Wilson loves Tigger.

This little Tigger (look carefully!) is not a normal sleeping buddy, so I was quite surprised to find them lip to lip during Wilson's nap yesterday! Another cute picture to document Wilson's sleeping habits.

Christmas is better together

This sums up how the boys feel about our first Christmas together!


The best Christmas ever.

Merry Christmas!

The boys are doing great but their agent (me) has been a bit busy. I finished 2 big projects Thursday, so their school parties yesterday and going to Zoo Lights were lots of fun. We have had enough candy and chocolate to last a very long time. They are both crazy for chocolate, though, so I'm sure they will ask for more tomorrow. Jackson is out of school for 2 weeks so we're lining up play dates for him while I'm working. Wilson's school closes Wednesday @ noon thru Friday the next 2 weeks. One of his church buddies will watch him at our home Wednesday afternoon and he'll be with Malin here Friday. Not sure about next week...
Jackson has never been too excited about Santa and Wilson seems pretty clueless. I guess I need to get "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to read to them since they love books. Of course it's the first Christmas for the 3 of us to be together and that alone is very special. I think they will enjoy their gifts Christmas morning- esp their Santa gifts. Speaking of him, I had their picture made with Santa @ the zoo last night. It was our friend Sharon's idea. Jackson has NEVER liked people dressed up, but Wilson acted interested...until it was his turn. Then waterworks. I asked if the boys could just stand on either side of Santa since frankly the 3 of us were all a bit creeped out by him. Jackson looked good in the photo, but Wilson was crying. Still cute of course but not exactly happy to be there. So that was their first (yes, even for Jackson) and probably last photo with Santa. One other thing of note happened at the zoo: there were 2 snakes available for petting in the herpetarium, but it was for 5 yrs old and up per the wrangler. There is NOTHING you could bribe Jackson with to make him do that. Wilson saunters right up to them (this is the same kid that put a lightening bug in his mouth) but I had to snatch him up to keep the wrangler from getting nervous. They even had the huge python out!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Laurel @ Malin's house. The boys had a good time. It rained a good bit so we hung out inside mostly. I only took a couple of pictures. The boys were so sweet sleeping together, as you can see.

Sometime over the holiday, Wilson fell in love with Melody, his aunt Emily's doll from a decade ago. He's taken care of her, slept alongside her and played "this little pig" with her too. When he says her name, it sounds like he's saying "my baby." Very sweet!

Braggin' rights

Since I get to raise the best brothers ever, then sometimes the blog will be shameless bragging. This is kind of a makeup entry anyhow so I have to go back and mention a couple of important things that have happened since I last wrote. Jackson is playing basketball on the first and second grade team this fall, and they have had a few practices. Last weekend, his team scrimmaged another Hope team. Keep in mind that this is a big step up from the team he was on last year and he's probably the youngest on the team. But he's enthusiastic and having fun. During the scrimmage, he managed to get a defensive rebound, dribble down court and pass to a big guy for an easy jumper! A rebound, assist and the hustle award all in one play!! I'm wrangling little W during this so I was very happy to see this play.

Here's my attempt at an artsy photo from a couple of weeks ago. This is the boys in the mirror, but of course W couldn't resist peeking.


I also have to brag on what Wilson said last weekend. He's made a ton of progress in speech, but he's never said his name. He's made attempts with a lot of prompting, but never has offered his name spontaneously. While goofing around last Saturday, I showed him a photo of him and Jackson and asked who it was. I expected him to say "Bubba!" (brother) but instead he said "Wilson!" It wasn't very clear but it was still a first. A morning or two later, he'd just woken up when we had our first conversation ever:
me: Hey, Baby.
W: Momma's bed. (since he started getting up a little earlier, I put him in bed with me for a few minutes) Where's Bubba?
Me: Brother is still sleeping.
W: Baby up!
Considering he didn't say 2 words together 2 months ago, this is real progress!

Family Day

Jackson was out of school yesterday and today so this morning I took both boys to the zoo. We had the place almost to ourselves since the weather was questionable (fine while we were there). We were able to see some animals that are sometimes hard to catch, including all the giraffes (including 2 new ones!), a polar bear that tried to "get" Jackson thru the glass wall, the pandas, one of the new gorillas, a rhino, two capybaras and others. The fall colors made for good decorations. Wilson fell asleep on the way home and both boys are resting now.

