Do you feel this word is another language or valid?

When looked up in the online dictionary it is a valid spelling. However in the same online dictionary nu, the 13th Greek letter, comes up as well.

What is your official ruling on this matter?

Annie rushed over to me and grabbed my head in her hands. She sang me the I Love You lullaby (the same one I sing to them when they are going to sleep).

I L-O-V-E Y-O-U You’re all of my dreams come true. From your cute little nose, To the tip of your toes, I L-O-V-E Y-O-U.

When she was done she gave me a kiss and told me to have a good sleep and then wandered back to her project. It was such a sweet and typical Annie moment. She rarely goes with the flow and often it results in an experience much like this.

Yesterday it stopped working and began just blowing air again. By nightfall it was 91 degrees inside our home. We decided to borrow some fans from our neighbor and tough it out. The repair people said they could get to us Tuesday morning.

All the fans were set up and blowing. Anyone who really knows me knows how I cannot stand oscillating fans, they make me crazy. Hence why we don’t own any and I had to borrow some from a friend. Kids were all in bed falling to sleep and Bill and I were sweating through it.

Unfortunately Paul did not do so well. He would wake up about every 30-40 minutes screaming bloody murder. Bill or I would go in and soothe him and he would hold onto us tightly. He would finally fall back to sleep and awaken screaming 40 minutes later. This pattern continued the entire night. As I held him at 5 am and stared into his eyes filled with fear I couldn’t help but wonder what had made our little man so upset and afraid of heat. I know he spent time in Ethiopia being dehydrated and hot. He chugged half a water bottle and then just held it. He slept with the bottle until morning.

Ever since it has heated up this summer he has been very demanding about needing water near. We usually fill several cups and have them around the house so he can find them wherever he is.

Months ago it was food issues and now it is water issues. My heart breaks to think of all the suffering my little man did before we knew him. He used to need to carry Saltine’s around with him. He didn’t eat them all that often just nibbled on them from time to time but he had to have them. Now it is water. Clean water. How simple of a need that really is. I am so glad I can give it to him.

The a/c repairman was here this morning and while he didn’t have time to figure out the problem, he pumped the unit full of freon and our home is cooling again. Knowing what I know now I certainly wouldn’t have made the decision to tough it out. I thought it would just be sweating and I didn’t know the pain it would have caused.

We went to the circus last Wednesday night. The kids LOVED it. Paul really enjoyed the elephants. Annie was literally on the edge of her seat for the entire show. Kimmie loved the clowns and their silly performances and the magic shows. Mimi enjoyed the entire thing, she claims she doesn’t have a favorite.

They really enjoyed it. I think it could be something we would do again. At the pre-show they had a chance to see some of the performers up close. I think it set the stage well for what was to come. I don’t think they had any big ideas on what to expect before that.

All 3 of the Girls told Bill and I that they wanted to be in the circus when they grew up. We told them that we would be so afraid all the time. Annie assured us that we shouldn’t be afraid which only sent shivers up our spine. Kimberly thought about it and then she and Mimi braintormed ideas that wouldn’t be to scary. Riding on the elephants came out on top, as the least scary thing they could do.

So I’m the primary caregiver for the time being. I will spare you, dear reader, the trite statements about how I can’t believe how much work it is or the heightened respect I have for Sandi after this. It is inevitable that living someone else’s life will garner a greater awareness of their troubles and triumphs. But that’s been done to death: it’s a fairly common trope in film and television.

I am fine with caring for four children for days at a time. But I get annoyed at how I’m expected to not be able to handle it or lauded for taking such an active role. Like this writer, people have called it “babysitting” and I get a lot of comments when I’m out running errands with them. For me, it’s all just “parenting.” As a parent, I should be able to switch roles with Sandi on a dime—pinch-hitting for her whenever necessary. I certainly don’t expect accolades for such facility.

In the end, though, all of these insensitivities mean nothing. The important thing is that I get to spend four days just enjoying the kids, missing the love of my life, and then getting her back happier and better than ever. That’s what life is all about.

