Saturday, January 31, 2009

goofy


Andrew disappeared into his room for a few minutes this morning and came out like this:



He looks so much like his sister in this picture.






I was trying to take a picture of him but he wanted me to take pictures of Lovey. How could I say no? Lovey's adorable too.


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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Kickin' back

Just hanging in his room, watching a movie like a big boy.
(well, a big boy who happens to have a bounce and spin zebra and two blankies within arms reach.)




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Monday, January 26, 2009

Gung Hay Fat Choy!


Happy Chinese New Year!

My team teacher is married to a Chinese man and she came in today to talk to the kids about the Chinese New Year and to give them some great Chinese toys and chopsticks. She gave some to Andrew too.





These don't look so hard to use:


hmm....they might be a little trickier than I thought:


maybe if I hold them like this:




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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Photo Booth

I found a new gadget on my imac today that I never knew I had---Photo Booth. It's really fun.
Andrew had a great time trying out some of the special effects.



Can you imagine if there were two of him?




And he got to go for his first roller coaster ride. As you can see, he loved it!



George wanted to get into the action too. He is a curious little monkey, you know.




First he swam with the fishes:


Then he went to Yosemite:


He wouldn't put his hands up on the ride though.


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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Holy goggles, batman


This kid makes me laugh on a daily basis. He does the funniest things and doesn't even know they're funny.






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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Our day off


Yesterday, I had the day off. Andrew and I ran up to the mall to get his hair cut. What a bad idea. It didn't dawn on me that I would not be the only mom with that idea. The place was packed...not just the hair place....the whole mall.

We will not be going back to Snippet's. Andrew got his second really terrible haircut from there. I was willing to give them a second chance but there will be no thirds. Guess we'll be holding off on the 1 year pictures for a while.




Andrew's version of 'cheese'.


Andrew also rode the train a couple of times. He loves that thing! Most of the other kids were scared, crying and looking very unsure. Not Andrew. He stood in line with his little ticket and then ran to the first empty car and sat right up in his seat. He waved at all the parents as he rode past them. It cracked me up.



Waving at everyone:



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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Inauguration Day



It is still so amazing to me that this is our new First Family.
Forty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed for being a black man who preached equality and today an African American man is being sworn in as our President. I wish Andrew were a little older so he could at least have some memory of this day. I have tried to impress on my students how important today is and that they are witnessing history but I know they are too young to grasp the magnitude of this change.
If I am able to adopt from Ethiopia, my son's citizenship letter will be signed by the first African American President of the United States. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

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Monday, January 19, 2009

Martin Luther King Jr. Day




I have the day off today. Whenever I have a Monday off, I try to remember the significance of what that day represents. This day has been especially meaningful for me, though, since Andrew and I have become a family. As I was reading books about Martin Luther King Jr. to my students this week, I couldn't help thinking about how much better Andrew's life will be because of what this amazing man did. Because of him (and many other people like him) my son has a better chance of being seen for his abilities and the person he is rather than the color of his skin. I know that there is still a lot of racism and prejudice out there. But I also think that this is a far better country because of the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. had and the way he went about reaching it.
At some point, I would like to adopt from Ethiopia. I love that my family will be made up of different cultures, races and colors. I love that children and parents from different countries can become one family.

This quote from Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech brings tears to my eyes each time I read it to my students:

I have a dream that one day....little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

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Sunday, January 18, 2009

My son, the Longhorn??


Our friend Camdin (he was also a Luis from Mazatenango) sent Andrew a sweatshirt from his great state of Texas. Obviously, I really like little Camdin (and his amazing family) or my son would not be wearing a Texas Longhorn sweatshirt. :)





This kid gives Andrew a run for his money in the 'cute' department.


Camdin and his beautiful family:


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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Monkey boy


I think Andrew's going to be one of those kids who can actually make it to the top of the rope in gym class.




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Monday, January 12, 2009

The celebrating continues

Andrew took cupcakes to daycare for all the kids there. You can't really tell in these pictures, but they were tiny cupcakes--about an inch and a half wide. They were so cute.





When we got home tonight, we had Andrew's birthday dinner: mac'n'cheese and meatballs. He's 2--it doesn't get any better than that when you're 2. He held his Trader Joe's balloon in his hand the whole time he ate.






After dinner, we called Gramma and Grandad and they sang Happy Birthday to him while he blew out his candles (and touched one to finally figure out what mommy means when she says, "hot").


We had some cake--which he refused to eat at the table but gladly ate while sitting on the floor.





He opened his gift from Gale and Angelo (the amazing people who watch him during the day) and his other gifts from me.
He loved all of them but the Home Depot tool bench is definitely a favorite.



A Diego watch!!








This one must be really good. Mommy used the fancy wrapping paper.


Grandad is going to be crazy jealous of this toolbench:


Safety first:








I didn't have a party for him this year but I think he definitely understood that something special was happening and that it was all about him (but then, isn't it always?)


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