Kylie Tiena (Xi Tie Na)

Pictures

2005-02-20T09:41:00.000-06:00

All the pictures from our trip, and many more pictures of Kylie and family can be found at texasgoguens.smugmug.com.

AAC Website

2005-02-16T14:53:00.000-06:00

Some more pictures of the Kylie and all the babies can be found here, including another picture of "Kylie Hollywood".

More pictures

2005-02-11T15:56:00.000-06:00

Follow this link:

www.keira.balaun.ws/gallery

to view pictures from Sean and Jody Balaun, a couple that we travelled with in China. You will even see a couple pics of Kylie and her mom and dad.

Back in the USA

2005-02-04T09:17:00.000-06:00

We are back in the U.S.A. after a 12 1/2 hour flight from Guangzhou to Los Angeles.

We realized it was going to be a long flight early. Before leaving the gate, the flight attendant asked the man sitting in the aisle next to us if he would like to move up two rows to an empty aisle seat on a row with no babies. He said no!!! I think he meant well, saying that he did not mind sitting next to a baby for 12 hours. Vickie and I almost died, we could not believe we had come that close to getting the entire row on the otherwise full flight, only to have this guy not want to move.

Kylie cried for 45 minutes after take off. That will teach him for not changing seats.

Five hours into the flight, Vickie needed hot water to make Kylie a bottle (she was crying again). We discovered none of the electronics in our seats (just our row) worked. No overhead lights, no video, and no flight attendant call button. So Vickie had to wake the guy next to us from a deep sleep to get up and get hot water.

She gets back, puts the powered formula in the bottle of water, puts the top on, starts to shake the bottle...Explosion. The liner had shifter and Vickie was saturated. Again, no flight attendant call button to the rescue.

We recalled Morgan telling us to have a sense of humor.

We watched the sun rise for the second time Friday as we crossed the international date line. We watched the sun set for the second time six hours later as we were on final approach into LAX.

The moment the wheels touched the tarmac, Kylie Tiena Goguen became an American Citizen.

Itinerary

2005-02-04T00:40:00.000-06:00

We arrive in LA Friday at 5:50 PM on China Southern Flight 327 from Guangzhou.

We depart LAX Saturday morning at 9:15 AM, Delta flight 377, connect in Salt Lake City, and arrive in Dallas at 4:38 PM on flight 1008 from Salt Lake City.

Kazakhstan

2005-02-03T12:14:00.000-06:00

Just got an e-mail from Jennifer Otten, a friend of Vic's who is with the Peace Corp in Kazakhstan. It is pretty cool when your web log is reaching around the world!

Check out her blog from Kazakhstan at

http://www.ottendesign.com/blogger/2005/01/new-year.html

10 Days in China

2005-02-03T09:43:00.000-06:00

Wow. It is hard to believe our journey is almost over. We were fortunate to have seen so much of China, while on a mission to bring a little girl back to America. We saw some of the countryside, a couple of big cities and many sights. We got to observe pieces of Chinese society and culture from the secure confines, well, confines of Mr. Toad's bus. We met countless incredible people, including a lady who was taking home a special needs boy, the directors and staffs of two orphanages, Morgan, a couple who were bringing home their fifth baby girl from China in eight years, Lucy, and Mr. Toad, to name a few.

I thought it was cool, and a bit special, when Mr. Toad took a detour in Kunming after driving us around all day. We pulled up next to a soccer stadium. I knew we were off track, but did not know why. A teenager ran off the soccer field, and Mr Toad opened the bus door. The boy jumped on the bus. They exchanged brief hellos in Chinese. Mr Toad said he would see him at home later. It was Mr. Toad's son. I thought it was cool to spend a brief moment in Mr. Toad's personal life.

We ate some great food, Chinese and Thai, and we ate some lousy food. Fortunately for us, we did not eat any bad food, nor drink any bad water, as one couple in our group did.

