We are lucky that so many of the girs that Cleo grew up with in China all live relatively close and all the families we met and shared the experience of a lifetime with in China are still in constant contact.  So, even those that can't get together regularly always know what's going on!

This year we were able to get most of the girls together for a reunion on the weekend of Forever Family day and to celebrate one giant two year birthday party as they are all turning two within a month of each other....with Audrey leading the pack!

Here are some pics from the big day!

What a different world, what a different little girl.  All grown up and walking, talking, running and generally enjoying life.  We're all so lucky to have her with us....thank you CCAA!

I can’t believe that this is the last month we’ll be able to think of her as a one year old.  With Christmas just barely behind us her second birthday is looming large.  So are all the milestones that come along with it – our first Forever Family Day anniversary, our one year home milestone….wow, how the time has flown!  Last year at this time our entire focus was about packing, repacking and getting on that plane to China.

Cleo’s talking more and more now.  She’s connecting words and giving out orders – ha!  Charles is Daddy, I’m Mommy and the constant refrain around our house is “Bye, bye Mommy”, “Hi there Mommy” or “Daddy down!”  (picked up after spending a day at her Nana and Papa’s house where their dogs were constantly being told to get down)...she uses the hand gestures too – ha!

She’s so much fun!  She’s babbling and picking up new words every day.  She loves to dance and will ‘sing songs in her head’.  We’ll just randomly see her sitting and humming to herself wit her head bopping away, which is just too much fun.  Her first Christmas was quite the adventure.  I can safely say that she had the most fun ripping the wrapping paper off the gifts and moving on to the next one, rather than the gifts themselves….”more, more” was frequently heard (much to my horror).  She did get totally spoiled so the command was often met with ‘more, and more’.   Sigh.

She’s still madly in love with Playdough, Puppy and Elmo but has added babies and her kitchen to her list of preferred toys.  Of course, when she puts her ‘baby’ in her ‘oven’ one has to worry about her future as a babysitter??  She's also suddenly into imaginative play, she loves to dress up, carrying a purse, putting on extra skirts, Halloween costumes, etc.  Speaking of which, she’s started dressing herself…rather than just removing her socks and shoes she now puts them on from time to time….which is nice.  She’s also still the queen of cleanup..loving to put things in the garbage.  Now if only she wouldn’t get things on the floor in the first place things would be really good.

Milestones this month – a get together with her friends just before the holidays, playtime with Grace and Eva over the holidays, and most of all her first Christmas here in Canada with her family!!  

This was a big month for all of us.  It was the last month of my leave with Cleo, and she got to start nursery school.  A big transition for all of us.  We also took a big roadtrip, without incident.

Cleo's talking more and more...adding a few more 'words' this month.   She's definitely asserting more independence , while at the same time going through a phase where Mama and Dada need to be close by (if that makes any sense).  Her new food loves this month included raisins and beets (previously both were hated and literally thrown if served up!).  

Another big milestone this month was Cleo's first sleepover.  She had a great time at her friend Grace's house.  She even fooled Grace's Mom and Dad into believing she's a total angel!  She didn't even seem too fussed to pay attention to us when we showed up in the morning for brunch!?  Thanks Jen and Shawn!   

As the end of summer approaches and I'm returning to work, I'm sad to see the end of a very special time with my little girl.  

We are very lucky that the group of families we travelled with are all dedicated to making sure our girls stay in touch.  This time most of the girls were able to get together to have a reunion at Jen, Shawn and Grace's house where they got some time to play while the Moms and Dads caught up and marveled at all the changes that happen in a month!

After a few hours of munching, chatting and generally making a complete mess of Jen and Shawn's house, we all trekked to the Chinese Lantern Festival at Ontario Place.

It's so strange to think of all the changes a year can make.  Last year at this time Charles and I went to the Festival with friends and were hoping and praying to get a referral from China before Christmas...now, a year later, we had Cleo and all her friends in tow.  My heart goes out to all the waiting parents...it'll happen, it'll happen! 

We celebrated the Mid Autumn Moon Festival over two days....first with the FCC Toronto Chapter at their annual dinner in Chinatown and then on the real date at home as a family.  The FCC dinner was fun, it was great to see that many happy adoptive families celebrating their children's birth culture together.  Cleo loved the dancing in particular.

We made sure we respected as many of the traditions of Cleo's culture that we could...we had a real feast, decorated the house with lanterns, at some moon cakes and we took Cleo on an evening walk to look at the full moon (which was less than successful given it was overcast).  Cleo even ate with her chopsticks for the first time and had a blast doing it!

I think most important for us was knowing that on this "Chinese Thanksgiving" as our friends called it,  we share our thoughts with our family, friends and we'd like to believe Cleo's birthparents.  We all are looking at the same moon and giving thanks that Cleo's safe and happy. 

Today Cleo got to meet her new 'cousin'.  Her Uncle Mike and Aunt April came over to celebrate Charles' birthday, babysit for us (yippee!) and introduce Cleo to Spencer, their new puppy!

Turns out that Cleo and Spencer love each other....April and Mike were worried about Cleo's safety and Charles and I were trying to make sure that Cleo didn't squish him!

All in all, they had a fun time....and after some initial tears at bedtime Cleo went to sleep much to the relief of her babysitters.  

Today was Charles' first birthday as a Daddy!  It was so fun with Cleo at this age as she understands what a gift is, but still hasn't experienced enough birthdays with people to know what's up with all the festivities!  She had a great time surprising her Daddy with a gift in the morning. 

Everything is still new and exciting...right from opening cards to thank you kisses, to cake and candles.  She loves the singing (she doesn't know how bad the singing really is!).  We had a nice family day...and our friends Steph, Stephen and their two girls joined us for dinner and cake! 

We met up with Jen, Shawn and Grace at High Park one morning to tackle the playground and have a walk through the zoo there. The girls had a great time on the swings (no surprises) and seeing the animals.

Cleo was quite upset the day we dumped out her pool even though it was a pretty cold day and she hadn't gone for a swim in it in weeks! The water baby just didn't like the idea that it wasn't available to her as a play option in the backyard...so no surprise that she needs to get her hand into things when it's time to water the plants.