Erm, so... it's been a while...

Yep, it's been a while!  Poor, poor Lia.  Micah's life was documented at every turn, but Lia gets the raw end of the deal as far as looking back on this blog someday.  Sorry baby girl!  (Actually, maybe she's the lucky one! Hah.)

We've had a few things going on around here and it seems that we are in the throes of Toddlerhood (thus the lame blogging - NO TIME!).  Lia is a busy, bright little girl and she has been amazing us with her smarts.  She can sing the ABCs (punk-rock style, thanks to her dad), count to 11 (awesome) and is really really trying to spell her name, but it usually comes out as Geeoooeeeeaaaa.  (G is her favorite letter, so I guess they all are "G" for now.)  She is definitely a Lefty and loves to "coloooor."  Now, I'm not one to push little ones to read or count, but this girl WANTS to learn.  She's a sponge.

Halloween - L loves herself some "kins"

 Lia is also one serious dancer and singer.  She can sing lyrics to almost all of the "kid" songs we listen to, and she's also a huge Adele fan.  (I never thought I'd listen to kid music, but she makes hours of Lori Berkner (sp?) worth it.)  She and Micah dance in the kitchen to the Fresh Beat Band, complete with hand-microphones and air-guitars.  Yes, my baby can air-guitar along with the best of them.  I'm fully planning on them starting a band together someday.  Okay, probably not, but it's fun right now.

We have decided to change one MAJOR thing about little miss - her birthday.  Originally, we planned on changing it to a January birthday, which was suggested by our pediatrician.  We know in our hearts that the birthdate listed on her paperwork is wrong, and I'm glad we went with a January birthday in our minds for the first year-and-a-half home.  She needed that time of us treating her like an infant, instead of a one-year-old.  (Especially as she most likely was an infant.)  But, we've recently learned that trying to change her birthdate with the government can be tricky, and rather than have her face problems down the road, we're going back to the birthday listed on her paperwork - in August!  So, next month she'll turn 2 (in January) and then in August she will turn 3!  You've got to roll with it, you know?  I hope she understands all of our crazy logic someday.

This girl has personality to spare.  She is hilarious.

And, that brings me to Micah!  He is going to turn 5 in two months?  Crazy.  He's definitely moving right along into the big-boy role and we're loving it.  Today I took him to the movie theater and he actually sat through an entire movie!  This is the first time we've tried since he was (too) little, and it was a lot of fun.  We have such great conversations and this child is starting to really show us just how big his heart is.  He is a charmer, when he wants to be, and a stinker when he wants to be, but always fun.  He keeps me laughing, that is for sure.  For example, he recently started gymnastics, and he loves it, but he insisted on wearing his Santa jammies to class two weeks in a row.  He cracks me up.

Yep, those Santa jammies. He has barely taken them off since he got them.  

And there would be more rambling to this, but the biggest little has just woken up (at 10:41 pm) so I'm off to put him BACK to bed.  See you all in another 6 months!  (Hopefully sooner, but...)

Bye-Bye Binky, Bye-Bye...

Micah's first night with us.  And with his binky.

My baby boy was a binky lover.  The minute I plopped that bink in his mouth, he was hooked.  He's 4 years old now and we've been discussing the End of Binky for over a year now.  We didn't want to push it.  Our pediatrician said not to push it.  Much to Kevin's chagrin, our pediatrician was all for keeping binky around as long as Micah wanted it.  I agreed and my husband let me have my way on this one (thanks, babe). 

But, I'm so very happy to report that Micah has been binky-free for three days now!  Three nights without the binky!  Two of those nights the binky was in his room with him, but he chose not to use it. (I should add that the binky was broken, and he knew I wouldn't buy another.)  This morning he handed it over to his dad and asked him to hide it because he was done with it, and didn't want to see it anymore.  Kevin brought it down to me and told me what had transpired.  I bawled.  Ugly-cried for a minute.  Mourning the binky-baby, but also so, so proud of my big boy. 