Mostly, we got to spend an enormous amount of time with Kylie. She feels like as much a part of us as we could ever hope for. When Matthew was born, it struck me as remarkable that this little person could enter your life, and just like that, you would do anything, up to laying down your own life, to protect and nurture them. It is even more incredible to have a little girl handed to you in a foreign county, a complete stranger born of complete strangers, and feel the exact same feelings for her.

We kept Kylie up too late tonight, and she was a bit upset about going to sleep. For the first time in her nine and half month little life, she cried herself to sleep in her mother's arms.

A Brief Stroll Back Into China

2005-02-03T09:25:00.000-06:00

After four days on Shamian Island, living a sheltered, British Colony type of lifestyle, we decided to wander across the bridge to a shopping area in Guangzhou. It was definitely a rapid return to the crowds and chaos of China. It was Apocalypse Now meets Blade Runner. We walked about six blocks down streets that in North America you would never venture down, nor make it through unscathed. Then, we turned the corner, and entered a shopper?s version of Las Vegas.

At nine thirty on a Thursday night, the place was packed. We stood out a little bit, being Caucasian and toting Chinese babies. We were swarmed like rock stars a couple of times. Once, two old ladies got all excited about our babies, started machine gunning questions at us in Chinese, and next thing you know, a crowd of about twenty people surrounded us. They were all very excited, smiling at the babies and doing the silly things we all do to extract a response out of an infant.

I bought 18 DVDs from Vickie at the movie store. Eighteen movies for about u.s. $35. I bought so many, I even earned two more for free. Vickie at the movie store promises me all eighteen are in English. She showed me The Incredibles (is it available in DVD in the U.S. yet?). It was English, so I assume the rest are, or Vickie just took me for a ride. Either way, the experience itself was worth the $35. I got Meet the Fockers, Closer (chick flick I think), The Aviator, that woman boxing movie by Clint Eastwood - Million Dollar something, all sorts of good movies.

Bring your Orville Redenbacher, and your Mandarin-English dictionary. By the way, if the copyright police come knocking, tell them you know nothing.

U.S. Consulate Meeting

2005-02-03T09:22:00.000-06:00

The primary determinate of our travel dates to China was our ability to get an appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to get Kylie?s U.S. visa, her permission to travel to the United States. We were fortunate to get an appointment for today, otherwise, we would have had to wait until after the Chinese New Year to get Kylie.

Security was pretty heavy at the Consulate -- Check Passports to get on the grounds (no pictures from here on please) -- Metal Detector and another Passport check, then another metal detector. Then into a waiting room for a brief five minute wait. Then our appointment. The big event.

Man walks into room, asks everyone to raise right hand. "Do you solemnly swear that the information you provided to the government of the United States is correct?" "I do."

That was it. The big Kahuna. No interrogations, no fireworks, no party hats and horns. It was over before it started. With that, Kylie's visa application was approved, and she is on her way to the U.S.A.

Consulate Appointment

2005-02-02T07:54:00.000-06:00

We are scheduled for our appointment at the U.S. Consulate tomorrow morning at 11:00 am local time. This is the final hurdle before bringing Kylie home. It is little more than a formality, but all our forms need to be completely correct or we may have to jump through some hoops.

We heard a story today about a couple from one of the agencies whose paperwork was all misplaced by the U.S. Consulate before their appointment. They could not find the paperwork, and told the couple that one of them would have to stay in China with the baby until the paperwork was located or replaced. With the Chinese New Year next week, they suggested the couple look fast for some cheap long term housing. The couple went as far as to get their local congressman's office involved. Fortunately, the papers were found today.

I think this is an extreme case, maybe a bit exaggerated. Bureaucracy is a wonderful thing.

Lucy

2005-02-02T02:21:00.000-06:00

We met a cute girl names Lucy today. I have uploaded her picture to the site - Day 9. Lucy runs a souvenir shop on the island catering to adoption families.