These two days have been so much fun for me. Yesterday, Wilson went to school and Jackson joined me for a planned day together, which we divided between grown up errands (getting will updated and my appt with the eye MD) and kid fun. The fun was going skating in the afternoon. Jackson is pretty good but needs a little more confidence to let go of the wall. We went around the rink many times holding hands (aka me dragging him) and we had some good laughs (like when I fell). We picked up Wilson early from school and came home to play. It was so nice to do things without rushing and stress. This afternoon we hope to get haircuts and Wilson's 2nd flu shot. Jackson starts basketball practice @ 530 and then we have Scouts @ 7. And that will conclude 2 really great days- family days. Then it's back to our real lives!

Halloween @ Bellevue

I love their sweet little faces against this beautiful sky. We were @ Bellevue on Halloween night for the Family Fun Fest. It was a HUGE event with carnival rides, bouncy things, etc. The boys rode a couple of things together, then Jackson had to push Wilson down the slides on the bouncy fire truck and the bouncy whale. It was a little harrowing for Wilson! So the finale was Jackson going down a giant slide on his own. Jackson loved it.

Here's a picture of Superman when he had to be pushed down the slide to get out of the bouncy whale. He got a bit overwhelmed at the end, but this slide was really the only way out, so I just told Jackson to push him. Fortunately, his shoe was thrown out a couple of minutes later! This was Wilson's last event. After this he was more than ready to head over to see the guys and sweet talk them out of a LOT of candy.

Wilson's Harvest Party

Wilson dressed in this clown outfit for school on Halloween (but they can't call it that @ CCLC due to some conservative types). He has several costumes handed down so I tried to get all of them on him a least briefly. He even liked wearing the hat!
Wilson's classmates had a parade, then shared some some treats in their class. When Jackson and I arrived (late cause we were at Jackson's class party), the kids were wild, but Wilson was still at the table eating and he had a very cute juice 'stache.

Super Cool

Yes, I am obssessed with Wilson sleeping. This picture is so sweet to me and he's in a completely uncharacteristic position. This is how Jackson sleeps. Wilson is usually face down in a straight line.
Last week while we were at the dinner table, Wilson did something I haven't seen him do in months. He rubbed the front middle of his head with the back of his hand. Why is this a big deal? It suddenly struck me that he has finally been home long enough to change a habit. That head rubbing is something he did when we first met @ 10 months and something he still did when we picked him up @ 18+ months. When I realized this was some history we shared, I really wanted to cry. I feel like we are closer because of this shared history. Almost every day I do a calculation something like this: Wilson has been home 8 months, which is less than 1/2 the time he spent in Guatemala. I guess I still am sad about the time we spent apart. Yes, I know I must be thankful to have him now, and I am. But I think I will keep up this odd calculation until his time with me represents more than 50% of his life (over 3 yrs old). His language development represents another significant change. He spoke 6 words I could understand @ 19 months. Mom, brother (sounded like bubba), dog, cat, ball, airplane. Now, he's saying lots of things: animal sounds, food, names, places... And he's reached a milestone by saying this cute phrase regularly: I DID IT!

We picked our pumpkins...

We finally got pumpkins to decorate our sidewalk. The boys really enjoyed picking them out. Wilson was adamant about the gourd and Jackson was very thoughtful about his pumpkin. I picked the one that looks like a giant onion just to be different. All the little ones will go to Jackson's class when they have their class party later this week. For now, we are enjoying them. Both boys put a lot of effort into getting this display just right. I think they did great.

Fall Fun Fest @ Hope

Malin went with me and the boys Friday night. This was Wilson's first "Halloween-like" experience- in the US at least. I do have photos of him dressed up as a pirate when he lived in Guatemala City, but I am not quite sure what that was about.
Anyhow, he seemed to catch on quickly. He had a meltdown at the first game, but when we got to the second game, I realized he'd already opened the first sucker he got. It was easy after that. Jackson- an old pro- had a high percentage of chocolate goodies at the end of the evening. He spent some time in the gym w/ Malin on the bouncy things while Wilson and I went from room to room playing games. Actually, Wilson realized quickly that a kid as cute as he is could go straight to the candy basket and no one but mom would dare mention that he had not in fact attempted the game.

Jackson is Student of the Month for October @ Dexter Elem!

Jackson was chosen to represent his class as student of the month. I visited him during lunch last week and got this photo of him pointing to his picture on the bulletin board (it's way at the top). He is an excellent student academically and tries hard (most days) to do well in conduct. Amazingly, my child has mouth and impulse control issues! Fortunately, he is working on it early and with those good looks, will cruise through life with no worries.

