experienced last night at the Berghoff. Let's hope that this pattern holds true even after Claire and Ryan arrive!

By far the highlight of the evening when Sophie became exceptionally affectionate with Josh. It didn't look like Josh wanted to reciprocate but it is nice to know that they are at least getting along. It is nice to get photos like these to prove to Sophie when she is older how much she loved her cousin (the secondary bonus is that this photo also proves that Carin really is a vampire).

We started all of our cooking tonight and sicne the weather is good and cold, we are using the back porch as a refrigerator. Let's hope that no one catches wind of it and walks off with our Thanksgiving dinner!

Sophie's First Thanksgiving - Chapter 2 - Meeting Joshua

When Sophie and Joshua met, it was quite a moment. We decided to make the Berghoff, a huge German restaurant in downtown Chicago, the place to meet. Carin, Chris & Josh arrived today by plane from Florida and are staying downtown so we thought the Berghoff would be perfect. The fact that it is usually loud and crowded was just an added bonus!

The evening started with Josh crying because he was tired from the flight. Both Josh’s and Sophie’s crying marked the middle of the meal. The meal ended with Sophie and Josh crying and various chunks of food being thrown about the restaurant. All in all we had a nice time. Josh didn’t seem too interested in his new cousin but Sophie was fascinated and tried very hard to get a grab at Josh’s face.

I got a great photo of Crazy Nana chewing her venison but she swore she would never come back to Chicago if I posted it here. So, in order to keep Mayor Daley happy and to keep those lucrative tourist dollars flowing that Crazy Nana brings with her to Chicago, I decided against the post (I guess I’ll have to save the picture in case Crazy Nana ever gets on my bad side).

The only thing that seemed to placate Sophie at the end of the meal was when she got hold of my credit card. I assume this is a forecast of things to come as when I snatched it from her hand, she gave me a pouty look and threw a fit.

Andy and Libby arrive tomorrow with Ryan and Claire. Double the kids mean double the fun, I am sure!

Sophie's First Thanksgiving - Chapter 1

Preface: Before you all start bitching and moaning about there being no baby photos, calm down. There will be plenty of photos over the next few days so don't get bent out of shape.

It's a busy week. Thanksgiving is upon us and the entire Pollack clan will be spending the holiday in Chicago. I am sure that it will be filled with a lot of fun and insanity so I figure I better blog away to keep everyone up to date with what is going on.

Aunt Lisa and Uncle John just left yesterday and a quick stay. They came in for the SU Notre Dame Game (I am not really sure you can call what happened on Saturday a game, but they seemed to have enjoyed themselves). Sophie loves meeting new family members but has not been in such a good mood since starting on some new teeth last week. She has been throwing fits for three days now and is pretty miserable. If we can only teach her that banging her head on the floor will not help her teeth.

Not long after Lisa and John left, Crazy Nana arrived (that's Grandma Pollack for those of you that don't know it). I think that this is the first that Crazy Nana has seen the other side of Sophie's personality. She says that what we believe are tantrums are not tantrums at all and that Sophie is just tired. If this is how it is going to be, I hope to hell she catches up on her sleep because I can't take much more of Sophie being "tired".

Ileana and I went to work and Sophie is at day care today while Crazy Nana stayed at home to begin making pies. When I left this morning, Ileana was teaching her how to use the Kitchen Aid. I am sure there will be a story because of that situation but I guess we'll have to wait to find out what it is.

Uncle Chris, Aunt Carin, and cousin Joshua arrive tomorrow. I am sure the Mai Tais will begin to flow and things should get interesting. To be continued....

-Chris

Happy Halloween?

Before I get to the ridiculousness surrounding Halloween, I had to include a pic and a few words about Sophie’s latest love. No, it’s not me or her mommy and though Princess is very interesting, she certainly doesn’t bring the pleasure of her latest love… …macaroni and cheese. Sophie was introduced to this delicacy months ago but it is only recently that she has come to understand the magic that cheese produces. She eats it, uses it as a skin moisturizer, and most importantly, as a hair mousse. I included some pictures of Sophie in the outfit that her Aunt Kelley bought her to help give a balanced perspective of how adorable Sophie can be (as if we needed more evidence than has already been posted to date).

This was Sophie’s first Halloween and whether she liked it or not, we took her to the pumpkin farm and dressed her up and carted her around the neighborhood. If you ask me, she was not really into it. She slept all her way to the farm. If it weren’t for the farm animals or her stuffed puppy, she would have been completely bored. Trick or Treating was not much different. We went to two houses and Sophie fell asleep on Ileana’s arm as we were rounding the block.

There was one aspect of the holiday that Sophie was fascinated with – pumpkin carving. She pushed her hands into the pumpkin guts and played with the seeds. She also took the bits of carved pumpkins and chewed on them. She also seems to be learning well from her sorting toy as she inserted blocks and action figures into the eyes, nose, and mouth of the carved pumpkin.

All in all it was a nice Halloween. It is a little rainy outside and Sophie is now enjoying pizza with the mommy and Aunt Kelley. Hope you enjoy the pics.

-Chris

Where does the time go?