The punishing (i.e. taking away of privileges for the following day) was having no impact on the next nights behavior. I felt like this cycle was never going to stop and we were just going to be punishing them and making ourselves very unhappy in the process.

We needed something to give and I suggested that we alter the bedtime 45 minutes. I felt that they were all older now and that since it is light out until 7:45 that this would feel more natural to their bodies. I remember having to go to bed as a child while the sun was still up and it wasn’t fun.

I had a discussion with the Girls that we felt they were old enough to stay up a bit later and that with this new bedtime came bigger kid responsibility. They were going to have to find something to do that was quiet. If Paul couldn’t fall to sleep soon after seven this plan would not work. He is still an infant and needs his sleep.

It has been two nights now and they have all done very well. Paul has fallen to sleep at his bedtime and the Girls aren’t up wandering and fooling around. The Girls have taken on the new responsibility well and find quiet things to do alone to wind down in the evening. I don’t have as much downtime at night but I knew one day that would end anyhow and honestly for the last couple months it hasn’t been that enjoyable anyhow.

Sometimes it is hard to remember how much they are maturing. I am glad that this time I saw it and we found a win-win solution for our family.

I wasn’t able to get photographs the first day of class, but last week my soon-to-be sister in law came to the pool and took some pics for me.

I could craft a beautiful essay on the finer qualities of my children’s father but today I am just going to link a picture of him. He is everything I could have ever wanted for my children. Period. End of story.

Happy Father’s Day Bill!

I know everybody says it goes fast, but really . . . it does.

If you compare that photograph with this previous one just 4 months ago you will be able to see how big of a growth spurt my little man has taken.

The kids always have such a fun time there and today was no exception. The Girls played in the water with Mikaleigh while Paul sat with me. He doesn’t enjoy splashing and a splash pad is all about splashing. He also still tends to get nervous around large groups.

Today we finally found time to play with shaving cream. We sprayed it all over our kitchen table and had a sensory experience. Paul doesn’t like to have his hands dirty so it was no surprise when he didn’t want anything to do with it. On the other hand, the Girls loved it. We decided to mix some colors as well and they thought that was cool.

Hands L to R are Annie, Mimi and Kimmie. There are no bodies shown because underwear seem to the fashion choice when hanging around the house. Who am I to judge them, it certainly cuts down on my laundry.

He weighs in at 23 pounds and 31 inches tall. Both of those figures put him in the 15th percentile if he is 18 months old and in the 5th if he is 2 years old. I won’t go crazy about this today because really it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the little man is growing.

His ringworm/fungus is still there so he will need to see the dermatologist again and hopefully they will give us the oral medication to finally get rid of it for him and myself.

He had to have 4 shots today. We are continually playing catch up since he had no shots in Ethiopia. He didn’t enjoy it one single bit but he is relaxing now with some Tylenol.

After the appointment we came home and went swimming. When we got out of the pool the kids were playing in the yard and Mimi stepped on a bee. This is her second bee sting from stepping on bees. Poor girl is relaxing on the couch with some benedryl.

He will be missed. Thank you machine for all you did for us. While running practically constantly for the past 6 years, you made our days and nights easier.

Thankfully Mr. Paul is already 18 months and sleeps well without your aid. I have friends who have had to replace their machines along the way but I am thankful that ours worked hard and made it through all the kids.

When I came upstairs I had to snap a picture of what I saw. (Sorry for the poor quality, I was too tired to go back downstairs to get the camera so I had to use my cell phone.)

It reminded me of the princess and the pea. I am not sure why she needed to pile seven pillows up under her head and why her head is only resting on the one.

And just to make sure she is super adorable she rested her fist under her chin.

Mimi was getting married to the 3 foot tall Elmo stuffed doll we have and Kimberly was her Mother.

Hearing Kimberly telling Mimi that she forgot her husband is hilarious. Mimi then rushes over and drags Elmo by the arm.

She then got pregnant and had babies, a Curious George and a Wall-e. Just to confuse things they claimed they were twins.

They are seriously cracking me up.

