Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The HAIR
I have been struggling for months now with what to do about Natalie's hair. Unfortunately for her, she inherited my very thin, fine hair, and it never seems to do anything it should. She had bangs (from a Toys R Us salon...) that were a disaster. They were about an inch long, crooked, and took months to grow to a normal length again. So I decided to grow out the bangs and pull her hair back. Well...she rarely leaves the hair clips in, and I feel like I pull out so much hair with the ponytails. It is frustrating. Lately I have been so sympathetic when she wakes up and tries and tries to push her hair out of her eyes. So I took her to a new place (neighbor recommended) for another go at bangs. I will have to take a picture and post it. I don't think I'm thrilled with the bangs again. What am I ever going to do with her hair? I never thought I would understand why my hair was cut like my brother's when I was in first grade...but maybe now I am starting to understand...and I forgive you Mom. I'm one step away from grabbing a shaver.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Sibling Bond
I thought I would share a couple very sweet sibling stories. Of course we have our share of "That's mine!" and "She's bugging me!" conversations, but I think these are a little more enjoyable to repeat.
Natalie thinks that the sun rises and sets with Liam. She also thinks he is the funniest person she has ever met. He came home from preschool with a Sock Puppet the other day, and had her in complete hysterics just by sticking the sock up over the edge of the table. He didn't even have to make Mr. Sock say much more than "Hello, I'm a sock" and she was laughing so hard she nearly fell off her chair. Such total joy, for just a simple sock.
She misses him so much when he goes to Preschool, too. The other day after we dropped Liam off, Natalie was raiding a bag of suckers and found a blue one. She knows that blue is Liam's favorite sucker color, so she held onto that one and kept telling me "Liam sucker. Blue. Liam sucker." She held onto that sucker for an hour until it was time to pick up Liam. Before getting in the car, she wanted to unwrap it for him (I don't suppose I can call myself psychic because I knew this was a bad idea). Still, for the whole trip to the school she was saying "Liam sucker. Liam sucker." Then, right as we pulled into the pickup lane at school, I heard slurp, slurp, from the back seat. I looked back at Natalie and asked "Are you licking Liam's sucker"? The look of shame and surprise on her face was priceless. It was obvious she hadn't meant to lick it, but had done it out of the common toddler Automatic Sucker Reflex. When Liam got in the car, she thrust the sticky sucker out to him proudly and said "Liam sucker! Blue!" He just looked at it with disdain, and said "Did she LICK it?? Yuck." It was definitely the thought that counted this time.
On another day, both kids had suckers, and about halfway through the licking process, Natalie realized that Liam had a PINK one (her favorite). She marched right over and snatched it from his hand, and gave him her sucker instead. Liam didn't seem too bothered, but I decided that I was not going to let Natalie steal things from him like that (again...). I gave him the pink sucker back and told Natalie she had to keep the other one. She was devastated, of course, and went into very dramatic wailing, with tears streaming down her face. I looked over at Liam, and he was staring, transfixed, at Natalie. As I watched, his big blue eyes welled up with tears of sympathy, and then he turned and laid his head on my shoulder and said in a very trembly voice, "She's going to make me cryyyyyy." His sympathy was so touching. Not that every situation is a virtual share-fest around here. But I think we are very lucky that there are quite a few sweet stories like these.
Siblings at their best. And for any dentists out there, or others concerned about the kids dental health, I swear they don't have suckers all day, every day!
Natalie thinks that the sun rises and sets with Liam. She also thinks he is the funniest person she has ever met. He came home from preschool with a Sock Puppet the other day, and had her in complete hysterics just by sticking the sock up over the edge of the table. He didn't even have to make Mr. Sock say much more than "Hello, I'm a sock" and she was laughing so hard she nearly fell off her chair. Such total joy, for just a simple sock.
