...of real communication

Both my children are making strides in their communication abilities recently. Abram is getting a better and bigger vocabulary everyday. His sentences are more coherent and we have less instances of just not knowing what he's talking about now. He still has things that he says strangely. Like he can't say his "L"s. So Selah's name is still "Sey-ah". Also "R"s are hard. Or, should I say "hawd". And he still can't say "sp" (comes out as an f sound) or "oi" (boy and toy sound like "bee-oh" and "tee-oh"...?...) But overall he is fully comprehending almost everything we say to him and able to tell us what he wants and needs rather than throwing fits. He never was a big temper tantrum kid, but they do happen and it's nice to be able to use the "I'm sorry, I can't understand what you are saying when you talk like that" tactic and have him be able to respond by calmly saying whatever he had previously been whining or crying about. He's two, though, so our expectations can't be too high.

Selah has understood the word "clap" for about a month now - clapping when we just say the word and not having to see someone doing it. This made me think that she would pick up on sign language if we started trying it with her. With Abram, I diligently did more, all done, and please from four months old. Not surprisingly, it wasn't until about 10 or 11 months that he picked it up. With Selah, I didn't bother with it early and just started it recently and she's already starting to get the hang of it. Just yesterday she started using the "more" sign! Pretty big news! It's always awesome when your kids can start to let you know what they want, rather than you having to guess what they need or how much they want of something. The thing that got her going was hummus (over here it's said more like "hummos") on bread. She was a big fan and chowed down a whole slice of bread. I got a few videos of her saying more. This one she only really does it once, but it was the one with the least focus problems.
They are growing up so fast! I can't believe it! Selah is slowly but surely heading out of baby-dom and soon we will have a toddler and a full-on kid running around our house. I'm trying to savor it instead of hurrying her through it. Her 45 minute naps have made that savoring a little difficult, but I know for a fact that this too shall pass.

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... of the tipping point

I haven't blogged in so very long, I can't remember when and I'm not going to stop this thought train to go and check. Suffice it to say, it's been awhile. But I showed up here to share (and document) a major event in the life of our family. Before Moses came home, I would see adoptive families posting about their kiddos' "Tipping Point Days". I recently heard it called something else as well, but I'm too tired to think of it right now. Basically, it is the day when your adopted child has been with you for as long as they were not with you. For kids that were adopted at 1 or 2 or 3, that seems to come quickly and maybe feels eventful, but not monumental. Well, when we got custody of Moses he was about 4 years and 9 months old. I remember coming back to America and seeing someone in my adoption group post about their 2 or 3 year old's Tipping Point Day and thinking I should figure out when Moses's would be. So I did. I sat down and figured ou...

... of a patent

... or maybe, just maybe , I'm jumping the gun :) A good friend told me the other day that she and her husband have been leaving church after the worship because she can't sit for an extended time in the folding chairs. Our church did a great thing and bought inexpensive folding chairs for our sanctuary in order to 1)save money and 2)be able to use the empty room for community type events in the neighborhood during the week. This is awesome. I support their decision and so does my friend who is leaving after the worship (and watching the previous week's sermon from home). But she is pregnant. She already had back problems and now (of course!) they are worse. My back is just starting to bother me and I know that there are many pregnant women with back problems and normal people with back problems who whimper inside a little every time they enter a room and see folding chairs. Until now, I had just sort of reconciled myself to the fact that sitting in a folding chair was ...

... of the big wait.

It awaiting the birth of the baby, there were a few events that we were hoping we would get to attend before he came. I have to admit that there were times I wished that he would come early and we just wouldn't be able to make it. However, we have passed that final event and I am glad that he has waited to grace us with his presence. The final event was the wedding of one of Quinn's best friends. Akintunde Omitowoju is a Nigerian who grew up in between Nigerian and America and became a computer programmer. Akin moved to Japan for 5 years from 2003 to 2008 and in that time, he came to realize how much he loved Japan and will now tell anyone that he feels Japanese at heart. So how appropriate that he would meet and befriend a Japanese girl at his church in Japan who he began to date after he had moved back to Austin and started working with Quinn at Retro. Masami Nishida moved to America just a few weeks ago and their wedding was Saturday night! We were all praying that Ab...

On the Verge...

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