I believe that the interest in learning at this age is the most important thing you can give a child. Sure I could have shoved tons of information into their heads and they would seem like brilliant children, but to my mind this makes them far more brilliant. I see so many people who aren’t learning anymore in their life, either they already think they know everything or they just don’t want to.

Learning is one of my highest values and I am so glad to see it in my children. That thirst for knowledge that will never be quenched will serve them well.

So while I sometimes sigh at the innocence loss in further understanding the world, I feel great happiness over the fact that she wants to know everything about everything.

One of my favorite conversations recently was when she asked if there really were bad guys who robbed people with guns. Her innocence was beautiful, for several moments my mind thought of how glorious it was that she really didn’t know that until now, that she really didn’t need to know it. (Ah how beautiful childhood is.) She now knows that there are in fact bad guys like that. She then asked me why and I told her I didn’t know why people did that. She said she didn’t want to be a person like that. We agreed that was a good idea.

I just love hearing the little things that filter through her head. Kimberly is pretty much an open book with her thoughts and it allows me to see her thinking style.

I am trying really hard to let the fact that he most likely isn’t really 18 months old today slide. Most days I can but when a milestone like this comes along it is hard to pretend. Most likely my boy is around 2 years old. I know I have gone on and on about this before but I can’t help but do it one more time.

Unfortunately this question will never be answered so it would be in my best interest to let it go, but I can’t.

It has become increasingly obvious because of how he learns. He doesn’t fumble like average 18 month olds do. He learns like a 2 year old. I have no doubt that someone reading is thinking about how their child learned like a 2 year old at 18 months, but I am pretty certain that their 18 month old didn’t suffer from malnourishment, for who knows how long, or didn’t live in an orphanage for 4 months of it’s life. It is weird given his history that he is so advanced in his thinking. Both of those variables should have made some delays, in fact the current studies say that you will have a 1 month delay for every 3 months in an orphanage. Given that info he should be much more like a 16 month old ro younger.

It really is hard to let it go, especially since I know he will be delayed in Kindergarten for an entire year because of the birthdate assigned. I know many other adoptive parents who will be reading this and thinking right along the same lines as me, about how frustrating this can be. The facts remain that the official birthdate for Paul is Dec. 9th so that is all we can go off of, today is his 18 month birthday.

He is currently 22 pounds and our amazingly wonderful boy. He is doing exceptionally well linguistically speaking since he has only been hearing English for 6 months. He continues to grow and amaze us each day. He is so precious and I thank God everyday for him.

Tonight Paul had his first phone conversation where he said Da da to Daddy and responded to his speech. He is maturing so quickly.

At this point, Annie is taking it the hardest—Madeline is running a close second—but that will change tomorrow morning at about 6 o’clock in the morning. Paul did not do well when I was working a lot of hours and the only reason he was reasonably composed was because he had no idea what was happening. The little fella doesn’t like it when either of his newly-acquired parents isn’t around. That does not surprise me one bit, given his life experiences.

At the curb, Kimberly surprised me by being fairly mature about the big sendoff. She was definitely saddened, but she didn’t cry. So I told her to take care of her sisters and I think she understood the responsibility I was giving her. We frequently have to remind her that she’s not the other kids’ parent; I am a little worried that she might think she now has license to mother everyone else.

While I was waiting, I got a good night phone call from them. Annie told me, blubberingly, that she missed me so much and loved me so so so so much. Madeline was totally incomprehensible due to crying. Kimberly was upbeat and even voiced conversations with Penguiny and Buttercup (two stuffed animals).

It is going to be very hard on all of us but I think this will be a good experience for everyone, if for no other reason than it will prove to them (and me) that we can survive being absent from each other. Thankfully, this doesn’t—and won’t—happen very often.

On our anniversary we crossed another off. Here we are at Sunset Point before sunset. Bill didn’t want to allow a tourist to use his iPhone so we had to take the pic ourselves. Thankfully he has long arms. Unfortunately it was a cloudy evening so the sunset wasn’t as stunning as it could have been. All in all it was a nice date.

7 items officially crossed off the list, 10 others that are being done currently but are in progress things (i.e. remain passionate with Bill) so I am not crossing them off unless I get there and they are complete.