The Summer in Review...a Picture Parade

Since I have been so remiss in posting this summer, I thought I would provide a recap of our very busy summer using pictures I have of the different events.

First up, after finishing kindergarten, Henry teamed up with a couple of girls from our congregation to host a "Let's Get this Summer Started" swim party. A fun time was had by both the old and the young in attendance. We really had perfect weather and enjoyed the company of our dear friends from Austin. Here is Henry with his co-hostesses in front of the fabulous cake the other mom made.

In the month of June, while we had an extremely busy month, I don't have a lot of pictures to show for it. Here is a picture of the "girls" from the girls only trip I went on to Disney World. We're missing Tammy, as she was taking the picture.

Here are some pictures of Henry from our District Convention. Henry did great. Someone had sent me a kids version of a notebook for the program and Henry enjoyed following along. Of course, the highlight for him was the drama on Sunday. (A funny side story here: When I reminded Henry on Sunday morning that the drama would be that afternoon, he declared: "There's two kinds of drama. First, the one that is like a play like we will see today, and then there is the drama that I create when I am in a crabby mood." Yep, buddy, you got that right!)

Before Henry and I took off for our month in Chicago, Leslie wanted a special day for her and Henry. She arranged to take him to a special dinosaur exhibit. She knows a way to a boys heart. They had a great time.

So Henry and I headed off to Chicago for the month of July. The very first weekend we were there we realized our timing would coincide with another JW family that I have corresponded with via email. Another single mom with a great little boy from Kaz was going to be in the Chicago area and we were able to coordinate our schedules to enjoy dinner together at the Rainforest Cafe. And thus, another great friendship was born. Amanda, it was great to meet you and your mom and your wonderful little Bo. We sure enjoyed our evening with you and hated when it had to end. Here's a photo of the new friends:

We also got to spend the day with a friend of mine that I had lost touch with a couple of decades ago. It was wonderful to spend a day with her and her husband while visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo. We had a surprise encounter while we were there with Ms. Lori from PBS Kids.

After we got home from Chicago, we had three more weeks until school started. So Henry attended a summer camp hosted by the park district in the town that we live. He got to do a lot of fun things while he was here, like go to the movies, go to the Museum, go to the Kemah Boardwalk, swimming, and a lot of just hanging out and playing with other kids. Here he is headed off for his first day:

He also got to attend Jack's "First Day of School Party" at Jumpin Jacks. This is a big room filled with an inflatable jumpie, a HUGE inflatable slide, and an inflatable bungie race track. Again, a great time was had by all. Here is Henry, along with the Host with the Most, Jack!

Henry also managed to lose two more teeth, both on the bottom, this summer. Here is a shot with a nice goofy grin that highlights those new holes in his head:

And finally, to celebrate the end of summer and the start of school, we had a small gathering at Chuck E. Cheese with Henry's best friend, Jack and family. In case you hadn't noticed, we celebrate at the drop of a hat!!

Look for "First Day of School" pictures coming soon....

Friday Flashback

I recently came across a notebook that I had used to make different notes about milestones and such during the adoption process. I also took this notebook to Russia to journal some about my experience and feelings. Among the things I found in this notebook, was a outline of Henry's foot that I had traced, along with his measurements...taken on 9/30/04.

I also found where I had written myself a list of questions that I wanted to ask his caretakers. Underneath, in a different ink, I had written the answers. There were a few gems I thought I would share to demonstrate just how early Henry asserted his
personality:

Q: What does he eat?
A: He is not a picky eater. He will eat whatever we give him.

Q: How does he interact with the other children?
A: He is very inquisitive, he needs to know what is going on.

Q: What is his favorite toy or activity?
A: He likes music. When the music teacher comes, that is his favorite.

And now, to go with the picture above, here is what I wrote in my journal after meeting my Henry for the first time:

September 28, 2004....My stomach drops as Irina announces that this is the turn that will take us to the baby home. She has spewed out what little she knows about his short history. I almost cannot absorb and comprehend every thing she tells me. It hasn't really sunk in that she is telling me about MY SON. But now, with butterflies in my stomach, it is finally real. She tells me he is the best one in his age group. I am sure she tells every new family this, but no matter, I still believe her.

Now we are standing in the hall waiting for the caretakers to bring me my son so that I can take him outside. Every set of footsteps creates more butterflies. Finally, Irina calls "Paula, your son is waiting for you to come and get him." I walk into the room. My immediate reaction is to notice the strong resemblance he has to Kody and Caleb. He looks at me uncertainly. I do not immediately pick him up because I do not want to scare him. Instead, I begin talking to him and touching him. He is still not too sure about me.

