Time Flies. Mosquitos Bite.

We realize that we've been negligent in updating the blog. It wasn't that nothing was happening in May; it's just that we never seemed to find the time to write it all down. May highlights include: Wynn's first exposure to the flora and fauna of Minnesota in the spring - and the allergies that go with it. Lots of sneezing. Lots of watery eyes. A couple "I got a belly full of snot and I need to chuck it up on you" moments. You get the picture.

The other kids at daycare have started calling her Wynnie, which hasn't quite caught on at home. As I left with her yesterday, the other kids all called out, "Bye, Wynnie!" as we passed by. She gave them her best rock star/ diva wave as we headed for the door. Now its cute. When she's twelve, not so much.

We're getting a lot more words out of her lately. She's started referring to animals by their names instead of their noises, and "circles" refers to cucumber slices. She also does a clear-as-a-bell "Go!" when she's ready for you to roll a ball to her. Her first REAL sentence came this week, and she uses it often - "I got that." It's said with pride as she climbs on the toilet by herself, gets into her carseat, helps herself to a cracker in the cupboard, etc. She's very into celebrating her independence; "I got that" seems a perfect sentence for her to have as her first.
A recent addition to our home is a roller coaster. Her maiden voyage on it was in the living room, but now it's an outside toy. She adores it and loves taking her panda and baby doll for rides on it. It's also great for rolling a ball down. When I asked her last night if she loves her Uncle Paul (Bringer of the Roller Coaster), she nodded her head and gave an emphatic, "Yep!"
Wynn has also created her own game, which she's trying to teach me the finer points of. I'm not certain how score is kept, but I know it involves wearing groovy sunglasses while rolling a soccer ball back and forth across the coffee table. Your hands are not allowed to touch the ball; you must grip it with LEGO's instead. (Notice those lovely mosquito bites on her arms and face.)
Now that June is here, we're having a lot of "A year ago ... " conversations. We marvel at how quickly the time has gone (and what a big girl she's growing to be). Was it really a year ago (today) that we got on the plane? Still, it's hard for us to remember our lives before Wynn. It's as if she's always been our girl.

Looking over pictures from last summer's trip, we are stunned by how small she was and how her face so often had that uncertain look on it. I sat cuddled up with her on the sofa the other night, running my hand through her hair while she contentedly watched Curious George on TV. There she was with her feet propped on my lap, leaning her head into my side - so relaxed, so comfortable, so at home. It's such a long and happy way from being in a hotel room with the little girl who wouldn't allow me to touch her those first few days last June.

Ann