Weekend Ups & Downs

This weekend had it's share of ups and downs. Saturday, Ian and I headed south to meet his grandma Trish and cousin Ashleigh to pick out Ian's birthday present, a table and chairs for his bedroom. So, I now know what the Swedish word for 'meltdown' is... IKEA.

We met the ladies at IKEA and things were fine for the first 15 minutes or so. Ian was comfy in his stroller, taking in the swarm of people in all directions. It was a typical Saturday at IKEA and most of Washington's population and part of Canada was in attendance for the weekly "hand-over-your-paycheck-for-a-truck-load-of-allen-wrench-assembly-cheap-furniture-that-you'll-be-giving-away-in-6-months -sale".

We took him out of his stroller to check out the kids furniture area and it wasn't long before it was all too much. It started out just a bit whiny, but escalated quickly into an full blown meltdown. We decided to get some lunch in the restaurant (a cafeteria, really) and see if we could get him to settle down. It got worse by the minute. Since coming home, we haven't seen a single meltdown more than just a few minutes of crying. He did have a couple of incidents in China, once during the Visa & Physical Examination process and again during the swearing in ceremony at the US Consulate, both in Guangzhou. We determined that the large, noisy crowds in strange environments was too much for him to take. After all, he takes in all that noise from all directions through one ear. Next time you're in a noise filled crowd, plug one ear and you'll quickly realize how overwhelming it is.

The incident was much like what we went through in Guangzhou. Poor little guy. He was beside himself and inconsolable. I tried what worked best in GZ, which was to let him lay on the floor for a minute, but it didn't help. We decided to pay for what we had and go, making our decision on his table and chairs another day.

I felt horrible for our afternoon being ruined, but these things happen. I'm just glad that Shawn or Grandpa Tom weren't there. It wasn't a situation for boys who can't handle unplanned chaos.

By the time we were out of the building and on our way back to the freeway, he was fine, sitting in his car seat drinking his juice and staring out the sun roof. By the time we arrived home, I had gotten a few smiles and giggles out of him and he was his old self again.

Once in the house, we laid out the new rug we bought for his room...a city scene with a road. We also unpacked the wooden train set we purchased, which was very similar to the Brio-style set at the Children's Museum a couple of weeks back. It was a purchase almost worth the incident...almost. He really loves it and doesn't even seem to care when the train track comes apart.

Sunday began with a late awakening, due to the time change, and soaked sheets and PJ's (that diaper must have weighed 5 pounds). Once we resolved that issue, we played for the first 30 minutes or so with the new train set. He was his normal cheerful self, seemingly forgetting the horrors of the day before.

He ate a big breakfast and was in motion and babbling like crazy for the next 2 hours...until we realized our clocks were off and it was already nap time. The day was going by way too fast and we were all still in our pajamas!

After nap, we went grocery shopping, where Ian tested out his newly acquired pitching arm by throwing a can of tomato sauce into a busy Trader Joe's crowd and hit a woman in the back. I almost felt like I should have exchanged insurance information with her, but she was nice about it and thankfully isn't pressing charges. This kid can throw hard and far. Our "good job Ian" praises when he throws a ball for Polli have no doubt led him to believe that it's OK to throw anything and anywhere...we'll have to figure out how to undo this!

Oddly, Trader Joe's can get extremely crowded, but not that loud... and Ian is always fine there. It has to be all the noise at IKEA that got to him. I'll have to make a note to mention this to his audiologist and ask her if aiding his little ear would resolve this or if it's just one of the things we'll have to learn to deal with until he goes through his surgeries.

In just the few days since his first Early Intervention appointment on Tuesday, we have noticed an advancement in amount of babbling he is doing and also a change in the complexity of what he is saying. We have also noticed that when we say words to him, he really concentrates on our face and it is really apparent that he is thinking really, really hard about what we are saying. A few times, I've even noticed his lips moving a little bit when I say and repeat words. He is thinking...eventually all of that thinking will change into verbalizing.

He has also shown a great deal of independence this week and loves to walk WITHOUT holding a hand, especially in places like parking lots. We're starting to see a defiant stage in him, which is perfectly normal for his age...I guess that means he's getting even more comfortable with his surroundings.

