paint!

orphanage photos

It was suggested, by other adoptive parents, that we bring some disposable cameras to drop off. Any glimpses of your child during the time you couldn't be with them is so precious. We I forgot ours at home. Gladly the woman we traveled with donated two to our cause. Thank you! These photos are priceless.

The first few taken outside must have been taken right after we left in August. Because how many months after August can you be outside in your pajamas in Siberia? The other look to be taken right before we got back, because he looks about the same as when I got him.



Aww a little photo shoot in the flowers.

grow baby grow

Sometimes I just need to see the pictures next to each other. People we see regularly say he is looking bigger, but I see him everyday and it can be hard to tell. Now I believe them.
Trip one 14 months

Trip two 19 months

At home, 20 months old

At home, 21 months old


Oliver's favorite grow baby grow foods include
-avocados, about 3 a week
-whole milk yogurt, everyday (we use it to give him his TB meds)
-cream of wheat or oatmeal with a hunk of butter mixed in and made with whole milk
-extra olive oil added to his dinner food (thanks auntie shelly, great idea)

Besides that he enjoys
-pretty much anything we are eating

He has no interest in
-crusty bread
-pizza
-fried foods
(wishing I shared those food issues)

day fourteen, day fifteen, day sixteen, day seventeen, day eighteen

Well, I'm a bit behind. Sometimes taking an unexpected road trip to Nebraska for a surprise party trumps home organization/cleaning. I'm catching up.

Item 5, master bath. It's ridding of soap scum and glass smudges, the towel rings now match the knobs, and there is actually a door knob on the door to the toilet...novel.

Item 33, granite counters for the kitchen. It says I'll have them installed then stand around and admire them. Well, the install date is after the forty days so I'll take credit for ordering them and scheduling the install. Photos to come at the beginning of May!

Item 36, garage. Today I started cleaning up the garage even though I didn't want to. Swept, organized, and threw stuff away.

Item 16, laundry room (hang shelf, organize) It's organized, but I decided that the shelf would interfere with the drying rack and some other things so I decided against it and went with some hooks instead.

Item 39, grace. Because none of us are perfect and sometimes a little grace is necessary

kirill's story

Sometimes more than a village is required. Sometimes the task sounds so daunting so big and problematic that it seems like there is nothing little you can do. If the story below sounds like that to you, just say a prayer or two, or ten, but if you have an idea or a contact please let me know.

I can't even pretend to know what it would feel like to be so close and one second later to be told no. But it's not even about that, it's about a little special needs boy not being allowed to leave the orphanage and live with a family simply because of his special needs.

Thursday, March 24, 2011
Kirill's Story

Please feel free to share the following on your blogs. It is a summary of our adoption journey so far. Please help us spread the word. We are hoping somehow someone will be able to help us.

Two years ago Greg and I began praying for God to do whatever he wanted with our lives. We handed him a “blank check” so to speak, and told him to cash it. He opened our eyes to children with disabilities wasting away across the ocean in Eastern Europe. We joined God and started our adoption journey.

Our family is more than equipped to handle a child with special needs. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education. I am a member of the Board of Directors of Best Buddies of Alabama. I have volunteered for RISE and Eagles’ Wings. All of these organizations serve individuals with special needs. My husband I have close friends and family who have special needs and we are a big part of each other’s lives. Our wedding party included some of these special people. Our involvement with individuals with special needs led us to adopt a child with special needs; specifically, we chose Down Syndrome.

As we prayed over the faces of thousands of orphaned children with Down Syndrome, we ultimately chose a little boy named Sergey from Russia. Eight months later, as we neared the finish line of our adoption, one of Sergey’s family members in Russia stepped forward to adopt him. We were heartbroken for our loss, but God showed us that we were following him, and his ways are perfect. We knew we still wanted to adopt, so the way we saw it, two children would find homes because of our journey…Sergey went to his family and now we would choose another child to come into our family. We took great comfort in knowing that God could see this when we first committed to Sergey! We were honored to be a part of his plan.

