Family Day

Today is family day - the first time I ever felt that "Hey, let's do something family-oriented on Family Day". So far everything's been off to a slow start. My mom took Adelaide early this morning so that P and I could sleep in. Sleeping in is such a luxury and it was very nice. I woke up in time to put Adelaide down for her first nap of the day and we'll probably head out once she's awake.

There's not much to add in the last 2 months. It seems to have flown by super fast. Adelaide is getting big very very fast. I notice her growth in terms of how many shelf levels she tries to pull stuff down in. Her crawling skills are becoming 1337 so she's super quick. You can hear a Doppler effect as she goes by or comes towards you. She's also climbing stairs lightning fast - we're in the middle of teaching her how to get down... Just yesterday, I saw her climbing on top of a box to get to an even higher level of shelf to attack. This is going to be fun and I'm SO glad our new house plans have changed so much to not have too much "open to below" sections from the upstairs. I can see Adelaide hopping over. We have noticed that she is afraid to fall now (thank goodness) so she'll stop at the end of the bed. Though it doesn't mean she doesn't fall backwards off the bed if she's not paying attention to where she lands her butt.

Adelaide is talking now too! First, we all weren't quite sure but she says a few things - not all totally useful. If anyone is carrying her down the stairs, she says "down!" (or what sounds like it). I've taught her to put things away in a toy box and so each item she puts in, she says "dehw" (throw in Cantonese). If she bashes things together, she says "dup" (means hammering in Cantonese). Seems like she may pick up more Cantonese first before English. We'll see. I speak fluent Chinglish to my mom so she's probably going to learn different words and mash them all together. In terms of signing, I know that she signs for "milk/nai nai", "sleep", "more" and "all done" sporadically. So she's most likely going to be a talker (in the "will they walk or talk first" question)... no signs of standing in sight.

We'll be heading to Australia for Adelaide's 1st birthday (April 30). I'm both excited and scared for the trip. It's 15 hours of a plane trip and I know how active Adelaide can be. I just hope we don't disturb other people on the plane too much. We're slowly planning what to bring and how we can possibly keep her entertained. It'll be quite the adventure - hopefully one that we can still enjoy in the long run.

I decided to register Adelaide as an Australian by Descent - thinking that I will be able to avoid the $20 visa Canadians have to pay to enter Oz. So I filled out the paperwork, spent $125, and she is now a Can-Aussian. (It's slightly funny to note that Adelaide is now a CITIZEN of another country in about 2 weeks and has never touched Australian soil... P is not a permanent resident in Canada as of 5 years.) When I called the embassy to check, they told me that it was "unlawful for an Australian to enter Australia without an Australian Passport". So Adelaide needs an Aussie passport... to which we find out that they need to "interview" Adelaide since it's her first passport. (In reality, they need to see either P or me... they don't have to see Adelaide at all.) Australian passports are also much more expensive than Canadian ones... Her Canadian (3 year) passport was $22 and the Australian (5 year) is about $150. So what I thought would avoid a $20 fee now costs us A LOT more. (Not to mention a trip to Vancouver - though seems like it'll only be P going... we were going to drive but the roads look a bit scary) On the positive note, as an Australian citizen, according to the current rules, Adelaide can get a "free" university education at an Australian university!