A Quick Update 13 months, 4, and 30.

The boys are ever changing.  Literally 2 weeks after learning to walk, Everett is now running everywhere!  It is so hard to keep up with him.  He has a very headstrong personality, but is already learning what “No” and “Stop” mean.  He will stop what he is doing and turn around.  This doesn’t happen 100% of the time of course, but does happen very often.

He has found out where the food cabinet is (we currently don’t have a pantry), and has learned to open it, get out his raisins and eat!

He currently has 7 teeth.

If you tell Everett to wipe his face after he eats, he will.  He can also clean up his high chair.  It’s so cute.

Last night while Jeff was brushing Elijah’s teeth, I was brushing Everett’s.  All of a sudden he started saying, “Ahhhhh” and opening his mouth (which he has never done when I try to brush).

He likes to pick up play phones, long legos, and often plastic sheep toys and pretend they are phones.  He puts them up to his ear and talks. haha!

Everett loves the water, so we play in the little pool outside daily.  He wants to be outside all of the time and runs all over the yard.  Most days he has a fish net in hand carrying it around, scooping up stuff.

Everett is 13 months old.

Elijah is 4 years old.

Elijah has started preschool this year and is doing so well.  He is very eager to learn and please.  He has already started recognizing some letters, which he couldn’t before school.  He will see an A on t.v. and shout out what it is.  He probably knows around 7 to 10 letters.

Jeff just taught Elijah to whistle.  Apparently Jeff and I whistle a lot.  Elijah kept squealing trying to mimic the sound, so Jeff taught him how to properly whistle.  I seriously think I was 7 or 8 before I learned!

He also just learned to use scissors, so we are working on some fine motor skills.  He still memorizes verses like crazy.  So far he knows.  Gen 1:1, Eph 6:1, I Thes 5:17, Heb 13:8, Prov 22:6, Phil 4:4, John 3:16, Rom 10:17, John 8:32, Matt 6:33, and Gal 2:20.  I might have missed a few.  He usually learns a verse within a few days, especially if there is a song that goes a long with it, but we don’t give him new ones that often.

Elijah loves having a baby brother.  It’s so nice that they can somewhat play together.  Of course everyday has the, “MOM baby brother is tearing this or that up, or MOM! Everett is knocking my blocks down”.  Typical big brother little brother stuff.  Elijah has so much fun making Everett laugh.  It’s like that is his goal everyday.  It’s so worth it, because Everett gives these huge belly laughs, just for his brother!

They have both been sleeping through the night in the same room for a couple of months now.  It. Is. AWESOME!  They get 10 to 11 hours most nights.  Mama is in heaven.  Sorry to brag, I just didn’t know if this day would come.

Elijah is still in love with food.  From the time he wakes up, until he goes to sleep it’s what he talks about and wants the most.  If we are every going anywhere or going to visit a friend, the first thing he asks is, “are we going to eat”?  I think it’s a comfort thing.  We try not to stress too much, but he will tend to overeat until sick.  The doctors told us to monitor his portions so he’s eating more of what a four year old should instead of a 24 year old.  He will continually eat even when full, and get’s very upset if you take his plate away with food on it.  We have never told him he has to eat everything, just for him to eat until his tummy feels full.  It’s difficult at times, when he’s crying of stomach pains and has to take frequent trips to the potty.

I’m only sharing this for those of you interested in foster care or adoption.  Sometimes children develop these habits.  It could be for comfort, for control, or any other reasons.  But, it’s your job as a parent to be gentle and easy with them.  Try to teach them to listen to their bodies so they don’t hurt it.  It is often difficult at times to eat with others, because they think it’s amazing that our boys tend to eat so much.  They will compliment how MUCH they are eating, so Elijah in particular will eat more, because he thinks it’s a good thing.  It’s not.  We have to deal with him in pain afterwards, or puking because he ate so much.  It’s not a fun thing for kids to overeat.