There are a boatload of these little shops along the street, but we like Lucy's the best because she has the best personality. Most of the shop girls are very aggressive, and follow you around with a high pressure sales approach. Lucy is quite hip, and speaks great English with a cool Chinese twang.

She turns 18 next week, and the business she runs is owned by her uncle. She appears to be the manager. Her shop is a series of small rooms that feel like a basement, although they are at street level. You have to duck way down to avoid hitting your head as you move from room to room. Lucy always warns you to duck, and says only Americans hit their heads. I assume the Americans have personal liability lawsuits on their minds, but I don't think they would hold water in this land.

In the back room, Lucy has a couple of computers and we e-mailed her pictures of Kylie and the boys. Lucy employs about 20 young girls, all appear to be early to mid-teenagers. Most sit on stools in the back and create etchings of whatever you want on small granite plaques. They do this all by hand with a little poker tool. They create pictures that resemble the "dot-dot-dot" portraits you see in the wall street journal. Very detailed and no doubt very time consuming. Most people order pics of their adopted babies, or families, or dogs, or whatever.

With the Chinese New Year beginning next week, Lucy closes her shop Friday night until February 20. She lives in a city 10 hours away by bus. She and all the other girls are going home for the New Year. Maybe they are all relatives or close friends, because they are all traveling to the same destination. We asked Lucy why they don't fly, or take the train. She just rolls her eyes about flying, and says the train is too expensive.

We ask "how much?"
She says "500"
We say "Dollars?"
She says "No, Yuen"

500 Yuen, or RMB 500, is about u.s. $60. You realize they live a pretty meager life when they can not afford a $60 train ticket for their one trip home a year. In addition to the two weeks they take off for New Year's, the girls have a holiday May 1st, and another in October. Otherwise, they work seven days a week, from 9:00 am until whenever business stops for the day, usually around 9:00 - 10:00 pm. No weekends, no vacation days, no personal days, and probably very few sick days. They all have big smiles on their faces and appear to think they have it pretty good. We have certainly seen people a lot worse off during this trip. Maybe it was Confucius who first said "Everything is relative". Although he probably said with the eloquence of Yogi Berra.

Everybody haggles over prices here. It is kind of a sport, and seems almost disrespectful to the seller if you don't haggle. I almost walked away from a deal yesterday over RMB 10 -- $1.20 on a four dollar purchase. Fortunately, my sensibilities arrived just in time, and I conceded.

I haggled with Lucy for a RMB 20 discount on my granite plaques - about a $2.50 savings. I think I will give Lucy the RMB 20, plus a little more, when I pick up the plaques.

By the way, their is a famous restaurant around the corner, "Lucy's Bar". We had lunch there today. Something tells me that Lucy's Bar has been around a lot longer than our girl Lucy. Something also tells me Lucy's mom and dad did not name her "Lucy". A marketing ploy I suspect. She is a sharp little seventeen year old.

Hello from Kylie

2005-02-01T19:45:00.000-06:00

Kylie is sitting here on my lap as I type this note. She says hello to everyone.

It is Wednesday morning here. Only three more days until we get back into the country. We fly to LAX Friday, and then arrive back in DFW Saturday afternoon.

Kylie is excited to see her new home and meet her big brothers.

Kylie passed her physical yesterday with flying colors, and all we have left for official business is her visa meeting at the US consulate sometime tomorrow.

All my pics are now at http://texasgoguens.smugmug.com
-Marc, Vic and Kylie

Internet Everywhere

2005-02-01T01:29:00.000-06:00

We are shopping in the tourist area of Guangzhou. All the shops, even the smallest little corner shop, offer free caligraphy and free Internet access. I am in "Jordan's Place", writing to you on Jordan's computer.

We are buying Kylie some squeeky shoes.

Hello from Guangzhou

2005-01-31T22:14:00.000-06:00

We flew to Guangzhou yesterday. We are one step closer to home. Kylie enjoyed her first flight. Once the plane started down the runway, she started to laugh. She thought the acceleration was pretty cool. Wait until she rides the Titan at Six Flags.

