Where have we been?!?

So it's been awhile since I've blogged.  I did that post about Ari at 9 months and then he decided to do all sorts of things he was almost doing. Apparently turning 9 months meant something to him.  He is now a proficient crawler, pulls up on everything, sits and stands up in his crib, waves bye-bye and hi, does "so big," and now signs for "more," his first sign, although I'm not sure if he completely understands what it means yet.  

And because we've been a little lacking on pictures......

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday at Grandpa & Grandma Partlow's house

(meeting the horses for the first time)

And, last but not least, an Ethiopian "pool party"

with the Barnhouse twins

Dax and Ari....they go way back :)

Baby Days.....

are precious.  short-lived.  a gift.  priceless.  so much fun.  You get the picture.  They are also incredibly fleeting (especially for those of us who meet our children at a ripe old age of 6 months or older!) and it causes me a little panic attack and makes me catch my breath here and there when I realize how fast time is going.  We are now (already) to the point where Roger and I look at our pictures while in Ethiopia and think (already) "Ari looks so little."  How can that be??  It was only three months ago.  But he has grown so much.  Two inches and 4 pounds to be exact since the beginning of February.  And he's acting like such a big boy these days with crawling all over and pulling up and learning the meaning of "no" and imitating us and taking little steps and eating big people food and all these amazing new firsts.  I was looking at our pictures at the top of the blog and thinking how we need to update them with some super cute more recent pics, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it yet.  I wish there was a way to "save" that beautiful, innocent babyhood and be able to revisit it here and there for the next......well, forever.  I really get it now when a mom says once my baby, always my baby.

Ari @ 9 months

Today Ari is 9 months old and has been with us for three months.  Here is what Ari is up to at nine months of age:

• two bottom front teeth
• gives open mouth kisses but not on command
• Knows how to "give me 5!" on command (so cute)
• is really mastering the pincer grasp and can feed himself Cheerios, cut-up squares of string cheese, Puffs, and now baby Goldfish
• Is able to stand unassisted
• continues to sleep through the night (unless he is sick or teething.  Ugh.)
• Participates in peek-a-boo with anything he can get his hands on
• LOVES to play "chase"
• Has just recently started bouncing when he hears fun music
• Is able to walk by himself if he is pushing something (i.e., music table)
• Can cruise along furniture
• Has started throwing little fits when he doesn't get to play with something (i.e., dog bowl or toilet or dirt in potted plants)
• Still does not like to crawl even though we know he can do it.  Prefers to walk EVERYWHERE with the assistance of mom and dad
• Points at things (and sometimes nothing at all) with his pointer finger
• Says da-da all the time for everything
• Has realized he has a say in dinnertime with spoon slapping and spitting of food.  Awesome.  For some reason that is incredibly irritating to me.
• Loves to play at the indoor kid playground in the mall.  Is a little too young yet, but loves, loves, loves to watch the other kids play around him.  Lots of delightful squealing when we are there.
• Loves to swing at the playground and at Grandma & Grandpa Wasson's house

Things we are working on:

• Waving bye-bye
• Clapping
• Getting into a sit position from a tummy position
• Pulling up from a sit position into a stand position
• Saying ma-ma
• Becoming less dependent on the (stupid) bink.  So far we are doing a pretty good job of keeping the bink in the crib.  As a result we are hearing a lot of incessant whining during the day.
• Learning the word "no."  I'm pretty sure he already has a grasp of the concept.  He hears "no" the most when he is playing with rocks and tries to put them in his mouth.  Today he slowly brought a rock to his mouth and immediately looked at me to see if I was going to react.

It's funny how little kids develop.  Last week was an explosion of a second tooth, real crawling, and an improvement in walking.  This week he has a double ear infection, has been incredibly whiny at times, and seems overall frustrated with life.  I suppose frustration is good; it means he's wanting to improve his skillz but just hasn't figured it all out yet.  Nine months is a lot of work, you know.

Fun little diddy for your viewing pleasure.

