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Alexandra, 7/11/99
Pictures of Alexandra, Posted 7/11/99
Finalization!
Shortly after her first birthday, and after what seemed to be endless
delays (the courts lost our paperwork for a while), we went downtown
to finalize Alexandra's adoption. Xandie's Uncle Brad represented us
in the proceedings. Looking at the paperwork, the judge congratulated
us on having a "cunning" lawyer. Then he went a few pages further,
saw our names, and got a very puzzled look on his face when he
discovered that the clients were also "cunning". (He never did get
the pronunciation right, even after we told him our name rhymed with
his.) Apparently it's very unusual to have an adoption be an
all-family affair.
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After we went through the formalities and swore to take care of
Xandie forever "as if she were our own natural child" (as if you
could tear her from us with a tractor!), everybody posed so the
court clerk could record the moment.
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Afterwards, Patty and Nick met us so we could celebrate with an
all-family lunch.
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Growing Fast
Now that she's a one-year-old toddler, Xandie has decided to start
acting like a big kid. She even has some words for us: uh-oh, yeah,
ditty (kitty), bur (bird), pay (plane), uh (up), da-da, hi, die-die
(bye-bye), nana (banana), ju (juice), ah uh (all done).
Naturally, she's also busy doing big-girl things. Here are pictures
of some of them.
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Feeding yourself is always a milestone (for the parents, too!).
Here, Xandie enjoys her usual breakfast of Cheerios
(actually an oat version) and her favorite fruit, bananas.
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Now that she can feed herself, we figure that buying her own food
can't be far behind. Until then, she's diligently practicing
her shopping skills in the back yard.
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Water is always important to little (oops, big) kids. She got a
wading pool for her birthday, and as you can see, she loves to
spend time in it.
We took her to Santa Cruz on vacation, and she got a big kick out
of walking on the beach (at least until the nasty waves attacked
her and knocked her down.
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Beaches equate to sand, of course, and no beach trip is complete
without a sand castle. Xandie has even more of a love affair with
sand than she has with water.
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Back home, she visited the two Bozman girls and discovered their
sandbox. What a blast!
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She also discovered the sand at the local school playground. Hey,
Mom, this stuff is everywhere! Can we get some for the back yard?
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At the Bozman's, she also discovered Hannah's big-girl swing.
Andy (Hannah's dad) told us he'd gotten it for her at about 18
months, so naturally Xandie had to try her luck. At first she was
a pro, but as you can see, she's not quite ready yet. Good
thing it was hung low to the ground!
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Besides sand, water, and swings, Xandie has something of a shoe
fetish. She loves to bring Daddy his shoes in the morning, and
recently she has started putting her own shoes on her feet (she
usually even gets the left one on the left foot!). Here, though,
she's decided that she's too big for baby shoes. Hmmm, maybe
Daddy's sandal will fit if I just tighten the straps a bit more?
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