The Sun is Setting Earlier....

Sunset at Northbay

As I watch the sun setting earlier each night, enjoying the "flash" of another day gone by, I can hardly believe summer is almost "over" --- what a summer... a wonderful, blurry, "where did it go?" quiet, lay low, yet incredibly full summer.... Our LM has just been amazing -- he has so risen to the occassion, shown us his incredible resiliency factor, and if you think about what we've asked him to do, it is stunning how smart and socially perceptive his little brain is.. I firmly believe he understand everything we say now.. Everything. Meaning: mama and papa need to watch what they say! LOL... He is able to follow 2 and 3 step directions, with minimal repetition... He insists on giving everyone in the house, including the dog, a kiss before napping and bedtime... seriously, if I forget Ashton on the way to a nap, LM will literally scream and wriggle in a "no way jose, not yet!" way until I take him over to Ashton, where he bends down, hold his nose, and kisses Ashton.. then content to go on into his room and take his nap...

While the sun sets on summer, and he is a sweet little boy we adore, it is not to say that we are not experiencing the joys of parenting... For those of you reading who are following from AO blog or perhaps you stumbled onto us, I remember all my blog surfing last summer... And, while it IS all so amazing, i don't want to mislead people that parenting is very real, and very real things that happen with ALL kids DO happen with kids we've adopted, as well... that meaning -- we get hit, we get screamed at, etc.. ie: we are the parents of a toddler... and a toddler who happens to have spent 17 months in an orphanage learning very different "how to get your point across" behaviors, but a "I want to do it myself" toddler none-the-less.... he has tested everything we know about kids already, and, like all parents, sometimes we wave the white flag and mark 1 point on his chalkboard... we are teaching him not to hit (how DO you do that?) and found that the way the books and internet advise say only make him laugh at you in your face, and then what? hit you hARDER and then he laughs... One day, at the peak of his "communication through physical force" life periods, after a particularly strong and unexpected slap, I pretended to cry (although inside i really WAS crying)... and you know what? He looked at me with a look of compassion and sorry that I had never seen before.. I said "you hurt mama... please be gentle with mama... she loves you, so please do not hurt her, be gentle"... and, then he pet my cheek like he pets Ashton... as soft and gentle like we've shown him to do... thankfully, the whacks have gotten MUCH less frequent.. and, i have to wonder: did we just learn another lesson in that parenting this little boy will require different strategies than Dr. Spock wrote about?
But, overall, again, the resilience factor.... he loves kids.. older kids at any rate... he follows them around and pretty much sucks up to them showing off behaviors that will get a smile... We had the luck of good friends coming over, and of meeting a new friend who is just a wee bit older and from Kaz at a local playground... Now, LM, He is a total doll and he is trying so hard to learn... while he follows older kids, it seems that with kids his own age/near it, he isn't sure -- "new rules or old rules".. perfectly understandable as the new rules are just that.... And so, we found ourselves referreeing a 20 month old and 22 month old on their "sparring" matches and I realized, this little boy remembers far much more than I could ever imagine.. and with little friend his own age, that memory comes out... As a new friend's fellow adoptive mom emailed, "there is so much more going on in their little brains and interactions than we probably will never fully understand"...but they sure are cute together!! I hope he learns social skills do not mean pushing and fighting over "what is mine" all the time!! But, he loves his playground and new adventures there...

Adventure Boy??Nah...
just a boring old day at the playground..

Oh Wait! NOW we are talking Adventure!!

I am lucky enough to have friends from way back in life... amazingly 17 years ago, I met Mel and Jeff in LA -- they now live right up in Atown, and we were so happy that they were in our neighborhood... Mel and I have shared some laughs and hard times -- Mel and Jeff and their kids are amazing, and I have to say, Mel ranks up there as one of the women who most inspires me -- she has made margaritas out of lemons, and her boys are incredibly well behave, b all you can b boys.... It was so great to see our boys hang out together...

The Boys Hang Out... Anyone know which way to the bar???

LM has such the personality but it's often hard to catch on film.... he is like lightening most times in playing, like a flash..... but, sometimes we get lucky and catch him with his true "yahoo" life attitude on "film"....

YAHOO! Ain't nothin better than a cool pool on a hot day!!

And where was that pool?? Why NORTHBAY.... Northbay is this super cool place where we got married... Their mission is to help inner city kids get nature/outdoor environment and science learning experiences... We celebrated our anniversary during this little period of time -- and it seemed completely fitting to go back to Northbay... I emailed them up and am forever grateful for their willingness to let us stay in the same guesthouse that we stayed the night we got married... And, AOK'd us bringing LM.... Yup, for those of you following along, LM had his first beach experience on the very same beach we got married... and, for those of you not along for the ride 2 years ago, we got married b/c of our adoption journey after 10 years of being together... we joke it was the best and only good advice we received from agency #1.... how did it go? we were a bit worried since it took him a full month to put his feet down (shoes on) in grass and a couple more weeks for shoes off... but...

No problems man (read in reggae tone)! he was exploring ALL OVER the place in his little surfer swim suit!

My Cute Boys!

jeff IS thrilled to be there with us... really, he is... poor guy -- his great personality i am also not very good at catching on "film"... of course, note how many photos you see of me and my charm on this blog.. LOL..

We figured out how to do a "series" with our timer and had fun with it to try to get a family photo... I loved the way it turned out except, who in the world used to take photos for cash at college parties and weddings until just a few years ago? Holy cow. Nothing like sun flash behind.. but, I just LOVE what Little Man did.. I mean seriously, you can't plan this stuff... First it's us, then Jeff and I go in for a kiss to each other, and then we go to kiss each other and kiss LM and he leaned into us to give us kisses...

OMG -- Talk about melt

Given the stellar set up the night before, we decided to get some that we might actually be able to see us better... Here was our morning photo shoot!!

"Hello World, Here I come..."

With each sunset, I try to take a deep breath and give thanks for the day... they are racing by and as they our, it seems our little man is learning how to move quickly to keep up with it all!! LOL...

Yes, we were joking that this was an emergency room visit waiting to happen, but he literally did this run over and over and over again that particular day.... so I felt relatively confident I wouldn't catch the first major injury on "film"...
So, all in all -- it's all good... And, as I watched another sunset tonight, I shook my head in wonder... I have absolutely no doubt that soon enough it will be 1 year we'll be celebrating with our little goofball kid... Meanwhile, we celebrate everyday having him... And enjoying the passing of another fun week...

"It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" Home 14 weeks....