Six Months Ago...

in a land far far away (Novosibirsk, Russia) Steve and I became the official parents of Andrei Nikolas.

It doesn't seem like it's already been six months, but looking back on our pictures and video from both our first and second trips we can see how much all of us have grown. We've also got our routine down and it really feels like little Andrei has always been a part of our family. I don't think Steve or I ever imagined how much bringing this little light into our lives would really change everything.

Here's a few pictures to show how much the little guy has grown and blossomed:

This is the first picture we ever saw of our little guy even before we knew he'd be our referral. Once Steve and I found out our region had been changed to Novosibirsk, we looked at the Russian photolistings and saw this little boy who looked like a baby chick.



Then we got his official referral picture:



In September 2007 we had our first visit:



Finally we went back in November 2007 and had court and were officially named as his parents.



My how our little guy has physically grown in those six months. From our first doctor's visit, he was 22.5 lbs and 30.5 inches tall. At his pediatrician visit last week, he's up to 26 lbs and 33 inches tall. Wow, no wonder he's grown out of all of his clothes.

His other areas of development are moving right along as well. He's speaking many more words and actually said his first two word sentence the other day (dada car), he's feeding himself and has refused to sit in his high chair, can throw a ball overhand (straight and gets some distance) and is really growing up into a little boy.

Here's another recent picture of our little guy:



We are thrilled and honored to have Andrei as part of our family and are looking forward to the future.

Sound toys

The bane of every parent, Toys that make sound are the ones parents hope or pray will break as fast as possible. Some parents even concoct the story that (once the batteries are dead) the toy is broken.

We found a brilliant suggestion from one of our most favorite websites Parent Hacks to use something to quiet the toys. The woman came up with, without a doubt, one of the best ideas ever. Merely fill up the slots where the speaker is with normal silicone caulk. The caulk (I use the clear kind) fills up the holes where the sound comes out and presto the sound is reduced significantly.

You can still here the sound so your child gets the pleasure of the sound toy, while the decibels are reduced well below the parent annoying level and thus you live your life without pulling out any more hair (or any more than normal).

P.S. Yes Uncle Jon we did this immediately with the Barney Trumpet you got Andrei.

They start so young

Boy, it seems like just about everyone is listening to an iPod.

Happy Birthday To My Little Man

Here's a picture from Andrei's party on Saturday. Like Steve mentioned this was a little get together for a few friends and family to celebrate his birthday and coming home. It's amazing how much he's changed since we first met him and then brought him home.

Setting up

We're having just a small B-Day party for Andrei tomorrow. His birthday was last week but of course we were at Disneyland that week, not to mention it was Mother's Day on Sunday, etc. etc. etc.

So tomorrow we'll have a little get together with some family and friends. Of course at 2, kids don't quite understand a real kids birthday party. At this age any party with people around and other kids and lots and lots of play satisfies. It's be unseasonably hot (like mid to high 90's) so the pool is probably where most of the kids will gather.

But mainly it will be adults some of whom have not yet seen Andrei. It's so strange to think that we've only been home 5 months. He's just grown so much in that time and it really feels like he's always been here.