Pump Up the Birthday

The Big B turns 4 this coming weekend. We had a great time at play group today - an outing to Pump it Up (indoor inflatable bounce house park). 

The kids were literally silent as they watched the instructional video. Can you tell they are learning to listen and follow directions at preschool?

Mommy gets into the action on the big slide.

The two B's share a friendly game of air hockey.

Then the girls get into the action. 

Here we are - our "little" play group. 6 families. 7 olders (3-4 years old). 5 youngers (18 mo - 2 years). 2 more on the way. 

The Beautiful B. 

And yes, the shirt is true, but that is another post all by itself! 

Elton John goes swimming

B has never been what I would call a joiner. Once he had the words to voice his opinion, he has always chosen to do his own thing rather than play a team sport or work on a group project. As an example, when we go to the local "pizza-playground" and they have story time and crafts, B would rather skip the story and art and head back to the slide. Last year during summer camp at his school, he cried on the first day of basketball camp. When the teacher explained that he didn't have to play, he could just sit and watch, he calmed down. The next day, about 1/3 of his classmates decided they'd rather sit out with him. Finally, when I asked him if he wanted to join some of his play group friends and take a soccer class this winter, he told me, "But Mom, I already know how to play soccer. I don't need to take a class."  

So, I was a bit leery about enrolling him in swimming lessons.  We'd gone to the pool with both B & G and saw how uncomfortable and unfamiliar it had become for him. (B & I took toddler parent-baby swimming classes for about 6 months so he'd been in a pool quite a bit but it had been more than a year ago.) I signed him up and we talked about it a bit in advance. He started to explain to me that he didn't need lessons - he knew how to swim. I told him that even Tiger Woods takes golf lessons to get better, so he was going to swimming - end of discussion. Well, he loves it. He tells me several times during each week that he is excited for Monday because he gets to swim. His class is small (4 students ages 3 - 5 years) and his instructor is very no-nonsense. They get into the water and she helps them put on fins and goggles. She doesn't give them a chance to say no, she just works with each of them through each skill and they get to go on the slide at the end of class. 

B chose his goggles himself today. I think he may have a future in show business...

7 down, 3 to go

T has been busy traveling on the East Coast and into the UK since last Monday. When he's gone, I try to fill the time, especially weekends, with lots of outings. Today was no exception as we traveled to see my parents and my middle sister and her family. We ate at Red Robin, played at the park, went to ice cream and topped it off with some time at my sister's house, bouncing on their trampoline. It was no wonder that both kids crashed in the car on the way home. 

B spent the time at the park running and refused to pose for the camera. I only got this shot with the help of a fast camera since he turned only for a brief moment. 

G, on the other hand, was happy to pose for photos.

A well-deserved DQ stop with the grandparents. 
Check out the chocolate ice cream mustache on Big B.
And the vanilla ice cream mustache on little B.
My beautiful mother and sister pose for the camera. 
G wanted to hide from photos.
Then turned it into a game of peek-a-boo or "pete-a-boo" as she calls it.
Finally, bouncing away on the trampoline. It took LOTS of prompting to get them to stop bouncing long enough for G to be able to get to her feet.

It didn't last long.
But they really had a great time.
And all went down for a nap...(not)!!

Happy Spring!!

Nature vs. Nurture - The New Spin

We were off to the park today to visit with some families who have also adopted from Ethiopia. Today, we had 6 families and LOTS of kids. I didn't take photos of the entire group, but took a few at the end as I was making a few observations with another mother. Our discussion revolved around Boy Energy and Girl Energy. I got a great set of photos to prove the point. 

Here is B. Posing for a nice happy photo. Notice the stick in his hand. 

Enter G. She wanted to play around the tree, too. 

She even wanted to play with sticks.

But when the option to play peek-a-boo with a friend comes along, she'd rather play.

As B attacked the tree with his stick, then decided it was a fire-shooting weapon, the girls started to walk around, hand-in-hand. So we have my little nature boy with his sticks and our little nurturing girls holding hands. Ahhhhhhh.

Author Unknown

There was a girl with skin as dark as the earth 

and a boy with eyes as blue as the deep

and they loved each other so well

that people could not tell them apart;

for in their hearts,

there was no difference between them.

This beautiful poem was part of an adoption announcement from some friends of ours. I liked it enough to add it permanently to the side of the blog, but wanted to create a post, too. Thanks, Karin, for letting me "borrow it". 

Egg Hunts - one week ago

As an almost 4 year old, B is very into holiday celebrations and Easter is no exception. We spent last Wednesday morning hunting eggs first with his preschool class then onto play group, where a local shopping center was sponsoring a merchant egg hunt. The rain held off so we got to enjoy a couple hours of walking in the fresh air. 

Waiting for the teachers to lead them to the play ground. 

Walking over to the hunting ground.

Gathering eggs. They were instructed to collect 7 eggs. Within 30 seconds, B was back to me showing off his stash..

While the play group moms gathered in the background, I asked the kids to line up and prepare to move from the grocery store to the next merchant. Can you tell all of these 3-4 year olds are now in school?? I asked them to line up and they did! The younger siblings weren't as cooperative, but still had a nice time. 

Easter

Preparing for church 

Posing for photos

Happy Family!! We are blessed. 

Forever Family Day - 1 Year

Hard to fathom it has been a year. Hard to imagine it has only been a year. Hard to comprehend how tiny she was (less than 10 lbs). Hard to remember how young he was (only 2). Hoped they love each other more than fight with one another.  Felt pretty good about their relationship when she was looking at him like this within hours of meeting.

