2 years old!

I can't even believe it! He is already 2. Yikes...that is so fast. Will and I were just talking about how fast time has gone.

The things he can do...

• run (second favorite activity)
• jump with great control (it's his favorite activity by far)
• climbs like crazy
• climbs stairs without using his hands at all to help
• has amazing balance
• jumps off of his 6 inch stool (would jump higher if we let him)
• knows at least 75 words (he knew 50 at 18 months)
• language is exploding
• can talk in 6 word sentences
• talks in 4 word sentences most of the time
• can name all characters from "Cars" the Disney movie
• sings twinkle, twinkle

His personality

• is very demanding
• is very polite (Thank you & welcome all the time...please most of the time)
• says "bless you" after people sneeze
• knows how to work people (especially mom and dad...luckily we know his tricks)
• knows what he wants
• has an addictive personality

Things he loves

• listening to music
• cars
• pretend play
• making music
• jumping, running, playing in the snow
• singing along with his favorite songs
• finger painting
• making up songs
• playing with big kids and his buddies

Favorite foods

• mac n cheese
• cheese of any kind
• milk
• peas
• noodles
• spaghetti and meatballs
• mashed potatoes
• french fries
• chicken patties
• turkey dogs
• cheese ravioli
• apples
• grapes
• bananas
• oranges
• pears
• teddy grahams
• graham crackers
• M's ohs and peanut butter cereal stuff
• anything M has

Okay...so that's a lot of bragging. I haven't been writing in my journal and so this is taking its place. Let me know if I forgot anything if you think of something I didn't!

So far...so good!

Anyone that reads my blog knows that I fear the transition E will have in bringing another child into our family. I know eventually E & M will (hopefully) be good friends but until then I think it will be hard. So far he has handled it well. He is excited to have a baby brother. When he sees M K's picture he says baby brother. He was fine with the idea of a baby brother so today I added the idea that M would live with us because he is a part of our family and families live together. E was a little less enthused. When Will got home he told him all the things that he can teach M and how much fun it will be when M gets older and they can play together. Now, E seems like it won't be so bad to have M around. However, on Tuesdays and Thursdays E will cry every time M (the little girl I watch) cries. As soon as she cries he does. It isn't often but it happens and so now I am trying to figure out how to deal with this issue. It's like an automatic response for him and now we have to figure out how to lessen this automatic response. What an odd problem to have. Now, to figure it out.

We have the referral...now what?

We are so excited to have a baby boy waiting for us in Ethiopia. Now, the longest wait begins...the wait to travel and pick up our boy. It will be about 3 months (12 weeks upon last estimation from the adoption agency) before Will can go to pick up our baby boy! He will probably be 5 months old when Will arrives. I will be happy if we can have our little boy home by Mother's day! Is it possible to be blessed on 2 seperate mother's days to meet your baby for the first time! Only time will tell. We did name our little one and if you are curious you will have to contact me since that is not something I will put on the blog to keep his identity private. His initials are M. K. H! Until we hear more I hope our baby stays healthy and keeps gaining weight as he is just a little guy. Now we actually need to get his room put together! Yikes...we had better get moving, 3 months will be up before we know it.

Missing Lucy

E has been missing Lucy lately. He has asked about her a couple of times. Yesterday he saw a dog that looked sort of like Lucy. He said doggy and got all excited. I asked if it looked like Lucy and he said no. He used to think all dogs were Lucy and now he is very specific that no dog is Lucy. When Uncle Ben visited the other day E told him that Lucy went buh-bye and that she was sleeping, which is odd because we didn't explain it to him in those words. We didn't want him to think that when mommy and daddy go buh-bye that we weren't coming back or that when people fall asleep they don't wake up. He also asked about a puppy the other day, just out of nowhere. The only thing I can come up with is that Will and I were talking about when to get a puppy the day before but I didn't even think he was paying attention. Wow, it just reminds me how much information he takes in every day!

It's a boy!!!

It's a boy. He is 7 weeks old, born Dec. 3, 2007. He is just 7 1/2 lbs. He has the most beautiful little face. I didn't think I could love two little people so much but I do. I have the most beautiful little boys anyone could ever have.

It's official!!!

Today, E's 2nd birthday, we have accepted our referral and that little baby boy will soon be ours. Now, we just have to figure out a name. We have a couple in the running but now we just aren't sold. We are so excited to be the proud parents of 2 boys. E will love having a little brother and I am sure they will get into a ton of trouble together. Today E saw his picture in the diaper bag and said baby brother! I was so happy. He has been calling this baby a baby brother forever so that is good. It's been a big week for us here! Tomorrow is E's birthday party and boy oh boy do we have a lot to do. I am very glad we kept it small with just family!

referral!!!!!

Oh Happy Day!!! It's our birthday and we got "the phone call" this morning about baby #2!!! It's a boy---a 7 week old baby boy! I am so excited. I wasn't home and so they called my husband at work and then he called me the with good news at about 10:45 this morning. Eli and I were watching a friend of his and so we weren't at home. I was so completely shocked with the news that I don't even think it really hit me yet. I was still in shock when we left her house. Now, I am so completely excited. Eli and I looked at baby brother's picture as soon as we got home. He is beautiful and what a perfect fit for our family. Eli is going to be a big brother!!!!

