Meeting Thomas (and Libby)!

This past weekend we met Thomas the Train! We went to Day Out with Thomas with my parents, my brother and his family. We had a blast! Kai was in every little boy's heaven, surrounded by not just any train, but... Thomas! When we told him we were going (as soon as he woke up that morning), he bolted for the hat and vest Grandma Nancy had made him for his birthday. Despite quite warm temperatures, he insisted on wearing them both the entire time!

Ready for the action!

"We see Thomas!" The first glimpse.

In the flesh.

Ready for our ride with Thomas!

We even met Sir Topham Hatt!

Kai was very excited to meet him, but not so excited to be near him!

There were tons of other activities for the kids to do. Petting zoo, bounce house, temporary tattoos, music show, bubble station, coloring area, but none of that mattered to little Kai, he spent the rest of his time here...

After our train fun we headed to Joe's parents house to meet the newest addition to our family.

Kai, cousin Libby and her Daddy

Oh, and let's not forget the delish BBQ!

Yes, he ate the whole thing!

Foto Finish Friday

Father's Day Breakfast 2009

Daddy and Kai

Mr. Friendly

The past few nights we've enjoyed softball games at the park across the street from our house. On Monday night, we found a place on the bleachers which happened to be just a few feet from a group of about 3-4 girls, probably 8 years old or so, and one 3-4 year old boy. Kai decided he wanted to make friends with them and walked right up to them and introduced himself. He couldn't keep himself away! He'd come back to us about every 60 seconds and hug one of our arms or legs, then go back to his new group of friends. It was so adorable. Last night he saw a teenage boy on the bleacher and kept saying "hi" to him, trying to get his attention. Guess my lessons of how to appropriately talk to people are working; this is a long way from yelling "STOP!!" to people in the grocery store that we were experiencing a few months ago.

His outgoing behavior brings two immediate thoughts to my mind. First, I'm sure he is way more outgoing than any biological child of ours would be. Joe and I are both pretty quiet and reserved, as evidenced by my first response the other night which was for Kai not to bother the other kids. Whenever K is put in a social situation, he is immediately right in the middle of it all; a far cry from my school days spent as a wall flower. Second, I hope his outgoing nature means that we're raising him with a high level of self confidence, and that he is bonding and attaching to us in a manner which allows him this confidence.

bad blood

Yes, mine. 

My blood contains two things that normal blood doesn't; lupus anticoagulant (which does the opposite of what it sounds like it should and does not mean I have lupus), and a MTHFR (methylene-tetra-hydro-folate-reductase-blah-blah-blah) mutated gene. These things are what God gave me in order to ensure that adoption was how we grew our family. 

You see, many years ago... about 7, I believe... after my second miscarriage, my doctor decided to take about a gallon of my blood and test it for everything under the sun. (See findings above) Although, at the time only the first was noted and told to us. Not good, but with heparin injections twice daily to my abdomen, I should be able to carry a baby. After months of feeling like a human pin cushion (infertility treatments + anticoagulation therapy = one holey lady), and several more miscarriages, we got it; God did not intend for us to have a biological child. We made our peace and embraced our adoption adventure. 

Last December, through an unexpected medical situation, we found out that all along I also had the second blood disorder (MTHFR). This one would have been treated with a whole slew of extra vitamins to keep my blood from clotting. We were asked if, given this new information, we would want to give biological parenting another go. The answer was an astounding...NO! Not gonna go there... But, we also found out that there could be more implications to my health (where as previously we were told that it would only affect my ability to bear children). So now I diligently take my vitamins on a semi-regular basis and hope my blood stays good and thin.

So, why am I sharing all this now?? Well, a few reasons. One, I'm feeling in a better place to share our experience; two, I hope through our experience I can help others who have the same issues; and third, June is Antiphospholipid Syndrome (to which the lupus anticoagulant belongs) Awareness month. 

So there you go, now you're aware.

