/Wool/ & Elmo

A few weeks ago, Judah was lucky enough to experience two of his favorite things on the same day... one of his best buddies Will (pronounced by Judah like wool :-) and Elmo (in the form of cake!). That's right, Will turned 2 recently and we were honored to celebrate his special day with him. Will's mom, Liz, was one of the angels God had waiting for me here in DC. I will never forget the day she welcomed us at the Children's Center at church back in July and since then, she has become a very dear friend. The North Carolina and Africa connections we have are added bonuses :-) Looking forward to many more memories made here with the Yancey's. Happy Birthday Will!

Will seeing the awesome cake his mom made for him

 

Judah spots the goodness....notice they are fully clothed at this point.

Judah wonders why Will gets to the "2" candle...don't worry buddy, your turn in a few weeks...

By now, the parents have realized that Elmo cake justifies removing the shirts :-) 

Happy boys!

Before Elmo appeared, Judah told Will "Happy Birthday." This became much more difficult for Judah post-cake, due to all of the sugar focus. If you look closely, you can see/hear him say "happy" before he literally face-plants into in the cake :-)

Wishful Thinking

DC is covered in ice and snow today, but looks like Judah is thinking of warmer days...

Last week, he wanted to wear my beach hat on our walk.

This week, he independently got out his swimsuit from his drawer and began putting it on over his PJs while shouting "pool!" Hilarious.

Warm wishes from our home to yours :-)

Twenty-Two in Twenty-Twelve

This morning I volunteered in our church nursery~snuggling with babies as young as 4 months old. Good therapy :-) That experience~ coupled with the fact that today is the 18th and Judah is 22 months old~  is making me quite nostalgic this afternoon. As I rocked a little baby boy to sleep this morning after giving him his bottle, a flood of emotions came rushing over me remembering what it was like to hold our sweet Judah for the first time when he, too, was a mere four months old. Here he is at that age, in case you've forgotten.

We are still forever grateful that we saw his picture for the first time when he was 6 weeks old then brought him home with us just three months later. It's really been amazing to see how this baby from a far land became forever woven into every fabric of our lives. Our son. Our little miracle.

It's been a while since I've given a "Judah update" and since I'm not journaling these anywhere else but this blog, I guess it's about time. They'll be totally random and probably not 22 of them to match his birthday like I normally do~but just some fun updates and some things I absolutely love about Judah. This is such a fun age!

Judah, you are growing and changing every day. Your Daddy and I are so proud of the little boy you are becoming. Thank you for being you and for loving us. It just doesn't get any sweeter....

You still eat pretty much anything; and for that, we are grateful. Meat is not your favorite (I think it's the texture) but we find ways to coax and sneak it in. Peer pressure/follow the leader really works with you (i.e., you'll eat it if mommy and daddy are eating it). And again, we are grateful for that. I'd say your favorite things currently are Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal, Chicken/Apple Sausage (Applegate organic is delicious!), Yogurt, Raisins, Pasta, Risotto, and Tacos with refried beans....oh, and Juice. How can I forget? Even though you get juice very infrequently and it's just a splash with mostly water, you love it and haven't forgotten about it since your first taste. After asking for it, you are not very happy when I tell you your choices are "water and milk."

Despite your great appetite, you are still a skinny-minnie. (Must. invest. in. belts.) You are just so tall with such an itty-bitty waist. The doctor says not to worry; it's just those Ethiopian genetics :-)

Your second-year molars are beginning to arrive, and you (nor mommy or daddy) are very happy about it. So painful! We are all ready for the teething to be completed!!!

You like to think you're grown up and can leave the house all by yourself. You will either grab my purse and sling it over your shoulder, put my sunglasses on, or (my favorite) put one of your father's pagers on your pants and proudly wave and proclaim "Bye!" while heading to the door. You are usually headed to the store or to work. Boring but familiar, I guess ;-) Fortunately, you haven't totally escaped the building yet.

You have really nice manners. You almost always say "please" and "thank you" and are beginning to say "excuse me" when you need someone (or some thing) to move out of your way. Keep this up!