She misses him so much when he goes to Preschool, too. The other day after we dropped Liam off, Natalie was raiding a bag of suckers and found a blue one. She knows that blue is Liam's favorite sucker color, so she held onto that one and kept telling me "Liam sucker. Blue. Liam sucker." She held onto that sucker for an hour until it was time to pick up Liam. Before getting in the car, she wanted to unwrap it for him (I don't suppose I can call myself psychic because I knew this was a bad idea). Still, for the whole trip to the school she was saying "Liam sucker. Liam sucker." Then, right as we pulled into the pickup lane at school, I heard slurp, slurp, from the back seat. I looked back at Natalie and asked "Are you licking Liam's sucker"? The look of shame and surprise on her face was priceless. It was obvious she hadn't meant to lick it, but had done it out of the common toddler Automatic Sucker Reflex. When Liam got in the car, she thrust the sticky sucker out to him proudly and said "Liam sucker! Blue!" He just looked at it with disdain, and said "Did she LICK it?? Yuck." It was definitely the thought that counted this time.
On another day, both kids had suckers, and about halfway through the licking process, Natalie realized that Liam had a PINK one (her favorite). She marched right over and snatched it from his hand, and gave him her sucker instead. Liam didn't seem too bothered, but I decided that I was not going to let Natalie steal things from him like that (again...). I gave him the pink sucker back and told Natalie she had to keep the other one. She was devastated, of course, and went into very dramatic wailing, with tears streaming down her face. I looked over at Liam, and he was staring, transfixed, at Natalie. As I watched, his big blue eyes welled up with tears of sympathy, and then he turned and laid his head on my shoulder and said in a very trembly voice, "She's going to make me cryyyyyy." His sympathy was so touching. Not that every situation is a virtual share-fest around here. But I think we are very lucky that there are quite a few sweet stories like these.
Siblings at their best. And for any dentists out there, or others concerned about the kids dental health, I swear they don't have suckers all day, every day!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Adoption Update
In the past month, we've run from one extreme to the other regarding the adoption. I was emotional about Christmas, thinking of a baby out there waiting for us, and in some ways just wanted to get it done right now and have our family complete. Then, I had a mid-month crisis brought on by reading bad adoption stories on the internet (Jim hates it when I read surf the internet) that put me into 2 days of panic-stricken terror, questioning what on earth we are doing. I think we are back on track now, somewhere in the middle. Wanting to get it done. Not necessarily rushing it - mostly because I don't want Natalie and the baby to be too close in age. Not wanting to wait too long though, because the thought of Siberia in the winter is very...very...cold. I looked at the weather in the city our agency is placing most babies from right now, and this week the highest temp was 3. All week. I won't even mention what the low was. Let's just say, it would be good to get this done before winter arrives.
On a positive note, we have made paperwork progress despite some setbacks. We've gone in circles a bit with Jim's birth certificate certification, and some of the Notary certifications (the County Clerk told me that the Notary was not signing her name correctly (didn't match their file). Found out she had been trying to "write neater". But the Homestudy Update was officially completed as of Jan 2nd, and sent to CIS (Immigration) to ask for our re-fingerprinting and Change of Country. Also, while Jim's parents visited, they kindly watched the kids while I trekked the 30 minute drive to the local County Courthouse to get copies of our Home Deed and to plead for someone (anyone) to sign a letter that Russia requires. They had already told me on the phone that they would NOT sign it. So I went with my best sad cat face (like the cat in Shrek), telling everyone (at least 5 different people) in the Courthouse that I really needed someone to put this letter on their letterhead and sign it. Finally, someone directed me to the Tax Assessor's office down the road. I didn't have high hopes, but again made the sad face and repeated that it was for a Russian adoption. The girl at the counter had relatives who had adopted siblings from Russia last year. Yes!!! She went to get the Head Tax Assessor guy for the county, because she said "I know he will want to help you." Turns out, he had traveled to China with his daughter last year to adopt. He didn't even question why I needed this odd letter - he promised to put it on his letterhead, with 2 originals, and have it notarized and mailed to me. I got it a day later in the mail. Yes!!! That surely was a bit of divine intervention.