Scoutbase 2008

Jackson joined Cub Scouts this fall after school started. First graders are called Tiger Cubs. We joined just in time to get involved with Scoutbase, a large, every other year gathering of Scouts from three states. Scoutbase 2008 was held at the Tunica River Park in north Mississippi. The end we camped on included the facilities for the Tunica County Recreational Center (which just means we had some access to real bathrooms). We arrived @ our campsite about 730 Friday night. Fortunately our den leader had our tent up for us. I knew it was little but I promise it looked like 2 chairs with a beach towel over them... Most of the activities were scheduled for Saturday, so it could have been a day trip, but I guess the boys needed practice camping. Friday night there were fireworks we could see from our campsite. Saturday there was an opening ceremony with Navy Frogmen (parachuters- they are crazy but it looks neat). We're still getting used to all things Scout and the activity above did cause me some trepidation, but part of letting him join Scouts is wanting him to become more independent and be exposed to more. He earned a Trailblazers merit badge for shooting the BB gun and attempting archery. Fortunately, the Boy Scout motto is "Do Your Best," so accuracy was optional. Jackson hung out with another Tiger's family while I napped Wilson and volunteered for an hour. He earned some beads for various activities (and eventually I'll figure out where those go). Then the boys and I learned about another important scouting rule: leave no trace. We walked a short nature trail (see below; note soda!) and read about how to camp and enjoy the outdoors in an environmentally friendly way. So much of it should be common sense, but unfortunately that's not the case.

After our 2nd night of almost freezing, we packed up first thing Sunday AM and headed back. Now we're catching up on football. Overall the boys did really well. My goal was just to get us down there and stay both nights, so I did well too!

We're back!

We've been a bit quieter lately but still having fun. Jackson is doing great @ school and was picked for student of the month for his class! His picture is outside the lunchroom and his classroom @ Dexter. For improving his behavior, he earned a Jets T-shirt that we ordered online tonight.
Wilson has started saying "yeah" and "football." He's still seeing the early interventionist, but as soon as her caseload is updated, he'll get dropped because he tested out. He's still a few months behind in language but he's catching up and no one seems to think he's anything but wonderful. He does well at school too. Last week one of his teachers told me that he's the first kid in the class to start using the pedals on the trikes they keep on the playground. Lucky me.

Haircuts!

The boys got haircuts this AM. Both went a little shorter than usual, but I think they look great. And here's my proof.


For those keeping up with how Wilson sleeps: I changed his crib to a toddler bed yesterday. He's still sleeping with Tigger and Curious George, but now he puts them in the corners of his bed (see Sick Day entry for background). He wasn't too happy with me in this photo.

When they get quiet...

This is a makeup entry from last weekend. Jackson had a friend over and they were playing in the backyard. Wilson was inside with me. Then I realized...I couldn't hear anyone! Every parent knows this means trouble. When they get quiet, they are into something. So off I went to search. Wilson was in Jackson's room lining up these cars with such care that I just let him finish. He was so earnest about it (I love that quality, and that's part of the reason I love his middle name) and was enjoying himself so much. This photo is the final result, and although I am clearly biased, I don't mind saying it's impressive.


With one down and Jackson to go, I look out the back door. Jackson heard me coming and posed. Is there a scholarship for goofy?

Brunch with our buddies.

Jackson lost another tooth on Saturday. We were at church when he became hysterical. I saw blood but it took me a minute to figure out what was going on. Once he settled down and found the tooth, he said "Hey mom! Why'd you slap that tooth out of my head?!" I had not touched him, but there was nothing I could say that wouldn't make me sound like Mommy Dearest. Nothing like having kids to knock you down a few notches. Stuff like this doesn't happen when you are hanging out watching football at home. We go the "high drama" route instead.



This weekend we went with several friends to brunch at the Peabody. It's a neat experience, but the best part was being with our friends (and the food was good!). All that food and excitement helped the boys sleep very well last night. Wilson slept 12 hours and Jackson slept almost 11 hours.

silly kids

Two pics I like from the last couple of weeks.