You are extremely ambitious with your gross motor skills. Your new favorite word and action is "flip" and I must say you have a pretty good forward roll. And you are still trying to swing and climb on everything imaginable. Because of this, I have enrolled you in a 10-week indoor gym class that begins in two weeks. Should be fun!

You love stickers! I mean, LOVE. This should come in handy when we begin potty-training soon :-)

You've recently begun placing your toys in a line occasionally to make a "choo choo." I know this is your almost-two-year-old need to create order in your sometimes chaotic world, but you can keep thinking it's your need to just play "train." Oh, and I'm sorry your mommy is a pyschologist.

You love balls and can now label each kind. Football and Baseball are the two front-runners. I REALLY hope the former prevails! Baseball makes mommy yawn. You are also beginning to master the function of each kind of ball. You say "kick" for soccer ball, "touchdown" and "catch" for football, and my new favorite~"air" when you want someone to toss it high like a basketball. You will soon learn that "air balls" are not very favorable :-)

You are beginning to master the concept of a "friend." It is really so sweet when you say it. And when I tell you "we're going to play with our friends," you begin to name them all.

You grunt really loudly when you give hugs, even when you're not squeezing very hard...or just putting your arms around air, for that matter. 

When someone asks me your birth date, you march proudly around the room when I exclaim March 18th. You will soon learn that march is both a month and an action verb :-)

You still really love being outside, even when it's cold. You are noticing so much about nature and I love seeing it through your eyes. You always show me the "moon" and you're beginning to say "wind" when you feel a breeze and "brrr" when it's cold.

You have a new love for singing. Thanks to your cousin, Finley, your new favorite is song is Hot Chelle Rae's "Tonight, Tonight." I often hear you singing "la, la, la" and "whoa, oh, oh" in your crib. On a more educational note, you also really like to sing your ABC's and can sometimes make it to E all by yourself!

And on that same note, you can count to 4~independently and spontaneously! A few days ago, you pointed and counted the four different colored stripes on your PJs. I wish I had it on video. And you are borderline obsessed with "two" of something, always asking for and labeling "two." Guess that means you'll be super excited about your upcoming birthday!

You think Noah (the ark-builder) is Santa, exclaiming "ho ho ho" when you see him. I can see the resemblance, but we are working on this distinction.

Happy 22 Months, Judah-bean!

Fun

My sister-in-law recently sent me a few more pics from her camera from our weekend at Snowshoe.

From bungee jumping to trying on wigs, this little man makes life
so. much. fun.

Snowshoe Highlights

Three days after Christmas, we packed up and headed west to Snowshoe Mountain (WV). Jeff's family met us there, and we all stayed under one roof...7 adults....and 5 kids under the age of 7. Hopefully, this explains why I did not take a single picture while we were there. It was fun, chaotic, and wonderful. We hit the slopes (I hit them literally a few times and still have bruises to show for it :-), ate lots of good food, had game night (more than once), and rang in the new together....well half of us, the other half didn't make it til midnight. Thanks to my sister-in-law and mother-in-law, two of my highlights from the trip can be documented.

Skiing with my nephew and niece...ages 4 and 7....first time skiers and they were awesome!

And my son bungee jumping. That's right, my 21-month-old braved the reverse bungee. During down time, we took all the kids to "The Big Top"....a great place for indoor fun on a very cold day...a kid's dream come true complete with junk food, moon bounces, slides, arcades, a rock climbing wall, and even jumping on a trampoline with bungee cords. When my little bouncer saw this, he just kept pointing and shouting "Judah!" over and over. He definitely wanted a turn. As I was explaining to him that he was too small to jump, an employee informed me that one only has to be 20 pounds to jump...what?! Insert mental conflict....Why did she have to tell me this? Judah weighs 25 pounds. He cannot possibly be big enough to do this. No way. After conferencing with Jeff, however, we decided not to impart parental fear...okay, he can do it. We waited for our turn for quite a while. And in Santa-line fashion, Judah chickened out when it was his turn. Oh well, at least we gave him the opportunity. A few minutes later, Judah sees his big cousin Carly jumping and decides to try one more time. Sure enough, he did it the second time around. I could not believe my eyes when he let the girl strap him in this thing. In the end he wasn't too sure about it, but he never cried and this Mama was proud.