Shortly after losing Sergey, we received a new referral with a grainy photo of a four-year-old blond-haired boy wearing pink glasses named Kirill. We were instantly in love with him. We had to re-file a lot of our paperwork because of the change in referrals and regions of Russia, but we were fast and we thought we were looking at three more months at the most until we would have Kirill home.

That was well over a year ago.

Since then so many things have happened. A tragic story of an adoptive mother sending her child back to his country alone on a plane with a note pinned to his shirt rocked our world…he was from Russia. Adoptions in Russia came to a screeching halt. Kirill’s region stopped processing adoptions for eight long months. The judge refused to accept any Amercian adoption cases until an official treaty was signed between the United States and Russia.

Even though we wouldn’t be able to finalize the adoption in court until the treaty was signed, we were allowed to go visit Kirill and sign our official petition to adopt him in August 2010. We fell more deeply in love with him. This was our son.

During that time, we found out that Kirill is the first child from his region EVER to be adopted with Down Syndrome. A birth mother keeping her child with Down Syndrome is unheard of in this area of the world. Adoptions of children with Down Syndrome just don’t happen there, these children are literally hidden away from society in orphanages and mental institutions. As our process continued, it became apparent that Kirill would be a pioneer. If our adoption was approved, it would pave the way for other children with special needs to be adopted from this region.

Then, a miracle happened around Christmas and the judge in this region suddenly changed her mind and began processing American adoptions again. We were elated. Could this be the light at the end of a very long tunnel? I was somewhat nervous about Kirill being the first child adopted with Down Syndrome from his region, but our agency was very confident that if we got a court date, our adoption would be approved. In seventeen years, they had never had a case rejected IF the family was issued a court date. We were told not to worry, so I didn’t. After meeting the judge’s requests for several supporting court documents, we were finally granted a court date-March 17, 2011. St. Patrick’s Day…I was thrilled. This would be our new favorite holiday! Our son was coming home!

Our other son, Clayton, who had just turned three when we started this adoption process, has prayed fervently for his brother. He is now almost five. When we told him Kirill was coming home, oh my…we had an excited big brother on our hands! At one point he even went to his room, dumped out his toy cars and divided them into two stacks…one for him and one for Kirill.

Last week, as we sat in the courtroom and suffered through five agonizing hours of difficult questioning, we were not prepared for anything but an approval of our case. Two doctors, two social workers, and the Minister of Children’s Services all made very strong statements on our behalf. They fought for us. Hard.

But when the ruling was read, the judge said, “Your application to adopt is rejected.” The basis given was that Kirill was “not socially adaptable” due to his “medical condition” and he was better off in an institution than in a home with a family. As the judge read her ruling, she stated several times that we were a good family, that we met all the criteria to adopt a child, but that she would not approve our adoption because Kirill has Down Syndrome. She told us that we could adopt another child, because legally our application had no problems according to Russian adoption law. She said she would approve our adoption for a “typical” child, but not this child. Why? The only reason? Because he has Down Syndrome. Even though we were approved by our home study and by the USCIS to adopt a child with special needs. It makes no sense whatsoever. Denying a child a family because he has Down Syndrome is a violation of human rights at its most basic level!

It was like a terrible dream. We were so unprepared for this outcome. As we left the courthouse in a mental fog, the doctors and social workers that had testified came to us and said, “If you appeal, we will fight for you. Appeal. Fight this decision.” Of course we were going to appeal…I could no more walk away from our biological son, Clayton, at this point. Kirill is just as much my son.

So here we are, asking God to move the mountain that is standing between Kirill and us as we appeal to the Supreme Court in Moscow. There are also three other families who are in various stages of adopting children with Down Syndrome from Kirill’s region; one of the families has a court hearing set for next week.