I’m not sure how it works with most kids, I just know how things work with my kids.  I’ve spent the last year and 2 months getting to know them.  Elijah feeds off praise and positivity.  Attention.  If you compliment something he is doing, he will do it a million times longer, louder, better to get you to say more things to him.  It’s not a bad thing, but as adults we just have to monitor and help him.

Everyone wants to treat adopted kids the same, and you can to a certain extent.  BUT they are not the same.  A lot of them grew up in multiple homes, some have lost all their family.  Others are from different countries so we all look and talk funny to them.  It’s super scary for our kids.  A lot of adults don’t understand.  It can make parenting more difficult at times, but it can also provide learning opportunities for the kids and also the adults who don’t know any better.

It’s always best to think before you speak in any situation…

On to a different subject.  Jeff will be turning 30 in a couple of days!  Whoooohoooo!  I planned all sorts of things, but it seems not much is going to work out.  We shall see what the day/night holds, I’ll try to remember to update.  He’s doing fine by the way. 🙂

Baby Everett You are 13 Months Old

Wow.  This last month we have seen so many changes in you.  Just yesterday a ton of stuff happened.  Most importantly you finally said “Mama!”  I was so happy.  You were just be bopping along and said it.  You’ve said it a few times before, but it was when you were crying, so I didn’t count it!

You are getting in your seventh tooth.  You are in a lot of pain, and didn’t sleep through the night last night.  That’s the first time in like 2 months.  We had to bring you into our bed in the middle of the night.  I felt so sorry for you.  

So, you discovered the toilet last month, but last night you discovered how to throw your toothbrush in it!  You were suppose to be brushing your teeth!  I’m sure this is the first of many things you will throw in the toilet, but I pray it’s a while before you learn to flush them…though you have flushed the toilet a few times too…

We just came back from a week vacation.  Before we left you were walking around pretty well.  Now, you are running.  I think you think your are the boss of the house!  I literally cannot do anything until you are asleep.  All I do is follow you around and make sure you don’t eat dog food, play in the water, fall in the bathtub, pull out all the dishes, step on the printer (we have no room on our desk), and the such like.

You seriously are the happiest baby.  Last night when you were fussing, I knew something was wrong, because you are always so happy go lucky.  

You love to wrestle your brother.  Elijah’s not really use to that, so he’s not quiet sure what to do.

You LOVE your puppies, and scream in a high pitched voice when you see them.

You will repeat almost anything.  You just said fish this morning after I did.  Words you know: okay, hey, yeah, uh-oh, bye bye, dada, mama.  You have repeated: love you, and tons of others.

You give kisses and are starting to blow kisses.  You’ve always given me kisses, but now you are sharing your kisses with others.  It’s adorable.

Your favorite foods right now are corn on the cob and granny smith apples.

You love to play with cars, balls, brother’s guitar, nets (as in to catch fish), and the drums with daddy.

Here are the 12 month pictures from last month.  I didn’t post them, because I had posted so many birthday pictures.  I’ll add some shots from the last month on this post later.

We love you sweet baby!

 

You Make Me Smile

People always tell you about how hard it is to be a parent, and they are so right.  It is literally the hardest thing Jeff and I have ever done.  You take two completely flawed human beings and give them perfect, pure little souls to raise.  You can’t hide your faults/flaws from those who are around you everyday.  So you try each and every day to be the best version of yourself for these tiny people.  It’s so hard.  I have already made so many mistakes I wish I could take back.  I need to work on my patience, temper, and strive to always have a positive attitude and show love to those around me.  Honestly, my list could go on and on.  I didn’t mean to make this into a “deep” post.

Rarely do you hear about what a JOY it is to be a parent.  We all have tough days.  We all have sleepless nights.  There are days when you have a hard time figuring out what you are going to feed your little birds 3 times in one day.  There are times when no matter how much you pick up, there will always be that one matchbox car you step on in the middle of the night.  There is always laundry piled to the ceiling, diapers to wash, dogs to bathe.  BUT there are blessings in each and ever thing that we might see as a “problem”.  My husband has a job so we can afford to feed our little birds 3 sometimes 5 times a day.  My children have plenty of toys to play with.  I am so proud to have a machine that washes and dries my clothes, etc, etc.