No Hands

A few days ago Kai made a huge mess with his trains and I was helping him clean them up. For whatever reason, I suggested that Willie (our 4 legged child) help pick up the trains. Kai very matter-of-factly told me "No Hands". Like, duh Mom, Willie doesn't have any hands... what was I thinking??

hoarding

We are definitely in the full blown stage of toddler hoarding.  The proof:

 A few days ago he loaded up this chair with all his living room toys, and when the chair was full he put more stuff on the table next to it. He proceeded to sit in the chair (for probably a total of an hour over the course of the day) and play with the toys/ pretend the chair was his car and he was driving to Grandpa Dave's house. These days he can't go anywhere (even to the next room of the house) without having the arms completely full. It doesn't even seem to matter what he's carrying, just as long as those arms are filled. This morning when I called him to his room for a diaper change, he came bearing Kim Chee (his dog), a toy golf club and a small garbage can. Let's just say...we're never short on entertainment around here!

maybe next time

We're backing off on potty training for now. He's been back in diapers for a few weeks, and our stress level has decreased ten-fold! I did not want to do it, but it became clear to us that he just wasn't emotionally ready. Physically, he totally knows what's happening and what to do, but he's just not quite there yet. I'm sad to see all our hard work reverting, but we will try again in a few months with hopefully better results. The good news is he's still notifying us for #2's, so no poopy diapers...hope he doesn't forget that, too! 

Ocean!!

Last weekend we ventured to the coast for an afternoon. Despite the very warm temperatures inland, of course it was cold and windy at the coast. We found a nice dune park and nestled ourselves a dune away from the ocean, hoping the dune would break some of the wind. We ended up not even seeing the ocean on our adventure, but Kai didn't seem to mind...he thought that lake behind him was the ocean! 

Tunneling under Daddy's legs was a popular activity, 

even though it resulted in sand all over his face each and every

time.

Kai and I tried to run up the dune...it was so huge! We made it about 3/4 of the way up before we exhausted ourselves. Of course, falling down on "accident" was a big hit as we made our way up. We also watched the sand surfers, it looked so fun, something I would definitely like to try in the future!

And what trip to the coast would be complete without the obligatory burying of the feet??

I was the first victim and when only my toes remained, Kai thought it was too much work to cover each one, so he just put his bucket over my exposed foot.

He's one smart cookie!!

Coppin' a 'tude

Today we escaped to the coast for the afternoon. We planned to leave in the late morning so we could get some errands/ chores done before we left. One of these was grocery shopping. While eating breakfast this morning, Joe told Kai about our plans to visit the "ocean" today. When he saw me he said, "Ocean now!". My reply was, "Not yet, we have to go grocery shopping first". To this he rolled his eyes... big time!

Oh, boy!

Foto Finish Friday

Then: K by the maple 6/13/08

Now: K by the maple 5/19/09

Happy Mail

We got a big surprise in the mail a few days ago! A package from K's foster Mom! He was so excited to open it! When it came, the conversation between K and I went something like this:

Me: "K, this package is from Korea. Who else is from Korea?"

K: "ME!!"

Me: "Then who do you think this package is for??"

K: "ME!!"

OK, I'm sure he only got those questions right because the answer was him, but it still made me wonder if some of what we tell him about his story is already sinking in. It was pure torture for us to wait until Joe got home from work to open it, but we did. And it was worth the wait! K's foster Mom is such a sweet and thoughtful lady. I really hope we get to meet her someday. She sent: an adorable outfit for K (see photo), a beautiful coffee set for Joe and I, a stack of baby pictures (including what may possibly be the youngest photo we have of him yet), some tulip bulbs from her garden (the same tulips which were in a handful of pictures with K in photos she had previously sent us...my sentimental sappy side is sooo lovin' those), and a wonderful note. The love they did and do feel for our son is so apparent, and we are all so thankful that we've been able to maintain contact.

K in his Korea threads...