We are hoping that someone will hear our outcry and help us bring our son and these other waiting children home. His adoption will set the precedent for many other children in his region. There are 98 children in his orphanage with special needs alone. It is one of many orphanages in this region that houses children with special needs. This is about more than just one child, the lives of hundreds of children with special need are at stake. Please help us.

eat, sleep, poop

Eat
Oliver remains an adventurous eater. He will try whatever we feed him. However, he as scaled back the amount he eats. Instead of eating like hungry hippo he eats more like a two year old, excellent. He is also more interested in touching the food then he was before. I find it annoying because he knows how to eat with a spoon and fork, but I remind myself he has probably has never really been able to touch it before. I also tell myself that if he isn't nervous about getting his hands messy with food maybe he won't be one of those kindergarten students who refuses to touch the paint or paper mache.
Though the destruction of a few sippy cups I managed to teach Oliver how to suck strong enough to use a straw. The ability to drink from a straw makes going in the stroller a little less dramatic. It also makes turning your pasta dinner into pasta soup more challenging, which is a plus.

Sleep
As of current we have no sleep issues. This amazes me. We read a lot about sleep in our adoption books. Do we family bed? Does he sleep on the floor in our room? Does he sleep in his own room? Crib? Bed? Will he have bad dreams? Does he need music on?

Family bed? No. I love the idea of it. I enjoyed sleeping with Oliver in Moscow, but it just didn't work at home. Jim gets up at 4am and I am not risking baby wake up at 4am. Also, Oliver is an active sleeper and our bed does not have that much space. So we tried it, once and discovered it's not for us.

Oliver sleeps in his own room, in his twin size bed with a railing, no night light, no music, just sleep. I like that he sleeps in a bed because it means I can lay with him while we read stories and then we can chat and cuddle with the lights off before bed time. Things got a little tricky with daylight savings time. Suddenly 7:30 was bright instead of dark and he knows how to climb out of the bed, so would he? At nap I always put him in the pack and play to assure that he would stay there. I started putting him in his bed for nap. Day 1, he tested it to see what would happen. He got up 4 times over the course of 10 minutes. Each time I went back in his room and put him back in his bed, he went to sleep and has only climbed out a handful of times...only at nap time not at night.

Poop
We use cloth diapers so if there is a chance to get the poop onto the potty I take it. At the first sign of the classic red faced grunting baby I say "poop goes on the potty" and we jot upstairs quickly undress and assume the proper position. Then cheer when we are victorious. Today 2 out of 3 poops made it to the potty.

baby talk two

Did you miss baby talk, the original? Check it out here

Owl was the first word Oliver said, but how useful is owl? Not very. That being said he has added a few others including...

dada
mama
NO (only said loudly)
banana (nana)
bye bye
night night (ni ni)
da (I guess he prefers Russian version of yes)I know he is saying yes because he shakes his head yes and uses it in proper context.
woof (when he sees a dog or when I say dog)
--
he still, very much, wants to say "on" and "off" but he just hasn't managed to get more than the OOO sound out.

The unspoken
I say "where's Oliver?" he covers his eyes
I ask him where something is that he can't see and he lifts both hands in that "I have no idea sort of way"
When sitting on the potty we play puzzles, don't you?, when he gets a piece in he lifts an arm or two and does a "ya I did it kind of cheer" We celebrate everything. You should see the cheer when something turns up in the potty. "Whoa!"

Signs
please
milk
more
sorry
thank you
*I tried to teach him the sign for mama since he still insists on patting himself while saying mama, but he refuses.

day eleven, day twelve, day thirteen

Number 26, rake the yard. We have an oak tree which doesn't finish dropping its leaves until the spring. So after nap, this afternoon, Oliver and I finished the raking.

Number 32, iron or burn the pile of laundry. I ironed it. I know, I'm shocked too.

Number 13, dining room. We actually use our dining room on a daily basis. The main issues are; Oliver's crusty chair, the area around his chair, and my growing stash of cookbooks. I'm happy to say all crust has been removed, the floor is clean (for now), and my cookbooks are neat and orderly (for now)

park drama

I tell Jim about how challenging it is to get Oliver out of the bucket swing at the park. I say it is easier to just avoid it, really. I tell him how Oliver grips on with his hands and once you get them loose he crosses his little legs so even if you are lifting him he is still attached to the swing. Then of course there is the screaming and fake crying. Jim says, "I want to see that" I say "Then you're dealing with it"

ready to go




airplane


I like how he puts his arms though there, extra safe/difficult to remove


After a short 5 minutes of swinging Jim decides that we should do something else. I know there is no something else. This is the end of it, but Jim doesn't believe me. :-) There are no photos of the events that happened next. I watched Jim struggle Oliver out of the swing, just like I told him it would be...but I couldn't photograph it, that's just evil. After struggling Oliver into the stroller we walked back home. Parks without swings are my new favorite, Jim agrees.

