Graduation

Deductions:

1. Sitting at highchairs makes you REALLY messy.
2. Sitting at the table makes you look super grown up and serious.
3. You don't need a bib when you sit at the table.
4. You need a hazmat suit to sit at the highchair.
5. Post-meal clean up is reduced by 200% with the introduction of the toddler table chair.

*Currently the highchair is going through a 57 step decontamination process after which it will be relegated to the basement. Thank you highchair. You served your purpose, but we are more than happy to see you go.

What did you say?

There is a lot going on in Jaden's world right now. At his eighteen month appointment, the doctor said not to worry about language development just yet. He said the world is still too exciting at this age for a toddler to focus on coherent communication. As he was telling me this, Jaden was destroying the doctor's office. I know words and phrases and sentences come quickly at some point in the next year or so. Our two-year-old neighbor can carry on a better conversation than many of the high school students I used to teach. But, for now, we get constant jibber-jabber that is only occassionally understandable. Nonetheless, it is outstanding in my book. Here is Jaden's list of words at eighteen months, complete with a mother's translation:

• "Dada": By far his favorite word. Morning. Noon. Night.


• "Ba": Mom. No joke. All the time.


• "Mama": Rarely. Usually when extremely sad.


• "Zhar-Zhar": Charlie. The dog.


• "Ahhhhh": Said in a high-pitched squeal. It equals Alan. The cat.


• "Zhruh": Truck. Usually screamed. Clapping follows.


• "Buh": Bus. More clapping.


• "Ba": Ball. Not to be confused with mom.


• "Nigh-Nigh": So cute.


• "Nnnah": Said emphatically. Means "outside" or "downstairs".


• "Muh": Moo. Like a cow.


• "Duh": Duck.

I'm sure there are a couple more, but this is pretty much it right now. We did teach him a few signs which he uses often. He even made up two of his own. The cutest one is when he sees a cat he pretends to take a "catbath" and licks his "paws." Honestly, toddlers are so cute...until they aren't. Which is list for another day.

Fun is...

A Good Idea

So we were on our Tour de Iowa. The first few days were spent completely cut off from civilization (read: we had only satellite TV and no Internet service) at a "remote" cabin. This forced some creative thinking on the part of all participants who included myself, Jaden, Dustin, my mom, my dad and Charlie. The first afternoon there we rallied around the proposal of going for a walk.

To set the stage for the rest of this story, please understand that it was quite wet that afternoon. It had been raining, and even when it wasn't raining the humidity level was at approximately 115%. Regardless we were determined to commune with Mother Nature. In this vein I wanted my suburban dog to get the opportunity of a lifetime: a walk without a leash. My husband vehemently said "no." He said it was too wet. I scoffed at him and told him how good Charlie is at the local dog park. I told him I'd been training Charlie for this very moment. I promised to dry him off when we got back. Believe it or not -- I had even brought his puppy towel with decorative paws. It was meant to be. I let the pup off his leash.

Here is the picture I took just after this fateful moment.

And here is a picture fifteen minutes later.

He found a lake. A nasty lake. An algae-infested, seed-pore pregnant, mudbottomed lake.

It wasn't Charlie who had his tail between his legs on the walk back to the cabin. Dustin, my mother and my father sat back and watched me use an entire (travel-sized) bottle of baby shampoo on Chuckles while hosing him down with glacier-cold water. I then had to dry the dog, brush the dog and wash him down some more. It.took.forever. I couldn't ask for help. Pride prevented it. And they wouldn't have helped even if I had asked, because they all thought I needed to learn a lesson.

Here's what I learned: if Charlie is ever going to be respected as a dog who (used to) have a pair, I am going to have to let him commune with nature more often. Just not the kind of nature that has lakes. Or seeds. Or grass. Other than that, consider him officially in training.

Last September

In a couple of days we are going on a roadtrip to Iowa. We are seriously taking a tour of the state including a stay in a picturesque cabin (yes, this exists in Iowa...I think), a visit to my parent's home, and a trip to Dustin's parent's home-away-from-home (see the JG Cook House link on the side.) We have made the drive to Iowa SO many times over the years. We know every exit by heart. We know where to use the facilities, where to eat, where to get excited that we are almost there, where you are most likely to get stuck in the winter, and where you are most likely to get swept away by a tornado in the summer.