Believe it or not, we have NOTHING extra-curricular scheduled this week. I'm hoping the weather will be nice enough next weekend for us to all go to the dog park. Ian loves any dog now and I can't wait to see his eyes at the sight of hundreds of them.

The pictures below start with one that we took last week, but didn't post... Polli hates baths, but suddenly and without warning jumped in the tub with Ian on Wednesday. I accidentally deleted the cutest shots, but salvaged a few.

The rest chronicle our weekend. I didn't have my camera with me at IKEA and I'm glad. It wasn't the kind of experience I wanted pictures of.

I think Polli figured out the error of her ways as soon as she jumped in.

Only a couple of hours after the IKEA incident...and only a puffy eye to show for it.

He really liked the train... even though the cars don't stay together very well. He goes straight for this rug as soon as we enter his room now.

Helping Polli clean out the last of the morning's scrambled eggs.

Polli's modeling behaviour at it's finest. Now you all know why we had to get Ian around other kids, pronto!

I was putting away groceries today and Ian stepped into the fridge, pointed at the yogurt and said "guh".

Backyard Disneyland

Gone is the little boy afraid of the yard. Ian has long forgotten whatever it was that caused him anxiety about being outside without a tight grip on mom or dad's hand. I think we can partially thank daycare and their almost daily outings to the play area (despite last week's blacktop tragedy).

We had yet another nice day today and barely stopped inside after school/work to drop off the day's report card before heading to the backyard. Every outing brings new things to discover and some that he is learning to make peace with. Plants are becoming less of an enemy and rocks are his new best friends. He is still a bit apprehensive about the Buddha statue, but I'm sure the day will come that he figures out that he's Happy Buddha and nothing to fear.

Ian playing with rocks, etc. This video is mostly for the benefit of the grandparents. (click Play arrow twice to begin)

Ian giving Shawn a kiss.

Ready to touch the bamboo, but not completely trusting yet. See the skepticism in his eyes?

Fear of the groundcover is a thing of the past

Pointing at something


He used a bowling swing to throw this rock


It was really only a few days ago that he was petrified of the river rock area....Also Polli's "business district", meaning I have to stay on top of my "package pick ups".

Four months ago...

Click image to enlarge

Early Intervention

Today was Ian's first Early Intervention appointment...Finally! Well, it wasn't officially a one on one with Ian so much as an informational appointment for me. She's the coordinator who arranges those that will ultimately assess Ian and provide his therapies.

At this point, he automatically qualifies for speech related resources because of his unilateral hearing loss. We actually have our choice of programs and I was excited to hear that each has several play group opportunities, above and beyond home visits, where he can interact with other kids in the same boat...one is a meet where he engages in play with other kids while parents take a sign language class, which is a great idea.

When she arrived, Ian was his usual shy but charming self, and Polli was her usual inappropriate jumping, "smother the stranger" self. Her baby gate wouldn't latch, so I had to pray she would settle down and leave this poor lady alone (takes me back to our homestudy meeting that went horribly wrong).

Polli did settle down, but that's when Ian's odd behavior started. He rarely tantrums and never in front of guests. Anyone who meets Ian describes him as nothing short of an angel because he plays happily and independently, even at other people's homes. Well, today, he decided that he HAD to be held by me while she was describing the programs, and wanted nothing more than to grab and destroy her paperwork. I rooted through the recycle bin to find him something fun to play with... an empty box, Gatorade bottle, and empty egg carton. I'm sure they weren't the traditional therapy toys they recommend...but I was pretty desperate for something to distract him. It worked. He was thrilled with the empty Gatorade bottle and mimicked my yelling into it to make a funny voice. The egg carton had great mileage, too...and chaperoned him on several laps around the living room.

Once we got through the paperwork and general details of the program, she wanted to get on the floor and interact with Ian to do some basic evaluations. Polli decided this would be when she would try once again to get to know her..and jumped on her, knocking her glasses off and head butting her in the nose. I was so embarrassed. Polli went outside with the door closed. Yes, I know. Canine abuse. She was out there all alone for an hour. Quick...Call the SPCA! After this, there's no denying that Polli needs to go back to school.