Milestones.  Memories.  Every day can be awesome.  No one told me how much FUN I would have as a parent!  This morning I was looking through old videos I took on my phone of the boys.  I am so proud of each and every one.  Last night Everett learned to walk.  Not just 3 steps and then fall down kinda walk, but really walking!  Up until now, he’d try and he’d get tired quickly.  Last night, you couldn’t stop him.  He’d stand right back up each time and keep going.  The smile on that kid’s face.  I just can’t tell you how happy he made us feel.  When they are old enough to start getting excited over new things they’ve learn… it’s just the coolest thing in the world to see those shiny eyes and beaming smile.

Being a parent rocks!  Being a mom rocks!  I literally have the coolest job.  I’m so grateful to my husband for working so hard, so I can be home with my babies and see every single milestone and memory being made.

So without further adieu, here is our little “walker”.

Everett learns to walk!

I Just Don’t Know What to do With Myself…

I seriously don’t.  Last night the boys slept in a room together…without ME!  Up until this point, baby Everett has been in our room.  Let’s go back to the beginning.

One year ago today at precisely 6:00pm a little tiny, shriveled ball of colicy, jaundicey, gorgeousness was handed over to me.  He weighed exactly 7lbs.  Our first night he slept on my chest and we did skin to skin, so he could get use to my heartbeat and smell.  I also tried to nurse and a week or so later ordered a supplementer.  Probably for the first 2 months he slept on my chest, when he did sleep.  Baby Everett wasn’t very fond of sleeping.  He also was a very impatient eater, and would get easily frustrated with the Lact-Aid.  It came out too slow and he wouldn’t latch without a shield.  It was a hard few months.

He moved from off my chest to in my arms at night.  He would lay on his back in the crook of my arm and we’d sleep.  I slowly transitioned him to his crib, which was up next to my bed.  I hated to have him away from me, even if it was less than a foot.  He still woke up multiple times, and I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t there.  We bought a few toys.  One played white noise and the other was a sea horse that played lullabies and had a glowing belly.  I turn them on and he’d go to sleep.  He used to wake between 3-5 times a night.  I am not a believer in cry it out.  EVERY TIME, and I mean every single time Everett woke up in the night it was because he was wet or hungry.  I never ignored him.  I would pull him over, change him, and get his bottle.

Everett started sleeping through the night between 9 and 10 months.  Usually he would wake around 5 or 6 am and want a change and bottle.  Again, I would pull him over and attend to his needs and then cuddle back to sleep until 8.  It has been the most perfect routine for both of us the last few months.  Lately he has been sleeping a full 12 hours straight in his crib.  Last night Jeff and I decided to let him sleep in his crib in Elijah’s room/the nursery.  I didn’t hear a peep out of that room until 8:30 this morning.  They were up and playing.  I’m not sure what time they got up, because they were so quiet!

I’m very excited that their first night together went perfectly, but secretly disappointed.  I knew this night would come, but I didn’t know how useless I would feel.  I don’t know if it will last, but I know it’s for the best if it does.  It’s really hard because I don’t know if we will ever have a baby in the house again, and this all happened in a blink of an eye!

Anyways, I wanted to write this because I know everyone has an opinion on bed sharing, co-sleeping, etc.  My advice is just learn your baby’s cues.  I just wanted Everett to feel comfortable and safe in our home.  Would it have been easier to let him cry it out alone in another room while sitting in his pee soaked diaper?  I don’t think so.  I’m not judging anyone and their methods.  Different things work for different families and babies.

I just wanted to share our experience, because I wouldn’t change a second of it.  It worked out so perfectly.  Even though we spent 9 months getting up and down in the night, I knew that I was doing what is best for my baby.  Also, if nursing would had been successful, he probably would still be nursing through the night.  Which would be totally fine.

I think parents should listen to their children’s needs.  Even as a baby, they can tell you so much through their cries.  I didn’t read a book on sleep training a child,  I just read my child’s signs.

