A weekend to remember

Mama took me to a GREAT place this weekend.

There was a bit of everything I love most in the whole world all in the same place!

At Auntie Kimley's house there were REAL geese swimming in the lake!

And a bucket full of trains and cars that I could play with for hours because the big boys were playing PS3...

yay for not having to share!

We ate and ate and ate ALL weekend long!  No pictures though, everyone was busy chewing.

Then, near dark, we went to a place called "Christmas in the Country".  
It should have been called "Ben will love ALMOST everything here".

Duck rides

 

 

and horse drawn wagon rides

 

 

and train rides 

 

 

OH MY!

And very, very cool drumming around an open fire.

I love me some drumming!

 

 

And all those animals in the books mama reads to me?

They're REAL!

Pigs really snort!

Chickens really cluck!

And baby bunnies are almost as cute as me!

But together we are irresistible...

But all great things must end...or something like that...I've heard a saying somewhere...

this is me, getting the feeling that something is up...

feeling more than a bit nervous about the brewing excitement that surrounds me.  

Feels familiar...

  

HE was there...not one told me HE was going to be there...

My terror was brief, but very very real.  I'm even terrified of all thos plastic life sized big red suited guys that talk and sing as I walk by.  Seriously, where is the off switch on the cherry nose?


But life just gets better and better from this point on...because tomorrow, TOMORROW, my new girlfriend (as in a GIRL that will be my FRIEND) is coming home with Auntie Julia and Uncle Danny and Grandma Tili!  

I get to go to the airport to meet little Molly when she comes off the plane and I'm so excited it's gonna take me an hour to get to sleep tonight.


Yay for wonderful weekends!

Too precious for words...

That was then...this is now...

Facebook and new connections blessed Ben and I once again this weekend with early photos of my sweet boy.

About a month old or so...

And we were further blessed by my traveling friends with photos of the wee Ben's room.  I neglected to get as many as I wanted as I was rushing about getting photos for waiting families.

If you look closely to the left you can see the Blacks Photography envelope in one of the nanny's hands.  I had folded over the flap to indicate that this envelope was for Lien...and she obviously received it.

Here is his nanny L.  And sweet Ben.  Together again (sort of).  

I wanted her to know we think of her and thank her for the wonderful loving care Ben received prior to the day we became a family.  I wrote a short note on the back of this photo and traced Ben's hand so she can see how he is growing (and included many other favourite shots for her as well).  She was his primary nanny providing very intense (and obviously intuitive) personal care to a swallowing delayed severe reflux afflicted Ben from June 3/08 until January 9/09.  He came to me thriving at more than 19 pounds at 7 1/2 months.  Thanks will never be enough.  Even the pediatrician is thankful to this sweet nanny for the miracles she preformed without medical support.

The nannies get great pleasure in receiving these photo gifts.  I witnessed it first hand when I made the deliveries in January.  I hope to do this often over the years until we can get back to visit.

So that was then...

This is now...

a day of variable weather at Nana and Grandpa's place.

Press Restart... (and scroll down for some Christmas "not so" Fun

Lost my glasses early this morning...or rather they are not where I thought they were.  The person responsible for their new location isn't saying much. 

Where are mama's glasses Ben Ben?
Tractor
Yes, that is a tractor on your shirt.  Mama wants to put glasses on her face.  Where are they?
Tractor
A blue tractor.  Nice tractor shirt.  Mama's glasses?

etc...

About 2 weeks ago I found my only car key in his rubber boot.
I was moments away from calling in sick.  No car key, no work.

Any guesses where the glasses might be?
In all the lost glasses excitement at 6 am in the morning I forgot to give Ben his reflux medication.

School was typical except for the student who ran full tilt across the classroom while under the supervision of the lunch attendant (who was engaged with one of the other 124 students for whom she is responsible), tripped, smashed his face into the table edge, knocked 3 teeth right out of his head and then played it safe by not telling anyone and going out for recess. 

1/2 hour later he decided his face hurt enough to go searching for me during the lunch hour.
They were baby teeth, we think, but only 2 of them can be found.

Decided to end the day with a trip to the mall...Santa had a real beard and NO line-up. 
So we went for it.
Ben was NOT ammused.

Oh, to end the day mama forgot the reflux medication again.
On a positive note I now have confirmation that the reflux is in fact NOT gone...
and the puked upon clothes and sheets and the cloth and towel are in the laundry.

We are off to visit Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow.
The neighbour has cats AND a tractor (and real live sheep and llamas as well). 
What could possibly go wrong under those conditions?

It was time...so we took a leap of faith.

How did I know?

The first hint was the "washcloth" sucking in the bath tub.  For about 3 weeks the dude SCREAMED if there wasn't a big, thick and very wet cloth in the bath.  I guess he was thirsty.  There was some coughing involved the first week or so but since then happy coughing free washcloth sucking.