So, feel free to judge all you want about the fact that we let our babe have his bink until after he was 4 years old.  It won't bother me because I think we did the right thing.  And now I have to go order a Darth Vader mask, as promised, for a certain binky-free boy. 

Thoughts and Such

Being a mom the second time around is definitely different.  I'm way more relaxed with Lia than I was with Micah.  Ah, but I do still have those moments of utter confusion, stress, and basket-dropping, so don't think it's magical or anything.  One thing that does strike me is how much I've forgotten already.  I was watching you tube videos with the kids recently (thank you apple tv) and I couldn't believe how little Micah was.  How his tiny feet fit into his little sandals.  How he waddled when he walked. 

This knowledge makes me desperate to notice and remember each little moment of Lia's babyhood.  I know I'll forget again, but this time I'm oh-so aware of how fleeting these moments are.  How it's my last time (99.9% sure of this) with a baby to care for.  To carry on my hip.  To snuggle with in the wee early morning hours.  To rock to sleep. To hear first words like cheese, cookie, and yummy.  To teach.  To learn from. 

It also makes me take notice of my Big Boy even more. Soon he'll be off to kindergarten (okay, I still have 1.5 years), and then he'll be a surly boy, and then in college.  I know it.  So, I remember to take the time to have a light saber duel.  To scoop him up as he runs towards me after school.  To grab his hand and tell him how proud I am of him.  To watch him try new things, and try again.  To encourage.  To teach.  To learn from. 

Some days, being a mom is exhausting and I'm quite sure that I suck at it.  Other days, I feel like I'm doing okay and remember how truly lucky I am to have two wonderful children to fill my life with amazement. 

Playing at the zoo.

"Working" at the zoo. 

 

They should really hire this kid.

And, I have no idea...

We Have a Four Year Old!

Wait, what?!  We have a four year old?  How and when did this little bean-ball turn into a big boy?

Yes, it's true.  Our little pumpkin-bum is a Big Boy.  He no longer wants to be called, "baby," for any reason, at any time.  He can spell and write his own name.  He can ride a BIG boy bike.  He is completely over the booster seat.  He fights with me about wearing a pull-up at night because, "Spiderman does not wear pull-ups."  (Of course Spiderman wears pull-ups to bed!  Duh.)  But, he can still crawl up into our arms and cuddlebug.  He is still only 30 lbs (yay! - we finally hit 30!), and is still small enough to curl up on my lap.  And... I love that.

Last weekend we celebrated with a party at a bouncy sportsy place.  The kids got to play soccer and then go bounce - they loved it.

Going down the big slide.  I'm still mad that I didn't make it down this slide!

The Birthday Boy in all of his glory.

And the Birthday Boy's adorable little sister.

Mic and his best girlfriend.  He calls her Gaga.  At the beginning of the party (when Gaga was late), I found Mic sitting all alone and asked, "What's wrong."  He replied, "Mom, I NEED Gaga."  They are adorable.

 

The Happy Birthday song!  We started the song before the cake was placed in front of him and he freaked out and made us all start over.  Apparently, we weren't doing it right.  And, he wanted to fully enjoy the moment. 

Opening presents with dad.  This was a Storm Trooper costume from Mimi - a big hit!

After opening his gifts, everyone clapped for Micah.  Kevin lifted him up and he appropriately raised his arm in the air.  He is clearly ready for his rock-star days.

On his actual birthday, we had a dinner at Momo & Papa's house.  This was where his BIG boy bike was waiting for him.

He loves his new bike.  After riding it around he said, "I don't even know where this came from!"   I told him it was from Mom, Dad, and Lia.  He immediately jumped off the bike, ran over to Lia and gave her a big hug.  Hugs for Kevin and I followed.  He's a sweet boy.