We are an adoptive family.  We got Everett when he was four days old, straight from the hospital.  This is just what worked for us.  It was perfect.  Now, I’m terribly sad all my morning snuggles are over (he’s not one for snuggling any other time…except when wrapped).

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Everett!

 

 

You definitely loved the tissue the best.

celebrating your birthday in Cartersville, GA.

smash cake photo session at home.

 

cutest brother’s ever!

We had a family celebration at the Appalachian Grill in Cartersville.

The VERY hungry caterpillar cake.

what can I say, you LOVE cake!  You were eating the table with the leftovers.

 

Happy Birthday sweet baby!  I can’t believe you are 1!!!!  This year has flown by so fast.  Tomorrow will mark exactly one day since you were placed in our arms.  You are such an incredibly gift.  I cannot imagine my life without you.  I’m so proud God made me your mama.  You are the best baby in the world.  You are so happy all the time, you love all people, you never meet a stranger, and your laugh is contagious!  Every day I thank God for how blessed I am.  I love watching you grow into a sweet little boy, though I wish you would slow down just a bit!

You started taking steps last month.  I think you are up to 5 steps not holding on to anything.  You stand on your own for longer periods of time, and try to bounce and dance while standing up.

You still won’t say mama for me.  You repeat things like, “okay, yeah, hey, bye-bye, etc.” Of course you say Dada all the time.  You are still a daddy’s boy.

We got to spend time with your Aunt Morghan and your grandmother for your birthday.  It was a really good day.

Here’s hoping the next year goes by a little slower!

Love you, Ever-ready!

Baby Everett You are 11 Months Old

June 29th, 2014

Wow.  I really can’t believe it!  One more month and you will be a year old!  We love you so much little guy.  We never knew we could be this happy.  You bring so much joy to our lives.  You wake up with a smile on your face and continue smiling all day long.  You are such a good baby.  You hardly ever fuss or whine….even when you are really, really tired.

You still love to be worn.  We go everywhere together and do everything together.

 Your first time at church camp…checking out the horses.

 You are so good when we go shopping!

Just chilling out around the house.

 

You are so adventurous in your eating.  I haven’t found anything you won’t eat.  Spicy, sour, sweet, hot, cold…though you do prefer it if it’s not in a spoon.

kiwi

ice cream

mulberries

pickles

 oranges and mangos

this is what you look like when you are finished eating…food from your head to your toes!

You love the outdoors.

 

You love to swim and be in the water.

You love being a big boy.  You are now drinking out of a sippy cup, straw, and regular cup.  Your newest trick is drinking bath water!  Ewwww….

big boy drinking out of a sippy now…I don’t know why I waited so late to teach you!

drinking out of a sports bottle at camp with Kait Kait!

You and your brother are so alike in so many ways.

1. you both get beads of sweat on your noses when you are hot, (ya’ll both are hot natured).
2. you both are light sleepers…very light sleepers.
3. both of you HAVE to have a nap or your ill for the rest of the day…and super hyper.
4. you both LOVE to eat.  EVERYTHING!
5. both love outdoors and swimming.
6. you both have big hands and feet.
7. both have beautiful olive complexions, button noses, dimples, and beautiful smiles.
8. you both love people and go out of your way to get attention.  You will even turn around in your highchair and stare at people while they are eating!
9. both daddy’s boys.
10. both love books, Elijah likes to read them, you like to eat them!

 

This month we celebrated Father’s Day!  It was awesome to see your dada have his very first Father’s Day!  Ya’ll make him so happy.  I pray you both grow up to be Godly men like your father.  He works so hard for our family and takes such good care of us.  Your daddy always puts us and our needs first and is the best leader for our home.  I could not have picked a more perfect, gentle, loving, sacrificial man to be my husband.

 

You have 5 teeth now.

You still only say, “hey” “dada” “Lijah<<sometimes

When I say no you shake your head no.

When someone says “Yay” you clap, also if you see someone on T.V. clapping you start.