Obviously avoidance of what's difficult isn't going to help. So to get over our swing problems we visit the park during "off peak" times and have little in and out of the swing boot camp. You know, wow the swing is fun let's swing swing swing, okay now we get out and go play on the slide, cry struggle, get over it and play elsewhere, repeat. It's not pretty but it's a lot easier when there isn't a bunch of four year olds around pointing and saying "look at that sad baby"

sock removal

While out on the deck yesterday Oliver noticed he was the only one with socks on. He decided they needed to promptly be removed.

Step one -pull the toe



Step two -get an assistant



Step three -grunt, it really helps

day eight, day nine, day ten

Number 18, deck.




Number 15, laundry room cabinet painting. Looks much better than it did before, trust me. Also added new knobs like in the kitchen.

Number 19, in closed porch. New table cloth, vacuumed floor, windows cleaned. We even ate dinner out there with our bible study this evening, lovely.

day seven

Item 28, new knobs on the kitchen cabinets.


Any takers for the old knobs? I have between 30-40, they were all over our house.

day six

Yesterday there was snow on the ground and this afternoon Oliver and I were out raking the yard and trimming some branches, item 25 on the list. However, before we got to work we played bubbles.



Eventually we got to raking




This is the "I think I hear something over there" face


Turns out it was the sound of our neighbor's mailbox getting ran over by a car full of teenage girls.

day four, day five, fingernails

Not exciting days, no big projects were accomplished but things got done. Purchased a new vacuum, the best part is it has a retractable cord. Winding up the cord is my least favorite part of the job!

Day four-finished the office. Vacuumed, installed the closet doorknob, dusted, all papers and supplies in order. (number 4 from the list)

Day five-today was pretty busy so I had to pick something easy. Stairs. I've never had a house with stairs, besides basement stairs. The worst thing about them is vacuuming them. I say that like I know, I don't. I assume the worst part is vacuuming them I outsource the job to Jim, he seems to do a good job and I don't think he minds...much. So the stairs are cleaned, and I dusted the table that is on the landing. Slightly lame, but it's something off the list.

Cleaning/Organizing pays! In the kindergarten room I found a substantial check lost in the shuffle of multiple moves. In the office I found a savings bond my grandfather got me in 1987. It's only payable on death, and sadly that has applied since 2003. Tomorrow would be his birthday, so I think I'll cash it in and buy something fun with he...he would recommend that.
-----
How on earth do you trim those little fingernails? I don't need tips on how to keep him still, I got that. I need actual strategy. What kind of clippers do you use? Do you file also? I feel like I clip his nails at least 3 times a week, but it's not helping. He has a new fingernail scratch on his face every morning. His nails we so short and perfect when I got him from the orphanage, I should have asked for a lesson.

day three

Today I worked in the office. The office is furthest from the main area of our house and I think this causes stuff to get trapped there. Some of the random things I found in the office include; a reamer (thing that gets the juice out of the lemon), measuring spoon, and the drill. However, the biggest issue is, of course, paperwork. Let's just say that adoption isn't green. We are responsible for the destruction of a few large trees. I'll be able to pack cookies in shredded adoption paperwork for the next few months. Then Jim has his little pile of stuff he thinks might be important at the time, but turns out it isn't. I know this because I made him go though his "important" pile and 90% was placed in the shred pile. So the papers are all organized and all the random bits of stuff are living in their actual homes. A big pile is being shredded, a small pile made it to the trash, and a couple things joined the donation pile.
A few people, including Jim, asked why the list had items that were repeated. It's either because...
1. I'm not amazing enough to do that job in one day
2. I have a two year old that enjoys "helping" but enjoys playing at the park more
3. I still have a part time job outside the house, need to cook dinner and have to keep the rest of the house in order
4. All of the above.

day two

Today I completed item number six from the list, master bedroom and closet. Well I guess technically it isn't really done since I didn't vacuum, but I couldn't because the vacuum broke. I took it apart and discovered it was beyond my repair. Promise I'll vacuum after I get one!
Anyway, our bedroom isn't really that messy just kind of disorganized...mostly the clothes.

