Calder Adoption: It's been 3 years today since we came home!

Hello, all. Scott took Ziva swimming this afternoon which frees me up to do some blogging...finally! We have had an enjoyable winter. Christmas was an absolute hoot this year with Ziva. She had some recollection of Christmas from last year and she soon became infatuated with Santa. He was all she could talk about 'til at least the middle of January. She was so excited Christmas morning to see that Santa ate the cookies, drank the water (her suggestion), and he even left her a thank-you note. She was simply beside herself, thinking that Santa had actually been in our house!

Just after Christmas we left for a 10 day trip to Florida. We learned very quickly that Ziva is an awesome traveller. Sleeping in strange beds, eating at odd times, spending 15 hours in the car, going to bed late and getting up early....through it all, she was so happy and seemed grateful for the adventure. There were many times when we said to ourselves, "Many other kids we know would be having a meltdown right now." But not Ziva. She is a remarkably happy and content child. We visited the zoo and aquarium in Tampa, went on a "dolphin cruise" to see dolphins, and went to Legoland. (oh, and Scott and I were able to go to a Tampa vs Montreal NHL game, thanks to babysitting provided by Grandma and Poppa!) Legoland was by far Ziva's favourite; the rides were suited for kids her age and since Ziva craves spinning and twirling etc, the rides were just right up Ziva's alley.

While in Florida, Ziva lost her first tooth! Luckily, the tooth fairy had some "foreign" currency on hand and Ziva got a toonie. (She has since lost a second tooth, by the way.) We have explained to her how the tooth fairy takes the tooth and leaves money, but the next morning, she will still look all around her bed and under the pillow, saying, "Tooth! Where are you?" It is quite cute.

Ziva started another session of gymnastics in early January and she loves it! She is provided with a "coach in training" (CIT) again this year to help her in staying on task and to perform the various skills. Last year, Ziva spent a lot of the time running away from the group and wouldn't even attempt to do what was required of her. This year, she is like a different girl. Last year it was quite painful for us to watch her, but now we actually enjoy it! It is exciting for us to see how much progress she has made in one year.

One thing to be said about Ziva, though, is that she is girl who is full of ginger and spice. Here's an example that is so typical "Ziva". At gymnastics, they have a semi-circle slide that the kids go on to get into the "pit" which is full of sponge cubes. All the boys and girls line up and go down the slide feet first. Ziva does the first time. By the second time, she figures that she will go down head first. The third time, she figures she will stand at the top of the slide and jump into the pit. While all the other kids are simply doing the "right" thing, Ziva always needs to test the boundaries and see what she can get away with. She does not much resemble a sheep, that is for sure...but I figure that is not all bad!

Lately, Ziva's newest thing to play is "school". She will get a pile books and either to me or some dolls, she'll say "Ziva, a teacher" and then she'll proceed to read the book to me, holding the book so I can see the pictures. It is really sweet. Her other favourite past time is building with Lego. We have also introduced her to the computer and she is getting better at manipulating the mouse and navigating her way around in some games.

Here are some photos to enjoy!

Ziva made a pretty cute reindeer at her school's Christmas program.