I’ve been making a lot of cloth diapers and you are the perfect little model!

sweet baby in your jammies.  We love these two piece jammies!  Way easier to change your diaper.

 

Stay tuned for next month!  I think we are going for a hungry caterpillar themed birthday for you.  I think we just might do something quiet and just as a family.  Maybe we will go to an aquarium or something.

Look Whoo’s Adopted! (Everett’s Adoption Party)

This is a day we have looked forward to for so long!  You were almost 11 months old by the time we were able to adopt you and have your party.  We cannot believe you’ve been in our lives almost a year.  It’s unbelievable how fast you have grown.  The theme featured a lot of owls.  You helped Mama get everything ready a few days before the party.  You mostly slept on my back while I decorated.  A lot of friends and family came to celebrate your big day with us!  We had a blast.  Here are some pictures from the day!

 

you sleeping while I got ready for the party!

with Uncle Mali and Aunt Amanda

the Stacy cousins!

baby E stealing my pickle!

he LOVED the deviled eggs

Jeff’s parents and their grandkids

opening his presents.

Lucky Stars Diapers Hybrid Fitted Review

Lucky Stars Diapers are made by an awesome WAHM named Ashley!  Who is Ashley you might ask?  She is a babywearing, cloth diapering, breast feeding, co-sleeping mama who has a passion for making diapers.  I asked Ashley to write a quick bio, so you can learn a little about her.

My name is Ashley and I am a mommy of one beautiful little girl, Raina with my wonderful partner in crime, Tony.  She’s almost 17 months and is the light of my life and the inspiration behind Lucky Stars Diapers!  When I got pregnant I wanted to do everything I could to stay natural and healthy.  I learned about cloth diapers and knew there was just some way I could make my own diapers, since the ones I were using just weren’t my taste, not cute enough, not soft enough, didn’t fit right!  I had to do something.  So I took the skills I had learned from my mother, scoured the internet for resources, and found the amazingness that consisted of fitted diapers!  It’s been a long year since I started sewing for practice.  I’ve been in school for the majority of that time, I needed to accomplish getting a degree of some sort before I dedicated anything to a business.  So I finished that and here I am, pursuing my dreams of being my own boss!  I love sewing diapers and I love seeing my diapers on cute little babies, it makes my heart soar through the stars!  Thank you for your support, it helps me stay home with this beautiful child.

 

Ashley sent me a tester in the mail of her hybrid fitted to try out on Everett.  I was so excited I didn’t even wash it first (you should wash all new diapers before wearing, but I was too excited)!  Anyways, my first impression was that she had really cute packaging.  It makes me happy to receive pretty mail!

After I ripped it out of the bag with my bare teeth, I couldn’t get over the luscious feel of the materials.  This baby is soft.  I mean, if I had to pick a diaper to wear myself this would be it (note to self: keep for nursing home days).  The outer is a cotton knit with adorable purple sheep.  The inside (part next to baby’s skin) is made of organic cotton velour.  It’s lush people!  Hybrid fitteds have a hidden layer of poly fleece that does a pretty good job of keeping the pee from leaking to the outside.  It’s not waterproof, but very water resistant.  It comes with 3 inserts, each is made of  super heavy organic fleece and the top insert also has cotton velour.

It is a bit bulky when you have all three inserts in.  For daytime use I recommend just two of them, to reduce bulk.  For night use, I recommend all three.  The inserts lay in instead of snap, but I’m sure Ashley could customize that for you.  We don’t have any problems with our inserts moving around.

Everett slept in this diaper all night without a cover.  With fitteds you are suppose to use a cover because they are not waterproof.  Since I was doing a review I thought I’d test it at night without one.  By the way your baby can wear their fitteds without covers (we do around the house), most people put a cover on when leaving the house and at bedtime…just in case.  Everett slept 12 hours in this diaper and had NO leaks by the morning.  You cloth diapering mamas out there know what a big deal this is.  We usually have nighttime leaks if he sleeps the whole night.  I was super impressed this morning. 🙂

Another super cool feature of this diaper is the fold down rise.  If you have a smaller baby, or a skinny one, you just fold the front down and snap away!  Ashley says her diapers are one size and fit a baby from 15lbs- 35lbs.  She is in the process of making a newborn size diaper, so be on the look out for that.