busy weekend

We took a break from our quieter weekends. Friday we went to the Watts for dinner and the cousins did some bonding. Jackson enjoys the company and being the big kid; Kendall is the picture of kinetic energy; Wilson is kindof the wild card. Sometimes he mixes it up good and sometimes he seems to remember that he is 2 and should have random fits. Kendall had visited us the night before and I think we made some progress overall.
Saturday, the boys and I started out at the zoo (middle photo above)before meeting Vinty @ Shelby Farms to check out an animal expo sponsored by Animal Planet (top photo). The weather was good and we had a great time. We stopped to feed the ducks before heading home to eat/clean up/change again for a birthday party at Pump It Up. The boys had a great time, although I know they were tired.
Sunday we made it to 8 o'clock church and stayed for an extra service so I could work in the 4 yr old class. It was promotion Sunday so the boys went to their new classes. Jackson got to head upstairs with the first graders. After church we headed home to rest/change (yes, I was on autopilot by this time) before an afternoon birthday pool party. Only Jackson swam, so it was easy to transition to our play date afterward. That took us up to bedtime, and the weekend was gone. We had a lot of fun, but we're going back to more quiet times starting now!
The last photo above is from last Monday when Wilson and I played hookie and we went to feed the ducks after picking Jackson up from school.

sick day

Wilson had a fever yesterday so we are taking a sick day today. He has a cold, but he's mostly ok. We are enjoying hanging out together with nothing to do (I'm trying not to think of all the things I "should be" doing). At nap time, he arranged all his bed buddies in a line, face down (like he sleeps), then got on the end and crashed (he peeked a little for the picture tho). I don't know if I could be a stay at home mom but I definitely love having some extra time with him.

something different every day

Saturday while I was cleaning (believe it or not) the boys created a club. That means throwing a lot of random toys in the hall, turning on country tunes and goofing off. Jackson was very interested in things being just right, but Wilson just wanted to have fun.

Sunday, Vince and Rusty took us to Catch 'em Lake to fish. We didn't get supper, but we did have fun. Jackson even threw this back (after Vince unhooked it)!

Wilson came home 6 months ago.

Today marks 6 months that Wilson has been home! Can I imagine life before him? Yeah, a little. Is there any doubt he completely belongs to this family? No way. I think this photo says so much. These boys were born to be brothers. I'm lucky to be their mom.

the last week of summer vacation

School starts Monday so we focused on fun this week. Jackson stayed with Michelle (camp ended last week) and had a blast. Tuesday after work we went to the sprinker park in Collierville with some friends. In this picture, Jackson is trying to fill a water balloon. Wilson is hanging out with his friend Elaine and enjoying a pop. We also had some friends over for dinner three nights and we squeezed in some nice family moments- like reading together before bed.

A first for Jackson!

After 4 months of having a wiggly tooth, and one more apple in his lunchbox, Jackson finally lost his first tooth! He is so cute with his little gap, but he's self-conscious about it. He asked me on the way home from camp if we needed to call the tooth fairy. I didn't expect that question, but I assured him the tooth fairy just "knows" these things. He told me not to check on him tonight in case I disturbed TF.

I also just realized that I didn't get all of Wilson's description in the previous blog entry. Maybe I exceeded the space limit-whatever, I'm still learning. But I can copy and psste so here's the rest of it:
Wilson is very loving- spontaneously hugs people and “goes to” them. Easy to get a smile from him, too. Although he doesn’t use too many words, he communicates just fine w/ gestures and grunts. He’s so precious and gorgeous that people fall over themselves trying to do for him. He’s also a tinkerer. He can work on toy cars and other things with an impressive concentration. Every night when I put him to bed, I tell him that I love him no matter what; that I will always be his mom; and that he will always be my baby. I must admit that I have not completely recovered from the repeated devastating delays that we endured throughout his incompetent adoption. I am certain that I know what a broken heart feels like. I do not believe that it is God’s will that he was separated from me for almost 19 months. But I am very grateful for the time we have now and that he calls me mom.

quiet weekend

Last week was about as close to a quiet week as we ever have. We went to the zoo Saturday AM w/ our friends Michelle and Bri; and Jennifer and Elaine. We were SO tired when we left. We hung out at home in the afternoon. Sunday we went to church in the AM and did some back to school shopping in the afternoon. Oh, yeah, just 2 weeks away! In this photo, they are playing on Wilson's new toy.

A good friend who I don't see much recently asked me to tell him about the boys. I'm going to copy in some of my response for you serious readers.