Mic's Aunt & Uncle gave him a doctor costume for his birthday.  He put it on and insisted everyone call him "Dr. Bacon."  One of his nicknames is Bacon Mouse due to his serious love of bacon, so I suppose it's only natural that he would be Dr. Bacon.  (Have I ever mentioned how hilarious Micah is?)

Our Big Boy Four Year Old.  Love this kid.

So, there you have it.  Micah's 4th birthday was a wild success and we are so excited to see what the next year brings us!

PS - I had to add this picture... because it is made of win...

Famiversary

Three years ago today, we landed in Ethiopia and were lucky enough to meet our son just two hours later.  We were allowed to walk right into the baby room at 9:30 pm and meet Yabi.  Our son.  With the biggest brown eyes you ever did see.  It was such a blur - they handed Yabi to us, we ooohed and ahhhed, he smiled, we smiled, he ate, we smiled, he fell asleep, we... stared.

My sweet son sleeps with his eyes open and the first time we saw this, well, we were totally freaked out.  We waved our arms in front of him.  We giggled.  We marveled.  We wheeled his crib right up next to our bed and I fell asleep holding his baby hand.

This year, Yabi is beginning to understand what his special day is all about.  Every year we have celebrated that first moment of meeting, of becoming Family.  This year, after seeing us off to Ethiopia and welcoming home his baby sister, he is starting to "get it."  He was also pretty excited about having a Day that was all his own.  He woke up early this morning and said, "Mom?  My day!"  Maybe it was the Spiderman Web Slinger he was anticipating, but I'm going to pretend he was just excited to celebrate the day we met.  (Yes, I know I'm delusional.)

  Trying to figure out the Web-Slinger

And that, my friends, is what Spiderman's web looks like.  I am stuck wondering who cleans up after Spiderman.

After a fun morning of web-slinging, we were off to Monkey Joe's - which is one of those giant bouncy house places.  It's 800 degrees here with 1000% humidity, so an indoor activity was definitely the way to go.  Yabi's friends came too and it was good times all around. 

Yabi is a big fan of the giant slide. 

Mae hung out.

After that, it was home for some Monkey-Joe-induced naps and a bit of clean-up (Spiderman's webs were still covering every available inch of our family room).  We had asked Yabi what he wanted to do for dinner on his Day and he chose tacos and ice cream.  I'd love to say he chose Ethiopian food, but he's 3.  I'm just happy we didn't end up at McDonald's.

Tacos

Ice Cream

We ended the night playing with his new Spiderman (a second surprise), dressed as Spiderman (Yabi only, we didn't put on our costumes), and watching Spiderman.  You could say Yabi is a bit obsessed with Spiderman.

At bedtime, we did our nightly ritual of My Favorite Part of the Day was....  Yabi's favorite parts (he usually has two or three) were meeting Monkey Joe and ice cream.  Sounds like a good day to me.  

How Old is She? And Other (Somewhat) Solved Mysteries

I have been having a hard time with the "How old is she?" question that strangers invariably ask us. I would generally give them a blank stare and then stammer, "Um... 6 months? 7?" I often received strange looks after that very confident *snort* answer.

Sweet Lia Makbe. Her referral papers said her birthday is 8.07, which would make her almost a year old. Uh, non. We had to work with the doctor to pick a new birth-date, and friends, that is not easy. I had (still have) anxiety about it - what if we pick wrong? Will she hate her birthday and blame us? Is it too close to Christmas? Ack!

In the end, we went with the doctor's advice and have chosen January 7th, 2010 for Lia's birthday. (It is also Ethiopian Christmas, so that's fun.) That makes her about 6.5 months old. She may be older, but maybe not. I mean, this was one of her referral pictures, taken in February 2010 after being in care for about a month -

Lia's Mini-Me picture. "You complete me."

She looks pretty tiny to me - and I know Ethiopian babies are tiny, but even her features look pretty new - she has changed so much! Let's do an After shot, shall we?


The only way I know it's the same baby is her cute little nose. And please, note the rolls. OH I LOVE HER ROLLS!!