Here is what the diaper looks like with a cover over it.  If you decide to leave the house, you might want to put a PUL cover over your fitteds.  For bulky fitteds and prefolds we love our Rumparooz and Best Bottoms covers.  As you can see the cover fits perfectly over my Lucky Star Diaper.

So, the big question you are probably wondering is why fitteds?  Well, I’ve been cloth diapering for a year now and just really started to get into fitteds.  I’ll make a short list of why I love them.

1. cute customizable prints (if you buy from a WAHM).
2. super absorbent so awesome for nighttime use (Alva’s and other cheap pockets, leak at night time).
3. when you buy fitteds, you are getting the softest most comfortable material for your baby’s bum.
4. you can adjust the absorbency by adding more inserts.
5. I love to support WAHM’s, so they can stay at home and take care of their littles, while helping to bring income to their families.
6. made in the U.S.A.

 

I won’t lie.  Hybrid fitteds are more expensive then what you will get from the major diaper suppliers.  They are made by moms for moms, so they usually fit baby really well.  Who knows what will fit babies better than moms?  Most moms work on their patterns for years and tweak them to get it just right before they start selling to the public.  They usually use them on their own kids so they know what works.

If I had the money I would switch my whole stash for fitteds and a couple of covers.  Yes, I love them that much!  Remember, Everett didn’t leak after 12 hours!  That is unheard of for us!

Because Ashley is so awesome, she is giving a special discount to our readers.  She is offering a 10% discount on her hybrid fitteds, just for you!  Here is the link to her hyena cart, and you can enter the code LUCKYBABY to get your discount.  Also, look up her facebook page Lucky Star Diapers to see her new prints as they become available.   Make sure to like her page, because once she hits 100 likes she is having a super awesome giveaway!  It includes a OS diaper, a pair of nursing pads, a couple of cloth wipes.  Not only does she offer diapers, but she sells wet bags, mama cloth, woolies, wool dryer balls, and other neat stuff.  Ashley will make custom orders, so if there is something you are looking for, feel free to contact her through her facebook page!

Everett You are Adopted!!!

June 11, 2014

The day is finally here!  The day that we get to swear to love you and protect you forever.  You, Dada, and Mama already knew that day happened when you were placed in our arms, but we had to swear it before a judge so she would grant us legal custody of you.  Forever.  I mean, I know you will leave me one day for another woman, but I have 17 years before that happens buddy. 🙂  Seventeen years of all the kisses, hugs, and snuggles.  I can’t stop kissing you.  I know this will embarrass you if you read it in the future, but I can’t.  You have the squishiest little face, and the most beautiful lips.  Oh man, the best place is your neck and your little chin.  You die laughing when I kiss you there.  You are so fun to tickle and I always blow raspberries on your tummy during diaper changes.

Oh man, tearing up again.  It’s been an emotional week.  I absolutely cannot believe how big you have gotten, and how fast you have grown.  You will be ONE next month.  I wish I could stop it.  It’s really not fair or nice of you to grow so fast.  I wish I could pause time.  Tonight I was feeding you your bottle and snuggling with you, and realized that soon you won’t need me like that.  Soon, you will be “too big” or “too old” for your mama to hold you and feed you.

Let’s talk about your day!  We slept in a bit, got dressed and then I wanted to get a few pictures of us together.  Dada was at work so Elijah took some pictures with my phone.  He might make a good little photographer one day!  Dada came home from work and got ready then we headed to McAlister’s to eat lunch with your godparents.  Mr. Jim, Mrs. Jennifer, Julianna, and Cameron met us for lunch.  One day you will truly appreciate having good Christian people in your life.  These people stick around for the good and the bad.  They will laugh with you, but also cry with you when you need it.  The Murrells are that type of family and that is why we picked them to care for you and your brother if anything were to happen to mama or dada.  We had a wonderful visit and lunch.  You ate chicken from my salad.  You are such a good eater, but very impatient.  I guess it’s good that you love food as much as the rest of us!