Oh, and I have to mention that somehow she got these pants right on the money, he very well may live in them this summer. They're super lightweight, stretchy waisted "short pants", even though they don't really look like it in this pic. I realized that if you cinch the elastic at the bottom of the legs, they ride up a little and are shorter, I'm sure this is the way they're meant to be worn.

it's good to know...

That I am *officially* 100% free and clear of my military obligation! OK, for most of you this is probably old news, since I have been out for over 6 years. However, I never received my discharge orders so I couldn't "prove" it. You might be wondering why I didn't inquire with them sooner...hmm...let me think; Iraq war, Afghanistan, I can't prove I'm discharged... really, am I going to bring my name up in the midst of all those circumstances?? I think not! But, I decided it was finally time, and requested my military records just over a week ago and got them in the mail on Monday (honestly, the fastest I've ever seen the military move...). And yes, indeed, it says in black and white, "Status at separation: honorable"!! (And yes, they had sent them to me...at an address I hadn't lived at in a very long time)

Journey of a Mother

I am K's third mother. His first mother, of course, his birth mother. His second mother, his foster mother. His third mother, Me, his FOREVER mother. His other two mothers were most definitely in my thoughts and prayers on this Day for Mother's.

Mother's Day was not always a happy day for me. In fact, for many years it was one of the worst days of the year. I dreaded it, and I grieved every year it came around and I still had no child in my arms. The feelings I felt were some of the loneliest in the world; not only did I not have my child in my arms, but few people knew or realized my suffering and I knew only a few other people who were going through the same things. It's such a lonely road, made even more so by the fact that even our husbands don't know what we're really going through, although it pains them just as much.

This weekend I had a great time celebrating my motherhood with our families. As much as I felt it was a celebration of my motherhood, I also felt it was a celebration of my CHILD, who we truly feel is our special gift from God. Today, as everyday, I cherished the hugs and kisses from my little boy. It still amazes me that even after all this time, I still get teary eyed with his whole body hugs and "I love you Mommy".  I hope I never lose that feeling.

Foto Finish Friday

After my last post I feel I owe you all a bit of silliness. Well, our boy is never short on that! This week was kind of a slow in the picture department (who wants to see pictures of crying and screaming, anyways?). Since it's not from this week, I thought I'd spice it up a bit by making it an action shot (ie, video). Enjoy a few moments of our silly boy!

He had been doing this crazy dance on his toy box, which I of course missed most of since I had to run and get the camera. Then he decides to shift to super hero mode (in case any of you need some translation).

Testing...one...two...

Yes, K, we still love you, even though we've about had it....

This week surely has been one for the record books. Can anyone say "testing twos"?? (Gotta give credit for that one to my blogger buddy, Mara) 

Oh...my...goodness, and just when we thought we had the world's sweetest child, too.

Not sure what's been going on in that little head of his, but he sure is trying to make sure we're in this for the long haul. Probably the biggest disappointment of the week has been his regression on his potty training. Honestly, it's like he lost over a month worth of training over the course of a few days. It started the end of last week, and went down hill all weekend until we finally put him in diapers on Sunday afternoon. He would refuse to sit on the potty and actually asked to wear a diaper. I wasn't in the mood for fighting, so that's what we did... put a diaper on him. Monday he was in daycare and it wasn't much better. He went through all 3 pairs of pants I sent with him and he gave his care provider flack when she asked him to go. When we got home in the evening, he had 2 accidents in less than 40 minutes... He was also not a very nice boy on Monday and had several time outs at daycare for hitting other kids. 

Yesterday was slightly better, but he still went through all the clothes I sent with him. His day care provider had the brilliant idea of making him take off his wet clothes, put them in the dirty bag and put on his clean clothes (all by himself) when he had accidents. She said this continued all morning, but after 11am yesterday he stayed dry the rest of the day! And today... so far, so good. :-) And yea, we're adopting that method for home as well. He was also had a much better attitude yesterday and didn't hit anyone. 

OH, and the other news...he can open his bedroom door.  So:

**open door + big boy bed = little boy who doesn't want to stay in his room at bedtime**

Monday he tested this on us as well, and finally stayed in bed after about the 6th time of being taken back to bed. Hopefully this is improving as well, last night he only got up once. Right now he's down for nap and he didn't come out at all. 