The Twenty-Twelve Project

Happy New Year! Truly can't believe it's 2012, but I'm embracing it with open arms thanks to the plethora of unfortunate events in 2011. I'm really not a huge fan of resolutions, mostly because I never keep them and I don't like to disappoint myself. However, I've decided to go bold (and public :-) this year. I've just had a lot of things on my mind (and my to-do list) that have been hanging around so to speak, and frankly I'm ready to nip them in the bud.

Many of you may have heard of the "101 in 1001 List," where one documents 101 goals/wishes/tasks to fulfill/achieve/complete in 1001 days. Very inspiring but I'm not quite there yet. For now, I'm sticking with 20 goals/tasks to complete in 12 months...hence, The Twenty-Twelve Project in the year 2012.

Apologies in advance for boring you, but I must do this for accountability purposes. Some things on the list are very specific; others are pretty general~but I do hope to use this post to keep track of how I'm doing throughout the year...and maybe even post about challenges and achievements along the way. So, here goes nothing...in no real order...

1. Finish moving into our condo. Six months+ after move-in day, there are still no personal pictures displayed, mirrors and other paintings hung, or paperwork neatly filed away in our "office." Far from feng shui, to say the least.

2. Complete Judah's re-adoption. For all of the non-adoptive parents out there, this means that there is still more paperwork to be filed through the US courts (subsequently resulting in more money owed!) in order for Judah to become a US citizen and to declare/confirm his official name-change, among other things. Sad that we haven't done this yet but other adoptive parents will agree that the last thing you want to do is complete (and pay for) MORE PAPERWORK after your child is home and in your arms forever. The process/forms are slightlydifferent in every state. Throw in multiple moves and trying to sell a house within the year after the adoption, and well~that's why we've procrastinated.

3. Make strategic phone calls to friends and family. Because of the "nine lives" I described in the last post, I have family who are far away and several amazing friends who currently live in Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, California, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina. I'm sure I'm leaving out a state or two, but you get the picture. Yes, we text each other and occasionally email~and most of us are on Facebook~but it's really just not the same as a phone call. So, my Contact List in my iPhone is soon to become my best friend....and if you're one of those amazing friends/family don't be wierded-out if you receive a call from me on the same date of every month ;-)

4. Exercise more. I recently joined a great gym that is walkable from our condo, so really I have no excuse....and no choice. Those who know me well know that I DESPISE intentional/corporate exercise, but let's face it~ my metabolism is slowing down and I wasn't the healthiest person on the planet this past year...so it's time to step it up.

5. Complain less. I complain a lot. About really petty things. God calls us to be grateful. Therefore, I need to stop complaining. That is all.

6. Pray more. To know anyone better is to spend time with them. Who better to know best than God? And what better way to spend time with Him than pray?

 
7. Facebook less. Yep, I just used Facebook as a verb...because it is. Anyone else reading this feel that it's a slight addiction? Do I really have over 500 friends? Doubtful. And do I really care what they are having for dinner? Definitely not.

8. Read more. I've never been much of a pleasure-reader, but I really enjoy reading a good piece of literature when I make the time. I've been the proud owner of a Kindle (with a hot pink cover ;-) for about a year now and it's so sad that I've only completed 1 book on my nifty little e-reader. Hoping to increase that number this year! 

9. Complete Judah's first Life Book. Judah is a typical almost-2-year-old, which means he loves all things Judah. He constantly kisses himself in the mirror and one of his new words (much to my chagrin) is mine. In a positive light, though, this means that he would absolutely LOVE a book all about himself. For adopted children, Life Books are a very important tool for learning about their history and special way they've been loved....real pictures and real stories about how and why they are now with their "forever family." And I say first Life Book because they should be updated/renewed with the stages of development, based on what the child can understand about his/her story. Can't wait to get started on Judah's first!