Guangzhou is very different from Kunming. It is an international trade center, so it is a much more modern, western city. Kunming was neat, but it was very industrial and agricultural oriented.

The first thing I noticed in Guangzhou is that they must have a stricter emissions control policy, because the vehicles did not belch as much smoke. They also tend to obey the lane markers on the highway. This concept has yet to reach Kunming. We did have a car almost run us off the road as it veered across three lanes because it almost missed an exit. This also made us feel closer to home.

Guangzhou used to be called Canton. During Imperial times, it was inhabited by the Dutch and British colonies. We are staying on an island in the middle of the city. All the buildings on the island were build by the colonies, so they are very European. It feels like Europe, or a bit like New Orleans, but cleaner.

The main business on the little island is adoption. Every child that is adopted into the U.S., and probably some going to other countries, passes through Guangzhou. There are probably two hundred adoption families here (maybe more). Every where you look, you see Caucasian parents with Asian babies. All the shops cater to the adoption parents, so there is lots of neat baby stuff.

Kylie passed her medical exam today. She weighs 9.28 kgs and is 71 cm long.

We got Kylie's Chinese passport yesterday, so all we need to get now is her U.S. Visa and we are on our way to Texas.

I am posting more pics, all to http://texasgoguens.smugmug.com

Guangzhou

2005-01-30T07:45:00.000-06:00

We leave for Guangzhou tomorrow - Kylie's first plane ride. She has been wonderful during Mr. Toad's bus rides, so I think the plane will be a cakewalk for her.

In Guangzhou, we finish the final paperwork to complete the journey and bring Kylie to America. The moment we land in LA on Friday, Kylie will become an American citizen. When we leave Guangzhou earlier that day, she will no longer be a citizen of the People's Republic of China. During the flight, she is a baby without a country.

We are getting anxious to get home.

The Stone Forest, Jade and Silk

2005-01-30T07:41:00.000-06:00

We traveled to the Stone Forest today. It is a 250 square kilometer area where limestone formations dominate the landscape. The limestone resembles petrified trees, but was actually created by erosion over millions of years.

It was a beautiful day to hike, with the sun shining and temperature in the high 70's.

On the way, we drove though a peasant village dominated by a small minority ethnic group. This ethnic group was enslaved in China until the Communist Government took over in 1949 and abolished slavery. My grandfather Thomas was 50 years old when these people were emancipated!

After the Stone Forest, we stopped at the largest Jade store in China. We are close to Burma (Myranmar), and this is where the Jade enters China from Burma. Jade is more popular than gold or diamonds in China, fortunately it is also a lot cheaper, although we saw some modest pieces selling for about $100,000+

We also visited a silk store - stocked up on ties :)

More pictures can be seen at texasgoguens.smugmug.com

Shopping in Kunming

2005-01-30T07:31:00.000-06:00

We spent most of Saturday walking the streets of downtown Kunming, looking at the shops. They have pretty much everything here, not unlike shopping in any metro downtown area. I noticed a lot of sporting goods stores. We have not seen many people exercising or playing sports, just a little basketball, but sporting goods stores are everywhere, and some of them are huge, like multi story department stores, selling only sneakers and tennis rackets and basketballs, and badminton gear. Badminton appears to be popular here, at least the gear is, because the sports stores carry lots of it. We have not noticed much ping pong gear for sale, but I am sure it is there, just not as in fashion right now as badminton.

The clothes are very inexpensive here. But then again, it is where they are all made. We are stocking up on kids clothes for Kylie and the boys.

The other thing that is really cheap here is food. We ordered room service the other night and I did a double take when signing the bill. The best room service I have ever had, an appetizer and two entrees, all for only RMB 130, or about $16 us, including gratuity.

The streets are packed with people, seven days a week, and everybody stares at us like we are from another world, which is not far from the truth. I think the fact that two North Americans are carrying a Chinese baby gets their attention, and then the fact that she is being carried in a pack by her dad. I have not seen a dad carrying a baby since we got here. We have seen babies strapped to their mothers' backs everywhere.

