Little Man - One Month

Little Man -
We met you just one short month ago.  With only two hours to prepare for your arrival, I wondered if we were crazy to have said yes.  But yes was all we could say.  Papa and I arrived at the agency several minutes early and anxiously waited, wondering if the vehicle you were in was going to pull up soon.  Then we were taken back to a little room - one that's used for parenting time - to wait for you and your sister.  All we knew at the time was your name, that you were not quite 2 years old, your ethnicity, and the size of diapers and clothes that you were wearing.

When you first walked into the room, my first thought was ADORABLE.  Papa opened his arms to you and you walked right to them and sat on his lap with a big smile.  It was just what I needed to see to calm my crazy nerves!

Once we came home, Papa and I quickly realized how unprepared the house was for our new little man.  You loved digging through the toy box we had [that still had most the toys in their packaging] and finding all the pens and such we had laying about within reach.  The dogs made you nervous, but the cats... oh my the cats.  Your favorite thing was to roar at Inigo.  And he was silly enough to stick around long enough for you to grab a big handful of either fur or his tail.

You didn't speak much... well, let me clarify.  You spoke a lot, just not much of it was understandable.  The only words we could consistently pick out were Momio, and no.  And you certainly practiced these two words a lot!

It's hard to believe it has already been four weeks since that day.  You have changed so much in this time.  For starters, you are getting more consistent at calling us Papa and Mama.  Saying Papa has really only happened in the last few days, and boy is your Papa excited about it!  You have also started saying so many more words!  In the last few days I have also noticed that if I find myself repeating the same word many times [like the other day when I was looking for water at the grocery store and thus kept repeating water] you also try to say it a few times.  Practicing the best you can.  And it is cute!

You've stopped roaring at the cats and now leave that only for the dogs.  Instead you have the sharpest eagle eye for seeing the kitties and will immediately meow at them once you do spot them.

You take a wonderful nap in the afternoons - sometimes upwards of 3 hours long.  But going down for naps or bedtime brings on tears for you.  Thankfully they quickly subside and instead the air is filled with you practicing words?  Or perhaps going over the events of the day?  It's [sometimes] fun to listen to you and you will call out Shoes, sock, coat, Mama! Rawwr!... bye, NO!  and so on.

You are not picky about eating, however it seems that fruit is your favorite.  Especially pineapple [I don't blame you on this one!]  It seems dry sweets [cake, cookies, etc] aren't your favorite, in fact, on your birthday, you preferred more sloppy joe meat instead of the cake.  You definitely don't take after your Mama on this one :)  But it's definitely healthier this way!

You love to go outside.  If we don't put shoes on you first thing in the morning, you will find them, find your coat and walk around the house repeating these two words followed by Bye!  If we take you into the back yard, you love just running around and investigating.  Especially if the dogs are out there too.  You're a fan of walks, and of going to the play ground.  But once at the playground you tend to wander, not really playing on the structures all that much.

We took a trip to Sam's Club today.  You figured out that it was fun to hang on the handle by your hands.  You couldn't quite reach while on the ground, but quickly learned to climb a little to be able to reach it.  The fruit sample was your favorite [not surprisingly!] and you very adamantly turned your nose up at the fried rice [although I think it was more because you had already had lunch].

I love seeing the changes in you.  They are happening daily.  You are growing up before our eyes and it is a delight to see!

Things I'm loving about you:  Walking into Oma and Grandpa's house to pick you up - when you spot one of us, you run full speed at us with a huge smile on your face.  The way you say Thank you whether it's appropriate or not.  Your bow-legged run.  Your meowing at the cats.  Seeing your sleepy, smiley face in the morning or after nap time.  Snuggling with you, especially this morning when we woke you up super early and you weren't feeling all that great.

I'm glad you've joined our family... for however long that is.  We love you little man!