record keeping

As I've said before, one of the main reasons I've tried to keep this blog going is for the record it is creating of this time in our lives. I am up and down in keeping up with written journals, and while we have zillions of photos capturing every milestone and plenty of the mundane, they are mostly just stored in random files on the computer.... So guzo is, in some sense, the best and most organized keepsake of Simon's adoption and our first year++ as a family.

Which brings me to my next problem. Even guzo is suffering lately from lack of posts... gaps in time... my failure to note down all the little things that make me laugh and that I know I will want to reminisce about later, but fear I will not remember.

So this post is my attempt to close some of those gaps, to note down the moments in our daily lives that are special and joyful and amazing, but that do not tend to get celebrated in the same way as some of the bigger milestones (the birthdays, the "firsts" - steps, teeth..., the holidays, etc.). This is more for me than for anyone else, but for those of you who have followed our journey for all or part of the last 2.5 years now (yes, we've been blogging for about that long!), I hope these thoughts allow you to also share in some of the fun.

With that, I note - in no particular order - the following random Simon greatness:

Simon's favorites:
Music: Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow (aka "boompow, boompow"), I Gotta Feeling ("hooo hoo"); Muse's Uprising; Sesame Street's Sing What I Sing Sing After Me, Madagascar 2 - Will.I.Am's Move It
Food: anything... but especially pizza ("eeeza") and cookies ("koo-koos")
Activities: cooking (the real deal is preferred... but will settle for his play kitchen if he has to), cars, story time, coloring, chasing mommy and daddy and ej around the couch, watching videos of himself

Simon's least favorite:
- being told no

Mommy's least favorite:
- terrible two's temper tantrums

Mommy's comic relief from terrible two's temper tantrums:
- when Simon, in the middle of a screaming, raging tantrum, stops and looks up to make sure we are paying attention... and then as soon as eye contact is made, deciding the tantrum can resume

Simon's words (he's got lots, but these are some of his favorites and they make me laugh - even when they shouldn't):
- No!
- pee (which alternatively can mean: the Black Eyed Peas, play, and, well... pee)
- cook! cook!
- DJ (for EJ)
- mommy ;)

Simon-isms:
- "boogie-woogie" = shake your head left and right, like you are rocking out to a great song
- "tent" = put a blanket over your head... even better if you can get mommy or daddy under the blanket too... and the best if you can get mommy, daddy and EJ under the blanket!

Cute things that Simon does that I think are unique, but that probably every two year old does:
- pretends to read newspapers and books and pretty much anything that has letters - and, amazingly, they almost always say the same thing: A, E, A, I, O, E...
- will stay in his crib for up to an hour after he wakes, laughing and singing and babbling - I am dying to install a video-camera in there just to see what's going on!
- hides behind our curtains and shouts "Si... Si..." to let us know he is hiding and we should be calling "Si... Si..." as if we cannot find him
- announces that he is going to do something he knows we do not want him to do... waits for our response (i.e. don't do XXX)... then smiles, turns away and runs as fast as his little legs will carry him towards the forbidden!

Life is good.

a word of advice

Not long after we came home from Ethiopia, another adoptive parent told us a story about a trip she took to London with her Ethiopian daughter. She was given a bit of a hard time going through customs because she was not traveling with her husband and she did not have his written permission to travel alone with their daughter.

I didn't think much of it at the time. Chalked it up to what I guessed were mostly archaic laws... and not helped by the fact that her daughter didn't look like her or share her last name (as Simon does not look like me or share my name).... Kind of imagined it as one of those annoying things we sometimes face when traveling. Someone with a little bit of authority having a little "fun" with it. But it stuck with me and we did carry a copy of our adoption paperwork when we visited Ryan's family in Oregon last year.

I had mostly forgotten about that until this weekend when I read this article in the NY Times. Perhaps my friend's experience is not so unusual... nor, I suppose, should it be. Because of the many international child abductions that occur each year (often by one parent in a custody battle), travelers may be asked to prove that that they are the legal guardians of the children traveling with them and that they have their spouse's permission to travel (if he/she is not with them).

Anyhow, I don't really want to get into the politics of international child rights or abduction cases. But I do want to alert my fellow adoptive (and not) parents to these rules. While they apply in theory to anyone, I'm guessing you are more likely to encounter issues if your last name and your child's last name differ... or if you and your child are of obviously different ethnic backgrounds. So consider this a little guzo public service announcement; keep a copy of your adoption papers with your passports and bring a letter from your spouse if you'll be traveling without him/her.

And now I will step down from my soapbox. Regular programming to resume soon!

haiti

As I imagine is the case for many of you, the stories and images of the situation in Haiti continue to fill my mind. The devastation is heartbreaking, yet so hard to fathom. The unfairness and particular cruelty of a disaster striking, once again, people who are least equipped to handle it.

While a million thoughts race through my mind and story after story tugs at my heart, the stories about those families who are in the process of adopting children from Haiti (like this and this) strike a special chord. For all the ups and downs of international adoption and all the crazy scenarios we try to prepare for as adoptive parents, I don't think I could have ever imagined something like this... let alone know how to cope.

There are no shortage of great organizations providing help in Haiti now and I am so grateful to see so many of my friends and family and colleagues supporting these efforts. For those who wish to help orphans and other children in Haiti, here are a few organizations whose work focuses on children in need.

Center of Hope

Save the Children

Unicef

World Vision

wrapping up

As we get ready to start the new year, we can't help but think about all that we've experienced this year.

There were highs: buying an apartment and moving, a napa getaway... there were lows: a big, bad bump on Simon's head, loved ones lost.... There were many, many firsts: first steps, first birthday, first mother's and father's days as parents, first real injury (see lows above), first family trip.... So many memories in such a short time. It is really so hard to believe this year has come and gone. We have a lot to be thankful for, and we are.

We are also excited about what 2010 has to offer. Stay tuned - we anticipate lots more adventure ahead!!

To all our friends and family, we wish you a great night and very, very happy and healthy start to the new year!!
- M & R & S & EJ

hello

Is anybody still out there?

Anyone?

I don't blame you if you're not. I admit it might seem like we've abandoned the blog. We haven't. Or at least we didn't mean to. But I totally understand if you doubt us. It's been a looooooooong time since we've said hello.

In some ways, life is more uneventful than it has been for most of the last two+ years that we've been keeping this blog. We are well settled into life as a family of three humans, one dog, and a dozen or so fish. There is no more drama over birth certificates that arrive in the wrong form or bankers who claim it is simply not possible to type a letter. No more racing to the mailbox anxiously hoping to find various forms, letters, or the all-important CIS approval. No waiting and waiting and waiting for the phone to ring, wondering about a child we'd yet to meet in Ethiopia.

And yet in other ways, life is so much more crazy and chaotic than ever, that I can never quite keep up (with life, that is, let alone this blog)!

But anyway... here we are. Trying to keep up (literally and figuratively) with an almost two year old whose favorite game happens to be "chase me." Amazed each day as he discovers new words and concepts. Grateful that he continues to be happy and healthy. Overjoyed. Challenged. Often laughing. Sometimes sentimental. Always in love.

So for now, I will leave it at this. A (sort of) quick hello and a promise to write more soon (at least sooner than another month and a half). And our hopes and wishes that everyone is enjoying the holiday season!!



Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!!