After lunch we headed to the probate judge’s office.  We had to wait a while and then we were all allowed to come back to her office.  She and the lawyer read all the legal stuff and we swore to take great care of you.  Then you were pronounced a Stacy!  It was amazing!  We love you so much baby Everett!  You bring so much joy to everyone you meet.  I’m so proud to be called your Mama.  God picked us out the most perfect baby boy.

 

 

Baby Everett You Are 10 Months Old!

It’s pretty sad that the last time I blogged was a month ago, for your 9 month post.  I am really bad at keeping everyone updated.  It’s really hard with a toddling 10 month old and a 4 year old.  Ya’ll keep us so busy!

This month has been my favorite!  You are learning so much.  You are growing right before our eyes.  First, some big things are happening this coming month.  We get to officially adopt you on the 11th of June!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, that’s what I said!  The wait will finally be over.  William Everett Stacy.  You will be ours.  You will carry our name for the rest of your beautifully long life.  We love you baby boy!

This month you learned to clap!  The first time you clapped was the day we signed your adoption papers. Friday the 16th.  On Thursday we had your pre-placement visit with DHR, then Friday we signed papers at DHR and the lawyers office.  All we have to do is see the judge.  Anyways, we were eating supper that night and Dada was talking to you and clapping, and then you looked at him and clapped back!  I recorded it.  Seriously, the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.  A few minutes later he started playing the drums and you started dancing and clapping.  I recorded that also!

A few weeks earlier you started waving bye bye and giving high fives.  Also, equally adorable.  You sometimes will say, “Hi!” as you wave.  I’ve heard you say “bye, bye” two or three times.  You’ve said Mama a few times, but still won’t say it on command.  You say Bubba for brother.

My favorite thing you do is give me sugar.  I will ask you to give me a kiss and you put your face up to mine and open your mouth.  You only do this for Mama and I feel soooo special.

We are trying to teach you to sign.  Things like: more, eat, yes, no, mama, dada, finished.  You are the most impatient eater.  You don’t want me to spoon feed you anything.  You only want to pick food up and feed yourself.  If we don’t get it on your tray fast enough, you pitch a fit.  If we have to tell you NO and take things away from you you also pitch a fit.

You have 3 teeth, with your 4th currently pushing through.  You seem pretty miserable.  You slept through the night twice.  Once until 6am then again until 5am. Then the teething got bad and you decided to stop sleeping all together, naptime, bedtime.  You hated sleep for about a week.  And then, ta-da! last night you slept until 7am!  I was so proud! 🙂

Another new thing you do is shake your head no!  It’s cute, but I wish I knew if you were just mimicking us or talking back.  It’s really weird, because I think you are understanding some of the things we say.  You shake your head at appropriate times and also clap when you are excited or you accomplish something…or if the word Yay is uttered.  I can’t believe you are growing up so fast.

You favorite toys are still things you shouldn’t have or play with.  ie. the dog bowl (you ate kibble this week), our books, pencils, straws, paper (your favorite appetizer), all of brother’s toys.  You love to sling all the folded clothes off the couch.  You never mess with the unfolded.

You absolutely love it outside.  Oh, and water is your favorite.  This month we got to go back home and stay with Nanny and PawPaw for a week.  You got to play in the splash pad, the beach, pool, and pond.  You loved them all equally.  You learned really quickly not to eat sand.  🙂  I can’t wait to post videos and pictures of you at the beach.  This was your second time there.  You went when you were 3 weeks old to Gulf Shores.  You also ate gumbo for the first time, tamales, oatmeal, poop, and corn on the cob.  You love to gnaw on the cob!

I’m sure I’m forgetting tons of things, but I’ll just attribute that to Mom Brain.

We love you sweet child!  Oh, and next month we are going to have a BIG Ole’ Adoption Party.  The theme:  Look Whooo’s Adopted!  Owls everywhere!