There Was Sun. There Was Fun.

Easter weekend was one big Wynn-o-centric photo op.

Here are some highlights ...

Where Bubble Blowing Meets Tai Chi

Highly-Focused Bunny Coloring Time

Getting Smooched by a Pooch

Hunting for Eggs

Finding a Basket with Enough Candy to Feed a Family of Five

Flying a Kite

(She's pointing her finger to tell Grandpa and Uncle Paul

where to run next.

She loves giving orders.)

Looking Cool on Her Tricycle

Up her nose with a rubber hose...

In between all the Chinese New Year activities, we also paid another scheduled follow-up visit to Gillette Children's Hospital. Our objective at this visit was to find out how well Wynn's palate was working, and not just by listening to the sounds she makes when speaking. This time, we were going for video!

The endoscope itself, about the size of a power screwdriver. The action end, however, is the thin wire extending out on the right.

After a short speech evaluation, where Wynn showed us which words she can say the "B" and "P" sounds particularly well, we moved over to an exam room where we encountered this computer workstation and the nasoendoscope. I have to admit I wasn't quite sure how big the wire was that we were about to snake up one of Wynn's nostrils, but when I saw it was only the size of a thick strand of spaghetti, I was immensely relieved.

(Yeah, I admit I was thinking co-axial cable instead of fiber optics. Shows me for not Googling the procedure beforehand. Hey, I'm a busy guy.)

Most of the time we spent in the exam room was actually waiting for the hospital IT people to get the new release of recording software to work right. The procedure itself took about five minutes: first, a quick spray of lidocane up Wynn's left nostril (since we'd taken that bead out of the right side a few weeks before...), then the speech pathologist snaked the line into Wynn's nose.

All of us - Wynn included - watched everything happen on the screen next to us. The thin cable has two fibers: one serving as a flashlight, and the other as a camera lens. After one big sneeze, the end of the cable was where it needed to be, and Wynn started talking. "It tickles!" she said...

The illustrations I've seen in textbooks which try to explain what the tongue, palate, and throat do during speech have always seemed a little abstract. Watching all the parts moving around, I finally 'get it.' The back of the palate is supposed to connect with the back of the throat to block airflow going up into the sinuses. With the video, you can see this happening.

In Wynn's case, it hadn't been happening, which is why her B and P sounded more like M. She was 'faking' the sound. However, we'd noticed in the past few weeks that she was occasionally beginning to speak some clear consonants ... we've been practicing rhyming, like her favorite funny phrase, "Shadow likes to NIBBLE on a bowl full of KIBBLE."

Sure enough, after a couple minutes of speaking "mama" and "mall", she'd connect with a clear "baba" and "ball." And right there on the screen we could see the palate making contact with the back of the throat.

Her surgeon reviewed the video. "Well, that's not so bad, then." In fact, the team was pretty impressed with Wynn's progress over the past few months.

Most importantly, it means we can put the question of whether she needs surgery on the back of the palate off until this summer. And that's a real relief.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Year of the Tiger, of course

The full moon tonight marks the Lantern Festival and end to the 15-day Chinese New Year holiday season. This year, Wynn celebrated with a couple different activities.

A week ago Monday, we got together with the other family who traveled with us in Guangxi province, another family from our trip who went through Anhui province, and a third family who adopted through Sichuan last year. The kids colored dragons, listened to stories, and we all had a fine feast.

The Guangxi Girls - Wynn and Jenna - masters of The Force! Jenna is about a half-year older than Wynn. They both enjoy being in charge - they know the family routines; the rules of the games; what the pets should be doing; where we should sit. No need for whining or temper, as Guangxi Girls know how to get their point across matter-of-factly, using just enough charm or cool logic to convince you.

Last weekend, I took Wynn to Como Zoo. She specifically wanted to see the tiger (that's him in the first photo) and we wished him a Happy New Year. We also checked out the tropical plants in the Conservatory, noting which kinds grew in China; looked at the golden carp and talked about why they're considered lucky; and shared some stories about when we came to adopt her.

Quite a few other Asian families were at the zoo, too, doing the same things we were. I worry sometimes that we're not giving her enough exposure to her birth culture, but over the past two weeks of watching what other families are doing and seeing how Wynn interacts with other kids - Asian and everyone else - it feels like we're doing a good job.

Con Artist

Wynn and I have been playing with her Disney Princess Memory game a lot lately. She's graduated from Chutes & Ladders and has moved on to games like Memory that require a bit more sophistication (Crazy 8's and Go Fish are also in the new line-up.)

The Memory game, which we used to call Concentration, has emerged as her favorite, so she and I sit on the floor together after dinner many nights and spread the cards out on the floor.

Because she is a kind soul who revels in everyone's success, she likes to help me out when I get stuck. If I hesitate the slightest bit before flipping the card for the match, she points to it and says, "That one." When I flip it for the match, she gets all excited and cheers for me. She has done this for several weeks now, so I've gotten lazy about trying to remember where Mulan or Cinderella or whoever is hiding; Wynn will show me the way.

Yesterday, we were playing again, and, true to form, she steered me to the winning card a couple times. The third time I hesitated, she pointed to a card and said, "That one."

When I flipped it over, it was NOT a match.

What?!

I looked up at her in confusion, and she was beaming with the most magnificently mischievous smile ever.

She'd done it on purpose.

"You told me to flip the wrong card!" I said in surprise.

"I know," she giggled.

"Now I won't know if I should flip the card you point to anymore."

"I know," she said again as she tipped over laughing.

She's four years old, and she worked the long con. She strung me along to get me to trust her, and then she pulled the rug out from under me.