Finally, I pick him up. He begins to whimper. I just keep talking to him, softly but confidently, and he calms down.

He's wearing a cute blue sleeper with a train on it. It looks brand new. Because the caretakers strongly feel that the kids need to be bundled up, I don't hesitate when they bring me a purple knit sweater sleeper. They also give me green knit booties, which I put on over the feet of his sleeper. Finally, they give me a Winnie the Pooh yellow cap to put on his head. I don't want to cover his precious blond curls, but even more, I don't want to bring on the wrath of the caretakers. So I put it on him. And we're off...

After disgarding the thought of using a stroller, we head to the playground in the back of the baby home. Irina and the other family head off to find their daughter. At last, I am alone with my little bundle of son.

I want to know everything. What color are his eyes? I try to look. In the bright sunlight, they look grey with flecks of gold.

I break out the snacks I brought for him. He is not shy to take them and eat them. He likes the little fruit puffs and he seems to relax a little. I bring out the photo album and he seems curious looking at the pictures. He points to the subjects in each shot and really seems excited when he reaches the picture of the dogs. I know I am practicing wishful thinking, but when I ask him where Mama is, he actually points to me in the picture.

We are together for almost an hour before he actually smiles and laughs. He responds the same way as Jack when I take his arms and throw them in the air, exclaiming "YEAH". And this earns me my first laugh. By now, I have made him show me his teeth. He has 4 on top and 4 on the bottom, and 4 more crowning.

Towards the end of our first visit, he allows himself to snuggle. He lets me hold him like a baby. He has his face against his blankie. And he just lays there calmly and lets me rock him. It was perfect. He is perfect.

Thanks for joining me on this journey down memory lane. To my loyal readers, I will admit I have been a very bad blogger as of late and have missed many good stories to share. I promise that I'll bet back to a regular routine of sharing the hilarity of Henry.

Eyeballs, eyeballs, and more eyeballs

I had the joy of spending the majority of my day with my two favorite 5-year-old boys today. Seems both of them share their love for the word 'eyeball'. It so must be a boy thing. If I heard it once, I heard it ten thousand times. Even when I asked them what they wanted for lunch, I was met with a unanimous chorus of "eyeballs" from the back seat.

We started our day with a trip to the bowling alley. Many of you might remember that this was our goal destination for our "family day", but we never quite got to play for various reasons. We did have success today. Jack and Henry are super competitive when they get together. I mean everything is a competition. At the end of two games, somehow these boys managed to tie each other both times. Here are some pictures of the bowling part of our day:

From there, we were off to Chik-Fil-A for lunch. The boys were anxious to go to the play area, so both of them wolfed down their lunches and ran off. They had fun climbing and pretending they were chasing or being chased by the bad guys (that they kept calling the "super glues" for some reason).

After that, we headed across the street to The Mad Potter. This is a place that has pottery that you can go in and paint yourself. The boys each did two projects. One of their projects was that they each painted a dinosaur. Here they each are with their completed masterpiece.

We decided a snack of ice cream was now in order. Jack requested chocolate and Henry selected the strawberry. Here they are enjoying their mid-afternoon treat:

After that, they both agreed that they wanted to go to the playground. So I found one in a small neighborhood. There was no one there and they just ran and screamed and played. The most fun thing was watching them fight. Not physically. But they each took their turn getting their feelings hurt and claiming that they were no longer friends. The other would then follow them around begging to be their friend again. I decided not to intervene, but to let them work it out themselves. I didn't realize boys were this "emotional" over their friendships. To their defense, it was the end of the day and they were both wearing out, and to their credit, they did seem to work it out fairly quick. Here are a couple of shots on the playground:

I loved this action shot of Henry jumping off the little car thingy.



And here they are trying to jump into the swings. After insisting that they wanted to swing, I did put them both in the little bucket things, but they both realized quite quickly that they were too big and that the bucket wasn't very comfortable.



In the end, these two boys love each other so much. No two more different boys could you find, but when they are together, all is right with their world. All they want is to be exactly where the other one is. I'm glad they have each other and that they love each other so.

We had such a fun day, and I got to experience what it is like to be the mother of twins. They are both such good mannered little boys, BUT, they are still little boys. I absolutely loved having Jack for the day, and I absolutely loved taking him home to his mother. Courtney, thanks for sharing him with me, but it's your turn next.

Mama, blah, blah, blah Jack

This is what was discernible as Henry was practically yelling on about the 4th row of the Kingdom Hall. You see, he had fallen asleep during the meeting. Since it was freezing in the KH, I had moved him to my lap because he was using my shawl as a blanket. At one point, he stirred and called out Mama, some jibberish, and then Jack. Guess he was dreaming of playing with his buddy Jack.