Jackson turned 6 in April and will start first grade this fall. He’s very smart and witty. He talks constantly; loves sports; sleeps well; eats well and is generally fun to be around. He is very photogenic as you see, but he’s handsome in person too. His fave sport is basketball right now, but he did very well in soccer and Tball last season. He’s in a sports camp this summer and its nonstop kickball, basketball, dodge ball… He loves it. He’s a pretty good reader and can do some math. We are watching the Planet Earth documentary together when we have time at night. We cook our own popcorn for it. He loves to help around the house, but has started asking to be paid for it. I’ve told him everyone has responsibilities that come with the privilege of being in this home, but he can volunteer for extra duties for low pay. He recently told me that he’s saving money so we can get a bigger house. He likes to be hugged but he’s too big to kiss now (according to him). He is very good with directions and can tell people how to get around town- or at least the places we go. He’s fairly well traveled, having been on an Alaskan cruise, to a Green Bay home game, and visited in San Fran, Dallas, Chicago X 2, Nashville x 3, Little Rock, Mammoth Cave, KY, St. Louis and the Miss Gulf Coast, which he loves. He is fed up with flying though, so our trip to Chicago over Mem Day weekend was via the overnight train. It was a great adventure. Oh, and of course he went to Guatemala twice. He’s traveled and flown more than some adults. He loves our church. He can be over-dramatic, like at church last night when I told him he’d waited too late to get an ice cream (I was wrong) and he melted down on the spot. He is a great helper w/ Wilson. They truly had love at first sight. They are big huggers. We also have dance sessions. We have a Go Fish (Christian kids band) CD that we rock out to. It’s like Pavlov when the music comes on- they start hopping. In a lot of ways he’s a classic first born- on the straight and narrow and wanting to please. I think because it was just the two of us for so long he has this idea that he gets an equal vote with me on family matters. Like on the topic of siblings…how many, gender, etc.

Wilson will be 2 on Monday the 14th. Wilson’s 5 month homecoming anny is Sat [July 12] and that’s when he’ll have a small birthday party. He has had almost no transition issues. We’ve had small bumps in the road but not b/c he emigrated- because he is a child. He sleeps and eats well. He’s got a super sweet personality. He doesn’t talk much and is in speech therapy, but I’m not too worried because he seems to understand very well and I think his “delays” are consistent with a child who heard Spanish only for the first 19 months, then switched to 95% English. I do speak a little Spanish to him- as much as I know. Last night he said “rana” and I realized he was pointing to a picture of a frog in his book. So of course he is right, but they wouldn’t know that at his daycare. He’s so small, I refer to him as pocket sized. <>

just a regular week

Chillin! I don't have a new pic since the birthday party but I love this one of them taking a break after their baths when we got home from Mississippi a couple of weeks ago. Wilson can just barely get his feet propped! Popsicles rock when it's hot.

The few days after birthday weekend were tense. Wilson got accustomed to his rock star status and had trouble going back to regular kid. Plus, he seems to know he's two and maybe he just feels like he's got a lot of reason to complain. And he has. If this is the terrible two's, then I can hang. He's just not quite as laid back as he started out, I guess. We've been encouraging him to speak up so it wouldn't be fair to take that back. Of course he smiles and laughes a lot still. And he's always up for a hug.

Uncles Clark and Jake visited us this weekend and the boys were in Heaven. Wilson had someone new to admire him (Jake's first time to meet him) and Jackson had more attention and someone else to throw a ball to. They hung out with us, visited Jenn with us and went to church with us. We hope they come back soon! Unfortunately, they were also with us when we had a fender bender. No one was injured but the car will be out of comission for a couple of weeks- hopefully starting tomorrow. So the boys came out of their first accident (and hopefully the last) completely unscathed. Thank God. We were on Walnut Grove stopped at a red light when a girl hit us from behind. It was a shock for sure.

Wilson is 2! Dr's report.

We basically partied all weekend to celebrate Wilson turning 2. I'm including some photos our friend Rusty took at our supper out with him and Vince @ Red Robin. The boys had a great time as they always do when hanging out with the guys. I had fun too.

Tuesday AM Wilson went to Dr. Higginbotham for his 2 year check up. He is excellent. He cooperated with the exam and the doctor was obviously pleased with the progress he has made since coming home. He's up to 25.5 pounds and 33 inches- way to go! Dr. H said that he's officially no longer "tiny" but he's still small. Very healthy. His development is on track. He's still not a big talker but he's making huge strides- possibly due to a talkative mom and big brother? Dr. H did advise us to get a children's vitamin w/ iron, but otherwise we are GREAT. He was very impressed. All things grow with love and we are fortunate to have an abundance of that.

Wilson's birthday party Sat 7-12

Wilson marked exactly 5 months home today and also celebrated his 2nd birthday. We had a lot of great friends over to play in the sprinklers and kiddie pool and to have lunch. He had such a great time, but he didn't last past 12:30 and he's still sleeping now. We'll have a quiet afternoon I hope!!

Well I attached some party photos but the last 2 pics should be the first two: the boys getting a taste of cookie cake, then Wilson post bath.