So, that mystery is solved. Mystery #2 - Naps. How to get my sweet baby girl to nap? I think I've figured a bit of that out - I have to hold off the morning catnaps. This means actually leaving the house. She is so alert while we are out that she will only fall asleep if truly exhausted. So, we've been on a few field trips this week to try and change her schedule around.

Naps were not a problem in Ethiopia

Formula. Dear Lawsie. This is a tough one. We've finally ended up at soy, but I'm still not convinced she needs to be on soy formula. And, apparently there is an issue with the safety of soy products now (according to my very smart sister :).... So, yeah. It's still mostly an unsolved mystery. I'm thinking of trying one more thing, but we'll see.

In other news, Micah is just in love with Lia. He is settling in (FINALLY) and I am settling in to being a mom of two. Oh, but that's a whole other post! In the meantime, here's a cute shot from the airport. Lia is sporting a welcome-home gift from her Momo (her cutie, but non-matching headband) and I am sporting the "I just flew on a plane FOREVAH" look along with my ergo apron. Fancy, yes?

P.S. Micah wore that same outfit when he got off the plane in the same airport. Cute.

Li-Li

I have a lot to share. It's been a busy couple of weeks. There are so many things I don't want to forget about these first weeks home with Baby Lia.

First, I have to share that Micah is doing SO MUCH BETTER with the adjustment. I honestly think a lot of it was because we were gone for so long. He is just in love with his sister. If she's sleeping, he wants to know, "Why Mom? Why baby sleep ALL DAY?" If she's awake, he wants to kiss and hug her. It's very sweet. He has hit her on the head with a foam sword, but she didn't seem to mind. (And of course we quickly explained that you can't hit babies on the head. Nope.) So, it's good. Getting better.

Micah likes to get in Lia's crib with her and sing. Cute stuff.

Lia. Oh, sweet, sweet Lia. I think I have too many things, so I'm going to revert to The List. The List of Things I Don't Want to Forget. Here goes...

*Lia LOVES when we sing to her. My song for her is the Makbe Song. She giggles and smiles every time. Kevin's song is called, "Super Baby," and she loves this even more. Probably because she usually gets to fly during the performance. Also? There is an acoustic version that Kevin plays on his guitar. Lia loves the guitar.

*Smiles. This girl SMILES. She wakes up smiling at me from her crib - on her belly with her big eyes looking up. It's cute. Even at 5 am. (Yeah, that's her new wake-time. Lia likes to rise with the sun.)


*TEETH. Our girl is teething. Her first tooth started really coming through on the flight home (poor girl) and now she has two! Both are on the bottom. And both are driving her insane.

There they are!

*Baby-wearing. At first, I worried a lot about Lia's attachment. She was SO easy-going and I worried that she wasn't going to figure out that we were Mom & Dad. Then I put her in the ergo. And everything changed. My girl LOVES to be worn around the house. She falls asleep in the ergo (sometimes the only thing that works) and she can spend an entire day at the zoo in the ergo and barely fuss. I really think the ergo has helped our attachment..

*Naps. Oh, naps. Lia is not a napper. Yet. We're working on it. The thing is, I can see she's exhausted, but she will only cat-nap. We're trying new formula and hanging dark curtains (along with blinds) and so far, things are improving. She's happier when she naps. And of course, so am I.

*Rolls. Have I mentioned how much I love having a fat baby? I do. I love it.

*Dogs. Lia adores the dogs. She will scream at them when they walk in the room - she is hoping they will come over to see her. Sometimes they do. They're old - 8 and 9, so sometimes they can't be bothered with a baby. But sometimes....

And then this happened the other day while we were visiting our friends. Both Lia and Poppy are passed out, but they were still cuddling. I was in heaven with my babies. :)

Future member of Team Jacob?
(that was for Poppy's mom :)

Adjusting

There is a story that my parents used to tell me about how my sister wanted to take me out to the curb on trash day when I was a baby. I guess she figured the trash men would take me away and she wouldn't have to deal with a baby sister anymore. This story has been in the forefront of my mind this week. Micah is adjusting to life with a baby sister and it's not been easy for any of us.