Each of us get a special celebration on our birthday. T & J celebrate our marriage on each wedding anniversary. But this day, April 11, is the day we celebrate the four of us, together forever.

After a big breakfast, we headed to OMSI (our local science museum) which has a "Science Playground" for the 6 and younger crowd. The kids could literally spend an entire day playing. 

Spin the steering wheel and a fan above spins, too. Great fun for G - right at her height.

Not to be ignored, the three large fish swimming in the tank. Every 20 minutes or so, G would sit down and say hello. 
B decided to play computer games - trying to identify animals by their sound and tracks. G wanted to make sure she got in on the action.
Oh. The water. They provide smocks and rubber boots, but neither of my kids can avoid getting drenched. T mentioned that he decided to pull G away when one little patron started spraying the other kids directly in the face, but not until she had emptied a can of water down the back of his pants. I call that Karma. 

We spent all day together, laughing and playing. Lunch and dinner out. Playing at their favorite toy store. We finished the night with a family swim at the pool where the kids are taking lessons. It was a fantastic way to celebrate the four of us. 

My Fickle Friend

G's relationship with food has been strange at best. When she came into our care in Ethiopia, she wanted to eat all of the time. She'd eat 6 ounces every couple of hours, to the point she'd get sick from over eating. I dreaded being in the car at certain times of the day because if she got hungry, she'd scream like I was putting hot pokers to her eyes until she had a bottle. Then she started to settle in and we found our groove.

Next, we started working on solid foods. She LOVED to eat. Not much she wasn't willing to try. I could easily feed her a well-rounded diet of meat, vegetables, fruit, cereal and milk. Hurray for us.

Add table food. Not our best nutritional experience. She's had several days of single category eating. Take Whole Wheat Ritz crackers. She would literally only eat them for days on end. (Still getting milk, of course.) Apple Nutrigrain bars. Bananas. Grilled Cheese. Peanut butter crackers. And as quickly as she'd gobble these items one day, she'd refuse them the next. I have always put a bit of our meals on her plate. Meat. Veggies. Pasta. Fruit. I can hardly get her to touch a vegetable (but I try to sneak them in if I can). But meat/fish are almost impossible. She won't let it pass her lips. I have tried kid-friendly (hot dogs of all varieties, chicken nuggets), grilled, breaded, chicken, pork, beef, salmon, tuna, turkey, with sauce, fancy, plain. You get the point. Well, tonight things changed.*  I grilled up 4 chicken-apple sausages. 2 for T. 1 for J. 1 for the kids to split, if that. I didn't expect them to eat much of it. I think I ate half of one, because both B and G couldn't get enough. At this point, G has consumed 1/2 of one sausage. She wasn't done. 

The end of the video is a shout out to Katie. We had coffee this morning and G would say her name, but only when Katie was out of ear shot. So, once again, thanks to Katie for the great visit this morning. 

*I do realize that by posting this, in all likelihood, she'll never touch another chicken apple sausage again. 

Real Sun

The weekend forecast (and a few days into next week) include real sun and comfy temperatures, so we took the opportunity for a quick trip to the park after dinner. Not to mention the fact that T was home all day, no work to do. He's been working steadily for a couple of weeks, so having an entire day with Daddy's full attention was another spot of sunshine in our day. I think these smiles tell you if the kids enjoyed the time and the day. (Guess who is waiting at the end of the slide in photo #3?) Glad I had the camera. I love the natural light. 

A Year in Review

One year ago, we were on our way to Africa. We landed in Ethiopia on Thursday, April 3 and were introduced to G on Friday, April 4. We weren't allowed to have cameras at the care center so we couldn't take photos of our own until Monday, April 7. Hard to imagine a year has past but also hard to imagine it has only been one year. 

Ignore the sweaty, flat-haired backdrops. See the tiny, scared little peanut wondering what in the heck we are doing with her.

She eventually relaxed enough to fall asleep. 

Look at the tiny, little arms. She was 5 1/2 months old, but the size of a newborn. She is wearing 0-3 month clothes and they are baggy!

No surprise that T got her to smile. She is starting to think we aren't too scary.

After vomiting on Mom at the hotel just before checkout, then in the airplane on one of our travel mates, flying to Europe, hanging out with Dad while Mom napped in the airport in Amsterdam, then flying to the US, we were met at the airport by 4 grandparents and one nervous big brother. His nerves disappeared quickly. G still needed to warm up to him a bit.  

May sunshine. Learning to sit up. Loving time with her big brother. Drooling (hence the monster bib). Looking cool with the hip shades. 

In June, G started crawling (though backward at first). The chubby arms have arrived.

July brought the day of playing in light and shadows. Crawling, too.

Hot August morning at Big Truck Day. Playing coy with the hat. Happier and happier every day.
September means big smiles, big cheeks and a little hair coming in.
Next comes REALLY chubby arms and a first birthday. G climbs mount Dad and is a playful joy.

Looking back, I should never have offered the piece of cake, or the love of carbs may not have been born. But it was that ever important first piece of cake. 

Winter came quickly as did the snow. Hard to navigate but she seemed to like it.

A great trip to San Diego, though a bit wet at times, was a welcome break from our snowy winter. If the sun wasn't shining, these smiles were.

Smiles continue to abound.  Happy toddler times. 

Equally entertaining (for the time being) is her sassy side. We call this pose "LIPS". Most times it is silly, but sometimes it is accompanied by a bit of an attitude. I am fearful of adolescence. 

A smiley happy girl. Posing for the camera. Saying cheese. Sitting patiently.