Mini Me

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, especially in our house. As I was getting B ready for bed a few nights ago, I asked him which PJs he wanted to wear. He told me he wanted to dress like Daddy. So, grey boxer briefs and a white t-shirt went on. (Until a few months ago, I had no idea you could find grey boxer briefs in size 2T. Seriously. They are the tiniest little things, but so adorable.) Now, Daddy was wearing his signature white polo instead of a white undershirt, but you get the point. 

10 Months

We continue the tradition of photos with the boppy to mark each month birthday. As you can see from the series below, she is now in full motion.

In fact, she is now pulling herself to her feet and taking steps. Last night, she was holding onto me, let go with one hand to grab onto something else, then let go of me and moved over to the other object. All we can think is, "No. Not yet. You are not allowed to THINK about walking before your first birthday!!!!" 

She is also weighing in at 22 lbs. Seriously. After B's stomach issues, he's barely 28. That is 6 lbs and 2. 5 years apart. I am not sure how tall she is, but she keeps growing out of clothes in both directions, so we know she is growing. 

Forever Family in the Eyes of the Law

This photo was taken back on April 11 - what we consider to be our forever family day. We had arrived home from ET, with a tiny, beautiful little girl. We couldn't wait to introduce her to her brother. He took to the big brother concept right away. 

One piece of the international adoption puzzle is the (sometimes) need to legally readopt your child in the US Court System. Though we considered our family unit to be complete on that day, a judge in the local circuit court has now signed a piece of paper - as of August 12 - to make us legal family unit. 

Though she isn't smiling because no one is behind the camera making funny faces, I promise we are one happy forever family! 

Welcome Girls

We wanted to send a welcome note to the newest members of our village. Our friends, Robb & Sambo, welcomed identical twin girls last week. They were early (delivered at 34 weeks) but each weighed more than 5 lbs. It's been a scary pregnancy, so we were relieved to hear they arrived happy and healthy. They will be in the NICU for a couple of weeks as they get a bit bigger and learn to stay awake to eat. (Similar to B's experience.) We can't wait to meet you (ONCE WE ARE HEALTHY) Miss W & Miss S!!! 

Big Truck Day

This is a week late in making it to the blog. I've been a bit busy. (See last post). 

Our local park & recreation district has an annual event that brings HUGE trucks and other vehicles together in a parking lot so the local kids can all climb in them, honk the horns, open the windows, etc. This is our second year and once again, B loved it. I will say that there are as many excited parents as there are kids. Fire trucks, recycling trucks, snow plows, "the largest tow truck on the west coast", the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile, TV station satellite trucks. G got to hang out and watch - which made her happy, too. She like wearing her brother's hard hat. We went early because we were experiencing 100 degree weather and it looked like every other local family had the same idea. 

Best of Intentions

So, a few weeks back, I got the bright idea that while T was out of town on business in August, I would take the kids to see my sister, brother-in-law and niece. Not brave enough to fly with the two by myself, I enlisted the help of my mother. It's a short flight. Both kids have flown before. I am a relatively seasoned traveler. No sweat. 

Well, last week, G was diagnosed with an ear infection. I figured she'd be nearly done with her meds and we'd use ear drops to make sure the flight didn't hurt. Then came the killer diaper rash. We were medicating and changing her diapers frequently all week. Little did I know, this would be the least of our worries. 

Early this past week, B was diagnosed with an ear infection. He started his meds on Tuesday. Then came the horrible mouth soars on Wednesday. I was prepared to cancel our Thursday departure. Then, he perked up. Felt much better. So we packed and headed out. 

B's rash started sometime on Thursday. By the time we got to my sister's place, she told us to stop B's antibiotics because he was showing signs of an allergic reaction. (Thank Goodness she's a Pediatrician!!!) Then came the fever. Then came B's HORRIBLE stomach problems. I won't go into details. I will just say that my poor nearly-potty-trained 3 year old was back in diapers and we were doing lots of laundry. I decided around 3 am Saturday morning that we were heading home on the first flight we could get on once the sun came up.

Luckily, we got on a flight and got home without any major poop incidents. He did throw about 6 temper tantrums between the rental car lot and getting on the plane, but then flew like a champ. (THANK YOU MOM FOR HELPING US. I COULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED WITHOUT YOU.) It appears that B had 4 different problems: an ear infection that luckily cleared up, a virus causing sores in his mouth, an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin, and rotovirus (we are still awaiting lab results, but pretty sure that is it). 

