the boys first Santa picture

they may not be smiling, but they aren't crying! and they sat on his lap right away! We actually had an informal visit w/ him the week before....he talked to us over the fence as there was no line and he asked the boys if they were going to come back and visit w/ him. We talked it up so by the time we went to see him they were ready to go for it.

Our First Visit with Santa!!!

first day of school

A major milestone.... our little guys first day of school. Pre-pre-K as they call it around here.

Also known as mothers morning out (Yeah!!!!!!)

We knew this was going to be huge for them, being away from mom (those who know us know we have some anxious attachment going on....w/ sleep issues still going pretty strong. For those going WHAT???? Anxious attachment short version is they are attaching to us pretty strongly but are anxious that it could change, that they could lose us ). But we practiced, prepped, and did just about everything we could think of to get the boys on board.

We read books, we visited the classroom and played (many weekends...advantage of having the school at your church!) to get the boys more comfortable, we talked about the routine, we had the boys pick out special backpacks and lunchboxes, we let them pick out a new shirts at the store for their first day of school., had special lunches (out to eat for pizza) to celebrate their first week, gave them special prizes for staying the whole day (by whole I mean the 9:30 to 12 that was the day when they started)...etc

and it was still pretty rough. the school which originally said they didn't want parents to come in to the class w/ the boys gave up on that real fast and let me join the class for several classes w/ me leaving partway through (the same way I got the boys to work w/ their speech therapist w/ out me in the room) and FINALLY.... they transisitioned.

I am pleased to say they are doing AWESOME!!!!!! They love school. Zachary even went to school w/out Hunter one day because H was sick. I was shocked!!! But it went great. I think the big thing for them, like many children, is knowing the routine. Once they were sure I was coming back to get them and they realized how fun school is they were hooked. They still like to pick their clothes out for school, and like to see what snacks or lunches first thing in the morning on school day mornings.... did I mention we even moved to LunchBunch! they stay one extra hour now. till 1...I asked the boys if they wanted to have lunch at school w/ the other kids and they absolutely were in!!!!

These photos were of the very first day, unfortunately before I could capture a good one someone needed a diaper change and then it was time to go!

I have to say it is amazing now to drop them off....they give me a kiss or hug....IF THEY REMEMBER!!! some days they are too busy running to see the teachers and the other kids. Just makes me smile.

fun day out

It was a hot one in the ATL (as they say around here), so we had a fun day and got cooled off in the Centennial Olympic Park's Fountain of Rings. We also visited the aquarium and the children's museum since they are all within walking distance of one another. All in all a super fun way to spend our day and a great way to wear the kids out (ha ha!).

and still more fun at the olympic rings fountain

our kids have no limits....

Check out the fabulous NOAH video that was shown at the conference in DC this year. It was great to see and be able to post here. There are so many families waiting for children, and so many children w/ albinism waiting for families. Many of the families have fear of what the children's lives will be like....maybe seeing this video will help open some eyes and hearts.

our words

From time to time I need to stop and think about what the boys actually can say. I mentioned in a MUCH EARLIER post where they were in terms of learning to speak so its time for me to evaluate again. If you didn't read the previous post, or you are not familiar w/ international adoption you may not realize that having heard one language for more than a year and then having it totally disappear to be replaced w/ another language you have never heard before causes some challenges in learning to speak. Our boys who will be 2 1/2 at the end of this month are definitely not speaking as well as their home grown peers. Nor would we expect them to be.

We have them in speech therapy and we feel they are coming along great. Their receptive language is amazing. We don't think there is anything that they don't understand. It's their expressive language that is just starting to come along.

We also have to be aware that boys typically lag behind girls, twins lag behind singulars. I actually am seeing a lot of changes in them, especially in the last month. We are starting to hear some two word combos popping up. And they are really trying out new sounds and attempting to say words when we ask them to try to say_____.

So this list is really for me to remember where they were at being home just a little over a year speech wise. I am trying to make this list of just words that they say on their own. Not for example like door which if I ask them to say it they will say duh. I want to count words we know they truly "get."

mama

dadda

doh (dog)

muh (more)

ma (milk...Hunter has progressed to mih)

cah (car...I give them full credit on that one...they say it just like me w/ my NE accent!)

ehh (egg)

puh (please)

buh (bus)

noh noh (knock knock)

ni ni (night night)

buh by (bye bye)

mehmeh (melon)

wawa (water)

na na (bananna)

shhh ( as in finger to your lips quiet noise)

beah (bear)

muhmuh (muffin)

pop (the sound- as in the toaster goes pop)

bap (the beep sound)

bop (stop)

gouh (go but not a super strong o yet)

ba / ahba (apple they are working on adding that first ah to it but its not consistent yet)

bah (potty...they do the sign for potty at the same time, good thing or I'd be giving them an apple every time they wanted to use the potty!)