Jim forgets to close his dresser drawers

I keep my drawers and doors shut but
I don't always keep my clothes folded

Is it only me? Do you have these issues too? The clothes all go in there folded but then I can be indecisive in the morning and eventually it ends up like the above photo, a similar issues takes place in the closet, usually with the skirts.

I spent an hour this morning changing the sheets, going though the clothes, hanging a curtain and cleaning out the nightstands.

Oliver helped,

fluff the pillows

check the coziness of the comforter

He also enjoyed the universal wonderfulness
of a freshly made bed

I spent another hour during nap time dusting, finishing the organizing, and trying to figure out why the vacuum wasn't working.

In the end I managed to get a bag of clothes to
donate and a small stack of railroad magazines to recycle

day one

Here is what's going on.
Jim can't stand that I prefer to clean closets or the laundry room or the basement before I clean the rest of the house. I don't know why but I just like it that way. So for day one, mission one I cleaned the kindergarten room. It's a room in our basement where I store my teacher stuff. Last summer, between moving, I worked as a tutor. Great job! but when combined with moving and needing random things for each different child my supplies turned into bins of disaster and they were all thrown into this room.

This isn't a before picture, sadly it's a during picture.
I didn't decide to document the journey until
I already started it

Trash box

Victorious! Amy, Nancy, Bryce...please notice
I'm wearing my "winner" metal

giving up

The question is buzzing around these days "what are you giving up for lent?" Found a link to this site on another blogger's page and decided that I needed to do something similar. Her goal is the clean, clean, clean her house and get rid of 40 bags of stuff to either the trash can, the recycle bin, or someone else who could use it.

Now there is no way I could get rid of 40 bags of stuff because I'm a purger by nature. There is not much junk around the house, but there is certainly numerous things that could be done to make our home even better. Projects that could make it more organized, more welcoming, more fun, and just better looking!

The list, maybe it's in order or maybe I'll skip around
1. kindergarten room
2. holiday closet
3. office
4. office
5. master bath (install doorknobs, towel rings, and toilet paper holder)
6. master closet and bedroom
7. babe's room (develop and hang photos)
8. guest room
9. guest bathroom (install towel bar and towel ring)
10. kitchen (clean cabinets
11. kitchen (clean appliances
12. kitchen (everything else)
13. dining room
14. main floor bathroom (install towel bar and paint the cabinet
15. laundry room (paint the cabinet, add new hardware
16. laundry room (hang shelf, organize)
17. transfer seedlings from indoor pots to life outside (sunflowers, basil, oregano, & rosemary
18. deck
19. enclosed porch
20. take all glass bottles and such to the glass recycling place (lame that is can't be recycled with everything else)
21. living room
22. playroom
23. try to convince Jim that we should have blinds installed in the living room and kitchen
24. stairs
25. rake the yard
26. rake the yard
27. other yard stuff
28. new knobs on kitchen cabinets
29. finish installing energy efficient lights
30. ,strike>clean the windows, well the ones I can safely reach!
31. windows
32. decided to either iron or burn the huge ironing pile in the laundry room
33. hire people to install granite counter tops, when the project is finished stand around and admire said counters
34. hire people to install a lovely back splash to compliment the counters, when the project is finished stand around and admire said back splash
35. paint, touch up all necessary walls and trim
36. garage
37. garage
38. donate all items piling up in the "things to donate pile"
39. grace
40. grace

I'll put a link to the project on the sidebar so, if you're so inclined, you can watching things get crossed off. I'm not usually a list maker but I hear there is joy in crossing things off.