Remembering....

...that all things happen as they were supposed to happen. Tonight, I was reminded that we will get the referral call when our child is ready. Our friends reminded me that no matter how anxious I am our child will come home to us soon enough. We will be matched with the child that is perfect for our family! It was a nice reminder that our child is out there and well, they're just not ready to let us know it yet!

Melkam Timket!

This year we started a tradition to invite some friends over to celebrate an Timket, an Ethiopian holiday. It was a wonderful evening with close friends and Ethiopian food. We had a great time and I look forward to it again next year only, I am not sure our house will be big enough. Next year 3 of our families will add at least one more child to them and our little toddlers will be bigger and more mobile. I am so happy that we have such a great group of adoptive families in Madison. Happy famiversary to the P's : )

The edge of my seat!

The waiting is killing me. I feel always on edge and boy oh boy have we been crabby around our house lately. To top it off Will is super busy at work and then he gets home and we are both stressed out and cranky. This referral can't come soon enough! Oh please, oh please let us get a birthday referral. I have given up on this week all together and it's only noon on Friday! Come on birthday referral!

E's 2 year check-up!

Well, E is holding his own...but not gaining much weight these days. Here are his most recent stats from the doctor today.

Height...34.5" (57%ile)
Weight...25 lbs 12 oz (24%ile)

He's pretty average...too bad they don't take measurements of his feet!

Let the waiting begin again....

I love the weekends! I don't have to wonder if the phone will ring or if I may have missed a call. I don't have to check the clocke 42 times a day to see what time it is and wonder how late I think Lindsay, our specialist, or Anne might call us. I know I should be patient and that I am good at patient but this is not what anyone is prepared for. After last week's craziness I was hoping Friday would bring a referral....I won't complain a whole lot though because instead of a referral I did get a niece. When we got the news on E it was only 1 month after we submitted our paperwork, in a time when everything moved faster because the program wasn't so popular. I just keep thinking that maybe my baby is at the care center in the intake room and that they are processing the referral information and maybe, just maybe we will get the call tomorrow. I keep wondering what I will be doing...you think of all the perfect scenarios for it to happen....and I just know it will happen when it is just crazy in our house. E will be throwing a tantrum and the phone will ring...I just know that's how it will happen. So, tomorrow is Monday and so the waiting begins again. I am crossing my fingers for a referral this week and doing the referral dance (it's like a rain dance but for referrals) in hopes of bringing us some good mojo.

Survived!

Well, E survived both meetings with baby Maggie. He even gave baby Maggie the little stuffed bear he picked out. He was sweet and didn't even freak out when I was holding the baby. I am so proud of him. He is doing so well with babies and sharing momma. Hooray for Eli!!!!

I'm an aunt!!!!!!!!

I am so excited to announce that I am an aunt!

My SIL & BIL had a baby GIRL tonight 1-11-2008 @ 8:16 PM. Her name is Maggie (Magdelayna) Mae. She was 6 lbs 2 ozs and was 18" long. Mom and baby are doing well.

Great day!

E had a great day today. He is getting more used to having Molly with us all day Tuesday and Thursday. He no longer cries when she cries, instead he bounces and entertains her. He was such a complete sweetheart all day. He worked really hard to help mommy out. He still is jealous but I don't think that will ever completely go away and I am not sure that it needs to. E did play with Molly today rather than play around her, which I think was a great step. They both wanted whatever toy the other one had. All in all it was a great day and I was in a better mood than I have ever been. I think it is refreshing to have 2 little people to keep me busy. I only became frustrated when no one would nap....that was hard but we all got through it and all was well.

What a day!

Yikes! I knew it would be hard but didn't really know what to expect with E. He was out of sorts all day and I can only assume that it is due to all the changes. He was fine when we were away from home but when we came home he just had a rough time. After his nap he was doing okay but he went looking for Lucy at one point and that's when I had to explain to him that Lucy had died and that she would not be coming back. How on earth do you explain this to a 2 year old? I don't want to say she went bye, bye or was sick and died because then when we go bye, bye he may freak out and think we aren't coming back. I knew I would see and increase in negative behaviors and we did. He pinched, pulled hair and threw his food at lunch and dinner. This is going to be a tough couple of weeks for us. It was just a really hard day for E and for us. It is so sad and quiet around here. Lucy was slightly crazy but we did love her and she was family.

Sad, sad day.

Well, today was the day Will and I have been dreading since we found out Lucy had Lymphoma (sp?) at the end of July. We had to put Lucy down today. She hadn't and wouldn't eat anything for 3 days. She was only drinking water and barely picking up the scraps E would throw. She yelped out of pain even if you hardly touched her, could barely lift her head, and her back legs had lost most of their strength. It was a sad reality that we came to last night. I have never done this before because we didn't have dogs growing up and it was so sad. She has been a part of our family since Will and I got married. I know the hardest part will be when E asks where she is or goes looking for her and calling her name. I think we will see some pretty difficult behaviors over the next couple of weeks. She was a crazy dog but I know that I will miss her. I also know that I am not ready for another dog so please don't ask us when we are getting another one. It may be a little while, we all need a little healing time.

