Miss Kate Occupies the Throne

On March 7th, 2007, Miss Kate (lovingly called baby-Kate) took the throne at McLaughlin Manor. She has since seen fit to assume her rightful place as princess over all residing there. Her royal subjects, Mommy, Daddy, Bryson, Brendan, Colton & Ryan (Murphy & Kitty) have showered her with love, tickles, and many choices of food.

Her Royal Highness has blossomed in the 5 days in which she has been home. Unbeknownst to her parents, she not only can crawl, or walk a few steps, as she did in China, but is quite capable of cruising the entire downstairs, smiling, while swinging her little chubby arms, as if singing to herself, “I can walk around all by myself, and no one puts me in my crib! I’m free! I’m free! And I’m gonna push the buttons on the T.V! Yeah!! It’s a great life, and a hap-py day!” One onlooker stated that “She looks like a tiny bird who has just learned to fly, and flies (walks and twirls) for the sheer joy of flying.” The Princess seems to be unfamiliar with the freedom given, but is enjoying it immensely.

A visit to the royal pediatrician showed that aside from her cleft lip and palate, she was as healthy as a horse. When asked how tall she may be, the pediatrician answered, “If she keeps on this growth rate, she should hit 5’5.” (Mommy starts laughing…Great! I have one kid that, in all likelihood will hit 6’5”, and one 5’5”? :) There was one issue of a sad nature, in that her little baby princess head is flattened in back, mostly on one side, due to being left in her crib for so long, and not lifted out. She had turned to the side to watch whatever was going on in the room. Mommy plans on speaking to the head of the cranio-facial team, (the person who will do her cleft surgery) to ask if it will now round back out.

Verbalizing has become commonplace at McLaughlin manor, whereas in China it was relatively unheard of. Giggles and smiles for no apparent reason have also been frequent. The Princess is discovering the video and dvd drawers as I write, and for some reason, the computer scanner holds much allure. If Miss Kate tires of those things, there is always the toilet or the kitchen pantry…(both of which are due to have child-locks installed by Daddy…very soon.)

Murphy and Princess Kate have evolved into a mutual live-and-let-live agreement. Kate gets first dibs on food, and Murphy agrees to wait patiently for anything that may hit the floor, then doing cleanup. Murphy is still allowed to join in the van on trips to drop off and pick up boys, and Kate promises not to holler. Murphy will exercise caution to prevent mowing Princess Kate over in moments of excitement, as when the UPS man comes to the door, and the Princess will try to understand the family’s love for this big, gentle soul of a dog.

Aside from her first night in the States, there have been no night wakenings. The Mommy person was a bit sad to realize that Miss Kate sleeps better alone in her crib, than in bed with Mommy & Daddy. If held or rocked, she will stay awake as long as the person holding her, but if laid down in her crib, will show her displeasure and holler, in what sounds like Mandarin, then be sound asleep in about 5 or 6 minutes.

The royal carseat no longer promotes stress, but is actually quite cozy to fall asleep in. While in China we realized that being held on someone’s hip was also new to the Princess. (It does make sense…you carry a child on your hip when you plan on lugging them around for a while, and if she was not carried around much, she would not have learned this simple skill) We literally had to show her how to sit like that. Miss Kate also did not seem to know what to do when nuzzled or tickled, and seemed to laugh quietly in spite of herself. I was told by the orphanage that she was not ticklish. Are we talking about the same kid? Over the last 2 ½ wks., Princess Kate has shown herself to be very ticklish and seems to have a great sense of humor. One just has to pretend they are going to tickle her and she laughs and raises a shoulder, as if preparing herself.

Princess Kate has found her niche in the world, and we’re so very glad that she has.