zoo train project

 Ages ago, when Lydia was tiny and slept often and didn't move much, Oliver and I made this awesome zoo for his trains to drive through.  He loves these kinds of projects, messy ones.  

Anyway, here is what we used...

-the bottom of a large sheet cake box (we happened to have some left from a baking project)

-paint and paint brushes

-pencil

-rocks

-low temp glue gun and sticks

-tubes of little animals from different places around the world...we got our tubes at Joann's with a 50% off coupon, but you could also find them at amazon

-air dryer, just to speed the process along

plan out a place for the train to go
a place for the people to wait
and spaces for the animals to live

paint and outline with rocks
we used the glue gun to stick the rocks down

speeding the process along

set up the track

get everyone moved in

give rides to all the zoo visitors

been here before...finally

Jim's been asking, are we there yet? 

When Lydia was born she was a second child, but a first baby.  People would assume we'd done this before just because we had an older child, most of the time I suppose it's safe to assume, but we were surely first time parents when it came to that little newborn.  Clueless, baby nervous, is she broken, sleep deprived, first timers. 

As Lydia progresses into the depths of toddler hood Jim keeps wondering, have we done this yet, is she at the age Oliver was when we got him, are we no longer first timers?  Yes!  Oliver came home just over 20 months old and that's where Lydia is now.  We've been here.  Well not really. Siblings were not made for comparing.  One is not a measuring stick for the other. 

The biggest thing that strikes me about this little milestone is that when we adopted Oliver at age 20 months we thought he was so young.  Soooo young.  How lucky were we to have only missed 20 months? 

Only 20 months! 20 months is an eternity! Do you know how many photos I've taken of Lydia in the span of 20 months?  How many hours she's been cuddled and loved?  How many kisses she's gotten? How many people love and adore her?  How many books she's been read?  The numbers are too great to be calculated.  A lot can happen in 20 months and it makes me sad for the time I missed with Oliver.  Not sad that I missed the time, but sad that he missed out on  the wonderful advantages of being a new baby in a family....though we've made up the difference the best we could.


However, regardless of the path or time of arrival to our home we simply adore them both.  They are the best for us and the best for each other and they both got here at just the perfect time for them.

Oliver, 20 months, in Moscow a few days
after leaving the orphanage

Lydia, 20 months, hanging in Bermuda

They both got passports when they were 20 months old....

welcome back

::hangs head in blog shame::

sigh

I can't believe I haven't written since June. 

Just hear me out...it was becoming such a chore.  See I write posts using my laptop.  Well my laptop took a turn for the worse this summer.  I tried just keeping it on always, because if it happened to turn off it would take HOURS to get back on..mama don't have that kind of time.  Then the battery died so it could only be plugged in, that's useful. 

Later this summer it wouldn't let me log on.  Can't do anything if it won't let me type in my password.  Google and YouTube talked me through that issue.

Last week, complete death.  A warning stating my hard drive had reached the end of it's life.  It stated I'd better save everything NOW.  I threw my documents on a jump drive, rescued as many videos as possible and managed to get my 4,441 photos on to 10 CDs (wish I had an external hard drive).  I haven't seen 3am since Lydia was an itty bitty, but if I wanted proof my children existed before last week I needed to get it done!  Note to self...get better at backing stuff up.  I realize that my laptop could still be saved, a new hard drive, but instead I pulled the plug and banished it to the office...where all old technology goes to collect dust until I figure out would people do with dead technology. 

So, what am I typing this post on?  Oh, just a shiny new and functional MacBook Air!

My birthday was last week.  Jim got me a rain barrel.  Rain barrels are awesome,  well I assume they are it hasn't actually rained yet...  Anyway, rain barrels are awesome and I did mention that I wanted one and he did install it while I was away in Boston with the kids, all very wonderful things.  I totally love it.  However, I mentioned that the rain barrel was a great family gift and maybe not a gift special for me.  Then my laptop died, so Jim was so kind to get me a new HP, some hybrid thingy that's a tablet and a laptop.  It looked pretty interesting, online, I didn't actually open the box.  I said I really wanted something that was going to last longer and I felt like a Mac might be a better option.  I suggested we return it and save a bit longer for something a little better.  Upon returning from yoga Jim said, "we have a surprise for you, but you need to find it"  Adorable Lydia kept looking under the couch, that's my girl.  A huge thanks to my husband for dealing with my crazy and taking both kids with him while shopping for two different computers.  

