Thursday, March 22, 2007

March 23, 2007 - The Continuing Mysteries of Dancer & the Boys







Nick likes to sit on the lock box that MaMa gave them.  Makes it hard for Ben to get stuff out:).














Put stuff in, take stuff out.  In, out, in, out. It never gets old:).














YaY!! Bath time!!












Our normal bath time position, the mom and dad kneeling next to the tub, holding up towels to keep us and the floor from getting drenched.












Ben: "What? Did you call me mom?".
Nick: Playing, playing, playing....too busy to notice you mom.













And the love of Legos begins.














Nick 16 months old, Ben 17.5 months old. Home just over two months.  They are so much fun!!






Go Go Go Go Go!!













….and Go some more!!













The continuing mysteries of Dancer the Cat...







….why in the world does he like this??


























Best Buddies









Zoe prefers to stay up out of the way.








March 22, 2007 - Oops, long lost April!

Confession: The following events occurred in April of 2007, during which time I was pretty sick with pneumonia so I didn't blog much.  One cannot go back and create blog posts and have them show up in the blog at a long ago date (to my knowledge).  I didn't want to lose these memories so I am putting them on this date of a post that I was going to delete, since it was not about the boys.






Nick, the comedian.





Ben, the dog trainer:).


Nick, the mower.

Ben, the mechanic.

Nick, the ball player.




Nick and Ben, playing with some favorite toys.













A visit to Great Grandma Rilla's house. Aunt Kathy, giving Ben and Nick a ride on Grandma Rilla's walker.  Ben is hugging a bunny.















The dad built the boys a wonderful sandbox.  They love it!









First time playing with Playdoh. Daddy is so funny!!
























































Friday, March 16, 2007

March 16, 2007 - Our Little Blessings Home Two Months

This coming Sunday, two days from now, will be two months since we picked up our sons from the baby home in Volgograd, Russia. They are now approximately 16 months and 17.5 months old, respectively. It is amazing at how much they have changed in just two months.





Our first visit to Volgograd, l1/2006. Ben was 13.5 months old in this picture.














Nick at 12 months old, during our first visit to Volgograd.










Hotel room in Volgograd, second trip. 1/18/2007, the day we really became a family, although we legally became a family the day before in court.

15.5 month old Ben and 14 month old Nick.






Ben, almost two months later. He has one of the most charming smiles you will ever see. Everyone comments on it, in addition to his big, beautiful, brown eyes.

Two months ago, he would hardly play with a toy and would be more likely to throw it down or drop it quickly if you handed him something. He immediately pushed any food that was placed on his highchair tray to the floor and could not feed himself at all. In fact, he never, ever brought anything to his mouth to chew on, except sometimes his finger. He could crawl but he could not walk. He could pull up but was not very good at cruising and didn't show much interest in it. When he did pull up, he did not stand for very long. He did not babble a whole lot and could not say any words.

He can now feed himself finger food very well and he also chews on toys. He hardly ever throws anything on the floor when he is eating in his highchair. He is now walking pretty well and spends a good part of his waking hours walking all around the house. He has become more assertive and he no longer lets Nick take away his toys:). He now babbles all the time and he says momma, dada, kitty, all done and he tries to say many other words.


Nick, almost two months later. He has an adorable smile too...maybe a bit mischievous.

Nick was pretty much on track developmentally when he came home and was actually ahead in some areas. His latest interest is talking on the phone. He was holding a block to his ear the other day and saying "hello?". When the phone rings he also says "hello" (although probably only his parents could understand what he is saying:). If I am busy and don't answer the phone, they both look at me expectantly, like I should be answering it. They both love to listen as someone talks to them over the phone, especially when daddy calls. Nick is also now starting to run a little bit and loves climbing all over the furniture. He can say quite a few words and tries to say many more that are hard to recognize. He understands so much more of what we say as each week goes by, it is amazing. He knows where we keep the drinks and snacks and will point to the fridge or cabinet when he wants something.






They are interacting more and more with each other every day and it is obvious they enjoy being with each other. They follow each other around and mimic each other a lot.













Sometimes they are pretty good about sharing and they enjoy playing together or near each other.....











...sometimes not so much:). Actually, times like these are pretty rare, for now anyway. This type of behavior is more likely to happen when they are playing very close to each other and they accidentally fall into or onto each other and/or they are wanting to play with the same toy. They normally stop before I have to intervene but sometimes I have to tell them to stop. Nick tends to enjoy sitting on or rolling on top of Ben and Ben doesn't care for that too much:).







They both love pushing everything around, including cups that are turned upside down or anything that is not suppose to be pushed and may ruin the wood floors. We try to keep them interested in pushing around the things that are made to be pushed around.





They both know how to "give me a kiss" and also "give me a hug" now and it really warms my heart. They think it is so funny. They are so sweet and cute and huggable!

We are so very very blessed.  These two little guys are our miracles and blessings from God. That they have done so very well with this major transition in their short lives is just a miracle. I thank God for them and for how well they are adjusting to their new lives.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

March 14, 2007 - All Done!

The ladies from my Bible study gave us a baby shower recently.

The boys didn't quite know what to think but they sure liked the toys.

Yesterday I was looking all over the house, including under the furniture for the little cow that goes with the barn set and I finally found it in the bottom of the toy basket.  Today Nick was looking for it (it is his favorite). He got down on his hands and knees and was looking under the furniture, like he had seen me do.  So cute:).  They learn so fast!

When they are finished eating, they now like to hold up their hands and say "all done".

Ben is walking really well all over the place, all the time. He does circles around the kitchen island. He is so funny to watch.

I love the expression on his face in this picture.  He makes this expression a lot.

Around 7:00 this morning I heard Zoe the cat on the baby monitor meowing at the top of her lungs. Apparently she spent the night with the boys last night and was ready to get out, which I rushed to accommodate just before she woke them up. (Note to self: Must be more careful about not locking up cats in baby room:).





Friday, March 09, 2007

March 9, 2007 - Generous Nick & Another First

Generous Nick
During dinner one night recently, the dad had been feeding Nick.  Later, at the end of our meal, Nick was eating a few cheerios on his highchair tray. He handed the last one to the dad, who opened his mouth to let Nick feed it to him. Nick thought it was fun to feed dad.  He promptly put his finger in his mouth, dug out the half-eaten cheerio, and offered to feed it to daddy too. Generous boy:).

Another First
Today was the boys' first time to play in the yard.  Ben crawled and walked everywhere, not caring if his hands were dirty or what he was crawling through (I'm so glad we don't have a dog). Nick fell while walking on the grass.  He sat there with his hands in the air, not wanting to touch the grass, wanting me to pick him up.

Ben is now about 17 months old and Nick is around 15.5 months old.   They are both saying more and more words. Ben was hardly even babbling when we first took custody of him and now he babbles all the time.

I love introducing the boys to new things and watching the delight in their eyes as they see and learn new things. I love being their mom:).