Busy Busy

Hi All!


We have been busy with a capital B. Can you tell our sweet baby is tuckered out? Not only are we having an absolute blast with the newest member of our little family but we have been looking for a new place for our brood to roost for a while. Just last week we found a house that we both like and also can afford which is a hard thing to do around here. Sadly, we just can no longer afford to live in the actual District of Columbia and so off we go to the ‘burbs. I never ever thought it would happen but we’ll give it a go and see if we like it out there. We found a cute little house that is big enough to house us for the foreseeable future AND we can now afford to go on vacation every once in a while and, dare I even mention it, adopt one more time if we decide to. I told Peter when we got home from Kaz that I wasn’t even going to mention it for a year and then we would revisit the idea but buying a house made it necessary to chat about it now. So if we decide to adopt again, great. And if not, then we’ll have some cash free to do something else with. I have always wanted to go on safari…

But things are going amazingly well with the little man.  Aibek is the easiest baby ever.  Truly a piece of cake.  I know there will be something we’ll have to deal with down the road but so far no major issues aside from the Giardia (yes, he did have it).  And he and Rinat continue to be completely amazing together.  I mean, they absolutely adore each other and there is not one single day that I don’t feel lucky to have them together.  Just today we were in the little market below Rin’s school and I put Bek on the floor so I could use both hands to get Rin a slushy without spilling and he was just holding onto him and talking to him in the cutest little voice making sure he was safe and didn’t crawl off or get stepped on by anyone and this woman just stopped and stared and you could just tell she was melting and she said “Oh, that is so sweet!”  And when I commented that Rinat was an absolutely amazing big brother, she practically went into conniptions telling me how sweet they are together and great it was that they love each other so much.  People are really nice.  The other day I was shopping with Bek and the Asian girl ringing me up commented that he was super cute and that he looked a lot like her baby pictures and asked if he was adopted from Korea like her.  I told her that he was actually from Kaz and blahblahblah we were chatting away.  Someone behind me in line overheard and had to come and take a look at him and they started asking questions, then someone else overheard and came up to see his cute chubby cheeks, and before I knew it there was a crowd of literally 10 people who were oohing and aawing over my sweet little guy.  I don’t know what it is about him but everywhere I go strangers comment on how cute he is and how they just love the big cheeks and I have had lots of people call him a little Buddha.  I couldn’t agree more.  He’s adorable.  I just want to give him big kisses on those chubby cheeks and squeeze him so tight he explodes.  I can’t get over how cute he is.  And of course Rin's no shlump either.  I would kill for his cheekbones.  And I love how snuggly he is these days.  I'm sure it's partly due to someone else occupying my lap lately but I'm sure not complaining. 



Our fabulous friends also had a welcome home Aibek party that was tons of fun.  He’s still a little skittish with strangers (a totally foreign thing to me since Rin is outgoing sometimes to a fault) and I thought he might be a little overwhelmed by it all but he did pretty OK.  At the end of the night it was Rin who we had to drag out of there crying because we had overstayed by at least an hour past bedtime.  But Bek was unfazed as always.  He’s easy.  But he has been rapidly moving out of his calm and quiet phase and into the crazy maniac and constant blabbering phase.  And I couldn’t be happier about it.  He has been crawling around like a maniac.  Sometime he does what Rin likes to call the polar bear crawl where he walks on his hands and feet with his butt stuck up in the air.  And he absolutely loves standing up and getting his balance before he lets go and falls to the floor laughing and laughing.  It’s been paying off too because just the other day I was having him practice standing and letting go and rather than just falling down with a laugh, this time he took a step toward me before falling face first into my lap.  I honestly can’t believe that just 4 months ago he couldn’t even sit up.  It’s crazy.  And he was basically mute until probably December when he started out with “dadadada” before we had to leave him to come home and wait out the paperwork.  And just the other day as I was taking him up to bath, he waved and said “byebye” to Rin. I cried (of course, what’s new).  That’s a big first.  And we’ve heard something that sounds like ‘all done’ although you would never guess that would be one of his first words with the size of his fat rolls.  And he says a lot of ‘rahrah’ which I have decided means he is talking about Rinat.  That’s what I told Rin anyway and it always puts a smile on his face when Bek says it.  And I know he understands a lot.  Like when he’s in the bath and I tell him to sit down.  He just smiles and laughs and splashes back down.  Little stinker.  I swear Rinat does not help the situation.  Whenever I say “That’s not funny, Bek.”  Rin yells back from downstairs “Yes it is!”  They are going to be T-R-O-U-B-L-E when they get older.        

      

Rin decided one day that we needed to celebrate Bek’s BDay since he wasn’t actually here with us for the big day.  So off we went to Giant to pick up not one but two cakes.  One for little BekMan to destroy and one for us.  Except that Bek didn’t really destroy his.  He didn’t actually want to touch it at all.  Rin had to literally take his little hand and shove it into the frosting and then stick it into Bek’s mouth for him to get the gist of it.  But then he was hooked.  The boy likes cake.  You know, his tastes are nothing like I thought they would be.  Rin ate literally anything that we put in front of him until he hit probably 2 or so.  But Bek?  Not so much.  I will offer him, say, a bite of carrot, broccoli, corn, potato, banana, pear, peach or whatever and he will let my hand get within centimeters of his little lips and he will then dramatically whip his head to the side in a frantic bid to make sure not one tiny bit of it touches him.  It’s so frustrating.  I mean, it took Rin many many tries to like some of the foods that are his favorite now.  But Bek won’t even touch them.  Not even put them in and spit them out if it doesn’t suit.  Oh well, he’ll learn eventually that man cannot live on meat and bread alone.  And really, it’s not like he’s starving to death or anything, right?  I mean, he has baby boobs for gosh sakes.   

Spring has sprung around here and the weather is warm.  And for us that of course means it's time to spend a whole lotta time outside.  The park, the zoo, picnics, and lots of backyard time.  When the crocuses start sending up their little shoots and I spy those gorgeous deep purple blooms, it's off with the boots and on with the outdoors.  Spring is here.

And have I mentioned Rin's obsession with dinosaurs?  Yup, it's official.  He's nuts for dinos.  And he is finally starting to draw some photos that actually look like something besides just a bunch of squiggles or a happy face.  Here's his dinosaur book that he made.  He told me I could rip it apart to copy and put it here for everyone to see.  So enjoy.

Happy Spring everyone!  Love to all, -m