Oliver says he will help, only if he can use the dust bunny

allergy alert

I have always had bad seasonal allergies. Have you ever had that prick test on your arm or back? I had that done when I was 10 and the pollen and ragweed took over a huge expanse of my back covering up a number of other potential allergens. I like winter because, 1. all the pants die! (well sleep) and 2. even if I get sick and it lasts a week, it's still better than seasonal allergies that last all spring, summer, and most of the fall. A friend of Jim's was visiting this winter and asked if we were against tissues, as we didn't have any tissue boxes around. Tissues? In the winter? No, that's the only time I don't need them.
On 10 o'clock news they just said this spring the allergies are going to be wore than they have been in the last decade. Oh, that sounds just lovely. Then they said the seasonal allergies may be so bad that people will have problems with certain fruits and vegetables. It's not a food allergy but a sensitivity. The bad news is, I have already had that problem (about 7 years now) and for me it's a year round issue. Certain fruits make my mouth and throat all kinds of itchy and my lips puff up. No apples (only granny smith), no cherries, no peaches, plumbs, apricots, nectarines, no avocado, and no bananas defiantly no bananas, and no noshing on raw walnuts or almonds.
I have always heard that if you "came" with allergies you will out grow them sometime. I had an awful milk allergy that I outgrew. Could this be the year I outgrow all these other allergies....or just some of them.
Don't recommend medication, I won't take it. I've tried a number of medications and even allergy shots. I don't like taking medication and none of them really worked enough to be worth it. I have my own methods that help me get through it...
-pray for a random deep freeze mid June
-drink a ton of water
-mints, specifically altoids
-neti pot
-avoid opening the windows of my home, specifically when the flowers and trees come back to life
-carry tissues everywhere
-stand clear of all lawn mowers in the mowing position better yet if I hear a lawn mower in the neighborhood I should really just stay inside.
-pray we move back to Boston where we had no yard, there were no yards in sight, only minimal trees on our block, and we could walk to the beach in 20 minutes or less. Pollen doesn't live in the ocean.

Please feel free to share your home fixes for seasonal allergies

baby talk

In kindergarten, the words you say the motions you make, come right back at you from the students. Oliver is my new mirror and it's hilarious. I've learned that when we play "turn the lights on and off" I say OOOONN with a wide open mouth really emphasizing the word. I know this because when Oliver wants to turn the light on he makes that same face while pointing to the switch. No noise yet, just the "on" face.

This is the "I love when you make the kangaroo bounce" face,
but it's very similar to the "on" face.

Though he is not saying on yet, he is attempting to say a few other things. This morning we practiced the letter O on starfall.com and Oliver totally made the short O sound after the computer lady did. When we read "moo, ba, la la la" he attempts the moo sound. He always says "whoa" or "wow" when he sees something exciting or whenever he gets off the potty and looks down at his work (even if there is no wow in the potty). And tonight when going to bed I said owl and handed it over to him and he totally said "owl" I called Jim in for back up to see if he thought it sounded like owl and he concurred that it did.

One time, just one time I pointed to myself and said mama. Now whenever I say mama he pats himself. No no, I was trying to tell you I was the mama, not you. Forget it let's just learn the sign for mama.

Speech can take awhile and I'm thrilled with his attempts at language but what really impresses me is the amount of directions he can follow or words he understands, in english!
-sit down
-stand up
-chew
-keep chewing
-lets go
-bye bye (also waves when I say paka)
-hi (also waves if I say privet)
-say please/pazhalusta (and he will sign please)
-look!
-no no, though he does not always care to follow this one
-owl
-bath time
-point to the eye, point to the nose, where are your teeth
Also when he hears a sudden noise he will point to his ear, well somewhere within an 1 inch diameter of his ear, and stop what he is doing to listen to the sound.

Toothbrush isn't torture news.
I tried all kinds of fun stuff to make brushing teeth fun. Well not really. I didn't get a fancy toothbrush or different toothpaste but I modeled lots of toothbrushing and he thought me brushing my teeth was so funny However, when it came time to put the toothbrush in his own mouth he wanted nothing to do with it. Wouldn't put it in himself, wouldn't let me put it in, but sometimes you have to do things even when you don't want to. So brushing teeth was torture for awhile. Then one day when I handed him the toothbrush, like usual, he took it and got to work. He even let me take it and do some brushing. He has been toothbrushing like a champ for about 5 days.