A few minutes later, he did the same thing, except this time he was talking about how hungry he was. So I finally picked him up and moved to the back school for the rest of the meeting. After the meeting, he woke up and looked around. "Why are we back here?" he wanted to know....uh, because you kept yelling in the front hall.

So in the car, he again insists that he is starving and wants to know if he can have a snack when we get home. I ask him what he wants and he begs for carrots and dip. Every mother's dream.

Hunker Down

Hunker: to hide, hide out, or take shelter (usually fol. by down)

And that is exactly what we are doing.

The wind is blowing pretty consistently outside. It sounds a lot scarier than it really is.

Henry is in "bed", on a pallet in our safe room, playing a lit bit on his Leapster before drifting off to sleep. He is a little concerned, but overall, I don't sense that he is stressed. My sincere hope is that he will sleep through the worst of this.

Earlier this evening, we were outside watching the wind. He expressed concern for his buddy Jack. So we came inside and called him. It was funny to hear two 5-year-olds discussing their plans for riding out a hurricane.

As we sat outside, we saw shingles blowing off the roof of a house on the next street. Our power has blipped a couple of times, but just for a split second. Galveston has totally lost power and is starting to feel the hurricane force winds.

The updates are still regarding Ike as a category 2, but the winds are at the upper limit. 1 more mph and it moves to a category 3. They instigated a curfew for our town calling for folks to be home from 8 p.m. Friday until 10 a.m. Saturday...uh, not a problem for us.

The safe room is stocked and ready to go. We've got our flashlights, a tv (for as long as we have power), water, and tons of other stuff.

Since Henry is in bed, we've got the news on now. It is almost irritating to watch, but it's like a train wreck. I hate hearing the stories of the stupid people who didn't leave when they were supposed to. 40% of the people in Galveston...under mandatory evacuation orders, chose to stay. If we had been under evacuation orders...voluntary or mandatory, we'd be so out of here. I so don't understand people thinking they know better than officials.

I have not checked in for a while so let me just catch you up real quick. Ashley had her baby in February – little David Leigh. You really love him– it is cute and you are so sweet with him. We just went out to eat with them and David Leigh was smiling at you and you were saying he likes me. So sweet. Also, Lucy died in February. You weren’t as sad about it as we thought you might be. Your Mom and I are both very sad – she might have been a grumpy dog but we loved her and she was so protective of you. You still mention her in your prayers. We took her to be cremated and you stayed at the house with Nana and Papa – when we came home we all sat down and told you what had happened not knowing what kind of response we would get. You laid your head down on your Mom’s shoulder for just a bit and then you raised your head up and said “so are we getting another dog”…guess you were over it.
I had to have surgery in April and we told you that I had a boo-boo in my tummy so to be careful. You asked me for a long time if my boo-boo was better. It worked out just perfect that you were in Chicago during my surgery and hospital stay – so it was all over by the time you came home. But since I was scared, it was really hard talking to you on the Sunday before the surgery but you did talk to me. Thanks.
Also, I got laid off in February and for a while it was a sore subject – bad thing was you had just learned the Legend Logo – so every time we drove past a sign or a billboard you would say “you don’t work at Legend Homes anymore…do you?” yeah, thanks there Henry.
You have had a nice summer – you were such a good boy at the District Convention and have really gotten into helping with the volunteer work. We were assisting with cleaning one of the restrooms and you were such a big help and really tried to do what you could. Then for the whole month of July, you and your Mom were in Chicago. Mom said you did great on your road trip. When you came home, I asked you how your trip was and you told me “I drank root beer floats and watched too much TV”…well, sounds like vacation to me. I think you went fishing, swimming, you played basketball a lot. You also started watching a lot of Cubs games with Papa.
Over Memorial Day, we went to the Yellow beach house and this time Jack came and stayed. You guys had a lot of fun playing in the water. You also played lots with your boogie board and would try to body surf. I had brought a game called the “ladder game” kind of a version of horse shoes but different – well, you loved it and wanted to play whenever we were playing. We will be going to the Yellow house again at the end of this month with Aunt Nada over Labor Day.
We are going to San Antonio this weekend and you are going to see a play I saw about 20 years ago – “Alice, A rock Opera” I am so excited about you seeing it. We will be with my friend Katrina and maybe Brent, Hannah, John and Skylar were supposed to come but John is very sick and they can’t make it. If the weather is nice, we are taking you to Schlitterbaun on Sunday – but we haven’t told you yet. You have been asking to go so hopefully it will work out.
You are now 5 and really have a little boy look about you – not looking like a toddler at all. You can almost read. Also, Mom is going to be redoing your room and she is probably going to let me arrange everything. So we have been looking at furniture. I am going to give you 5 choices for your theme and see what you pick. You have an interest in just so many things I think you will have a hard time.
The Olympics are on right now and you are “strung out”. You don’t care what is on – you want to watch it and ask which color we want to win. Last night you and Papa went swimming and you pretended to have an Olympic swimming match.
OK, back to work – will write more later.

