owie

Eli had a full day today. R took care of him all day so that I could sleep. (He is a wonderful husband and father!) I'm 35 1/2 weeks pregnant now. I have huge swollen feet, and I'm exhausted all the time. Mobility and energy are very limited. When I was upstairs resting, I heard Eli laughing and laughing. It turns out he was playing soccer for the 1st time! They were kicking the ball around, and he thought it was wonderful. Eli had played ball before, but just rolling on the floor or throwing. He had never used his feet to move the ball before.

This afternoon, R took him outside, and they were kicking the ball around in the grass. Eli fell, and scraped his upper lip. He cried, but calmed down when R picked him up. He really loves his daddy. R carried him inside. He was no longer crying and was calm. R and I were a lot more traumatized than he was! We cleaned the blood off his little face, and gave him lots of hugs and love. We got the Boo Boo Bunny out of the fridge, but he only wanted that for very short time. He held it on his lip himself, and that was adorable. We gave him some Motrin for the pain, and then he was ready for his bath. I was glad that we were able to comfort him.

He is very bonded to his daddy right now. Because of the pregnancy, I'm not able to do as much with Eli as I wanted, like getting down on the floor to play or running around outside. Every day, R takes care of him in the late afternoons and early evenings. They go for a stroll around the neighborhood, run around the backyard, sit on the floor and build towers with blocks, and R gives him his bath every night. They have fun together, and Eli loves being with his father. It's amazing how God's plan unfolds. If I had not been pregnant, R and Eli would not have had as much time together alone, and their bond would not be as strong as it is now. It makes me happy to see how close they are. Eli completely trusts his daddy to take care of him.

Eli is teething right now too. He has 2 teeth coming in on the bottom, one on each side. I know it has hurt, but it hasn't slowed him down much. We keep offering him the teething ring from the freezer, but he'll only use it for a minute or two. He doesn't like the teething biscuits at all. He does like the baby toothbrush, and will chew on that. He has been trying to say "teeth" for the last few days. It comes out "tee" but we know what he means!

Ouch! You can see the scrape above his lip. My poor baby!

His adorable Halloween pajamas! His left hand is blurry because he's waving at Mommy!

6 months home

6 months ago today we came home with our beloved Eli!

He had his 1st late night tonight. Since we've been home, we haven't been anywhere at night, especially since he normally goes to bed around 7:00 or 7:15pm. We had an appointment at 8:10pm to have our picture made for the directory at church. It was the earliest appointment we could get. He did really well, considering how sleepy he was. The only time he cried was when the photographer suggested that he sit on a table instead of on my lap. He wanted one of us to hold him the entire time, which is a positive sign of attachment. The pictures turned out pretty well, and were our 1st formal photos as a family, which was a nice way to celebrate being home from Russia for 6 months.

Eli was so cute riding in the car. He looked at all the lights while he sucked his thumb. As soon as we got home, we put his pajamas on and put him in his crib. He was asleep immediately! It was almost 9:00pm, so I hope he sleeps well and doesn't feel tired tomorrow.

leaving the orphanage in Kolomna on April 15, 2008

6 months later, a much happier baby!

the word of the week

We finally have a word! Eli has said "mama" and "dada" and "hey" but now we have our 1st real word. For the last 3 days, he has been saying "up" when he wants to picked up! He had said "up" before, but not consistently and not in the right context. Now he'll say it when he wants us to put him on the couch so he can look out the large picture window in our living room. It is so cute! We are giving him lots of positive reinforcement when he says it, to keep encouraging him to talk more. When we were doing our home study, our social worker warned us that it might take him longer to talk because I would be meeting his every need, and he would have no reason to talk. I think that has happened to a certain extent. He communicates so much to me without having to talk. I'm looking forward to when he does talk though, and can share more of his thoughts and feelings with us.

Today he had his 30th dose of INH (the medication he is taking for his latent TB infection). Only 48 more doses to go! All things considered, he is tolerating it well, but it does cause his appetite to be less than it normally would be. We were worried that he had lost weight, but when we weighed him, he was the same, thank goodness. I'll be so glad when he doesn't have to take this medication any longer.

Every night, before I go to bed, I go in and check on him. He always looks so beautiful. I stroke his hair and rub his back a little. Seeing him lying there in his crib, with Mr. Snuggly, sleeping so peacefully, it's hard to believe that he was ever in a Russian orphanage. He is our precious miracle, and we love him so very much.

6 random facts about me

I've been tagged by Kar! So now I have to pass along 6 random facts about myself. This is harder than it looks!

1. R and I got married on the 19th anniversary of our 1st date. It was definitely God's plan for us to be together, but it took us a few years to understand that and work out the details!

2. I love being a SAHM! I never knew I would enjoy it so much. I love spending time with my son.

3. I once met Lyle Lovett! Many years ago, I was working as a front desk clerk at the Holiday Inn in Athens, GA. He was in town to play a show, and was staying at the hotel. I only had the chance to talk to him briefly, but he was very nice.

4. I have a severe allergy to tree nuts. If I eat one, I have an anaphylatic reaction, and I've ended up in hospital ERs twice. I don't really enjoy going to restaurants, because I have to be so careful about what I'm eating.

5. I don't like to watch a movie unless I know it has a happy ending. My family has really teased me about this one!

6. The biggest fact (in more ways than one!) about me right now is that I'm pregnant at age 43. This is my 1st time ever to be pregnant, so it was quite an unexpected surprise and a little bit of a shock! Both of my children are miracles.

Now it's my turn to tag:
Sinziana
Carrie
Heather
Emily
Rob and Dede
Dana

If I tag you, here are the rules!!!
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random facts about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the taggers know when your entry is up.