There is one exit that will be a part of our family history forever. A year ago from last weekend a social worker from our agency called as we crossed the border into Iowa. She had a referral for us. She read us the details and asked if we'd like to see pictures and review the file. We said yes, and the email was sent. We pulled over at the next exit and prayed for the wireless gods to shine upon us in the middle-of-nowheresville. They did. Slowly but surely the pictures uploaded, pixel by pixel. All of a sudden we saw him. And our world was changed forever.

We will be sure to stop at this exit on this trip. We'll probably be busy making sure the dog doesn't eat another dog, and that Jaden doesn't get too intimate with any of the semi-trucks that he obssesses about. I don't know if we'll have time to reflect on how fundamentally our lives have shifted since that day. It was on that day that we became parents emotionally if not physically. It was on that day that we "met" our son. It happened at a rest stop. In Iowa. In September.

Waiting...again

As of today Dustin, Jaden and I are officially a waiting family in the Korea program with our adoption agency. Our new social worker came out today to complete our adoption study. I think we passed despite the fact that I plopped Jaden down in front of an Elmo video for the majority of her visit.

We are waiting for a referral for a little girl this time, and the projected time frame is nine to twelve months for this referral. This is quite a bit longer than the five months we waited for Jaden's referral to come to us. I think one of the most common questions we get when discussing Jaden's adoption concerns his gender. There is a perception that boys rarely have adoption plans made for them from Korea. While this is certainly true of China, the gender ratio of adoptees from Korea is much closer to 50% girls and 50% boys. However, the majority of waiting families prefer to adopt girls, thus making the wait time for a boy significantly shorter.

So, here we go again. I know the wait will be different this time. I know there will be ups and downs as the timeframes change throughout the upcoming year. But we are ready to continue building our family and are overcome with happiness and excitement about the prospect of beginning that process.

Toddler Time

On Monday, Jaden and I went to our first session of Toddler Time together. I think I referred to it as Puppy Class when I was discussing this with my sister. I was overwhelmed. I can't imagine how Jaden felt.

Ten toddlers, toddling. There was some "structure" to the class: playtime, circle time, snack time, and parent circle time. I was looking forward to meeting some other stay-at-home moms. At the rate we began, I will complete a conversation with a parent in the group at about week six. Controlled chaos is the only term that can accurately describe those ninety minutes. I don't know why I'd expect anything else, considering my daily existence at this point is considered a success as long as everyone/thing in the house has been somewhat adequately fed, bathroomed and entertained.

The official circle time lasted about ten minutes. Jaden's lasted two. Then he went off to play on the slide, and to push the dolly in the cart, and to throw various balls throughout the room. I didn't know if he was even paying attention to the rest of the goings on until one adorable little girl came and sat on my lap. Within ten seconds Jaden was at my side vehemently protesting the arrival of another child on his mom's lap. Kids are funny little creatures.

We topped off Toddler Time this week with a trip to storytime at the library today. It lasted thirty minutes. Jaden only screamed his head off once (his balance is a little off today) and only sat down never. The absolute highlight was when the nice woman telling stories to 25 wee ones put stamps on each of their hands. Jaden was mesmerized. He smeared the ink immediately and stared at his little fist the whole way home. I'm kind of scared he is skipping his nap right now while commiserating with his purple stamp. Note to self: get hand stamps.

So begin our experiences in the world of early childhood education. As a high school teacher, none of this is innate. While I'm a mean dancer (seriously, my Running Man is awesome) I am not a good singer (understatement.) Apparently kids Jaden's age LOVE for everything to be a song. Since Monday I've made up two really good tunes that make Jaden stop in his tracks. I feel like the Pied Piper. I'll upload one of my original hits when it is good enough for recording. I may even choreograph a dance to go along with it. For that I fully expect a Mom of the Year award.

We'll take a break from "learning" this weekend to watch some more football. I'd hate to overdo things in the first few weeks.