Ian was great from then on out. He did things that she was visibly impressed with and as she asked questions about things he can/can't do, I started to realize that beyond speech, he isn't that far behind. As a reassurance, she told me that as a child with the language exposure of a 3 month old and a hearing deficit to boot, he is doing pretty well. She said she could hear some sound inflections that are definite precursors to language and was impressed with his ability to determine the direction of sounds. Polli was barking outside and he walked over to the laundry room doorway and pointed to the back door and said "Buh", which is his attempt at the "P" sound for Polli. Later, he brought me our little photo album of Polli pictures, pointed to it and said "Buh". I don't think he understood why she was outside barking without someone running to let her in.

She asked questions about how he responds to questions, which I never really thought about, so I asked him "Ian, where's the alligator?" and he walked over and got his alligator pull toy. Put a big smiley next to that one, lady! He also showed her how he knows how to "put away" his toys and demonstrated bye & hi waves several times.

Later in the evening, in the bathtub, I asked him "where's the ball?" and he picked up the purple ball (there are only 6 or 7 balls in the tub, so he had a pretty high probability of getting it right by accident). He pointed at it and said "Bob". That's clearly ball...after all this talk about how he has no vocabulary, he pulls out "Bob" only hours after meeting with the state lady. It's official, my son is a genius.

We worked on "where's the lion" and "get sippy" and he scored 100% on both...the lion toy and his sippy cup. Since EVERY bath toy was in the tub, he actually had to search for both. I think that was enough bath time homework for one day!

She didn't say anything about positive benefits of too many toys, but we decided to empty the Boon Frog and celebrate a great meeting the proper way. I even let him bring his milk in the tub. Livin on the edge!

Everyone, meet "Bob"

There's a New Master in Town!

Today, we went for 3 trips up and down the street. Ian couldn't get enough of just walking the sidewalk back and forth. We went all the way to the grocery store and back twice, which is a full block one way. Our third trip out was, with dad & Polli in tow, to the scrapbook store, two full blocks and into our neighborhood's retail plaza. Everything is so new and exciting to Ian and the boy who, less than two weeks ago, was scared to death of setting his feet down in the great outdoors, seems to be happiest taking it all in.

I'm so glad we live in a quiet neighborhood with so much to do and see within a short toddler walk. It was a big hit with our social worker during our homestudy and I can see why now. If we ever move from our neighborhood, it will be next to impossible to find these same benefits elsewhere.

As we got ready to go out as a family, Shawn gave Ian Polli's leash and it was the most exciting thing ever. He squealed and laughed...and then came the trouble: Taking the leash away from him when we got outside. He didn't completely understand that he wouldn't be able to handle her once in her domain. He wasn't happy at all, but once we got back, he walked her around the living room and she graciously complied. She is so patient with him, even letting him throw her toy for her and not making him wrestle to get it out of her mouth to throw it again.

She never walks submissively like this with me!

He was having a ball... Polli's not quite getting the point, but being a good sport none the less.

He really wanted to walk her outside, so Shawn helped him for a while... one day, he'll make a wonderful dog walker!

Two blocks into the walk and he still didn't want to hold my hand. He is really getting the hang of this outside thing!

Everything is new out here. Even this grate with it's cool hollow echo.

Polli has been doing a great job of letting Ian play with her. It's typically next to impossible to get her toys from her, but she seems to be more cooperative with Ian.

Ian's First Boo Boo

When I picked Ian up from school on Thursday, he was outside playing with his classmates. I went outside and caught his eye from about 10 yards away. Excited, he started toward me, with that adorable Jack Sparrow walk that has evolved from the mummy trance of last month. Unexpectedly, another little boy ran between us, throwing him off balance and he did a full face dive onto the concrete play surface. (Yeah, I thought the same thing... concrete for a toddler play surface? I thought they had done away with that in the 70's...I seem to remember the chewed up tire revolution starting when I was in grade school.).