It's pretty strange to just see him appear when he's done sleeping. 

K and I have done lots of praying together this week...praying for Mommy to have patience and for K to be able to make good choices and obey his parents. Speaking of prayer, if you're so inclined, please send one up for my Grandma. She's 97 and still lives independently. She's currently in the hospital for pneumonia and will not be able to return home to the level of independence she knows and loves. Please keep her and my parents in your prayers as they make choices on her care needs and living situation. Thanks.

So, there you go, our exciting week. Sorry if it's a bit of a rant, but real life isn't always pretty. Can't be all sunshine and smiles, you know. ;-)

Handwashing 101...

First, turn on the water ...

notice the fine balancing skills this requires.

Next, plenty of soap...

Stop to say "Cheese"!

Then, rinse clean

Finally, quick dry with the towel...

so quick, in fact, I could barely get a picture of it!

And he couldn't be happier that there is now one more thing he can do (almost) entirely on his "own". :-)

Foto Finish Friday

Enjoying his very own bowl of yummy locally made strawberry ice cream! It was the second time ever of getting his "own" treat and boy was he feeling like something special! Oh, and sporting his new favorite T-shirt, his "basketball shirt" from Grandma Nancy. He's insisted on wearing it the past two days, luckily I had to do laundry last night... it was a bad potty day at day care yesterday :-(.

New bed!!

If you asked K the most exciting thing that happened this week, you would likely hear "New bed!!" Yes, we took the plunge into the world of free reign sleeping. He's actually doing very well with it. Joe put it up while we were at work/daycare on Monday and when we came home, K went into his room and noticed right away what was different, "New bed!!". Here's his first romp in it:

He's stayed in it all night, every night since Monday (and of course naps, too). He's started getting out after we put him down, but so far he's only gotten out to get more books or animals to sleep with and gone right back to bed, so I guess we can allow that. I tell you, this little guy is just growing up way too fast!

We knew there would be two big, major milestones this year: potty training and a big boy bed. Well, here we are at 26 months old and he's already conquered both. Wonder what will happen the rest of the year?? I can't wait to see!

A little update on the potty training; he's continuing to do great for his age! He's telling us more and more when he needs to go and is having more dry days at daycare. This week he still went through a pair of clothes each day, but the reasons were excusable in my book. One day he had an accident during his nap (which he no longer wears a diaper for), one day he threw up in the car on his way there (nothing major...no more vomit or other ill symptoms), and yesterday he tried to take himself to the potty and it got a little messy. :-) 

I am one proud Momma!!

Foto Finish Friday

We've been having great weather pretty much all week. Last Saturday we got some yard work done, and K helped me plant some flowers in my pots. He had most fun watering them, though. Or, should I say watering everything??

Easter Weekend Review

We had a wonderful, fun filled Easter weekend. K got to participate in 4 egg hunts, here are pictures from 3 of them. 

Indulging in his second piece of chocolate ever, 

and probably his last for a while...

after a couple tastes last weekend, we're pretty sure he's allergic.

Or at least very senstitive to it.

"I know there's an egg around here somewhere"

The Loot

The C cousin line-up, ready to hunt!

Foto Finish Friday

OK, ya'll get 2 Friday fotos this week. I threw the first one in just 'cause his little face is so adorable. The real point of the photo is how independent he's becoming. The phrase of the week has been "I do it". I was getting him ready to go out for a jog earlier this week, and he started adding layers, insisting to wear his snow pants over his regular pants, his scarf and his "skateboard shirt" (another new development, he's started calling anything with a hood a skateboard shirt...not sure where that's coming from).

And here's the photo where you can see better what he wanted to wear. It was kinda chilly out so I didn't really mind the addition of the snow pants. :-)

Foto Finish Friday

Putting on his cheesiest smile!

it's the little things

Like...