10. Go to sleep earlier=get up earlier. In order to keep up with my ever-growing toddler during the day, I need to get more rest at night. And I know plenty of moms who share in my love for "mom-time" in the morning (at least an hour) before your little one wakes up. Nothing like being awakened by your crying or jumping/happily yelling child ready to begin the day; meanwhile~you haven't had breakfast, brushed your teeth, had your morning coffee, and time to plan and prepare for your day. Anybody with me?!

11. Structure more learning opportunities for Judah. Judah will hopefully be attending a part-time pre-school in the fall for a few mornings/week. Until September, however, I'd like to be a little more purposeful about brief "learning opportunities" throughout his day. Yes, we do tons of things together throughout the day and I know he is "learning" every minute. However, I'd like for a few things (pre-reading skills, number literacy, etc) to be a bit more structured and with some sort of assessment. The school psychologist in me LOVES this Twenty-Twelve goal :-) ps. this is a very recent goal of mine because Judah has begun singing (and recognizing some) "ABC's" and is interested in "how many" of something.

12. Go rock climbing with my husband. And maybe take a lesson first :-) Back in the day, I really enjoyed this...nothing major, but I was always up for some indoor or outdoor climbing. I will never forget my first time to try it when I was in the sixth grade....I loved it and was pretty good at it! Anyways, my husband loves it too, and it would be fun to re-learn an active hobby together. I hope my inner sixth-grader prevails!

13. Add more recipes (gluten-free, of course) to my repertoire. With all of the gluten-free options and substitutes these days, I shouldn't feel as limited in the kitchen as I did in 2007 when we went "gluten-free," thanks to my hubs' allergy. I definitely need to branch out a little. Getting a little tired of corn tacos :-)

14. Create some picture books from my Snapfish account. Please tell me I'm not the only one who uploads a million pics to a website, only to print NONE of them?! I think the picture books you can create to remember a birthday, a vacation, a specific year by the months, etc., are a great way to have printed pics in your home without the clutter of boxes of loose photos. I've got lots of work to do, seeing as how we have none in our home!

15. Secure some family business. Have you planned for your child's future (college, insurance, etc.)? Do you have an updated written legal will? Do your loved ones know your wishes surrounding your death? Do your loved ones know how to access your finances/valuables? If you have parents who are still living, do you know the above information as it relates to them? Very difficult questions, I know; but some unfortunate events in 2011 have prompted me to think about and ultimately, act on these things. Most definitely my least favorite goal in the Twenty-Twelve project. :-(


16. Love my husband more creatively. I am very blessed to have a husband who is a great communicator. Thus, we constantly talk about ways to improve our marriage so that we're still happily married in 50+ years :-) I could write a book but I'll just leave it at this.

17. Learn some camera basics. I've had this amazing (expensive) camera for over 2 years now and I confess I have no idea how to use it. I just point and shoot. Some turn out okay, some don't. The least I could do is read the manual. And if I make it to that point, maybe a self-study via books or internet or even a class? Here's hoping.

18. Make an Ethiopian meal from scratch. Including the injera :-) Lofty goal, I know. It's especially difficult because we live in the US city that has the most Ethiopian restaurants in the country. And they are good. However, we may not always live in DC and a mommy needs to know how to prepare a meal from her son's country.

19. Volunteer my time once/quarter. Yes, I volunteer my time at church in the nursery and on other committees but this goal involves getting in the trenches. There are so many opportunities in our nation's capital, I barely have to go looking. The quantity of this goal is pretty pathetic, but it's a start right?

20. Revamp the blog. The blog needs some major work if I want to keep it going. Problem is, I'm not very technologically savvy, so I've been avoiding teaching myself all of the tricks of the trade. This May will be our 3-year bloggerversary. Crazy, right? It's only had one facelift and it's definitely due for another....stay tuned.

If you're still reading, thanks! And I won't be offended if you ask me about any of these from time to time...in fact, I welcome it.

Happy New Year from our family to yours....and MELKAM GENA! Today, January 7th, is Christmas in Ethiopia. We're actually celebrating it next weekend with some friends but wanted to send out wishes today. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I love that our family will always celebrate it twice :-)