The real clue?  The smack me in the face it is so obvious clue?  The wee guy has taken to dipping his favourite tonka trucks in the dog's water bowl and then sucking on the wheels.  I know, gross.  I have been putting up the water bowl in order to avoid this "aspiration in the making" habit but there have been a few days where dude's aspiration habit inadvertantly caused a thirsty pup when we left for work and the water was still up on the counter.

So?  Got out the "WAY nice yes they were a gift I would never spend 20 bucks on a sippy cup" foogos and gave it a whirl.  That was Sunday, two days post-tylenol-aspiration episode.  I was nervous but he was determined.  It took a few days to get past the oral aversion thing and realize that there was WATER...fresh and cold and not even thickened in that cup and that he would in fact take a sip and not die from it...but yesterday was THE day.  

He sipped, he smiled, he sipped, he chortled, he sipped and sipped and sipped. 15 minutes later half an ounce or so was GONE!
 

Water sipping will remain a belted into the highchair activity for quite some time.  A calm not laughing no leaping about activity.  He has a duplicate sippy at the babyistters and he even enjoyed a bit of water with his lunch today.  

His milk is still thickened (3 level tbsp of rice cereal to 7 oz milk) as the whole suck swallow breathe thing takes time to coordinate and the thickener gives him that time. He doesn't sip from the bottle, more of a guzzle.

But this is progress...towards the pediatrician's and speech pathologist's goal of no thickener no bottle by 2.  

Seems almost achievable today.

If you don't have something nice to say...

Well, that's what I've been told.

If you don't have something nice to say don't say anything at all.

That's why it is 2 days until my reports are due and there are 4 empty "learning skills" boxes at the bottom of page 2 on 4 different little boys' reportcards.

And I'm procrastinating.

I vacuumed, mopped, did 2 loads of laundry and gave the baby a bath...

I think I'll go to bed now.

And search for something nice to say tomorrow.

In leaving here are a few photos of my wee Manh...

they didn't make the charcoal drawing cut 

but I still love them.

(Auntie Julia picked up the drawing today...ummm yesterday Hanoi time)

A day like no other...

Today, early in our morning, Sunday November 15th, a dream came true on the other side of the world.  A mommy and a daddy held their little girl in their arms for the first time.  After years of waiting it happened.  Tonight, around 4 oclock in our morning,  it turns into forever when the adoption ceremony is completed.

Here I am in that same room 10 short months ago, moments after meeting my sweet Manh...
beautiful memories.

Thank you to everyone who sent their blessings and wishes and prayers flying across the sea towards Julia, Danny and Grandma Tili.  Don't stop yet.

In other news my wee little Vietnamese born son stepped onto the brand new scale at his auntie Carol's house and he turns out to not be particularly wee or little.  27.8 pounds.  Now he was dressed but it is safe to say he has topped 27 pounds.  Holy Moly, he isn't even a year and a half old yet!  When I bought my carseat I purchased a seat that can remain rear facing until 30 pounds...thinking my wee guy would be 2 1/2 or perhaps even 3 years old before I would have to switch him to forward facing (and knowing that studies around the world show that rear facing is so much safer in a collision I made this decision carefully).  Well, here's hoping we make it to 20 months or more.

The dude is feeling so much better today.  Still coughing a bit.  Still snotty a bit.  But cute and cuddly and playful again.

And in other exciting "I didn't know if I could do it and be a mom at the same time" term 1 reports are pretty much finished with just a bit of checking and editing left to do.  6 days early.

Sick...

Things have been a wee bit tough over here this weekend...

Thursday night it was late and dark when I awoke to something that looked like this...

So unhappy, clearly snotty, coughing up a storm.  

Poor baby boy.

Much of Friday was the same.  By noon I had come to the conclusion that there was certainly a cold virus at play but that the new lower right canine that had popped through over night as well as the 2 on the left trying to burst through (both upper and lower canine) were adding insult to injury (what's with all of the righthand teeth coming in before any lefties show themselves?).  He was drooling and pointing at the offending sore spots and I felt terrible for the wee Manh.  It was nap time and there wasn't going to be a nap with pain.

So- tylenol.  Right?  Makes sense?

Ummmm....big mistake.

Snot = compromised swallowing reflex (csr)

Csr = gag and choke (g+c)

g+c = projectile vomit breakfast and lunch all over mama's bed  where she had been folding clean laundry

and then skip the nap because you're distraught (ummm, both of us....distraught and napless)

So, obviously a coughing choking gagging projectile vomitting baby boy isn't welcome at a restaurant at 7pm at night when he hasn't napped all day and hasn't slept the previous night...so we skipped our "waiting mommies" dinner date and did what any other close to insane I've been scraping chunks off my duvet for half an hour type mama would do...

We went to Auntie Carol and Uncle Bill's place.

Had takeout Indian for dinner.

Ben had some playtime with Uncle Bill.