Kylie's Orphanage and Found Site

2005-01-28T08:02:00.000-06:00

On Friday, we visited the orphanage where Kylie and two of the other babies lived. It appeared to offer much more than the orphanage we visited yesterday. A much larger orphanage, with about 100 infants / toddlers at any time, the staff is larger, and the facility bigger.

We met Kylie's primary care giver, and it was a great sign of bonding that, although Kylie was excited to be back in a familiar place, she was most interested in staying with Vickie.

I can not say enough good things about how Kylie has adjusted. She sleeps through the night, wakes up with a smile, and is very happy and playful all day long.

She especially likes to make raspberries, and has taken to imitating me chewing gum - imagine that!

We also visited the Minority Village, kind of a Chinese Epcot celebrating the different cultures in China.

We then drove to Kylie's found spot. She was abandoned at a bus stop. She was probably brought there early in the morning, before anyone was around, and left to be found.

It was "enlightening" to think that less than 10 months ago she was abandoned at this bus stop, and now she is our daughter. It may be a crowded bus stop to the people of Kunming, but is quickly became a shrine for Kylie's mom and dad.

Kaiyuan Social Welfare Institute

2005-01-28T07:54:00.000-06:00

After our crazy ride, we had a great lunch in Kaiyian City, and then visited the orphanage there. It was an eye opening experience. The room the babies live in is bright and cheery, but they spend most of their day in their crib with their cribmate (they all share a crib).

The pretty girl in the yellow shirt in one of the pics is coming to America in March!

We then visited the found sites (where the babies were abandoned) for a couple of the babies. It is a very intense experience.

Then, we climbed back in the bus for Mr. Toad's wild ride, part 2. This time, half the ride was in the dark!!!

The Countryside

2005-01-28T07:48:00.001-06:00

We took a bus to the city of Kaiyuan yesterday (Thursday in China). It is a modern city about 250 KM from KunMing. Five of the eight babies came from the Kaiyuan Social Welfare Institute, and we were off to visit the orphanage and the found sites of some of the babies. Our drive brought us within a couple hundred kilometers of Tibet, and if we had continued 100 km beyond Kaiyuan, the road we were on would have taken us to Vietnam.

The bus driver was Mr. Toad himself (re: The Wind and The Willows), and we were on his wild ride, back in time.

Leaving the city, we saw every type of polluting vehicle imaginable. The economy is very industrial here, so trucks dominate the roadways. Obviously, they have not learned how to say Catalytic Converter in Chinese, because every truck on the road is a smokestack. Imagine the smoke coming from a tractor trailer when it gears down. That is what most vehicles on the road here spew non-stop.

If they converted to a hydrogen economy, and the vehicle emissions became nothing but H2O, everyone would drown.

Kunming is a huge, sprawling city of four million, but Chinese cities do not have suburbs as we know them. The city sprawls for ever in every direction, but it all resembles the downtown, with tall buildings, shops and restaurants, and people going every which way. The edge of the city is very defined, and one you leave it, you are in the countryside. With over a billion people, every inch of real estate is critical, especially for the production of food. The city ends, and the farming begins.

We drove through some smaller cities near Kunming, and switched to a different pollution of choice. You learn instantly that China is still a coal fired economy. The cities are riddled with smokestacks, and many houses must still have coal burning stoves. The sky became this dense white smog. You try to convince yourself that it is fog, but it is denser, whiter, and does not billow and flow like even the densest fog does. It just paints the entire sky white, until you can barely see buildings a hundred yards away.

Now I know what Europe looked like during the industrial revolution.

We drove past a large lake and learned that in this part of China, because they are so far from the ocean, they call this lake ?the sea?. It looked more like Lake Grapevine to me. Unfortunately, a small city with big smokestacks was positioned on the leeward side of the lake, and the wind carried all that pollution directly over the water.

