OK. No more apologies or excuses. It's time to catch up. And since I'm not sure where to begin, I'm just gonna jump right in.
When we first started this blog, we were mostly interested in two things: (i) connecting with other adoptive families, and (ii) finding a way to keep friends and family informed about our adoption process without having to retell the same story 100 times - especially during those tougher times, when we didn't really even want to tell it once.
We achieved both of those things and then some. I really never imagined how much a blog could give to us - it enabled us to meet so many amazing families, learn so much from others about how the adoption process works and what to expect, and it gave us an outlet for sharing our frustrations, joys, questions and experiences.
So now that we have been home with Simon for more than a year, have fewer milestones to document, a growing desire to keep certain aspects of our lives private, and frankly a lot less time for blogging... well, I sometimes wonder whether or not to keep this blog going.
Then I reflect on the fact that
guzo is the best record I have of our journey to Simon and his first year with us. It's our version of a "baby book" in many ways - a story that we will be able to share with Simon as he gets older. And it is still enabling us to meet and connect with other adoptive families. Not to mention that I expect that some day
guzo will follow us on another adoption journey (DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT. We know we will adopt again, but we have no specific plans to do so at this point - but promise, you will be among the first to know when we do!).
So our
guzo continues.
And where are we now?
We are about 20.5 months old, also known as the (almost, practically, mommy is not sure she will survive them) terrible twos. Don't get me wrong - Simon is still an absolute joy 90-something percent of the time. It's just that when he's not... well, he's really, really not. Those tears can come on demand and WOW can he let out a good scream!! The Rolling Stones'
You Can't Always Get What You Want is our new theme song.
Cooking is still our number one favorite pastime (and by we, I mean Simon, who takes after his father - and definitely not me, as I am generally lost in the kitchen) - i.e. the chef was not so much a Halloween costume as a glimpse into the future. We have graduated from our "play" foods to only wanting to cook with real food. Meal time is a project now - we must have several cups or bowls and spoons and forks at the table so that we can move our food back and forth from cup to cup and mix it and stir it before eating. Oh what fun (and oh what a mess)!
Simon has also discovered our wedding video and is FASCINATED (obsessed??) by it. He is constantly taking the video out of the drawer and trying to put it in the DVD player... and if you even dare to try to show him Thomas or Elmo instead, he cries and yells (see above). I've come home more than once to see him sitting with his nanny watching mommy and daddy on the TV. Oh, and for the record, we're not really big on letting Simon watch very much TV in the first place, but hey, everyone needs a little bit of time to be a couch potato.
The Black Eyed Peas is (are?) Simon's favorite band.
I Gotta Feeling and
Boom Boom Pow are especially cool.
There is also a lot of spinning. Yes, Simon has discovered that it is fun(?) to spin around and around and around until you can barely stand up anymore. It should be noted that this ritual is enhanced by singing.
So yeah... we've got a true toddler/little boy on our hands, who is changing and growing and developing by the second and always keeping us on our toes.
Life with Simon continues to be tons of fun, challenging, silly, hectic, draining, amusing, full of laughter, full of love, and basically just the best experience we've ever had.