Anyway, I ran for him at the same time as one of the teachers and he was already at a full scream, like I've never heard, before either of us made it to him. He had a nice cut in his lower lip, a skinned chin, and gravel/dirt covering most of his face. Big tears were already coming down and this "how did you let this happen to me?" look on his face. After all, it was my fault he fell, right?

We wiped down his face and got most of the blood off his lip and chin. He was still pretty hysterical, but settled down quickly and we left. I wanted to get him home to clean off his face more. It was clear that he didn't need medical attention, just some hugs and kisses...and maybe an extra cheese stick (Ian's favorite after school treat) when we arrived home.

His lip stopped bleeding and was a non issue pretty quickly, but his chin was pretty banged up. He was crabby for the next couple of hours and was pretty wiped out from the trauma of it all. His first boo-boo.

It was very hard to get good pictures of it. My camera has trouble with very close shots of moving objects. Below are a couple of pictures of his battle scar...and a few other pictures from the past couple of days.

Low key weekend on tap... and Ian has his first Early Intervention evaluation on Tuesday. They will assess if he has significant enough delays in different areas of development, to warrant free state assistance with therapy. Because of his unilateral hearing loss, he will qualify for speech therapy until at least 3, but I'm curious to see what they'll find with other areas: motor, social/emotional, etc. Finally, we're getting the chance to take advantage of something our tax dollars are already paying for! I've heard from several families about how Early Intervention was nothing short of life changing, and I'm hoping that, as a first time mom, they will be able to point out things I don't know to look for, or give reassurances on others that are not as panic worthy.

I know it doesn't look like much, but it was pretty traumatic (for both of us). He's a boy. I know this won't be his last boo boo.

Another view of the wound. Thank goodness it happened after school picture day!

I'm pretty sure it's letting him do things like this that cause boo boo's! Run to get him down? NO! Get the camera!

...And then have a good laugh about how dangerous that was.

Not boo boo related... Ian waiting at the back door for Polli to be done with her business. He can almost reach the door handle. That will be a fun stage.

I don't know if he is trying to make her sit or if he wants a ride. Either way, he thought he was doing something funny.

Another "just because it's cute" picture. He was starting to get tired/serious.

Ian's Last Month as a Baby

Today marks 23 months for Ian. A month from today, he will no longer be a baby, but a full fledged toddler!

It makes me wonder what he will look like and what he will be doing a year from now, when we're coming up on the big 0-3. What about 5 years from now when he's catching his first yellow bus to school...or 2022, when he's getting his driver's license? I guess for now, I'll stick with planning his 2nd birthday and getting ready for his next milestones... talking and running, which are both probably right around the corner.

This week Ian had school pictures, which I am anxious to see, and also received several neat books as a gift from a coworker of mine. His favorite was a book about trucks that has wheels on the front and back covers, so when the book is closed he can push it like a toy truck. It is almost all he has wanted to play with for the past 2 days. Another book has silly eyes and is ironically the very book he looked at with awe in the kids' area at Starbucks on Saturday.

Today, I arrived at daycare for him just as they were getting ready to go outside to play. He was VERY upset that we weren't going out with the other kids. This is the same boy that was petrified of outside just a week ago!

I am sad to report that the swimming lessons I had hoped he could start this Sunday will need to wait. The only weekend class for his age group is full, but there are plenty of openings in the infinite number of weekday morning classes. I know it's crazy, but not every mother in our area is a stay at home mom, so Ian's on the waiting list for May. I get very frustrated at the fact that almost all classes or play groups happen on weekday mornings around here. Yes, Ian is essentially in an all day play group and does tons of fun things, but I would love to participate too, without feeling like I'm choosing between a career and my child. I'm sure in time I'll find a happy medium, but for now, I'm just irritated. Sorry for the rant.

Below are a few pictures from this week. Ian in his school picture outfit, what happens when I'm not home for dinner, and Ian's sudden interest in books...one step closer to fulfilling my hopes of having a child who is a reader (even if, for now, he just wants to hold them).

P.S. Happy Anniversary to Shawn and me...we celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary yesterday with no hoopla. By 6pm, Ian was in bed and we were on separate couches watching different TV shows... Ah romance!