We've started referring to her as Little Danny Oceans.

Ah, Farewell, Florida ...

Today's our last day in Florida. Up and at 'em and on a flight back to the frozen northland tomorrow morning. When we broke the news to Wynn, she said the only thing she could say under the circumstances: "Awwww..."

She's already told us NUMEROUS times that she wants to come back to Florida again sometime, and so do we. For now, let's focus on the fun we had today.

The morning was rainy and windy but not too cold, so we took another walk on the beach to look for shells and listen to the waves. We love that Wynn is so ridiculously enthusiastic about such simple pleasures; she's never even heard of a theme park, and we're going to keep it that way as long as possible.

We checked out the shops in downtown Fernandina Beach, drank coffee, bought some t-shirts, and bumped into another family with an adopted daughter from China.

Naps were enjoyed back at the hotel room; Wynn passed out on the floor with her gecko and snored away for a solid hour.

For dinner we went back downtown and strolled through the historic district looking at the quirky old houses and trying to wrap our minds around residential streets lined with palm trees. Most of the restaurants downtown post their menus outside - French cafes, a Philly Cheesesteak stand, an organic bistro with a chef's garden out back, and an assortment of pubs and seafood diners. We decided to try an adorable little place called Karibos (and it's neighbor Karibrews) that served up fantastic sandwiches - I had the Cuban, Scott had softshell crab, and Wynn dug into quesadillas. Our experiences with dining here - and the fact that we've been able to get so many wonderful, fresh meals for $20 - $30 for the whole family really makes us want to come back here again - just to explore all the great looking restaurants we've passed by.

The biggest treat today for Wynn was some quality splash time in the hotel whirlpool. We went out as the sun was setting, and the warm water and bubbles really hit the spot. Wynn giggled with glee and she clung to Baba. At one point she proclaimed that the whirlpool was SO much better than taking a bath.

It's been a great trip. We've started referring to it as our January Thaw and are already talking about doing it all again next year.

For now, all Scott and I can say is, "Getting up and going to work on Monday is NOT going to be easy."

Leaving Our Mark on the Beach

Wynn & I Doing a Scene from The Birds

The Crab Scott Ate for Dinner

Splish Splash!

Florida Photos of the Day

Showing Off Her Sandals (and Dance Moves)

Moss-Covered Trees at Fort Clinch State Park

The Fishing Pier

(It's a LONG Walk)

Cloudy-Day Beachcombers

Exploring the Tunnels at Fort Clinch

Highlights of the Day (So Far):

• An amazing lunch at the Happy Tomato Cafe in Fernandina Beach: eating on the deck, pulled pork sandwiches, Wynn's first taste of lemonade - and the surprised face she made after the first sip.

• Having most of the places we've been essentially to ourselves: the fishing pier, the best seashell hunting beach, historic Fort Clinch. We don't know if it's due to the clouds or because it's a weekday, but where is everyone?

• Wynn's absolute glee about picking up seashells. "Oooo, look what I found!" she'd call over and over. We talked about all the different shapes and colors, and Wynn figured out that she could use big shell as a shovel to scoop up a bunch of tiny shells. It was an hour of pure bliss - even when Wynn announced that she needed to go potty, and Scott took her behind a sand dune to do it.

• When the Civil War era costumed guide at Fort Clinch basically apologized to us for the weather (60 degrees and overcast). When we pointed out to him that it was sixty degrees warmer than what we'd left at home, he laughed, "Oh, then you folks are just fine."

I Like the Air on My Feet

When we got up this morning at 3:45, it was about -5 outside. It was hard to get up and get everybody moving at such an early hour, but we all sensed it would be worth it. You see, we had an early flight to catch - and now we're relaxing in a lovely hotel room on Amelia Island, FL.

Wynn traveled like the trouper she is - flirting with the TSA agents, making sure we got her some juice before we boarded the plane, etc. She knows the drill.

The Island is absolutely beautiful - laid-back, quiet, 65 degrees. Our hotel is about two blocks from the Atlantic, so we checked out the beach this afternoon as soon as we got here. With all our travels, neither Wynn nor I have ever stood on the beach and looked at an ocean before; we usually end up flying over them. It was sweet for us to have our first "ocean moment" together.

We have a full kitchen in our hotel room, so we went to the Publix Market this afternoon to get provisions. We were a bit taken aback by seeing so much shelf-space devoted to insecticides (and that it was in the same aisle as the soft drinks), but with all the swampland to our west, I guess it makes sense.

Wynn slept through dinner. Conveniently, we'd decided to go to Sonic, so she just snoozed away in the back seat while Scott and I had our dinner delivered by a car-hop.

The hotel has a really nice seating area with big comfy patio furniture and a fire pit. There was no fire tonight, but, as hardy Minnesotans, we were still out there - alone. We breathed in the air and relished not having to wince from the cold. Wynn pointed up at the stars and told us how she simply can't help herself and MUST wiggle her toes when she is wearing sandals. It was at this point that Scott and I smiled at how great our life with Wynn is - and she interrupted by explaining, "I like the air on my feet."

There's a big, full moon tonight, so we all strolled down to the beach to listen to the waves and watch the moon's reflection. It was glorious. No one else was at the beach. We had miles of white sand all to ourselves. Just us, the waves, the moon, and the lights of a few ships far off-shore.

Yes, getting up SO early and facing the cold was definitely worth it.

Snacking in the Sunshine at the Atlanta Airport

Our First Ocean Moment

(Wynn is literally dancing with excitement.)

Strolling on the Sand

Hanging out by the Unlit Fire Pit

(with a Gecko)