Squeals of delight while playing with Daddy

Total relaxation in my arms

Running up to me and bear hugging my leg

Grabbing my hand and saying "My Mommy"

Random hugs and kisses

Hearing "O-tay Mommy"

Arms and legs wrapped around us when in need of comfort

Climbing into my lap with a book or toy

Calling for me when he needs help

We've worked so hard and come so far, and every second was worth it!

Foto Finish Friday

K wearing his Thomas vest that Grandma Nancy made for him (she also made a matching hat, but of course he wouldn't keep it on for the picture) and Willie trying to get in on the action. What you can't see: he's also wearing a Thomas T-shirt and Thomas underwear. This boy is choo-choo crazy!

New Year's Resolution

Yes, I know it's April 1st.

No, this is not a joke.

The truth is, I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. I guess I figure, if something is that wrong with my life, why wait until Jan 1 to fix it? That being said, I tend to be more of a New Year's goal setter. This year, I made a goal to finish a long-standing project by the end of this year.

For those of you who have been in this for the long haul, you probably can guess what I'm talking about. Way back in December of 2006, we sent/gave letters to all our friends and family, asking them to contribute a quilt square to our Good Wishes Quilt for our future child. Well, the future is here, but the quilt is not. Over the following months we received lots and lots of fabric squares with wishes for our child. I started cutting the squares and sewing them together in the fall of 2007. Then something happened... said child came home and production ground to a halt. More important things took over and the quilt was not worked on for many, many months. Not that I'm making excuses, but part of my dilemma has been that my "sewing" room is across the hall from K's room. Given his age, pretty much the only time I have to work on it is while he's sleeping, but you can see, I don't want to make all the sewing machine racket while he's sleeping. So, working on it entails moving my entire sewing set-up into our bedroom (which is the furthest room from his in our cozy little home), not too conducive to quick set-up sewing sessions. I also spend way too much of his sleeping time on the computer, blogging, social networking, etc. 

And yes... I see the irony of this post.

I just wanted to take a few minutes of my precious sewing time to let you all know my goal for this year, so I have more people to be accountable to for accomplishing my 2009 goal.

Thanks for listening...off to sew!

Basketball and other big boy stuff

It's only Wednesday and we've already had a really big week! Honestly, it seems like K is maturing by months over the course of days! Here's the run down:

On Sunday he did great playing basketball with Daddy. He was making baskets like nobody's business, I even managed to get a few on video! :-) (OK, you gotta watch close at the very beginning, that's when all the action happens) 

On Monday he chose to leave his beloved Kim Chee in the car when he was dropped off at daycare. Joe confirmed with him multiple times and he understood what he was doing. He did great all day and only asked for him once, but was quickly comforted by another snuggie at daycare. He also went #2 in the potty for the first time at daycare on Monday.

On Tuesday he had his first full day of no #1 accidents at daycare (thus, the first time in 3 weeks that I didn't have dirty pants to clean that night...nice). He also behaved wonderfully at a friend's birthday party that evening, after we'd all had a long day at work/ daycare. He was so excited for this party, we talked about it over the weekend and he wanted to go...at that very moment! When I picked him up and reminded him it was time for the party he literally started jumping up and down with excitement, yelling "Jacob party, Jacob party!!!"

I'm happy to be at home with him today and can't wait to see what lies ahead for us! :-)

(By the way...he hasn't had any accidents with us for well over a week and is staying dry at naps!)

Foto Finish Friday

My big boy. He is growing up way too fast! Here he is, eating breakfast sitting on the bar stool, wearing big boy pj's (ie. two piece) and big boy underwear eating raisin bran of all things.  I remember watching him on this morning and wondering what happened to our little baby...