Ready for school pictures. I was scared to death to put him in this outfit for daycare, but in the end, they changed the kids right after taking pictures, so it remained wearable for another day.

Chatting it up with Polli before school.

I went to they gym right after work Monday and missed dinner. This is probably a good example of why I don't take "alone time" often.

Ian's first pop up book. He promptly ripped the barn door off right after I took this picture.

A few chapters after breakfast is a great way to start the day.

He is in love with his truck book with tires....it's as though the idea was dreamed up just for him.

Dinosaur book with oogley eyes. He saw this same book at Starbucks and liked it. What an amazing coincidence.

He liked putting ham chunks on the wheel and spinning it for a while, eating it, and doing it again with the next piece. Crazy kid!

Weekend Miscellaneous

We had another sunny weekend and were on a roll with the whole outside thing. In our neighborhood, there is a park every few blocks, some more conducive to younger kids than others, but we drove a half mile or so to another park on Saturday AM. We were the only two at this park and Ian liked the see saw bouncy toys, but was not thrilled at all about the swing. We'll have to revisit that concept a little later into the spring or summer, but for now, it was a bit too much.

Grandma Trish came over today for a visit and we had a great time, once again, outside. We walked to Starbucks, picked up some dog treats at our nearby natural pet food store, and hung out at the park for a while. Trish brought with her a very sweet gift a friend made for Ian, a fleece blanket, which will be his lovey at Grandma's house. It was made of an adorable car/truck pattern and Ian was really interested in the wheels on the vehicles, naturally.

Also, our niece Ashleigh made Ian a cute paper mache mouse. Not sure why, but she did. :-) It was really cute and we tried to get a picture of Ian with it, but he was not interested. It was as big as him and even Polli wasn't sure about it. Sorry Ashleigh, but it will have to go in storage until Ian gets older or we run out of storage room, whichever comes first. We really appreciate the thought and effort that went into making it.

It was really nice to have such great weather and we really count ourselves lucky to have weather like this in February. Nice weather this early does tend to come back and bite us, as it typically jump starts our plants and trees...and then a frost or snow comes in March, really screwing up our landscaping projects. We'll see what March brings...but Shawn actually cut the grass yesterday and I don't think we've ever had to start that weekly task this early.

Anyway, we also went shoe shopping this weekend. Sadly, not for me. I was concerned that a pair or two of Ian's shoes were getting too small since he would cry as soon as we started putting them on. I decided to take him to the Stride Rite store to get his feet measured and pick up a couple pair of shoes. I know they're pricey, but we haven't really splurged on anything yet for Ian and thought of all the things that should fit just right, it's shoes. I just about passed out when the woman announced that he is a 6.5 wide. We've been buying him 5.5's, and his everyday shoes are 5's, and from Target, so they're probably a generic width and not wide enough. If only he could have told me "Hey lady, I'm crying for a reason. These things hurt!"

I bought two pair of shoes and we headed out to run more errands. From that store to our car in the parking lot took almost 30 minutes (when figuring in ramps, elevators, parking lot navigation etc.) and when we got to the car and I pulled Ian out of the stroller, a display shoe was underneath him. He had shoplifted a shoe! We made the 30 minute trek back to the store to return it and then made the 30 minute trip AGAIN back to the car. Uggh. I did think it was funny, but wasn't about to keep the shoe...I had just learned first hand how much those things cost and would have felt horrible.

Ian has school pictures tomorrow and I will be reluctantly putting him in his Easter outfit for the day so he'll look spiffy for the occasion. I fully expect a mess at the end of the day...and a trip for a new outfit later, but I'll take my chances. Also, Ian turns 23 months old on Thursday. It will be the last month that I automatically announce his age in months. In another month, he'll be 2. It sounds so grown up!

I got some flack for my post about my Kindle...I know it's completely unacceptable to post about non-Ian related topics. I'll try not to have a life of my own ever again. Sorry, mom! To make up for it, here are a few misc pics from the weekend.

At another neighborhood park. This is near the golf course homes, so there were fancier toys than on our street. He liked this "bouncy bouncy" toy.