ba (up, this time w/ arms raised- those darn p's they'll get them eventually!)

muhn (moon)

bue (blue)

yeyeh (yellow)

I (well...its close to an I sound don't know how to write it)

my

tuh (turn....as in my turn!)

hep (help....if prompted Hunter will do a longer hehhhllll.....puh)

booh (book just missing that last sound!)

mop (straight out of 10 apples up on top....lookout the mop they chime in "mop")

jui (juice)

new (noodles)

ceh (can )

zip (not quite that crisp, but definitely still zip)

bohw (bowl)

bahl (ball)

dep (step...which they like to say as they are going down each step on their way down the stairs...too cute!)

dip dip (literally what it sounds like as in dip, dip, dip you are dipping your food....usually this involves ketchup....hmmmm wonder where they got that???? this is usually Zachary btw. He LOVES HIS KETCHUP)

moohe (move....usually said when one of the brothers is too close while other brother is trying to do his business on the potty ....they don't want the other to flush for them!)

roh (roll)

la (light)

uh eh (uh oh)

nuh (no)

yea (yes....ok give them full credit on this one too....VERY MUCH MY NE ACCENT AGAIN)

beh beh (baby)

une ( one)

deaux (two....do you see a trend here w/ these last couple of words??? They are cracking me up my little french guys!)

wah (wall)

dehr (door. I know I said they don't say this w/out prompting, but I just tested them by saying what is this? Is it a car? Is it a bus? and they shook their heads and told me "dehr")

moo - or meeehw, cow noise mom is too realistic for them to possibly say it right (that's what you get from growing up in a cow town)

arf arf (dog noise)

rubrub (supposed to be ribbit- f0r frog)

naaah ( what a goat says)

baah ( what a sheep says)

ahhgaya (alligator...Hunter just started saying this one day this week. Mr Z has not joined in yet)

di di (diaper)

shih (shirt. again this is a Hunter thing- lets just hope he master this before too long. I can just see him saying to mr. Z.....I don't want your shih!)

na (napkin)

na ( for knee- they say this as I sometimes diaper them on my knee and they get a choice: knee or floor. they tap my knee and say, na!)

teh (for teeth)

ahl (all....mainly Hunter on this one too, as in all done)

that's all I can think of at this moment. I'll ask Scott and I'm sure he'll come up w/ a ton I'm forgetting.

Oh, they also have some great sound effects too that they truly are doing as sounds not as words...like roar -complete w/ hand gestures...thanks Maggie :) and choo choo, and lots of siren noises!

and we do have some words that have come and gone. they've been lost w/ for now no reappearance in sight. our ST said that can be common as they have so much going on right now that they may still know the word, but just can't be bothered to access it right now.

some of those lost words: krkr (cracker) trsh (trash)

and they don't use all these words all the time. When I put it down in a list it feels like they are talking way more than they really are. But they are improving and becoming WAY more verbal than they have been. I remember when they were playing and they were pretty much quite except a few grunts to their brother. Now playtime is filled w/ noises and lots of babbling of syllables. Yeah!! And we love hearing those two word combos pop up unexpectedly. Like when Hunter said "Hi Dadda" on the phone .....you just have to love that!

The joy of being Daddy

Random cuteness!

egg painting

Over the weekend we decide to let the boys try their hand at egg painting.

H is wearing brown pants, Z the blue.

for a little while they were concerned about the paint they were getting on them, until we convinced them it was ok. Then they decided painting themselves looked like fun too. And they had a blast ....right up until that last pic.....that's Z btw....waterworks time.

when life hands you lemons....make a mohawk!

Say what????
Ok, I'll apologize for the mixed metaphor. I just felt it was too long to write:

When life hands you (a wet mommy getting out of the shower) two 2yr olds who figured out while you were showering how to get the dog dish out of the sink and stand on it to then be able to reach the brand new bottle of baby lotion, and then figure out how to get that working (you know how hard sometimes the new bottles are to get started), and then managed to cover themselves from head to toe in said lotion, as well as have poopies in their diapers all while you are expecting 2 visitors in less than one half an hour.

Actually H mainly concentrated putting the lotion on his legs and body- on top of his clothes and Z decided his hair was the best place for it. And then I got a phone call asking if they could come earlier. Ummmm I am in the middle of a major mess and I'm still only half dressed, sorry but I need at least a half an hour (sometimes just the 2 diaper changes can take that long if the guys decide to not cooperate!)

So, since we didn't have time for another bath......and yes they did do this on a day when we did a bath first thing in the morning..... I got them changed and did the only thing possible w/ Z's hair. Well there were 2 options, either the slicked back look of a greaser or a mohawk. We opted for the faux mohawk.

