March 2007

Daylight Savings Time

Andrew has been doing his best to support the new DayLight Savings Time schedule that will be implemented in America in 2007. He has assisted President Bush's Energy Act of 2005 by waking up 1 to 2 hours earlier....unfortunately Mommy and Daddy are inclined to sleep past 4:30am. By the time we get ready to leave in the morning he is tired and ready for a nap, but no dice, we are rolling out the door by 7am. We tried keeping him up later, which only resulted in a cranky baby at both bath time and breakfast time. Then we tried running him around the house after dinner to tucker him out, and even tried this wrestling move, but still no luck-- he wakes before the birds. The good news is, he naps like a champ at daycare!

Career Training

Andrew has taken it upon himself to deem all play phones unworthy of his entertainment dollars. Instead he prefers Daddy's desk phone....which you can see is no longer on Daddy's desk. After picking up and not-so-gently slamming the phone down several dozen times Andrew will pick up the phone and attempt to take notes with a pen and notepad. In case you are wondering about his 'desk', you are correct-- we spared no expense. That is the empty trashcan box he is sitting on, the same box he has been playing with for over 6 months. If you zoom into the picture, you will see a little scar at the end of his left eye-brow....the result of his run in with a foreign chair and first ER visit.

When Andrew feels like getting out for a walk, he grabs Mommy's sneakers. Unfortunately he has picked up on Mommy and Daddy's inability to tell left from right. But that does not stop him from stomping around the house with a goofy proud grin on his face. And how else would you finish off a day of playing with Mommy's sneakers--- wash them in the toilet of course. It took quite an effort to fit the sneaker in the toilet bowl through his kid-size potty seat, but I was able to rescue the sneaker before it was fully immersed.

AquaScreamFest 2007

You know how when you were a kid your mom always said to talk quietly while you are in the pool because voices travel across water. And you also know the echoing affect when you yell in a gymnasium? Well, if you put them together you get Andrew's first attempt at Swim Lessons. There were about 6 other kids there from about 6 onths to 2 years old. All were happy campers in the water blowing bubbles and giggling contently. Then there was my child, who was screaming as if toe nails were being slowly extracted from all extremities. At first I thought the water was just a bit cold, but after 35 minutes of all out screaming the group lessons were over and the screaming continued until we were safely dressed in dry clothes and in the car en route home. I can only hope it gets better over the next month. If not, we'll be setting up the little inflatable pool in the basement and taking him for dips in there.

Little Brother

Last summer while we were in Kazakhstan we decided Andrew would one day need a little brother. So last July, after being home for a couple weeks we started the process for a little brother from Guatemala, a bit sooner than expected but due to some changes in the process of adoptions from that country we thought it was better to get things moving. Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, or the elation of getting over jet lag, but we are happy to report that Andrew's little brother was born November 2006. This month we visited him for about a week and hope to return to Guatemala at the end of the summer to bring him home, about a year after starting the process.

The Guatemala process is much different than Kazakhstan, except that both take about a year. First, you get matched with a child, then wait many moons for the paperwork to go through, which is the opposite of Kazakhstan. Second, you stay in an uber nice hotel with a pool which overlooks a volcano; I never could find a clear day to get a good shot of the volcano, which I am told is 'kinda dormant'.

And most importantly, the comforts of Western Civilization are never far from a call to the concierge desk-- i must say that Dominoe's pizza tastes better in Guatemala than America. Towards the end of my stay some of the other families and I got the munchies and ordered pizza ---- about $15 for 2 large pizzas and some soda.

Donde Esta los fotos?

Where are the pictures of Junior #2 you ask? Sorry, we wont be posting any pictures until he's legally our son....no need to jinx anything jeopardize the adoption. So you will have to use your imagination.