The Joy of Ian

I know I've said this hundreds of times, but I have to say it again. Ian is just pure JOY for us. He is such a sweet little guy and he's growing and developing so much every single day. It's hard to believe that we've been home from India with our precious little man for 6 months. Charlie and I were laughing this evening and said that our house has not looked the same since the day we got home. We have toys, clothes, bottles, cups, and the like every where in our house. It's a wonderful kind of "mess".

Ian discovered that "scaring" mommy was fun this evening. I thought I saw a mouse. But it was a little stuffed animal. Charlie threw it at me and I screamed. Ian cracked up laughing. Then he decided that was fun. So he'd pick up the little grey furry thing and throw it at me. We laughed and giggled for nearly 15 minutes (until I had to stop because my stomach was hurting from laughing). What simple fun we had. I LOVE IT!!!!

He has another new word....door. He started saying it yesterday morning. It seems like he never stops jabbering. Some of his words are very, very clear and others are just sounds. His caregiver at day care says that he talks constantly. He must get that from Charlie :)

He is also cutting tooth number 9 and number 10. The molars on the top are finally coming in. These have been hard ones for him. He's been pretty miserable until they popped through the gums. The one on the right is almost through the gum. Hopefully that'll happen tomorrow. Bless his little heart...he gets cranky when he's cutting teeth.

Here are a couple of pictures from this past weekend. He's just so cute, I can't stop taking pictures.

Walking, walking, walking....

Walking, walking, walking....chasing, chasing, chasing....that's what's happening in our house right now. Ian has really started walking a bunch in the past few days. He still falls down, but he gets right back up and takes off again. Charlie says that he still has the "drunk walk" going on. Whatever it is..it's cute and we're so proud.

We had another great weekend with this remarkable little guy. I looked back at some of the pictures we took while we were in India. He's already changed quite a bit. It's happening so fast.

He gets very frustrated when he can't do something. For example....he has this little puzzle that he tries to put together. He knows exactly where the pieces go...but he can't quite manipulate them in the right direction. So...he slams them down and squeals at them. His little brain is working faster than his little hands.

He's been feeding himself with his fingers for a while now, but he's started using the spoon occasionally. Tonight we tired eating yogurt. I'll post a picture of his "success". We went directly from the high chair to the bathtub. He actually does pretty well.

Oh, oh...one more cute thing. I told him today to shake his "booty"...and of course showed him how to do it. Now anytime I say "Ian, shake your booty" he does. He doesn't have the booty shaking too much...but he shakes the rest of his body and gives me the scrunch face look and just giggles.

This is just the best!!! Watching him grow and develop daily is awesome. He makes us laugh out loud every single day. We are so, so blessed.

I'm sitting here trying to decide which pictures to post. As soon as I pick the camera up, he starts coming toward me wanting to touch it and take it away. Between Charlie and I, we've been able to get a few shots.

Please say a prayer for our new friends Grace and Shane. They are in the process of adopting a little girl from India. Things have gone remarkably well and how they've hit a snag. Hopefully things will speed up and they'll have her home soon. As you all know, this can be heart breaking when you're so close to traveling. Grace...I know this will be over soon and you'll be on your way to pick up sweet little Jadyn.

Weekend Pictures

From top to bottom.....Tami (our original social worker), Jynger (the India program director) & Ian; mmmmmmmm....yummy toes; beautiful dancers at the opening ceremony; Ian and Mia sharing rings; Tami holding a comfortably sleeping Ian; Daddy & Ian taking a walk; Anju, Nadra & Ian.

Our Families Are Connected Forever!!!

Dinner With Mia

First Time In The Pool

India Heritage Camp 2006

This weekend we attended India Heritage Camp hosted by our adoption agency, Dillon International. This camp is held annually to allow kids (and parents) to connect with others who are adopted (or have adopted) from India. It's a two day camp...well actually about a day and a half. There are lots of activities for the kids and workshops for the parents. Ian was too young to participate in any of the activities for kids, so he stayed in the nursery. We attended the adult workshops. Both days of workshops were wonderful. Saturday was especially great because Anju, the director of the orphanage in Kolkata was there. The topic for that session was "Relinquishment Issues." We talked a lot about birth mothers and how the children actually come to the orphanage. Some of it was a little hard to hear, but it was very informative. I have to keep reminding myself that it's a completely different culture in India. One of the things that we learned was that the orphanage is no longer taking babies that are under 2kg in weight. It that policy had been in effect when Ian was born, he would not have been admitted into the orphanage. That made me shiver. Ian was only 1.5kg at birth. We knew it all along, but once again we were reminded that God truly had a plan for Ian. We gained other valuable information from Anju and enjoyed visiting with her. She was thrilled with the progress that Ian is making and how happy he is.

We were able to meet lots of people that we've corresponded with on the Dillon India Forum. It was nice to finally put faces to names. The kids are all just beautiful and have such sweet personalities.

Friday afternoon we had an opportunity to swim and play in the water. This was Ian's first time in the pool. He was a little apprehensive at first...but then....wow...he LOVED it. I'll post a picture or two (have to be selective as daddy got a few shots that show a little too much of mommy's cleavage). He was totally exhausted after about an hour (of course it was 102 degrees). He practically fell asleep in the splash pad. We gathered our stuff and headed home. Of course, he was asleep in the car seat before we were out of the parking lot.

Friday evening, we had dinner with Angie, Dustin and Mia. What a great reunion. Mia is such a sweet little girl. It was so much fun getting together with them. We are so blessed that they are so close. Both kids did exceptionally well and were happy throughout the entire meal. They both have outgoing and sweet personalities. Little Mia has her Miss America wave down pat (elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist). She gives kisses, kisses, kisses. But...she also has a frowny face...that we were experienced very early in the evening. She warmed up to me pretty quickly, but was still a little uncertain of Charlie. I'll post a few of the pictures of the two of them together and then we have one of both of our families...one of many to come I'm sure.

We were also able to finally meet Grace. She and her husband Shane live in Hulbert and are in the process of adopting Jadyn Grace from Kolkata. They have hit a slight snag with their guardianship, but we're all hopeful that things will be resolved quickly and that they'll be on their way soon to pick up their princess.

Overall it was a fabulous weekend and one we will remember forever.

Pictures to come.