We passed the Stone Forest. I think I read that is the first natural wonder of the world. It makes you wonder who sits on the Natural Wonders of the World committee, and how do you nominate a wonder in your area for inclusion? Natural Wonders of the World may very well have been the first tourism marketing scheme.

We are going to visit the Stone Forest on the weekend. It is actual a pretty impressive area of rock outcroppings that resemble massive tree stumps, and it goes on for miles. Check it out at www.naturalwonders.com.

For the first hour of our trip, we were on a four lane highway, then it abruptly ended, and for the remainder of the journey to Kaiyuan, we were on part two lane highway, part dirt road, part "Caution - Landslide Ahead".

I am certain that Mr. Toad's bus was equipped with basketballs for shocks. We were not as much driven to Kaiyuan as we were dribbled there. We bounced, and we bounced, and we bounced.

There appears to be only one type of lane on a Chinese road. There are no breakdown lanes, there are no slow lanes, there are no exit lanes, there are only passing lanes. We passed anything in front of us, any chance we had. Vickie and I sat in the front of the bus, and we just laughed at the maneuvers our driver was making. It would have been funny if we were on a ride at Disneyland, but we laughed more out of pure fear, figuring if were are going over that cliff, or head on into that oncoming speeding bus, we may as well go out with a smile on our face.

We passed trucks as we climbed hills, and I would ask Vickie "now, what do you think is about to come over that incline?" We passed three trucks in a row as we approached a turn, and Vickie asked me "Do you think there is anything around that corner?" Sometimes there was nothing coming over the hill or around the corner, sometimes a bus, or a dump truck, or a motorcycle appeared at just the wrong time. We would veer back in, or the oncoming vehicle would slow just enough, just in time, or we would go three wide on a road not meant for two.

Again, no breakdown lanes, and no guardrails. Cliffside, the edge of the road was marked with 2 feet high concrete pillars. No match for a speeding bus. I guess with over a billion people, they can tolerate losing a few dozen a day over the cliffs without anyone noticing.

The roads were build like those of ancient Greece, elevated road beds dropping straight off the sides to four feet deep channels, designed to keep water of the road. Great for avoiding road erosion, bad for preventing vehicle erosion. We finally saw one truck on the way home that had misjudged the edge, and was sitting sideways on its axles. We did not stop to help, just pulled into the passing lane and went three wide to get ahead of another truck.

We would pass when there was road work ahead, and traffic was merging. We would pass when the lane in front of us had disappeared over the side of the cliff, and swing back in to the only remaining lane just before plunging into oblivion. We would pass when the oncoming lane was blocked by a broken down truck.

And there were broken down trucks everywhere. And I mean broken down, not just the simple old flat tire. Remember, no breakdown lanes, so if you broke down, you broke down in the middle of the road. People were under their trucks with their entire engines dismantled. If you can't fix it yourself, you better not venture out in it in this country.

We drove for an hour along the side of a beautiful valley. It was a mirror image of the Carmel Valley of California. We may as well have been driving down Hwy 101 between Morgan Hill and Gilroy. We saw sugar cane fields, rice paddies, bamboo, and every sort of vegetable field imaginable. The big difference from California is that all the agriculture is done by hand, so the fields are comprised of an endless random checker board, as each family can only work a small space. The other difference is that every possible piece of land is farmed. The hills are all terraced, and gardens snake through rocky terrain, around boulders, up the sides of steep slopes, everywhere.

A river runs down the valley, and each field is fed by a series of channels. No doubt, some of these channels are hundreds, possibly thousands of years old, because, except for the road we are on, and the vehicles that travel it, little else looks like it has around here, ever.

We saw Oxen pulling plows, donkeys pulling wagons loaded with sugar cane, mothers working the fields with their babies strapped to their backs. Everyone carries a big hoe, the gardening tool of choice. They water the fields using something that looks like a 10 foot long spoon. They dip it in the channel, and throw the water across their crop.

