The yellow shirt

Today, I was wasting time on the computer and Nick was off doing various loud things around the house and he came downstairs and said "look mom, do you love this shirt." He was holding his yellow shirt from the orphanage. We have talked about the shirt before and how we love it because he looked so cute in it and he wore it so much in the baby house. We were not allowed to take pictures of any of the other children or caretakers besides the baby house doctor and of course, we don't have any baby pictures, so I asked them if we could have the yellow shirt as a reminder/memento of the time at the baby house. They gave it to us and it has been hanging in his closet since we came home. So, Nick ran off and came back a few minutes later with it on.....it was a sniff, sniff moment and hilarious all in one! On one hand, it took me right back to the baby house and our favorite picture below of Nurik almost Nick Kitzman, On the other hand, he looked like an 80's muscle dude with his tummy hanging out of one of those hideous half-shirts and mismatched shorts! What is always so amazing is how much he has changed in 2 1/2 years. He hardly looks like the same child. The other picture of him at the babyhouse shows how he was always standing at the door banging to get out.....he sure loved us back then, hee,hee! and he was wearing the yellow shirt. We have tons of pics in the yellow shirt...I loved the yellow on him, still do! He looks so handsome in bright colors.......those strikingly handsome dark eyes and hair to match! :)


The YELLOW SHIRT 2007




The YELLOW SHIRT 2009

The really funny part was that my Kazakh boy had this crazy itty bitty bright puffy sleeved shirt with bears on it and was singing about bears in spanish! CLASSIC!

School continues to go well. We have grooved into a routine of sorts. He still is resistant to writing homework but I have seen improvement so I think it is just a matter of building his confidence (and patience!). We had one big war the other day and he was bemoaning....literally... the fact that he was hopeless (think total drama) and his name was the worst and he wanted to change his name (nope, not going back to Nurbolat) and on, and on, and on. He could have written his name one hundred times by the time he finished the "act". Oi! We are going to pursue at least an initial OT (private) eval for sensory type behaviors. They do not seem to be causing any problems at school but if there are ways that we can help him at home to focus or maintain composure when in an overstimulating environment, I am all over it. I will say that I still go back and forth on even doing this testing because it always seems if I just wait a few more months, he improves. I always second guess myself because maybe we are just having expectations that are ahead of the game. He wasn't cutting well at all 3 months ago and now, he cuts paper almost like a pro.....well, a Kindergarten pro but crazy improved even so! I think the initial eval will be good and then they can just give us advice on what to do next. I don't want to add more out of class time for him when he seems to be doing so well but also don't want him to lose out either if it will help him at all. Have I mentioned before that knowing the right thing to do as a parent is hard! ;)

I am working some now for the family that I nannied for several years ago. The mom always has projects so I am just helping her out. A very comfortable, flexible job that fits our needs and doesn't tie me down. We have been going thru all of her kids stuff and getting rid of the old, and with twin boys, broken! ;) Bringing back so many memories of when they were little. The twins were 7 months when I started and their daughter was born while I was there, Now, they are almost 13 and 10. Yikes! It is a great job for now so I can still do school things with Nick and a little mommy time to boot! ;)

Nick has his first field trip to an apple orchard on Friday. Stay tuned for apple pickin' pics!