One of My Favorites

Want to see a really great adoption video?  That will probably make you cry??  I just had to post this (click here) because it is one of my all-time favorite "adoption" videos I've seen and it brings back really special memories of mine and Roger's time meeting Ari almost three months ago already.  The time has gone so fast and yet it feels longer than three months.  Everyone who has children says once they're here you can't really remember or even imagine life without them, and that is true.  Although I still remember the longing and heartache I had wanting to be a mommy so badly and wondering if it would ever happen.  I think I will always remember that no matter how many children we have someday.  Maybe that's a good thing; it reminds me to never, ever take them for granted.

Also, I just had to mention we welcomed home our very good friends Jason & Tamra Barnhouse this past Saturday night with their 10-month-old twins, Dax and Fiona, from Ethiopia!!!  I've decided one of my all-time new favorite activities is greeting adoptive parents as they walk into the airport with their new babies.  Such an incredible feeling.  God has blessed this couple beyond measure after enduring a very long and difficult adoption process.  And, Dax and Fiona were in the same orphanage as Ari!  In fact, their cribs were right next to each other, separated only by a window.  We are so, so happy our kids can continue to be friends.  It's really amazing to think they were all together halfway around the world and now they live only 10 minutes away!

Public Opinion

I'm not sure how this post is going to go -- it may turn out to be a complete rambling mess, but I'm going to write anyway and see what happens.

I find the public's reaction to Ari fascinating.  Before he was home I was so curious and anxious, even excited to see how we would be received when we were out and about.  For some prospective white adoptive parents, public opinion/reaction is a very real concern they have about adopting a black child and it will actually even deter them from choosing to adopt a child of color.  Since I have very little regard of other people's opinions, that was never a stumbling block for us in our decision to adopt from Ethiopia.  And, let me tell you, 2 1/2 months in it's been nothing but positive.  So far we have had absolutely no negative attention or comments.  When we first announced we were adopting from Ethiopia, some family and friends very politely voiced concern over our impending interracial family.  And, yes, we do get quite a bit of attention wherever we go, but really truly it is because he is such a cute baby!!  We are constantly being bomarded with strangers coming up and commenting on how beautiful he is.  So far only one person has directly asked me "where is he from" -- a biracial 20-something young man -- and only a couple times have women asked me "is that your baby," in which I of course answer "yes," before oohing and aahhing over him.  Both I think are pretty fair questions that haven't offended me in the least, and it actually gives me an opportunity to talk about his international adoption and the Ethiopian people.  Of course, right now Ari is a baby who has absolutely no idea what the conversations going on around him actually mean, but someday when he's older I'm hopeful people will exhibit some tact and not ask such personal questions, but for now I'm okay with it. 

Tooth!!

Ari's first tooth is officially in!  Last night as I was feeding him baby food I thought I could see some pretty prominent whiteness and when I felt his gum there was a ridge there, but nothing sharp.  Well, this morning you can definitely feel a hard, sharp little tooth finally poking through!!  I think we'd be able to see it too except he won't let us pull his lip back far enough to see in there.  For the past two days Ari has been "off."  Fussy and clingy during the day, not taking his bottle very well, and not sleeping through the night. I'm so glad to know teething is the likely culprit.  I figured it was teeth, but then I thought maybe he was going through some attachment stuff after noticing how leach-like he had become.  He's just so happy-go-lucky usually that it was pretty obvious something was bothering him.  And after being home for only two months, I still wonder when he's out of sorts if it's attachment related.  No, I don't think that was the case in this instance.  He's just a normal 8-month-old getting his first tooth!  As soon as we can see it better we will post a picture of his first pearly white!

One small step...

Everyone keeps asking what we've been up to with Ari.  Here's our Sunday evening event:



What a big boy; right?!?  He is still refusing to crawl, but Parents as Teachers says as long as he's becoming mobile in some form or fashion, he's right on track developmentally for an 8 month old.  So he's maybe a little ahead in the walking department and a little behind in the crawling department.  He also wants to walk (hanging on to our fingers, of course) ALL THE TIME.  So cute, but so hurts my lower back.  I think he's going through a growth spurt too right now due to the looooong naps he's been taking.  Normally he sleeps an hour max and yesterday it was 2.5 hours and now this morning it was 1.5 hours.  Of course, this means he wakes up at 5:45 every morning, but he's for sure making up for it during the day!!  Ari continues to be such a huge joy in our lives and every day we marvel time and time again at how blessed we are to have him as our son.  We hope to post some more updated pics to the blog soon!