Finally, after five hours, compounded by a thirty minute traffic jam, we made it to Kaiyuan. Kylie watched the sites, bounced and napped the entire way without the slightest complaint.

KaiYuan Orphanage Tomorrow

2005-01-26T06:54:00.000-06:00

We are going on a 4 hour bus ride tomorrow to the into the countryside to the orphanage from which five of the babies came. This is not Kylie's orphanage, but we will get to see the sites, and visit the "Found Sites" of the five babies.

It can be an emotional visit for some, and will be interesting to be a part of.

We are planning to visit Kylie's orphanage and found site on Friday.

A Post from Vickie

2005-01-26T06:44:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! It is around 11:15 am on Wednesday. We all had a great sleep last night. Kylie must be used to soothing herself, because she never needed us during the night. When she woke up around 1:00 am, she sucked her fingers and played with her mankies (blankets) and fell back to sleep. I was afraid she would cry when she woke up in the morning, remembering she was not with her nanny, but to my surprise she greeted me with a huge smile.

We gave her a bath this morning. Again, I was worried if this would upset her. She absolutely loved it. She splashed and played with the rubber duck Matthew bought her. I made her smell like a Johnson and Johnson baby. She loved the lotion massage!

After playing and being in total awe of all her new toys, she fell fast asleep for her morning nap. That is what she is doing as I type. When she wakes up we plan on venturing out into the crazy streets to check out the sights.

I hope everyone is doing well. I can't wait to get Kylie home and settle her in with her new family. I know she is going to love her big brothers.

Scissors

2005-01-25T23:24:00.000-06:00

Aunt Cathy,

Sharpen your scissors. As you can see from the pics, Kylie is in need of some hair styling. I think when you get back to town, she will be ready for her first North American hair cut.

http://texasgoguens.smugmug.com/Children/58451

Gotcha Pictures

2005-01-25T20:21:00.000-06:00

Pictures can be found at:

http://texasgoguens.smugmug.com/Children/58451

I will keep adding pics to this page as I can upload them.

Update on Kylie

2005-01-25T20:12:00.000-06:00

It is four AM Wednesday in Kunming. I woke up at about three; Vickie and Kylie are still sleeping.

Kylie settled in remarkably well last night. She stopped crying soon after we got to our room. Vickie fed her some rice cereal. She is a portly little thing that sure knows how to eat. She showed no sign of letting up even after polishing off the second bowl. Upon further review, she does fit into her clothes, but she sure fills out the mid-riff area. Vickie is very relieved, as she thought she was going to have to purchase all new stuff.

After her dinner, we washed her up and put her in her pajamas. She became very playful. She likes to watch TV, and laughs when you tickle her -- imagine that!

We are a little concerned about her development. Although she is supposed to be nine months old, she still does not sit up by herself and has yet to roll over, although we have not given her much of a chance. We have heard stories that sometimes the babies are not as old as you are told. If it wasn't for her belly, we would swear she was about seven months old. She does have two little bottom teeth, and she is very observant. She likes to watch TV, so we watched a little tennis and soccer together last night. With two older brothers to keep up with, and defend herself from, I don't think it will take her long to catch up.

Kylie fell asleep easily at 8:00. She was in my arms, looked at me and yawned, and I laid her head back and she was sound asleep in less than two minutes. She woke up about one A.M., played with her bunny rabbit blanket for about fifteen minutes and went back to sleep. So far, she is going on 9 hours sleep!!! I wonder if all the other new parents are having it so easy.

Further Update: She woke at 6:00 am. Vickie peeked over her crib, and Kylie greeted her with a smile and laugh. She has been playful all morning, and even sat and played in the bathtub. She was quite enthralled with the splashing. She also took her first bottle this morning and downed the whole thing, Enfamil no less.

She fell asleep in my arms again at 9:30 and is back in her crib napping.

Thanks for all the messages -- it is great to hear from the outside world