We started bonding day number 1 with Nick on a Tuesday after we went thru the "blind" process of choosing our son on Monday. I have been reading back thru the blog and going thru all of the pictures so that I can do a video montage. I now have a new appreciation for anyone who has already done one of those....takes way more time than I thought but probably because I cannot choose between all of the hundred cute pictures to tell the story.
We are in prep mode for his birthday/one year anniversary celebration. Invites go out soon although most people know already. I am trying to get his cake ordered. I am extremely picky about cakes.....good icing is all that matters. I like the old fasioned crisco and sugar kind....none of this fluffy whip cream or fondant style. Yuck! If I can't secure the particular cake maker, then I will go to my favorite bakery and just get a plain cake and stick something on it. I have thought about just asking them for a big bucket-o-icing and making the cake myself! ;)
Nick is talking so much now. Not just words anymore.....full on sentences and they crack us up.
He explains everything back to us...procedures, rules, anything. At night, he will get in bed and say his prayers "BY MY SELF" and then he will say something like...Monsters not outside, just a tree, mom and dad protect and God protect, not scary, Nick stay in bed, no shut door, mama daddy watch tv, Goodnight mama, Goodnight daddy! It is the cutest thing....we hear all kinds of variations but it is so funny how he recites everything that we tell him....boy, we have to watch what and how we say things because our little mimic can give it back to you in detail! Another new phrase this month is "big problem".....he will have a toy that he is having trouble with and come running to us and say, mom, have big problem! He also calls everyone little buddy because that is what we call him. It is so cute to hear him talking to his animals or his friends and say "come here little buddy, you OK little buddy". It is ironic that this month he has really started identifying himself as "son". Today we came home from swim lessons and he was running to the door saying "Dad, you son is home!" He still has the most incredible expressions on his face and we laugh all of the time......he loves to laughs and has really developed some great belly laughs.
To think that the only way we could get him to smile one year ago was to tickle him or make a loud noise. He would immediately turn back to his somber self and never say a word. It is hard for people who meet him now to believe that he never spoke during our visitations....hand signals and grunting were about all we heard. Now, we wish for a few quiet moments! I am practicing using the video blog button so here is the infamous green room....notice the size and imagine the door being locked and 80-90 degrees. Our visitation room was extremely small compared to many of the other ones I have seen but we survived! You can see a bit of Nick in the early days and see how quiet he was. I will have to get some recent video of Nick so you can compare in another post.
We still get random acts of orphanage living like these shoes all lined up. Don't know when he did it but it was so cute....even in order - daddy's, mama's, and Nick's!
His lates creative flair was a shopping cart made from his fire engine and a hospital pan. He went around picking up toys and talking about shopping. He cheesed big for the picture!
We are so blessed by all of the friends that we are able to have playdates with on any given week. This week we played with Logan, Judd and Owen (and baby Wyatt who the moms played with....adorable) and we got this great shot of all of them quiet and calm. The were eating and (gasp) watching tv and don't even think about asking what they were eating...No comment! I can't even begin to count how many "We will never...." rules that we have broken in just the first year.
Be patient with us as we walk down memory lane for the next few weeks/months......we have until April 20th (our return to the states) to ponder and remember!
8 comments:
Hi Karen,
I cannot believe it has already been a whole year since you guys went to Kaz. What a difference for BOTH of us in the past year. I haven't been reading my emails very frequently while I'm at home since we only have dial-up so thanks so much for all your sweet comments. I really want to get together soon and introduce Haylie to Nick. I can't find your phone # anywhere so I can't call you. Can you send me your number on my private email and I'll give you a call and we'll set up a date!!
Jody
Hello Karen,
Becky and I (Charles) are finally back in the rich world of high-speed internet connections and so on.. a nice time for me to view your blog. Your little boy is very handsome and it appears that you have had quite an adventure. Thanks for the nice comments you left on Operation Kazakhstan.
Best wishes to your family,
Charles and Becky
Hi! What a special time as you remember and celebrate all of your anniversaries as a family! Wow--as you said, the room you spent your bonding time in together in Kaz is really different from many of the others I've seen on others' blogs. It's so special to have video of that time. Thank you for sharing all of this!
Thank you for sharing your trip down memory lane with us. He has made such strides and is just gorgeous! You are a lucky little family. We wish you many more happy years watching your little boy grow up.
It will be fun going down memory lane -- looking forward to it! I was all excited about Nick's party and planning a gift for each of his "four" birthdays but we will be heading to Nashville to see my bro and his family. Can we do another party later? Maybe the day you returned with him? If not, we'll settle for a playdate.
I will remember about this past year my introduction to blogging, my first experience with it and anticipating each entry and pictures you all would post.
Hope to see you Wednesday! k
I see you all over the blogs I follow. We are also parents to a karaganda cutie and were there with Joanne and Andy, although we didn't arrive in Karaganda until mid March so we are also approaching our 1 year anniversary.
I found a link to your blog somewhere, so I thought I'd stop in to say hi. Are you coming to kazapalooza?
Kristan
Yes, Kristan, we are going to Kazapalooza in June! Can't wait! Joanne and Andy were supposed to join us in Zhez but got re-routed to Karaganda city. Their Nicholas was there. We would have loved to have another family in town....we were quite lonely! ;) Look forward to meeting all of you finally! K
Great I'll look forward to meeting you in June! We are planning away, hoping it will be a great success!
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