The Guest House

We just got back from 2 days at the coast...2 stormy, windy, cold days. We stayed at one of my favorite places, a guest house owned by a friend. We've stayed there several times before, but this was K's first experience there. This house is great, fully stocked with amenities of home. K found the toys in the play room within 30 seconds of entering the house and didn't come out for nearly a half hour!  When we got there, the weather was so-so. Partly sunny, but still pretty cold and windy. We made our way down to the beach and played for a bit until our fingers started going numb. This is what the sky looked like then. 
After we returned to the house, the clouds started rolling in, but that didn't stop K from trying to spot a whale (or anything). He found the binoculars and was in love. 
I don't know why I love this house so much, it's just so comfortable. I could lounge around it all day (and I have on previous trips when we weren't also trying to entertain a 2 yr old!). This is one of the best places to sit in the house, right in front of the picture window which looks out to the ocean. 

And this is what you see. I never tire of this view:

Shortly after the rain came, and it didn't really stop through the whole next day. Hence, we mostly just stayed in our cozy little home by the sea, playing games and watching movies. We did make a trip into Newport for a little sight-seeing and lunch. 

On the day we left, it was fairly nice in the morning. The wind died down for a while and the sun came out, it was actually pleasant. We hit the beach on last time and had a nice walk, until the clouds started rolling back in and we got cold...

When we got home, it was still early in the day and very nice out so we went to the park. We realized that K played in the sand more at the park that day than he did during our 2 days at the coast. :-)

He's doing WHAT?!?!

The big news...dare I say it?? At just over 25 months old, our brilliant little boy is nearly potty trained! We honestly had no plan to address this until at least this summer, but he had other plans! He's been wearing big boy undies around the house for several months now, and they were usually wet within about 20 minutes. Shortly after his birthday, something changed... first he kept them dry for 30 minutes, then 45, then a whole hour! We continued doing this on a sporadic, only at home type basis until a couple weeks ago. We'd just been hanging at home most of the weekend, and he had done amazingly well in his underwear (or uh-wareh, as he calls it), so we decided to take a risk...running errands with no diaper and he did great! We decided to just go for it and he has embraced the concept! He is improving daily, and aside from a couple times when we just couldn't get his clothes off fast enough, he's only had one accident at home in the past week. His daycare provider is on board as well, although he's having a little harder time at her house. This week though, he only had one accident per day there (which means 3 total) and I think that's wonderful! Most days, his diaper after nap is dry so I'm sure it's only a matter of time until he's out of his nap diaper. We are just so amazed (and relieved) this has happened so quickly (and easily) and he is doing so well with it, but also a little sad that our baby is really growing up (but not so sad about not changing poopy diapers). I think he looks absolutely adorable in his little Elmo or Thomas the Tank Engine underwear and would love to plaster pictures of them all over this page, but I will restrain myself...I would not want pictures of me in my undies on the internet. 

Foto Finish Friday

In case you haven't noticed, I've neglected these posts (again) over the past few weeks. So, here a double doosey one to make up for it. Here's a few pics from our trip to the zoo last weekend. It was cold and wet, but still fun. And thanks again to Grandma & Grandpa C for the zoo membership! 

Watching polar bear play

Inside the "ice cave"

Trying to get picture lined up next to the bears,

little boy running away...

Finally got it (sort of), thanks to Grandpa M!

more than just clothes

Spring is approaching, and my baby is growing...right out of all his clothes! I loved his fall/winter wardrobe, and am having a harder time than I expected letting it go. To me, these are more than just clothes. Almost all of these clothes were given to us as shower gifts, and I hate to see them go. These are the clothes that I looked at day after day, folded and refolded until they were just right, passing those long 4 1/2 months waiting to meet our sweet boy. I tried to imagine what he would look like in them, what we would do together in them and what parenthood would be like in general. Before he came home, it was hard to believe that my son would really be wearing them. Our journey was a long and bumpy one and it was hard to fathom that we would be parents until he was in our arms. That was not even a year and a half ago, and here we are "on the other side", outgrowing some of the first gifts we were given for him. Go ahead, call me a sentimental sap... that's just what I am. 

Along the lines of clothes, I stripped his dresser of all his onesies...won't be able to use those any more!  Oh, by the way, could anyone use some brand new short sleeve 24 month size onesies (some T-shirt, some polo style), I just found a slew of them he won't be able to wear this Spring. More on that later.

