Camping in the White Mountains

This past weekend, Ken and I took Lina to one of our favorite places. We have been going camping at Russell Pond in the White Mountains for a few years now, and just could not wait until the day we would be able to bring our child.

Thankfully, the rain only came at night and we were able to spend the whole weekend outside. Lina had a blast, and did mostly well throughout the weekend. She swam in Russell Pond itself, and we took her to another popular swimming hole along the Pemi River. The water was freezing but that did not stop her from playing in it all afternoon!

I think, for the most part, Lina had fun while camping. She enjoyed roasting marshmallows (of course!) and also liked helping make the camp fire. She did great sleeping in the tent with Mama and Papa, and 24 hours of fresh air wiped her out so much that Ken and I had a relaxing Saturday morning until 8:30!

We were so happy to share camping with Lina. It truly is one of our favorite pastimes, and we hope that it will soon become one of hers too.

Here are some pictures of the weekend…

I love this picture of Lina relaxing in her bag chair and looking over the fire...

Picnic in the Park

This past weekend, we met our good friends for a picnic in the park. Lina had a great time playing in the park with her friends whose parents we met through our adoption agency. I will leave the details below in pictures:

First, we played on the playground equipment.



And, the best part of the day was when Lina got to play in the water fountain!

I am so excited that the end of school is almost here. In less than two weeks, Lina and I will be home together for the summer. I have grand plans for us, including potty training and transitioning from a crib to a big girl bed! Also, we are hoping Lina will love camping as much as her mama and papa. Our first weekend camping trip is planned for next weekend...stay tuned for a camping trip post!

Lina's Language Development

Since March, Lina’s language development has really sky-rocketed. It is quite fun and interesting to see what is going to come out of her mouth at any given time.

Here is an example of Lina’s bedtime routine as told by her play by play commentary:
“Papa put lotion on”
“Lotion on bug bites”
“Diaper on”
“Put jammies on”
“Mama in chair”
“Mama rock Lina”
“Papa put music on, Papa close door, go downstairs”
“Lina go to sleep” “Pakonah Nocheee” (Spokoinoi nochi…Russian for good night)
“Love you mama”

Of course I would not be telling the whole story if I did not include the following:
I will yawn and Lina will say “Mama tired.”
Lina will pass gas and will have to inform me that “Lina Parted”

Oh there is never a dull moment at bedtime!

Besides bed-time, Lina has been using 2-4(sometimes 5) word sentences. She is really coming a long way and it has been intriguing to see her make the connections in her head and come out with what is happening around her. For example, if the dog is drinking water, Lina will say “Honey Bear drinking water”. When she wants to drink something herself, I ask her to use good words and she will ask “May I please have some water Mama?” I ask her to use “good words” instead of “manners” because if I just ask for manners, all she will say is “Water please”. Little Devil. Every morning on the way to day care, Lina will say “Going to Karen’s” then she will list off the 5 other children’s names that also go to day care with her.

I truly enjoy conversing with my daughter and I can’t wait to see what the next few months have in store for us in this part of her development.

My favorite line currently is her answer to my question: Where did Mama and Papa adopt Lina from? “Russssa” Priceless.