Mama got some report card comments into the computer.

Everyone was happier because of the preceived break.

Then?

We went home and tried again.

Manh puked all over the bedding again when he gagged on the snot river because of his horizontal position.

Slept together in the livingroom armchair until 3am when the BenBoy took a bit of a tumble onto the floor and didn't even wake up (there were pillows there just in case...)

Went to bed,

got a few zzzz's,

woke up refreshed and the Manh was even feeling a bit better.

We even got out to W@lM@rt for a short outing,

the wee one took a 3 hour nap in the car sitting upright...best way to sleep right now apparently,

while mama got a bit of marking done in the sunshine

and then we got out for a walk and enjoyed the beautiful day.

Finished off the night with refusing to put on pants and refusing to take fewer risks with the "car table".

Clearly on the mend.

The long and winding road

Julia and Danny leave in about an hour to journey to the other side of the world to meet sweet Molly.  The journey to this point has been so very long, fraught with heartbreak and loss beyond imagine, graced with strength and endurance not often seen in the human animal and blessed by new love. 

The last 2 hours were especially thrilling due to errors by various people that only became apparent at the airport (let's all blame each other...it is a game the first grade boys play). 

Bottom line?  

With exactly 1 hour until departure Julia called me to announce that they ALL (mommy, daddy and grandma) get to board the flight to Molly.

If you are the praying type please take a moment to send your prayers their way.  Please pray that everything goes smoothly from this point forward.  

Other positive thought techniques accepted here include (but are not limited to):

wishing on stars

blowing out candles

crossing body parts

putting pennies in left shoes

throwing salt over your shoulder (or something like that)

ummm???

add ideas in the comments and we can grow this wishing list

Fly safe my friends.

17

My sweet baby boy fits solidly into size 2.  A toddler size.  It isn't even in the same section of the store!  Sometimes I have to roll up the pants and sometimes the sleeves are too short but he really is all boy and almost no baby.  

Frankly it makes me teary.  

Where have the last 10 months gone?

This was a big month for the little Manh.  A month during which he learned to love his caregiver Auntie Sumi.  He has always run to me grinning from ear to ear when she delivers him to school at the end of the day but now, most fo the time, he smiles when I  drop him off in the morning.  He has tried all kinds of new food like homemade dall and roti and I can tell he is loving every bite based on the state of his clothes each evening.  Don't get me wrong, he comes to the school at dismissal time sparkling clean and dressed for a winter storm (Auntie Sumi is a bit overprotective), but the evidence of his delicious lunch in is the laundry sack hanging on the stroller handle.  I'm jealous, I want that homemade Indian food for lunch every day too!

Little Manh's language development fascinates me.  He understands and follows instructions at a level equal to or better than many of the Junior Kindergarten students I have taught in the past, often 2 and 3 part instructions (and he ignores his name when I'm calling him much like the average JK does as well).  He only needs to be shown something once and he is mimicing and trying to do it himself soon thereafter.  

But talking?  Not so much.  He babbles a mile a minute, displays English-ish ennuciation and pronunciation and expression within complete paragraphs...none of which I understand.  Don't get me wrong...he knows exactly what he is saying and I pick up truck or cat or the famous meow, bus, tractor, or the famous meow.  I hear  "that?", "get it", "go get it", "I did", "do it", "look it", all common phrases.  But no real change in the number of words I understand.  For the time being I'm attributing this to a developing vocabulary in Gujarati, which I'm sure would sound like typical baby babble to me...I'm waiting for the day Auntie Sumi declares him a Gujarati child.  Apparently he follows Gujarati instructions easily already!

He has been a meow-ing maniac this month and is tottally obsessed with cats of all shapes and sizes.  Twice while I was rubbing his back at bedtime he began to meow and meowed himself off to sleep.  He chooses to have me read only story books containing a cat, carefully digging through the book shelf until he finds the purrrfect book.  He demands that we turn the correct corner on our walk so we pass Hippo's house (our favourite neighbourhood cat...we were formally introduced on Halloween eve).  The cat obsession does not overshawdow his love of all things animal (or truck for that matter) but it is certainly in the forefront.

And my boy can move.  Faster and faster with each passing day.  Up hills and down hills and through leaves and over curbs and up steps and down steps (occasionally onto his face...poor boo).  He has learned to climb down backwards this month and applies this rule about 50 percent of the time.  He also enjoys walking backwards or sideways for that matter and always dances by spinning in circles while clapping to the music.

November is a month of joy for Ben and I as we watch two families we love travel to bring home Ben's girlfriends.  Catherine, in China right this second, has sweet Hannah in her arms already and Auntie Julia and Uncle Danny (private blog) leave to meet Molly at Ben's orphanage in Hai Duong in one week.  Thinking of these journeys reduces me to tears in mere seconds and brings back precious memories.  I was peeking back through my own archives today to 10 months ago and I wonder where the time has gone.