Are we staying at the fancy Marriott?

December 19, 2007
I have gotten behind – so just a short synopsis. We went to Sea World over Thanksgiving and had a blast. It was really cold and you were tall enough to ride a water ride – the log ride and you loved it and we rode it 3 times in a row. Your Mom was soaked at the end but we had so much fun. We stayed at the Marriott with the courtyard and the peacocks and you kept calling it the fancy Marriott. We thought that was cute. Also, right now you say “No Ploblem” – when you mean no problem – you have a pretty laid back attitude. You still love football and play all the time but you are always getting tackled and break your leg. Lane Sutton just hurt his hip and was on crutches and you call them crunches. Since it is so cute we don’t correct you. Yesterday at school you had a pajama party and wore your pajamas to school. You just couldn’t figure out why you would wear your pajamas on the playground. You just tell us you love us all the time and it is so nice to hear. You are having a little trouble with the holidays this year. This is the first year you have understood them some. So last night when we went to Allison’s, you asked us if they celebrate Christmas. You will get the swing of it. Your Nana and Papa are coming down this week for their winter visit. You love their visit and they do also. Today, they had their Christmas party at school so Mom kept you home. You are having lunch with Sara, Samuel and Linda at James Coney Island and going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. Skylar Scheffer is coming to the movie also. You had your first kid party at jumpin jacks. It was so much fun. You wanted to have a Nascar theme. About 15 kids came and then we had cake and did crafts. This Saturday we are going to a Hockey game, we are also taking Megan, Lane and Jack. Hopefully Nana and Papa will come too. Jack might spend the night.

Your first Concert - Justin Roberts

November 12, 2007
We had such a great weekend. On Friday of course, we went to Gringos but Joyce & Hailey, and Allison, Megan and Lane joined us. You and Megan and Lane were cute after dinner playing and looking at the water and stuff. Then on Saturday, You, your mom, me and Jack went to the Woodlands to the Children’s Festival. We had a good time. You guys got lots of stuff and got to spin prize wheels, make craft projects and you went to your first concert – Justin Roberts. You and Jack would dance and do all the arm things Justin Roberts would ask. It was fun. You have been having a little trouble with your attitude at home and at school. So Mom asked Br. Bill Thomas to speak with you guys. After the meeting on Sunday, you all went into the Library and talked about having a good attitude and how happy that would make Jehovah and you need to listen to your Mom. It went very well. Hopefully it will help some. Your Mom is in Atlanta on a business trip and so we always say that we make a good team while your mom is gone. I know it is hard for you because you have to get up a little earlier and stay at school longer but you are a trouper. I love you so much. Whenever we watch a football game you always want to get your football and throw it around. You are pretty good throwing it – you have a little more trouble catching. You are quit the sports fanatic – just any sport and you will watch and try to imitate. It is cute and we are thankful for that. On Sunday afternoon, I went to the movie with Nada and I gave you a kiss before I left (you were not down for your nap yet) and you were so concerned that I needed to be back before you woke up and I was.

I need a stick

October 30, 2007
The other night we had corn on the cob and some got stuck in your teeth you said “I need a stick” and you meant toothpick. It was really funny. Also, you and I were playing basketball in the backyard and you held up 4 fingers while you were trying to dribble and at first we didn’t know what you were doing. Then we understood you were pretending to be the guard and you were calling the play. You really notice every detail and are just so funny. Saturday night, you, me, Jack and your Mom went to the Brazos Bend state park and we hiked around. It was fun and you guys really enjoyed it.

Green Bay Packers

September 4, 2007
We just got back from our Surfside weekend and you love it as much as we do. You just play and run and dig. We can tell a big difference since you have grown from last year to this year. You call it our yellow house. Jack, Courtney and John came out for the day and you guys had so much fun. When Jack got to the beach, you and I were in the water and you started yelling “Jack, I am so glad you are here”. One of the cute things you say right now is – cut short. You say that for a short cut and we don’t correct you. Then on Sunday we were watching a football game and decided we would cheer for the Green Bay Packers. We turned the TV off and didn’t see the last of the game so when you woke up that next morning, you said I wonder how my Green Bay Packers did. Just funny stuff.