Fortunately, during all of that yuck, there were moments of fun. Watching the cousins have fun together was great. I wished we lived close enough to see them every week. 

Here is G with A - her older (she's almost 2 1/2) cousin who ADORES her. 

Here's B, watching the Olympics (or Mickey Mouse). Except when riding their 4 wheeler with his aunt, this is about as happy as he got. 

Fortunately, for the most part, G was in great spirits. 

Since our return home, G is not only on her feet most of the time, she is side-stepping while holding onto the ottoman in our living room. Before we left, she would stand, but not take steps. While standing, she wobbled all of the time. Now, she is steady and just holding on with one hand. I blame the endless hours of watching cousin A run, walk, climb and dance. 

No photos

It is probably appropriate that this post doesn't have a photo, because it is about words. 

G is now saying, "Uh oh" when she drops something or if we say it. Not even if we say it to her. SHE IS NOT 10 MONTHS OLD YET!!! I was beginning to think the "Bubba" comment was fluke because she really hasn't repeated it. But no. She moves to another word and uses it appropriately, on a regular basis. 

I am nervous. Very nervous. B is a talker. He talks NON-STOP. Gee, where does he get it from? I am not sure. (OK. Those of you who know me are laughing right now. Or maybe you just have a knowing smile across your face.) My point is that he didn't start talking for a few more months. Now. He. Never. Stops. Ever. Only when he sleeps. Sometimes not even when he sleeps. He uses big words and complex phrases. Sentences. Sometimes Spanish. He frightens strangers or makes them chuckle with his endless stream of questions and running commentary. It drives me nuts. (Especially since I know that I created this monster.) Now G is talking earlier. Hold on folks. It is going to be a noisy ride. YIKES!

Pageants & Parade Floats, here we come...

Why in the world did we start asking babies, "How big is XYZ?" I don't understand it, but we still do it and she is responding with the appropriate arm raise (and giggle). Now, while holding on it becomes a one arm thing, but it's still cute. Darn those babies...

Up Up Up She Goes

So, little miss G likes to crab walk. She is up on a foot and a knee. I finally got it on camera. Well, the reason I got the camera was because she actually got up on her FEET!!! (Without our help.)

The fireplace mantel is about 8 inches off the ground, so it wasn't a big move, but still, it is progress. 

Well. She wasn't done. Tonight, after she'd finished eating her dinner, T put her down next to B's chair. And...VOILA. She pulled herself up the chair and to her feet - totally upright. Then she got fancy and dropped a hand. 

As you can tell from our beaming faces, we are probably more excited than she is. Well, maybe not. 

Oh, brother!

Seriously, as I was taking video of G trying to capture her first words, B wanted to help. He was sitting in my lap and just messing around. His comments were totally unprompted and I feel I have to say, for the record, we have NEVER responded that way to the question.  It was really HIS own words, thoughts, etc. I don't want this beautiful little lady to think we said it and he was repeating us. Oh, we have some fun times ahead. 

She Speaks

I am a little shocked. As we sat at the dinner table tonight, G was babbling. T thought she said a familiar word or two. I grabbed the camera and now you can all see it, too! SHE IS ONLY 9 MONTHS OLD!!! WHAT IS GOING ON????

Hey Cuz (Part 2)

G has  a cool older cousin, too. A is 17 months older and lives across the state. We won't see her as often as BB, but I hope the girls will enjoy hanging out and playing like B & BB do now. 

Hey Cuz

B has one thing for sure that I always wanted - a cousin who is close in age and who he sees relatively frequently. (Most of my cousins are 10+ years younger than me. We didn't spent a lot of time with my same-age cousins when I was growing up.) Now, we live about an hour away from my nephew, so we probably see each other less than many, but they are close enough to play together at their grandparents house on many occasions. B's cousin is 2 1/2 years older - so the same distance in age is between them as between B & G. Of course G will get to know this cousin, too, but there is something about being the same gender when you are growing up that can really help bring a closeness like no other. His name also starts with B, so we'll call him BB. Right now, they play together pretty well - though we still need to referee a bit. 

Here they are embracing when BB got to the church for G's baptism.  How is that for a welcome?

Next they are sharing a high-five. Such boys!