...The swings, not so much.


Also, not quite ready to make friends with giant paper mache mice.


Polli the friendly ghost (Ian loves to throw his blanket on Polli and she doesn't really mind it much either.)


Afternoon snack for Ian and Polli


Ian liked his new blanket. He actually noticed the wheels on the vehicles. Such attention to detail (or an unhealthy obsession with wheels).


Just a cute picture. No reason.

It's Not Always About the Kids!

Today's post is 99% unrelated to the things that have consumed my life for the last 2 years... Frenchies, Adoption, Babies, China, and Adoption... or worded another way, Adopting a Frenchie and a baby from China. It pretty much sums up what I've spent my time thinking and doing.

Today, I'm bringing you an almost Ian free blog post to talk about my newest baby...My brand new Amazon Kindle!

Now that we've been home for 3 months and are starting to settle into our comfy little life, I realized it was high time that I get back into some of my "pre-Ian" habits. That means exercising a little bit more (made easier by the Bowflex and free weights we bought right after coming home) and having more "me" time, which I don't really give myself very often. Now that Ian gets up at 5:30am, he's asleep no later than 6pm...giving me about 4 hours before bed to do things without little fingers in the way... Quiet chores, internet surfing, email, extra work left over from the day...and my #1 habit from my old life: reading. I used to put away a couple of books a week, typically with a fiction and non fiction book going at the same time. After we returned from China I didn't turn a single page.

One thing I can't resist is new technology, so with the release of the Amazon Kindle, I became very interested in reigniting my reading habit with what I think will ultimately be a huge step in making e-readers mainstream. I've been close to buying other e-readers in the past, but was afraid of changing file types, DRM, and lack of best sellers for something that would ultimately become obselete. With the Kindle backed by Amazon, the best online book reseller (among other things...I buy tons from Amazon), I felt confident that I wouldn't be left with a bunch of worthless files in 5 years. Think IPod but for books. Most people said MP3 players would never get off the ground. Apple changed all of that. I think Amazon has the ability to do that for books, too.

Once I'd decided to make the leap and buy one, I found that the backlog for the Kindle is huge. I decided to get on the waiting list and wait it out, but impatience got the best of me and I found myself on Ebay and in an auction for a brand new sealed, unregistered Kindle... with less than 5 minutes left to bid. I placed a bid with a minute to go, fully expecting one of the two top bidders' reserves to immediately beat me. 30 seconds later, I refreshed and saw the "Congratulations!" banner. I'd snuck in and won the auction for $6 over the Amazon price with $15 shipping and no tax, meaning I got my Kindle for $3 less, net, than if I had placed my order on Amazon. That was Monday and it arrived today!

I put it down long enough to log on and write this post, watch Survivor and Lost...and then I'll be back to it. It truly is the addiction everyone promised it would be.

Amazon has a great description of it's features, but essentially, it's a 10 ounce, paperback sized device that uses E-Ink technology, meaning I'm not reading a backlit monitor style screen, which is what kills my eyes about PDA's and monitors. It is truly a words on paper-like solution, which revolutionizes reading digital media. It's also just as easy to read in bright light, which makes it great for vacations (when I actually get one...where I'm not chasing a toddler around the whole time).

It's onboard memory holds approximately 200 books and can support added memory for more if necessary. Amazon has almost 100,000 books for it so far, most for less than half the list price available for download. It's a little hard to essentially re-buy books I have already, but haven't read...and buying books can be done instantly and wirelessly directly from the device, which makes it almost TOO easy to buy books. The coolest thing, in my opinion, is that I can browse on the Kindle for any available book and get a free 3 chapter sample within a few seconds...from almost anywhere in the US... So, if I'm in the grocery store waiting in line and see a new book on an endcap...think it looks interesting... do a quick search, in a few seconds for it on my Kindle... read a review... and download a sample. Before the checker scans my first item, I'm starting the first chapter of the book. Cool.

What I will miss is the feel of turning pages. There is something about holding a book in your hands and watching the left hand side get thicker than the right, slowly but surely. Some books that are purchased with much anticipation have a different feel than casually purchased books. I'll miss those. Also, I do fear that I will forever feel like I'm on page 1. It is hard to tell how I'll gauge my reading progress.