He really works it doesn't he?

What's new....

The boys are napping and I am just finishing my lunch. So I thought I'd jot down a few things.



The boys potty training continues. They are just so cute about it. Funniest images that I don't have pictures of (so you have to use your imaginations here) :

• the boys sitting toboggan style on the big toilet (hey they are learning to share- ha ha!!!)


• the shuffle walk w/ pants around their ankles - this is new. last Friday was the first day we didn't take off their pants when using a potty. we were at the mall and using one of the "family bathrooms" that have those great mini toilets and they were all for it!

Other new things.... hmm..... the boys can jump now. It started last month and it is hysterical.

Zachary slept through the night last night! I normally would say ....wooooohoooooo, but I know better. We actually in the 10 months that we have been home have had one, yes that is right, one night where both boys slept through the night. That was followed by Scott saying, "I think we are turning the corner" unfortunately it was a U-turn and instead of better we got way worse. I am crossing my fingers that once there 2 yr molars are all the way in that we'll get better in the sleep area . (Please, please, please....w/ sugar on top!) Hunter had a pretty normal (for him) rough night of sleep, waking at 11:20, 12:30, 1:30 3:30, 5:30.....and then I brought him into our bed so I could get a tiny bit of sleep

- sorry boys waking up, this is all there is time for!

Z has joined the party!

The potty party that is.

It has been over a month that H has been using the potty. And poor Z was getting rather frustrated. You could tell as he looked down in the potty and nothing was there that he was trying to figure out just how to make it all work. So I tried to limit his exposure to H using the potty. For a little while Z even stopped asking to take his pants off.

But then a few days ago he decided he wanted to give it another go. It was pretty funny. It was one of those mornings that he was awake before H and we left the room and ventured to the bathroom (for mommy). Then daddy came and knocked on the door and we knew that he was out there w/ H. immediately Z started tugging on his pants. It was like he wanted to beat H to pick out one of the potties. (they sometimes battle over using a certain one even though they are identical). So he was stripped down and H was still sleepy and not even thinking about potty use yet, when Z stood up and looked down and got the BIGGEST GRIN EVER! He did it! One month and 2 days after H started using it. But he made up for lost time. He decided to use it 3 more times that day. And since then he has been using it a few times a day since....including amazing both daddy and I by on his 3rd day of using it managing to do a poopee as well! (I know TMI but we are just so proud!!!!!) H has only done one of those so far and it was many days (15?, 20?) after his first potty attempt.


So now we have both boys attempting to potty train themselves. I am still not the initiator. I let them tell me when they want to use it. And so far this no pressure concept is working well. They also now have 2 potty books, which they like to have read to them over and over and over.

Oh and as far as the whole rewards bit....well we discovered that washing their hands is reward enough. Sometimes after we have finished and have done the handwashing, one of them will indicate that he wants to wash his hands again. And I say, well ...when you go potty again you will get to wash your hands then. To which whichever boy it was will sit down and promptly force out a tiny bit more just for the joy of another hand wash. Too funny! And they both do it!

And I have begun buying (to Scott's amusement) some very tiny undies for them for when they are really ready. I had heard how hard it is to find them small enough for tiny bums....and its true. I found a couple different brands and even after washing them they are still pretty lg in the smallest size we could find (2). Maybe a few more washings w/ some very high heat on the dryer will help out. And of course there is the possibility that we won't need them for another year and their bums will be slightly larger by then.

I do have to say the tiny bums has to be one of the funniest parts of having become a parent through adoption. One thing Scott and I were sure of, was that our kids would both have bubble butts. We both were called names something like that when we were younger, and we were sure no matter what else our kids would look like...they would take after us in that department. We were wrong!! And I do have to say, these tiny little bums just have to be about the cutest little things I have ever seen!

Of course they do present some challenges clothing wise.

I have been asked what size the boys are wearing ...and it is an interesting answer:


pants...18mnths

shirts 18mnths (or larger w/ sleeves rolled up)

overalls or anything that is one piece from neck to the crotch - either 24mnths or 2t w/ the legs rolled up and the sleeves rolled up. These guys are long bodied so they outgrow the body way quicker than the leg length.

I have to say the best invention is the adjustable tabs on the inside of the waists. Without those even their 18mnth pants would be too big and fall down.

I have also heard of a product called dapper snappers that we'll probably be investing in our future quest to keep their pants up. http://www.dappersnappers.com/main.html

Well anyway... oh and we are all feeling MUCH BETTER! Yeah!

Christmas morning (better late than never!)

Here are a bunch of pic's from Christmas. I posted a lot since we had a lot of family members who wished they could have been here .