In conclusion, we're baaaaack, get excited.  Vacation highlights, kid projects, recipes,  laundry conquering, and more, that's what you get to look forward to. 

airplane party!

I love birthday parties.  Especially now that Oliver can say what type of party he would like.  Last year it was a construction party, so super fun.  When spring began creeping into Kansas I started to ask Oliver what he might be interested in doing this year.  Construction! was his enthusiastic answer.  Easy enough, I could totally pull that off again.  Though, I knew he was saying it because he loved the cake and maybe he couldn't really think of much else.

I told him he could totally have a consturction party again if he wanted to, but let's just take a quick look at pinterest (yes, he knows pinterest) and see if he might like to try anything else.  AIRPLANES!

For the past 8 months, or so,  Oliver has been set on being a southwest airplane pilot.  See southwest is who brings our family together.  Southwest gets us to Boston and southwest gets our family and friends out here to see us, and I totally think Oliver recognizes that.  Plus flying is so exciting when you're a kid and a southwest pilot once talked to Oliver and made his day year.

In the past I've made a very simple invite that usually involves a photo of him doing some activity that points to the party theme.  I splurged a little this year, not a big monetary splurge, but a big time splurge.  I turned to etsy and found Paper Built Shop.  First off, Sara over at Paper Built is awesome, and she was really easy to work with, even when I needed to make a fairly last minute change she did it quickly and without a problem.  She makes a TON of stuff, so even if the All American Airplane Party theme isn't for you, I'm sure you can find something you neeeeed!  If you like Paper Built on facebook you can even get some freebies.  Anyway, I've digressed.

So I ordered this very cool set of invites.
This fun banner, which is still hanging in the basement.
And these thank-you cards, some that we still need to mail...we are slow.

The shop has a whole bunch of other things to go with the theme, but I don't like being too into a theme so I used my self control.  Everything was really easy, I sent the files on to my friends over at the Office Max/Depot they printed as I instructed then I got to spend a few evenings cutting, gluing, and assembling.  It was totally worth it, we got a lot of compliments on the invites.

Moving on....

Airplane Cake
double layer 9x13

-one layer of chocolate cake
-one layer of yellow cake
-chocolate filing
-vanilla butter cream frosting
-southwest airplane set
-some food coloring and chocolate sprinkles
-grass tip
-airplane cookies (sugar cookies cut like airplanes with a blue icing glaze)

The cake was really fun to make and Oliver thought it was awesome.  Tip, add the sprinkles runway first then add the frosting on the sides, I didn't and there was a little bit of tweezer action involved as I removed bits of runway from the sky and grass.

We served a few other snacks
-veggies and spinach dip, pretzels, crackers, gluten free crackers
-hummus
-bacon cheddar pinwheels
-cake batter dip with nilla wafers and fruits
-gluten free chocolate chip cookies

For Oliver's gift we gave him a zip line and set it up the day before the party so it would be ready for all his friends to play with.  We have some pretty good sized trees in our backyard with decent spacing so it's pretty perfect.  I did get these tree protectors to preserve the happiness of our trees.

getting ready for the maiden voyage 

Tips
-installation will be easier if you don't have your child stealing and hiding the parts
-we added a 6 inch piece of pool noodle near the end of the ride to help buffer the quick stop
-we installed it at a height that Oliver could reach when standing up on a stool, not on the ground
-your child needs to be able to hold on tight even when the ride comes to an abrupt stop or they will come crashing to the ground...I learned that Oliver is indeed pretty strong, some of this friends a little less so.  By the end of the line his feet are only a few inches from the ground, so it's not a big drop.  There were a few bumps, but I think everyone had fun with it, even some of Lydia's friends.

playing at the party

attached the baby swing for the little ones
mostly just this guy, he loved it!

The zip line was the main attraction, but we had a few other activities around the yard

inflatable airplanes
they came in a three pack and the kids
loved running around the yard with them


Stomp Rockets
and a refill pack
we lost a few on our neighbors roof, oops

Then we just threw out some other outdoor toys we have
-balls
-chalk
-baby pool filled with ball pit balls
-sand box

Sadly the weather wasn't as awesome as I prayed it would be.  72 and sunny was the goal, 80, humid, with on and off sprinkles was what we got.  Meh.  Our guests were champs.  Some played in the basement or under the porch, some didn't care it was raining and continued on outside.  Eventually the sun came out.