There are a bunch of other features I haven't mentioned, and it has a few cons, but after only having it for a few hours, I already have 5 books purchased and about 40 samples loaded. It will be an amazing change to lugging books around on vacation and will make taking a handful of half read books anywhere with me a snap. Now, I'm not sure how I'll read in the hot tub at the gym...or in the pool at my parent's house, but I'm sure they'll come up with some kind of cover given enough demand for one. Otherwise, a zip lock bag might be my best option.

That's my Ian-Free rant... Now, if you've still reading, here's an Ian/Polli tidbit:

Polli is normally really good about going about her business as usual after Ian goes to sleep, but tonight, she kept going to his door, sniffing under it, and then whining and scratching at the door. At one point, she looked at me with panic in her eyes and all I could think of was Lassie. "What's that girl? Ian's trapped in the crib slats?". So I took the risk and we went in his room, looked around in the dark, saw that he was sleeping soundly and still breathing, and I ushered her back out in the hall before he could wake up and see me standing there, which wouldn't make a fun night for anyone. The picture below is what Polli has been doing for the last hour. She misses her brother, I guess... Either that or Ian's Diaper Genie needs to be emptied!

Ian's Day in the Sun

Today was a beautiful sunny day in Seattle, and almost reached 60 degrees GASP! My parents will be laughing as they bask in the Arizona sun. While we actually get beautiful summers, days like this are few and far between this time of year...and there's nothing more gorgeous than our mountain fringed neighboorhood on a clear day in the winter.

Today was also a "teacher inservice" day for Ian's daycare and was closed, so Shawn bit the bullet and used some of his much bragged about sick time cache to stay home since I sacrificed almost two full days last week while Ian was down and out. Poor Shawn...he had to sleep in on a Monday. Must be rough.

When I arrived home from work, I witnessed something that we've yet to see in our 3 months home... Ian ENJOYING the backyard. This might seem like a ho-hum milestone for some, but for us, it's kind of a big deal. Ian's only two trips outside (that weren't soley for the purpose of getting to the car as fast as possible) were to put him in the snow and go crazy snapping pictures while he cried. Not really a positive experience.

Considering that his orphanage was completely indoors, his first real trip outside after being found at 3 months was to get on a train at 19 months and travel from Wenzhou to Hangzhou to meet us...where we promptly stuck him in a baby carrier and his feet never touched the concrete while in China.

So back to today. He was outside walking with Shawn on our patio, but was not thrilled about the rocks. Our entire backyard consists of pavers, flagstone, and river rock. Only a small patch of grass for Polli's "business". As long as he didn't have to step on a crack or seam in the flagstone...or over an area of river rock pebbles....he was enjoying himself. He and I left shortly after my arrival and headed down the sidewalk to a toddler park that is literally across the street from our house. It was packed and I was anxious for him to experience the great outdoors as every kid should.

He grew less and less reluctant the longer we were out and eventually forgot his fear of seams in the sidewalks. We played on the big toy for a whopping 40 minutes and walked from the park and around our block twice. He walked almost the entire time without wanting to hold my hand, which is equally as big a deal. We met up with Shawn as we rounded the block the second time and he escorted Ian back home where he gladly drained a sippy cup of water and pointed at his highchair, indicating he was famished from his exciting afternoon.

It might not be a big deal for most kids, but we were pretty proud of Ian. Only a few days ago, he was too sick to leave the house and today he overcame a big fear of the outdoors and had a great time.

Below are a few great pics of the afternoon.

Ian hanging out on the front steps. He'd never even gone in or out the front door before today!

Playing on the Big Toy at our neighborhood park.

You can't really tell, but he couldn't get enough of the slide.

The bark surface of the play area was freaky at first, but he got over it quickly.

Strolling through the neighborhood. He did almost 2 full laps around our block, probably close to a quarter mile!

Walking with dad...on the home stretch and still going strong.

He wasn't sure about our yard... standing on flagstone with river rock nearby...and the jury's still out about the bamboo.