I have to admit, I have been a little lax in my responsibilities as a blogger. Fatherhood is a lot of fun but it takes up quite a bit of time. Hopefully it will be worth it and Sophie won’t grow up to be a pothead or the Unabomber or anything like that.

This week, I am trying to catch up with what we did last week. Until her high school graduation, I have a feeling that this is how it is going to be. Sophie had a very interesting week this week. We saw a dramatic shift in her personality. Last Friday night she began exhibiting a new behavior: wining. This is very different from the polar personality that we have experienced so far. She is usually happy and full of smiles. When she is not happy, she is screaming at the top of her lungs. Last weekend, we were treated to a lot of wining and screaming - no happiness. To add to the enjoyment, she freaked out her mother by not her eating. Given Sophie's eating habits, this must have been very hard on her.

I am happy to say that after a week she has mellowed some but we are left with some of the residual wining. The only things that saved us last week were the stuffed puppy (thanks Todd & Tracy!) she won’t let out of her sight and some “holistic” teething tablets (I swear these suckers must be laced with an illegal substance. I should begin passing them off on the irritable druggies I see on the train on the way to work.)

Somewhere within all this mess, we were able to attend dim sum with our group of Nov04DTC families (like the average person knows what this means) who all live in Chicago. We met earlier this year BEFORE we got our referrals and this was a reunion now that we are all home with the babies. We had a nice time and the food was very good (though Sophie was very miserable).

The event in Chinatown was capped by the ubiquitous “group photo”. You would think that the whole “red couch” experience would teach adoptive parents something about group photos (that they shouldn’t subject their children to them). I guess we are all just gluttons for punishment. I don’t know who started it but the minute there was one cry, this set of a chain reaction with the rest of the children. I actually caught the point where Sophie started to cry on film. It is actually kind of amusing to watch if you are disturbed like me.

I have to apologize as I didn’t have time for cutesy photoshops of Sophie as the Unabomber, nor did I photograph any of the derelicts that I ride the train with in order to better illustrate my story. Hopefully you will find it in your hearts to forgive a busy dad for posting only the photos of the dim sum brunch.

-Chris

A Guest Blog From Rhonda & Eric

Greetings from Chi-town. Rhonda, Lauren and I have had a wonderful weekend with Sophie, Chris & Ileana. The girls seemed to hit it off quite well. Sophie is just enthralled with Lauren and can’t go more than a half hour without touching Lauren and laughing. Too cute for words.

In our travels, we visited some of the historic Bungalos in Chicago. (We got to see how people decorate their homes when they have a little more money than we have ). We also saw some of the local sights like the John Hancock building, Michigan Avenue and Lincoln Park.

While in Lincoln Park we got to see a great conservatory and a wonderful little zoo where I was surprised with a very majestic looking lion. The girls were angels as we dragged them from place to place. The weather was a little cool both days, although Sunday was much sunnier than Saturday. Lauren even got a bit of a shiver as we were leaving the zoo. After a photo op in Lincoln Park with a gorgeous view of the city, we packed up the cars and headed to Gulliver’s.

Gulliver’s deserves its own little paragraph as the place was strewn with antique chandeliers, statues and art glass. Lauren was mesmerized by all the lights. Even other patrons of the restaurant were chuckling at how Lauren’s eyes were simply glued to the ceiling throughout the place.

In all, it seemed Lauren fell in love with Chicago and with Sophie, Uncle Chris & Aunt Ileana. I’m sure she can’t wait to come back, and neither can we. Thank you for having us, Chris & Ileana. We all had a wonderful time.

A Guest Blog from Grandma Payne

I arrived here late Friday night to a sleeping Sophie. She was just too tired to wait up for Grandma. Early Saturday morning I was awakened to her happy sounds. She is so precious and just amazes me with her every move. We started the day by visiting Daddy's latest project. A home he designed for a couple he knows. We toured the home, and Sophie just loved being part of the event. That evening Mommy and Daddy went on a much deserved outing (a dinner cruise with Ileana's company) and I babysat. We had dinner, played, read stories and sang. She is very attentive and just loves being read to. Bedtime was uneventful and I think I was a little worn out.

Sunday morning we got ready for Sophie's first birthday party. She looked adorable in her little pink dress and shoes. Alot of other children came (with their parents) and she just loved all the attention. She could have cared less about unwrapping her gifts, she just wanted to play with her new toys. She is especially fond of the walking toy that "Auntie" Kim gave her. She walks around the house with it as it sings the alphabet and she can stand and push it like a shopping cart. (good training for shopping with Grandma when you get older, Sophie!) Tonight we went to Sophie's favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner. She is alot like her father when it comes to food. Not much gets by her mouth! (she actually eats alot better than her father did at her age!) She didn't care for her birthday cake or ice cream - but adores watermelon! She can't get enough of it. She is getting tired now, so Daddy is giving her a bottle and she will soon be off to bed. I will be heading back to Syracuse tomorrow and have to leave my little one. But, Christmas won't be too far off and we can spend some time together again. It was great visiting with the kids and finally meeting my precious little granddaughter. I'm sure the next time I see her she will be walking.

Take care, my little Sophie - I will see you soon,
Love, Hugs and Kisses,
Grandma Payne