Each kid took home a little brown paper bag with some airplane themed fun inside, and some other random stuff.  The sign on the bag said, "Thanks for flying"

parachute guy
flying stick things (technical name)
glider plane
side walk chalk
kazoo
airplane cookies

We all had a wonderful time, and are very thankful for all our friends and family who came to celebrate with Oliver.  He loves to feel special, and you made the day totally fantastic for him.  

His party happened before his actual birthday.  On his real birthday he woke up to a shiny new 5 shirt.  Sad news is, this etsy shop only makes the number shirt up to age 5, I wonder if he'll be too cool for a 6 shirt...sigh...time is passing.

 

the boys bathroom

We went to explore at a touch-a-truck event today.  It's fun.  Climb around on fire truck, snow plows, tractors, etc.

Hey Oliver, let's got potty before we keep looking around.

He runs towards the boy's room.

Wait buddy, make sure you come right back to this spot. 

He's gone into the bathroom.

I run into my bathroom with Lydia.  Do my business with speed.  Run back out to the meeting spot.

No Oliver.

I stay at the spot and scan around the room.  Snack table, no.  Hamburger truck, nope.  Combine, no.  Tractor, 18 wheeler, men's bathroom, no where.  I move away from the meeting spot because it's becoming increasingly clear that he has moved somewhere.

I look around some of the exciting things that we haven't been on yet.

No Oliver.

Then I hear my page over the loud speaker.  "Will the mama of Oliver Tylick report to the information desk, we have your son"

The information desk is NO WHERE near the bathroom, like FAR away.  Lydia and I head over and find Oliver coloring with one of the workers.

Are you his mom?  Yes, that's me, thanks.

Now first off, I should not have went into my bathroom until he came out, but I made a mistake.  Fortunately, he knew, mostly, what to do. 

After recovering him I asked him what happened...

"I came out of the bathroom and you weren't there, I couldn't find you.  I found a mom, a worker (volunteer) and a police officer. I told them I couldn't find you"  He gave them his phone number (perfectly) though they didn't call me, they probably didn't believe him since it's an out of state number.  He gave them his name (perfectly) because they pronounced it just right over the loud speaker.  He didn't cry or freak out, he did just what we talked about doing if a problem like this happened...except the part where you STAY. 

It should also be noted that I didn't freak out or run around crazy or cry.  I was nervous, and regretful of not waiting at the bathroom for him to get out, clearly it only took him 5 second in there, but I kept it together.  Upon hearing my page I reported to the information desk, hugged him, got his story, thanked the lady, and we went outside to climb on a huge dump truck. 

If you don't have some separation plan, make one.  I'd consider myself to be a pretty attentive parent, but things can happen.  We never sat down and had a discussion about it, but we've talked about it in the car on occasion and it's clear that he was listening.
-find a mama or a worker
-say you can't find your family
-ask them to call your mama or help you find her
-don't leave the building or place you're at 

We also have a stranger plan
-don't take anything, don't go anywhere

-scream like a crazy person, I know you can, I've heard it! 

18 months

Sweet Lydia is a year and a half!

Take a look back here to see her 12 month post.  She is looking much more toddler and much less baby.  How sweet to see her growing into a little girl.  Her hair is even almost doable, well not really. 



Lydia
-May have completed nursing.  We were down to just nursing before bed, the past few nights I've had Jim put her to bed, and she doesn't seem to have any issue with that and continues to sleep through the night.  12 hours straight! (don't tell her I told you, she my want to prove me wrong)
-Is doing much better eating solid food and seems to enjoy a variety of foods.  We think her top favorites are milk, yogurt, shrimp, bananas, pasta, and smoothies.
-She has 12 teeth and 4 incisors that are every so slowly trying to push through.
-Walks, walks backwards, just starting to try to run.
-Enjoys riding in the cozy coup car, driving a little ride on firetruck, and pushing the little guy we watch around in the stroller.  
-Loves to climb and can pull herself up on the kitchen chair and then on to the table where she likes to perch and play or just look around.  Also, is beginning to climb on structures at the playground. 
-Lydia has signs for "please" "milk" "all done" "uh oh" "where is it" "water" and we are starting to work on "thank you"
 -She folds her adorable little hands when we pray before dinner.
-She likes to raise her hand when someone asks a questions.  Who wants to go swimming after dinner?  Hand up, it's so fun, Oliver totally taught her that.
-Sometimes I hear Oliver say something like "Lydia let's go play in the toy room"  then she waddles on in there after him.  Squeee, that's precious.

here are her "where is it" hands

Lydia is not much of a talker but she does say a few things.

