Double Happiness

The Pooping Kitty Candy Dispenser (no kidding)

I was shopping at Michael's while the girls were at preschool this morning and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this "Tricky Kitty" pooping candy dispenser. I knew my son would love it and couldn't wait to show it to my daughters (who I believed would be rightfully skeptical). Here's their reaction when they first saw where the candies were coming from.
Maddy must have reasoned that the candy was still candy (since the kitty was just a toy) but Gwen was having absolutely nothing to do with it.

I'm proud of Maddy for her courage and Gwen for erring on the side of caution when it comes to eating poop!

Happy Birthday Gwenny!

Gwen's 2nd birthday is this Sunday (June 25th). But, since there was family visiting for Michael's graduation last weekend, we decided to have her birthday party a week early.

Here are the pictures. But first, a few stats:

At 24 months, Gwen weighs 25.5 pounds
--90th percentile on the Chinese charts
--38th percentile on the US charts

At 24 months, Gwen is 33.25 inches tall
--75th percentile on the Chinese charts
--43rd percentile on the US charts

	She's two!
	We had a really fun birthday celebration for her. First, there was the pool party with her best friend, Benjamin. You might remember him from this jumping on the bed video.
	Lots of splashing and slipping and throwing water everywhere! Lots of smiles!
	Then there was some cake. There's no reason to get your hands messy when you can so easily just put your face right in your plate!
	Mmmmm! Yellow confetti cake with vanilla confetti frosting! A party can never have too much confetti!
	Yummmmmy!
	Then presents! Gwen gets a little help with unwrapping from her pal, Benjamin. She calls him "B!" (strangly enough, she also says "D!" instead of "down". Does this mean she'll be an early speller?

Videos from Gwen's birthday weekend!

Click the title -----> to see a cute music video of Gwenny lovin' her kitty cat! (duration: 2:07)
Click the title -----> to see a cute music video of Gwen jumping on her trampoline! (duration 2:16)

Jump!

Gwendolyn (22 months) & Benjamin (28 months)
Click here to see a cute 1 minute video of these two little jumping monkies

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(I made this collage with FotoFusion by Lumapix.)

Monday: Gotcha Day!

Click below to view our Gotcha Day Video!

	Today was GOTCHA day. We're exhausted so we'll post some pictures now and then try to get some sleep (baby is sleeping now) and flesh out the details for you tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures! The first picture is the very moment we saw Gwen. She's being carried to us -- about 10 feet away. I tried not to cry but it was no use. She was pretty scared and cried immediately after being handed to us.
	The Director of the Shenzhen Social Welfare Institute is standing with us.
	After a bottle, Gwen fell into a deep sleep and slept all the way through the bus trip back to the hotel. When she woke up, she was very cheerful and didn't cry again until bedtime. She's so incredibly precious. Our heart sang when she finally smiled at us. She's smiled a million times since then. We are so happy to have our baby girl!
	Gwen loves her Daddy! Her first smile was for him. Aren't they beautiful! I'm so happy --- and sooooo tired!

Until tomorrow....