"How old is your son?"

Such a simple question...

We were at the park last Friday, swinging next to a cute little baby girl. One of the ladies with the little girl asked me, "How old is your son?". I answered, not thinking much of it. As I thought about it more and more, I realized this was probably the first time that a total stranger has referred to K as my son before asking me for sure if he was my son.  I really appreciated this small gesture from a total stranger...

Bowling Craze

We've got a bit of a bowling craze going on at our house right now. For the past few months, K has been wild about bowling! I think it started when we got our Wii, and he loves to "play" bowling on that. Then, we started making bowling pins out of his megablocks and knocking them over with his balls. Then, we found a computer bowling game that he likes to "play". We decided it was time for him to experience the real thing. So, last Sunday, we took him bowling for the first time! It was great! Of course, it was a typical activity with a 2 yr old...lots of running after him and trying to keep him next to us, lots of explaining about how we take turns, and a few little yelps of displeasure from all of us. When we walked into the bowling alley, he was soooo excited, it was all we could do to keep him from running down to grab all the bowling pins. I was so amazed that he could lift the 6lb ball all by himself, although walking with it and rolling it was another story. They only had to come rescue his ball twice, when it stopped completely on it's way down the chute. It's a little embarrassing to admit that he actually got the best score out of the three of us. Although, he did get to have his bumpers up so that may have helped him a little. ;-)

Of course, he only wanted the balls that weren't his.

I made a deal with him...if he could lift it, he could use it.

Please pardon the posterior view, this was the best "action shot" we got!

And this is pretty much what we did the whole time...

All in all, a good afternoon of family fun!

We love Kim Chee!

Anyone who knows us IRL, knows that when K arrived from Korea he brought with him a very special dog. We think he has had this dog since he was about 2 weeks old. We have many pictures from his time in Korea, and the dog is never far from him. Thank goodness the nice Korean woman who came off his plane told us about the dog in his travel bag. When he started fussing just minutes after he was in our arms, we gave him his dog and it was like magic. Suddenly, this new strange place wasn't so strange anymore. We knew we had gained another (unexpected) family member. We instantly named him Kim Chee. Honestly, it was the first word that popped into our heads, so that became his name. We truly believe Kim Chee has helped K through his adjustment in unimaginable ways. Those first days were tough, and I actually had moments that I was angry at this stuffed animal because my son loved it more than he loved (or even liked) me. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times we've left our house over the past 15 months without Kim Chee. He comes everywhere with us. I have done several surgical procedures on this poor puppy, he's (literally) being loved to death! This week we had the scariest incident yet, when K got up one morning, there was stuffing on his floor. From where? Guess! Yes, poor Kim Chee somehow acquired a slit in his neck during the night. Just our luck, it was a day we were both working so for the first time K went to daycare without his most favorite stuffy ever. (Luckily, we have Rover, his #2 dog he could take) Joe said he only screamed half way there and was pretty OK with the situation when they arrived, he even told his day care provider: "Chin Chee...owiee".  And don't worry, Kim Chee has made a full recovery from the surgery I performed that evening.

When K first arrived, and we learned how attached he was to Kim Chee, we really realized how much his foster mom loved him, and how well she prepared a 10 month old for the huge change he was about to go through. In our eyes, she is simply brilliant for attaching him to this dog and sending it home with him. 

As K is getting older, more secure, more confident and more independent he's needing his dog less and less. There have been days recently when Kim Chee hasn't even left the crib between K's sleeping times. He's learning to leave him in the car when we go places, or if we happen to forget him at home that Willie will take good care of Kim Chee and he will be there when we return. (Which, by the way, could be a whole no

ther post: how Willie somehow has known from the start not to mess with this particular stuffy.) Now we're just hoping and praying that he will outgrow needing to take the dog everywhere before he falls apart!

K and Kim Chee reading in the rocking chair

3/4/09