-mama

-dada

-Oliver (ahh vrr)

-something like ariplane

-ice (ssssss)

-vrooom

-woof woof

and she seems to be trying harder to repeat things that we ask her to

She may not talk a lot, but she seems to understand 90% of what we say.  She follows simple directions, gets things was ask her to, grabs her shoes (something Oliver can't even do) and waits by the door when we need to leave, and is exploring more independent play.  She enjoys playing with legos, hugging her dolls, stacking blocks, playing with toy food, terrorizing whatever Oliver is playing with, and eating markers.  She also enjoys playing outside in her swing, in the baby pool, at the big neighborhood pool, and trying her best to run into the road.  

Oliver and Lydia have their check ups later in the month, I'll update her weight and height at that time.  Seems to me like she is getting longer and leaner and less of a chubsy baby.  Most of her clothes are size 18-24 months.  When I pick them out I always think they look huge, then I put them on her and the fit just fine.  Sigh...so big.

Doctor update 6-27-14
Lydia behaves at the doctor the way I expect that most people want to, but don't.  The medical assistant comes out, doesn't even say Lydia's name and Lydia drops boneless to the ground, she knows.  We make it to the back room and the assistant asks me questions about Lydia's development while Lydia cries and I undress her.  Next we have to attempt to get her weight, nope she isn't going to stand on that scale, or sit on it.  Oliver models how to do it, nope she still isn't going to.  We lay her on the baby scale.  The doctor comes in and Lydia continues to model the strength of her lungs while the doctor looks her over. 
Lydia, at 22lbs and 32.5 inches is right at the 50%
The doctor has slight concern about her language development.  She understands sooo much but verbally expresses much much less.  Like I said above she signs a few things and says a few more, but is a smidge behind.  The average is 8-10 words now, and 50 by age 2.  Well, we've got 6 months to learn about 43 more words.    It's hard for me to be too concerned at this point, because at 20 months Oliver didn't say anything and wasn't behind when assessed at 24 months.  Though I knew language was going to be an issue for him so I worked really hard on getting him to talk, I may be a little more lax with Lydia.  Time to step it up. 

being silly with daddy

 Oliver always likes to get his time
in front of the camera

this is the best I could get of them together

 

What's that?  You recognize the shirt she is wearing.  You're right, you've seen it before. I was her Easter dress from Easter 2013.  It's just so cute, I had to squeeze her into the 3-6 month dress one last time.  

 

Happy Birthday, Oliver!

Oliver is such an amazing little boy and just the right little boy for our family.  Around this time I often wonder if his biological mother thinks about him, about her pregnancy and delivery.  Was it smooth and easy? Or more difficult?  Does she think about the time that she got to parent?  Does she go through his baby pictures and wonder what he looks like now? Does she know he's not at the orphanage, or in Kemerovo, or even in Russia? She's older now, Oliver is 5, does she have another kid or kids? Is she able to parent them?  Are they waiting for me at the orphanage?  Adoption is hard.  Technically, our adoption has been completed we did everything required, even the post placement reports, but questions still swirl around in my head...especially about other siblings.

It's truly amazing to me, that he wasn't always ours, but he wasn't.   He's 5 now, but it's just his third birthday with us.  He fits so perfectly here and him and Lydia are such a great set that you'd think he'd been here forever.  I've heard some people say that "it was God's plan." I haven't addressed this comment yet, it's a tricky one.  I don't think it's actually God's plan for there to be orphanages upon orphanages of children waiting for families.  Instead I think we live in a broken world and orphans are a bi product of the broken world we live in.  God surely guided our path to get to Oliver, because how else does a couple in Lincoln Nebraska end up with the perfect kid from the middle of Siberia, but I'm not sure it was his plan for Oliver to have to spend 17 months as an orphan.  In any case, he's right where he needs to be now, and he's doing awesome.  Like really really awesome.

