We can't believe it has been two weeks since we posted! Life is sure busy with a 16 1/2 month old! We have been having lots of summer fun, playing in the pool, trying to get some projects done, and just being a family.

Tori is amazing, and every day does something to astound us even more. She has such a good understanding of English, which we find incredible. She has started to make connections between words. For example, she has an inflatable duck bathtub that quacks when its bill is squeezed. She can't quite say "quack quack," so she says "ka-ka" to mean take a bath. The other morning Jaydee was feeding her and said she had to wash Tori's bib. Tori said "ka-ka?" So she understood wash to mean bathe, clean, whatever. Incredible.

Tori is babbling a lot more as well as imitating more words and sounds. Today we drove out to see a friend who is moving in a month. Her youngest son is 3 months older than Tori and she had some toys she was giving us. We had never been to their subdivision before, so Jolon used his GPS. The voice on it is somewhat robotic and staccato, and all of a sudden we hear a perfect imitation of it coming from the back seat! Tori couldn't say the words but she had the intonation and pattern down perfectly. It was pretty hilarious to hear that from her.

The week after Father's Day she had her first pediatrician visit. It wasn't too traumatic even if she did get her vaccinations. She cried, but with a little cuddle she was fine, and she liked the Tweety bird band-aids she received.

Later that week we went to Spaghetti Factory. This was Tori's first time eating spaghetti, and as you can tell she loved it. Jaydee thinks she looks a bit like she has a fu-manchu mustache with all that pasta hanging down from her mouth. The best part was the vanilla ice cream for dessert.

We are looking forward to our first 4th of July as a family. We are going to a party and Tori has a new patriotic outfit for the occasion. She will be meeting a lot of new people for the first time, but she always seems to rise to the occasion. Last night we went to a retirement residence to have dinner with Jaydee's godparents and friends of Tutu's, and Tori was the darling of the dining room. It is heartwarming and a bit sad to see the residents' faces light up when they see a baby. Tori didn't disappoint either. After her initial bit of shyness, she smiled and waved at just about everyone.

That's all for now. We wish everyone a wonderful 4th and we'll post again next weekend.

June 15, 2008 Father's Day

This is where The Story of You, Our Journey to Tori ends and our blog, To Infinity and Beyond Our Story of Becoming a Family continues. We thought Father's Day would be a great day to begin our blog posts. We hope to post at least once a week, but once we get the hang of it, hopefully we will post more often. For our family and friends living far away, we hope this will be a good way to keep in touch with us.


So many things have happened in the month that we have been home. Tori turned 16 months on June 6 and is the light of our lives. Although we are somewhat relieved when she goes to sleep at night, we can't wait until she wakes up in the morning. She is such a happy baby, full of curiosity, and very much on the go.


The highlight of this week has been the setup of our new pool. We bought a 12 foot by 3 foot pool which fits perfectly in our front yard. We will take Tori to the beach, but with the cost of gas and the hassle of getting all the beach and baby gear together, we thought walking out our kitchen door and jumping in the pool was a good way to stay cool this summer. We bought Tori a safety ring which she can sit in and learn to kick her feet. She can still splash and play with toys, and it even comes with a canopy to help ward off the sun. It is deep enough for us to splash around and cool off also. Tori has been in a couple times, and we have to watch that she doesn't get too cold as she would stay in it all afternoon. It has been the perfect after lunch activity and the prelude to her afternoon nap.


Jolon decided he wanted to go to Outback Steakhouse for lunch for Father's Day, so we dressed Tori up in an adorable dress her Grandma made for her. She even kept the bonnet on for 20 minutes! She enjoyed herself eating grilled chook (chicken,) baked potato, and strawberries mom packed from home. Tutu came with us and we had a very enjoyable lunch. Tori is a real let's go girl. She loves going out and has behaved herself at all the restaurants we have been to.

We wish all the dads a happy Father's Day and hope you had a great day with your children. Special wishes to Uncle Dave on his first Father's Day with Jenny!