Other cute..

This is the "I'm overstimulated by all the kangaroo bouncing" face
Yes, he is standing in his toy box

It's more fun in there

like/dislike

It's not that I don't have time to write, Oliver and Jim go to bed at 7:30 and 8:30, I've got time. It's a matter of not knowing what to write. I mean do you really care that I fed him two very sticky, high fiber pop tarts (they take longer to eat than cheerios and it's what I had in my bag) to get him to sit through an entire church service and paid for it the next day? Is it exciting to you that Oliver thinks the dust buster vacuum is the greatest invention and waddles around the kitchen cleaning up my cookie baking messes until the battery dies and then he screams? Eventually he gets over the dust buster and moves on to the broom. It won't be long before he breaks a window with the broom handle.

Here are a few more of his likes and dislikes...

:-)
-eating, just about anything
-diving head first into the toy box, laying down, then popping up to play toys
-reading books while sitting on the potty
-taking baths
-swimming at the pool
-going up and down the stairs
-housework
-walking down the street to find the little pond at the entry of our subdivision then throwing rocks in
-the lighting department at lowes
-chasing dogs
-pointing out the window
-playing at the park and going down the slide head first on his belly
-that signing please can get him what he wants, most times
-snuggling when he first wakes up
-flipping though books

:-(
-getting in the car, once he is in it's fine...but getting in is not pretty about 75% of the time
-not being allowed in the pond at the entry of our subdivision
-roasted sweet potatoes and tilapia
-getting his diaper changed
-keeping his shoes on while in the car
-getting out of the tub
-no
-when the yogurt cup is empty
-the doctor's office

In other news...
I measured my ponytail the other day, 14 inches! By this time I'm usually crazy about getting it cut off but, for now, I'm enjoying it. Maybe I'll donate it in the fall as I believe you must not have bob length hair in the summer, that's way too hot. Getting a trim next week as the ends are a bit, well crunchy.

Happy One Monthiversary of busting out of the orphanage!! I wonder, does he think about the orphanage? Does his miss hearing Russian (besides the 5 words I use)? Does he miss all the kids?

please

He used to point at something he wanted and then make a "gimme" motion. It was nice because I understood that he wanted something or wanted me to walk closer to whatever he was pointing at. However, that gimme motion needed to be replaced. It reminded me too much of a naught student, or two, that I've had along the way.
In Moscow Oliver was very interested in the light fixture at our apartment, it was shiny, it light up, it had dangling pieces of glass that would jingle if you hit them, it was very exciting. He used his gimme hand all the time so I would lift him up to whack it, yeah I'm that mom...I kinda liked the sound it made also. Day two at the apartment I decided that we should be all done with that gimme sign and it needed to be replaced with the sign for please. (hand rubbing chest motion) I showed him please, I said please, I helped him make the sign, and he started doing it. I didn't make him do it for everything, that would be overkill. However, even for the few things I asked him to sign please he started getting mad and lifting his arm in the "I'm going to hit you, you crazy woman" motion. Hmmm, that's not what I was going for.
The other day I made brownies for someone's monthly order. Brownie bits always stick to the knife when you cut the brownies. We used those bits for a mini please boot camp. Sit on the kitchen floor, see delicious bit of brownie, sign please, no don't hit me, sign please, good job, here is a bit of brownie for you, repeat, repeat, repeat. At dinner this evening he wants me to pass him his water cup. I say, say please he signs it and Jim asks how he knows that. I taught him. Jim says, "how?" With chocolate, of course. After bath time, still burrito-ed in his towel, we are sitting in the glider getting ready to read. Unprompted, Oliver wiggles his hand out of the towel burrito and points to the book of his choice and then rubs his chest. Ya buddy!
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Toothbrush it torture, yes it pretty much is. However, Oliver did put the toothbrush in his mouth on his own this morning. I guess that's something.