A few highlights, also known as brag on Oliver time....

Oliver is a kind boy.  He loves his family, and friends, and people from church.  We are so lucky to have such great people around us to help shape our children in to wonderful little humans.  Oliver loves church and always has stories to tell us about what he learned in Sunday school.  There is a little group of teenagers from church that think he's the best and it makes him feel so special. 

He's about 85% (not scientifically calculated) potty trained.  Halleluiah!  He occasionally has an accident at night and maybe 1-2 a week during the day.  Potty training him was the hardest thing I've tried to teach him.  

Oliver graduated preschool and is headed to 1/2 day kindergarten in August.  Since English was not Oliver's first language he will have to be evaluated for speech issues for the third time, no big deal.
-knows all letters and sounds
-can write letters, numbers, his name, and a few basic site words
-reads a few sight words
-counts to 40 or 50
-sits and listens to stories and has great comprehension skills
-can clap syllables
-can rhyme
-is generally kind and cooperative at school

Oliver did have a few issues with a bully at school.  Some kid kept calling him fat.  Yeah, not so much.  We don't really talk about "being fat" at home, but he seems to know there is a negative connotation to it.  We keep telling him that he is healthy because he eats healthy foods and gets TONS of exercise. 

The official 5 year check up is sometime in June, but our scale says Oliver just broke 40 pounds and all his 4T pants tell me he's grown a few inches since last year.

Doctor's appointment 6-27-14
Oliver and Lydia's birthdays are 6 months and 1 week apart so occasionally we get lucky and can have their check ups done at the same time (since Lydia still goes every 6 months), one easy trip, miracles do happen.  Oliver was excited about going to the doctor today.  He seems to like our doctor, she also has an adopted child and sometimes tells him stories about her daughter.  Today she told us that she just got home from a trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow.  He says, "that's my Russia"


He answers all her questions.
Can you ride a bike with training wheels? -no, I ride a bike with only two wheels
Can you count to 10? -I count to 50
Can you skip? -I think so, I can gally-up (gallop)
Do you know your address and phone number? -Yes, I got lost at touch-a-truck and I told them my number just right. (thanks for sharing buddy, thanks)
Can you spell your name? -Yes



Oliver weighed in at 40lbs (42%) and 45 inches (85%), long and lean. 

Next week Oliver moves on to a boys only advanced level gymnastics class.  Nothing competitive, just the next level of recreational gymnastics.  He's so strong it amazes me.  He climbs trees, and poles, and ropes, and really anything that seems climbable.  I was putting sunscreen on his bruised up legs yesterday and was struck by how firm they are, he's solid muscle and bone and that's it.  I feel bad for the kid in his class that called him fat, he wears glasses, and I feel he might need a new prescription. 

When Oliver woke up this morning he was greeted by a big 5 balloon and a little bunch of 5 balloons, some that were still floated, and others that didn't make he through the night.  He also discovered a new 5 shirt.  Oliver doesn't really believe in Santa, and he basically told me I was the one responsible for collecting and paying for his lost tooth yet he believes something magical changed his 4 shirt to a 5 shirt....ummm, I just shelled out $30 for a new one on etsy.  "Oh look my 4 shirt changed to 5. How did it happen? I bet Jesus did it."  Sure, we'll roll with that.

After a quick breakfast we headed out to collect a dozen donuts to share with our friends and help Pastor Chris's family pack their moving truck.  The term "help" should be loosely interpreted.  Oliver played with his friends and I attempted to be somewhat useful.  I did vacuum so much that I overheated the vacuum cleaner, so that's something.  Moving sucks.  Sending people off that you wish were not going sucks.  Loosing someone that your kid adores sucks the most.  "Pastor Chirs has to play his red guitar in Omaha now?"  Yeah.

Oliver has requested shrimp scampi and chocolate cake for dinner, he's got good taste.  After Lydia wakes up we'll hit the grocery and continue making birthday dreams come true.

His birthday celebration was last week and I'll get to writing about that soon.  The party was super fun!

 

“A child born to another woman calls me mommy. The magnitude of that tragedy and the depth of that privilege are not lost on me.” –Jody Landers.

We are so thankful for Oliver's birth mother.  She chose life, she did what she could, then knew when she couldn't do it any longer.  From her we received one of the most precious gifts.

Cheers to our most favorite boy and to the years ahead.