We will always be friends

August 24, 2007
Your Mom reminded me of something that happened your very first night in Texas. On the way home from the airport we were trying to keep you awake until you could sleep in your own bed. We couldn’t think of anything and for some reason your mom started humming the theme from “Batman” which of course you had never seen or heard and you just giggled – you thought that was soooo funny. She hummed it over and over.
Then last night at the meeting during the song, you were being very affectionate and told me “We will always be friends” – I sure hope so.
Yesterday and today, you have stayed with Jack and Courtney because Sugar Mill is closed for inservice. You guys have had fun playing and Courtney says everything is a race to you guys – who can get dressed fastest, who gets to go first on everything – she took you to a bounce house and you guys kept wanting to compete on who could go up first – she said you couldn’t even enjoying sliding because you were to worried about being first. Also, there is a really tall slide and Courtney says you hold your nose like you are going underwater when you come down. Really cute.

Here I am with my first 'CAKE'

Jack and I LOVED the cupcakes!!

Love,

Master Henry

My playdate with Jack

Here are some pictures of my playdate with Jack. We had a lot of fun. He has some really cool toys (hint, hint Mama).

A request for help from Aunt Cor-Cor

Hey Girlie Girl. Sorry I couldn't make your Mary Kay party, but I heard it was a blast....

Okay, tell me please what the secret to mixing bottles is. I cannot make Henry a bottle that we don't get to the bottom of and there are clumps and clumps of baby formula. It is maddening. It doesn't seem to matter whether I mix it in hot or cold water, or how hard I shake, I just can't seem to get it to mix. Of course, maybe it is the cheapy Russian formula that is to blame and not my mixing skills.

Also, what is a typical day like for Jack as far as what he eats? Henry starts the morning with a 6 oz bottle. This is followed by about 1/2 cup of cereal about an hour later. For lunch, he can easily down a jar of baby food, as well as a piece of bread (without the crust) and 4 crackers. For dinner, he usually will polish off two jars of baby food, as well as a piece of bread. Besides this, he snacks all day long! He gets another 4 oz bottle before bedtime. And then the next day, he gets up and eats it all again!

He knows the corner of the room where we keep his snacks, so he is all day long pointing over there and demanding "Dah!" (Dah means everything to him.) Then he will open his mouth and say 'ahhhh' while pointing to it to show me it's empty and needs some snacks. How funny is that???

Anyway, I really hope I am not overfeeding him, although I didn't think that was possible. And I am almost certain that my pediatrician said to let him eat as much as he wanted in the beginning. It hasn't started squirting out his ears yet, and he usually only has one BM a day, so I am guessing this is okay.

Anyway, we can't wait to get home so Henry can play with his buddy Jack. I can't wait until their first photos together. Jack will be the tall skinny one, and Henry will be the short fat one. (He isn't really fat at all, but he is solid for his size.)

And the wonderful response I received:

You didn't miss much at the MK party? We missed you though.

You are doing the formula perfect. Warm the water and then mix in the formula. Worked for me. Possibly could be the formula.

Jack eats a full bottle of 5 oz whole milk watered down with 4 or so ozs of water. I top off the bottle and then immediately a jar of baby food mixed wiht a heaping tablespoon of cereal. Nothing again til lunch. Then at lunch another full bottle of the same mixture of milk and water, and as many jars of baby food as he will eat. But usually only 2 mixed with cereal again. For snack just cheerios or veggie puffs. As many as he wants. Usually about 15-20. He is offered a water sippie cup all day and usually drinks 5-8 ozs thru out the day. He eats bits and pieces of my lunch. Not much, though. He will eat mash potoates, bake pototoe, mac and cheese, french fries (Can you tell he is definately my child) Not much meat. I offer whatever I eat. He will eat rice as well. Then at supper another bottle and maybe two jars of baby food/cereal. Then I usually give him a small lite yogurt. He always has room for that. Oh yeah he will hash browns from Whataburger and McD's. So all toll 3, 8-9 oz bottle and 5 jars of stage 2 babyfood. Just started stage 3 and has yet to finish one at a meal. He actually eats very little in comparison to others. And I ask alot. His ped said anywhere from 7-10 jars was normal. That seemed a little much to me. But what do I know.

O.k. Keep in touch. I am NOT mad that I didn't get a picture. I will wait for the real thing!! I love you so.

Aunt Courtney and cousin Jack and Uncle John