Firsts

Every day, Kate experiences lots of stuff for the first time in her life. And it’s fun because she can experience a lot of stuff that a newborn can’t. Some things are big events, and lots are seemingly trivial, everyday things. Yesterday, Kate met her 92 year old great-grandmother for the first time. Today, she experienced her first downpour of rain while riding in the car. It didn’t go so well. She can be pretty dramatic, like her little brother. But unlike Sam, she can hit a decibel level when she cries that we’ve never experienced. Today we were driving to a store, and out of nowhere, she started screaming. We took the first exit and she calmed down once I got her out of the car. But we wanted to give her a break from the car, and our detour turned serendipitous when we spotted a Waffle House across the parking lot. Another first – kind of a big deal. And with that pit stop, her first grits and hashbrowns.

Last week, she had her first trip to the eye doctor. Because of her albinism, it may be the first of many, but she took it in stride. The exam didn’t lead to any huge discoveries, but I’m glad we went. It did officially confirm that she has albinism, and the doc said that the nystagmus [rocking of the eyes from side to side] will affect her distance vision. But no glasses now, and we’ll return in 12 months to get another read. Kate also joined Dawn and Sam on her first trip to Coca-Cola headquarters, for a baby shower for us and 2 other co-workers. Even though Coke has a strong presence in China, Kate didn’t seem too impressed. I guess next time I’ll have to take her to the free Slushee machine.

We also took Kate on her first trip to my parents’ house. Sam and Kate both loved the chocolate birthday cake for Dawn and my dad, and their first piano duet showed some partridge family potential.

Kate continues to adjust well to her new world & home. Sam’s been doing a bit better the past few days, with a decline in frequency of his “send her to china” requests. One interesting change is that he seems to have abandoned the afternoon nap. Today when he came out of his room, he confessed that he was “just in his room playing the whole time.” His re-decorated room was clear evidence.

The favorite activity of the week for her and Sam seems to be playing dress-up. Even though Halloween is over 2 months away, we’ve checked the box on the monkey, pirate, tiger, bunny, and princess costume in just the past few days. I think Sam wants me to be the “man with the yellow hat” for Halloween. So if you have any blinding yellow pants, or a yellow safari hat, you know where to send ‘em.