So we march on, with many more Notarizations and State Apostilles left to get.
Oh yes, and we found a lady bug in the house right before New Year's Eve - surely a sign of Good Adoption Luck in 2008.
On a positive note, we have made paperwork progress despite some setbacks. We've gone in circles a bit with Jim's birth certificate certification, and some of the Notary certifications (the County Clerk told me that the Notary was not signing her name correctly (didn't match their file). Found out she had been trying to "write neater". But the Homestudy Update was officially completed as of Jan 2nd, and sent to CIS (Immigration) to ask for our re-fingerprinting and Change of Country. Also, while Jim's parents visited, they kindly watched the kids while I trekked the 30 minute drive to the local County Courthouse to get copies of our Home Deed and to plead for someone (anyone) to sign a letter that Russia requires. They had already told me on the phone that they would NOT sign it. So I went with my best sad cat face (like the cat in Shrek), telling everyone (at least 5 different people) in the Courthouse that I really needed someone to put this letter on their letterhead and sign it. Finally, someone directed me to the Tax Assessor's office down the road. I didn't have high hopes, but again made the sad face and repeated that it was for a Russian adoption. The girl at the counter had relatives who had adopted siblings from Russia last year. Yes!!! She went to get the Head Tax Assessor guy for the county, because she said "I know he will want to help you." Turns out, he had traveled to China with his daughter last year to adopt. He didn't even question why I needed this odd letter - he promised to put it on his letterhead, with 2 originals, and have it notarized and mailed to me. I got it a day later in the mail. Yes!!! That surely was a bit of divine intervention.
So we march on, with many more Notarizations and State Apostilles left to get.
Oh yes, and we found a lady bug in the house right before New Year's Eve - surely a sign of Good Adoption Luck in 2008.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
2 Yr Old Catch Phrases & Hockey update
Just a note on how well Natalie is speaking these days, and putting words together. It is very interesting to hear her most-used phrases. She apparently learned these out of necessity, because it is truly amazing how many times she has put them to use. Top 3 are:
#1: I'm stuck!! (And she is always telling the truth. Heard this one (loudly) about 30 minutes after she went to bed the other night, and sure enough, her entire leg was stuck in between slats of the crib).
#2: I bumped head!!
#3: I fell down!!
#4: I dropped it! (As in, "I dropped it! The pink one!" meaning the pacifier is out of the crib. No rude comments necessary from anti-pacifists who think she shouldn't have one anyway, please).
#5: Liam, where are you??
Other frequent phrases are "Poo poo coming!", "I yuv you" and "Goalie gone!" (while watching hockey with daddy, and the goalie leaves the ice).
Which brings me to another happy update: Liam took to the ice with Jim today for the second time with no tears! I can't describe how happy this makes Jim. Natalie and I went to watch, and while I must say there is not much...if any...movement of the feet, he was using his hockey stick to hit pucks, and the best part of all is that he was SMILING the whole time, even when he fell (thank God for padded hockey pants). It is a special moment in Liam's history.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Happy 2008!!
Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated this. It was for a very good reason - I was enjoying the holidays!! I can honestly say that this year was a very peaceful, enjoyable Christmas and New Year. I'm not sure why it felt more peaceful than in years past, but I'm not going to question it. Perhaps it is because we had some wonderful grandparents who traveled to see us and we were able to just relax and not have to worry about planes and automobiles. Perhaps it is because I'm nearing my 6-month marker from not going to work, and I finally feel at ease (mostly) in my role as a stay at home mom. Or maybe it is just because I let myself appreciate my wonderful husband and children this year, and took time to enjoy them. Whatever the reason, I am thankful.
Thanks to all the family and friends out there too, who reached out and made the season special. We do miss being able to see everyone, but know that we are thinking of you! Here is to a peaceful and joyful 2008 for all of you!
Thanks to all the family and friends out there too, who reached out and made the season special. We do miss being able to see everyone, but know that we are thinking of you! Here is to a peaceful and joyful 2008 for all of you!
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