I think if we had just gone to a hospital, or birthing center, or where-ever to have a baby, our adjustment would be different. Still difficult, I'm sure, but we wouldn't also be dealing with major, and I mean major, separation anxiety on top of the baby sister issue. I still stand behind our decision to leave Micah stateside while we traveled, but it was hard on all of us. I stand behind it because Lia Makbe needed that time with just us to bond. Micah is high-energy and most of our time in Ethiopia with Lia was spent staring dreamily into each other's eyes. Pretty low-key stuff. Not at all Micah's speed.

Each day is getting better, and I hold on to the truth that each day will continue to get better. It's only our first week, after all. But this week has included me getting socked in the face more than once, sharpie marker on the counter and my computer (it came off the counter - Thank You Magic Eraser), and more melt-downs than I can count. One of the biggest melt-downs came after I took Lia outside with me (in the Ergo) to clean up some stuff, leaving Micah inside with his dad. NOT a good idea. He freaked out. See - major separation anxiety.

But, we're working through it. Thankfully, Micah is learning to express himself more verbally, so he is able to talk through all of these confusing emotions. Last night he asked his dad, "Why mom and dad bring baby home?" and also told Kevin that he is worried about us not loving him as much as we love Lia. Ouch. Poor little bug.

During the same talk, he told Kevin that he loves his sister. And thankfully, his anger and sadness is being expressed only in acting out towards us, not Lia. He dotes on his sister. He gives her kisses, worries when she cries (which is rare), and wants to help with all things baby. He helps change diapers (God forbid I should grab a diaper from the diaper-box - that is HIS job), helps shake bottles, helps bring her toys. It makes me cry on a regular basis. These things are enough for me right now. I know the next few weeks will be hard, especially after my super-amazing-does-it-all-husband goes back to work, but the fact that Micah wants to love on his sister is about the best thing ever. We'll get there. I'll just hide the sharpies in the meantime.

Showers and School and Packing and....

It's whirlwind time around here! The countdown has begun and we leave in five days!!! <--HOLY CRAP!! I'll answer the usual questions: No, I have not packed yet. No, Lia's room is not completely ready. And, no, we're not ready. But we will be. I work best under pressure and I'm a procrastinator of the highest form. (As you can see, here I am blogging when I'm sure there are other things I could be doing.)

Anyway... last week my sweet friends had a little shower for Baby Lia!! And - they actually surprised me, which is not easy because, in our group, I'm the planner. I plan everything. They were smart and had the shower on our Book Sharing Club night. (We don't have rules about reading one book - we just bring books to share and talk about - it's fun and no commitments!) So while I was sending out emails to remind everyone that our BSC was coming up, they were planning on a surprise.

I wish I could say I had a ton of cute pictures from that night... but I don't. I did take a picture of the beautiful cake though - it says, "Welcome Baby" in Amharic.


Hmmm... that set up looks vaguely familiar...

Oh wait, wrong party. (But seriously - check out that cake that Kevin made for us. He is pretty amazing.)

I do have Lia's bed put together. We inherited a brand new bedding set a while back from my friend Christina. It's adorable.


We also inherited a car seat from my friend Dawn. (She's a very trusted source and it is nowhere near expiring, so it's safe.) The car seat had a blue cover so I searched for a cute cover to make it a bit more girly. I found this one and I love it. Even though it took me thirty minutes and a good sense of humor to put on...


And amidst all of this crazy, Micah had his last day of regular school. (He starts summer school while we're in Ethiopia - poor little guy.)

Micah with one of his teachers. Is that not adorable??

Okay, that's all I have time for this morning (behind schedule already). But, I have more so hopefully I'll have a chance to post this week before we LEAVE!!!