E and baby...

These were E's exact words today.
"Mommy hold baby brother."
"E hold baby brother."
Yippee...he is admitting there will be and taking ownership of a baby.

Yep, it appears he thinks it will be a baby brother. Ah well what can you do?

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is what Will and I say to get through the wait. When I wake up in the morning the first thing I think is maybe we will get the call today. Well, that left me to get crabbier and crabbier as the day went on and we didn't get a call. Now, Will devised a new strategy for us. If we wake up and tell ourselves that it will happen tomorrow then we are not waiting and anticipating all day long. When I think of possibly getting a call today I now just automatically tell my brain that it will be tomorrow. Every day I do the same thing and so when I actually get the call I will not be expecting it because it wasn't going to happen until tomorrow. It has helped so far and the wait has gotten easier. I know that this wait is easy in comparison to waiting for Will to travel and then for Will to be home. That wait will be excrutiating.

Big boy bed continued...

Today I read E 3 books and then tried to get him to lie down. I stayed with him for about 5 minutes and then left the room. After about the first five minutes of crying/whining I heard talking and shouting in his room. It took him 47 minutes to fall asleep today. Now he is sleeping peacefully curled up on one corner of his bed. Hopefully he will be up around 3 since we have a play date at 3:30.

Trains!

Okay, so I have to admit on New Year's Eve I was not thrilled to be going to the train show at Olbrich Gardens. My dad, who has recently gotten into this whole model train thing, wanted to go and he thought E would like it. I figured he was right and E would probably love it. Unfortunately, my dad was sick and didn't get to join us and did he ever miss out. E thought this was the greatest thing of all time. The trains were moving by themselves, nobody had to push them along. He thought it was so cool. The coolest part of the train show was when the train drove past this Scooby Doo jack-in-the-box and it would open when the train arrived and shut when it was gone. E got such a kick out of that. I think E's excitement was more entertaining to most people than the trains. At the end E couldn't contain his excitement and as he was saying, "no touch choo choo, no touch choo choo," he reached out and touched the train. When the young boy came over to fix it E said, "Sorry," all on his own. I was so proud of him. After that we went into the tropical dome and Will took a lot of cute pictures of E with his Nana.


Waiting. Maybe next time.


Wow, check out Scooby Doo!


Look at that pair!

Nap time!

Well, nap time also went fairly well. E fell asleep in the car and so I was just going to lay him down in bed. He woke up a little so we rocked for a bit. Then I laid him down in his big boy bed. He cried for about 2 minutes and then when I checked on him he was completely out. He was curled up in a little ball in the middle of his big mattress. He looks so tiny on his bed! He slept soundly until almost 3, about 2 hours.

His first night in the big boy bed!

Eli did pretty well in his big boy bed for the first night. He woke up once, at 3:30 AM, and was pretty wide awake talking and shouting. When I went into his room he was squatting on his big boy bed, pointing at his car sheets and naming the pictures. THat is not exactly what I would have liked to see but it could have been worse. I crawled into bed with him and asked him to lie down. He curled up next to me under his blanket. I woke up at 6:00 AM still in Eli's bed and at 6:40 Eli woke up as well. All in all I think it was a pretty good night.

Moving E to a big boy bed....

Well, now that we have purchased another crib we are moving E to a big boy bed! We had always figured we would keep him in his crib until he tried to climb out. Well, just after we purchased the other used crib and put it together I noticed it says that a child 35" or taller should not be in a crib. E is 34 1/2" tall and so we need to move him. On the same day he also showed us how he could get his foot all the way up over the rail of the crib when the rail was up. So, it looks like we are moving him sooner than we thought. That figures. We went out and bought him a mattress on Wednesday night and it will be in today. E and I will pick it up this afternoon/evening. Last night we went to get him his big boy sheets and of course he loved the "Cars" sheets. It looks like this weekend E will be sleeping in his big boy bed. We are starting with the mattress on the floor and then will put the frame and headboard on later. We are not using a toddler bed and instead are moving him right onto a twin mattress and bed. It looks like we have a crib available. I still marvel at how quickly they grow and how fast parenting moves. Just when you figure you have it figured out something chages.

Baby Steps!

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel. If you've been reading my blog you know that my biggest fear is that E will not transition well with the addition of a baby. Up until today E has not wanted to be near babies, nor has he wanted mom or dad to be near them. If I hold a baby E flips out saying "no mommy no" and sometimes even starts crying. Up until today I had just accepted that the transition would be a horrible one. Today we visited my cousin and her baby, who are in town from California. Her little girl is 4 months old. I did a lot of preparation with E yesterday and this morning. This time instead of just telling him how great babies were I told him all the cool things he coud do with a baby. Will and I let E and J meet before I held her. It wasn't a perfect playdate but he didn't hit, scratch or pull my hair. He still wanted to take all of our attention and whoever was holding the baby was the person he wanted. That is a far cry from "no mommy no" and throwing a tantrum. E even held baby J and played peekaboo with her. He also shared the toys. I think those were great baby steps and made Will and I believe there was hope.