It is 2009

Christmas came and it was so much fun. Charlie had picked out one thing he wanted in a toy magazine at Mimi's house before Thanksgiving and that was all he asked Santa for up until the day Christmas arrived. Santa delivered! The "piston stop" is a little work bench full of tools for working on cars, decorated with all his favorite friends from the movie "Cars". Charlie is particularly fond of the drill.
All the family was at our house this year for Christmas dinner and exchanging gifts it was a beautiful day. Charlie enjoyed M&M's for breakfast lunch and supper and ran and laughed and played until his energy was completely spent. He asks every week when Christmas is coming again.
From October through the New Year is a time of pretty consistent celebrations around our house now, beginning with Charlie's birthday on the 23rd. This year we took an in-town vacation of two nights and three days at Disney to celebrate Charlie's 3rd birthday. It was great fun, really loved Animal Kingdom and went to see the Lion King show three times in one day.
Then Halloween arrives, Charlie was Simba and the flow of candy really kicked it up a notch. Thanksgiving was a good time at Aunt Suzy's house with lots of room to run and play and then the preparations for Christmas. It is hard to get back to work and regular routine.
We started January with Charlie's 3 year old physical. All is well, the doctor is impressed with Charlie's general health, his growth - he is now 36 1/2 inches tall and a nice healthy 30 lbs. With the exception of an ear infection all is well at the doctor's office. Potty training is complete, for the daytime hours, and the night time training is on the way. Charlie continues to do well in school and make friends. He loves to play with children and is a very happy and energetic child.
We turned the three day passes to Disney from the birthday celebration into Florida resident seasonal passes so we can take a day and go from time to time throughout the year. It is a good deal for Florida residents and especially so for people who live here in Orlando.
The year is off to a good start and we are looking forward to all of the growth and fun that a three year old brings to the house. He is constantly finding new ways to play and enjoy everything, right now being especially fond of rocks and sticks. When we are out, each stop requires the collection of at least one of each to bring along as a souvenier.

It has been a long time

Time seems to fly by and weeks turn to months so quickly. I suppose it is a good thing that life is so full that there seems little time to sit and think about it much, but a moment of sharing and reflection is always a good thing.

Just to review some of the "big rocks" since my last entry on this blog, I would begin in June I suppose. Maui, my loving companion of 8 years, had to be put to sleep on June 30th. It was an immensely sad day. He began having some trouble urinating about a week prior and when we got to the vet found out he had a cluster of kidney stones blocking the pathway. Surgery was an option, a very expensive option, following about $800 worth of diagnostic work. It was just too much. I went after a second opinion with a Vet who is a member of my Rotary club, he was concurred on the diagnosis and the treatment, but at a much more reasonable rate. (For any Orlando people, McAbee Veterinary Clinic on Goldenrod at Aloma -- - great people!!) So, Maui was scheduled for surgery. We could swing hundreds, as opposed to thousands, for the surgery - and so we were going forward. Not too long after dropping Maui off at the office for the surgery that would be later in the afternoon I got a call from Dr. Scott who told me they were doing some presurgical ultrasounds and found some disturbing other problems. I was with Maui when they put him to sleep, Mom was there as well. I cried like never before. Maui and I had been companions longer than me and anyone else in my adult life. The people at the clinic were SO great, and they had just met us. Such good and kind people took care of me in my grief. They were so respectful, even sent a card with everyone's signature on it a couple of week's later. We had Maui cremated and his current resting spot is in a lovely doggy tin, as we decide where his final resting space will be. Paulo and I still cry when we talk about Maui, and even now as I write about that day.

I wondered how I would explain death to Charlie...but I did as I have learned to do, I just told him, "Maui died today and he won't be home anymore." It took several days to repeat it as we would come home and Maui wouldn't meet us at the door. Charlie asks when Maui is coming home and we review it again from time to time. I don't know what reminds Charlie of Maui from time to time, but he thinks of him and mentions him. Just the other day he said, "I need to get Maui's leash and go get him to bring him home." We miss our very dear friend!

In August my youngest brother had a baby boy, Brady Clel Reynolds was born. He is as cute and sweet as he can be. Rodger is finishing his commitment to the Air Force and will be moving with his wife and new son to Orlando soon. We are all very happy that they will be so close.

Charlie really enjoyed Halloween this year. He had vague memories of getting lots of candy last year. He decided he wanted to be a lion, Simba, from the Lion King - one of his favorite movies for Halloween. This was perfect as Halloween came just one week following his birthday celebration, which was a weekend at Disney. He loved every moment of being at Disney. We went to the Lion King stage show twice while at the Animal Kingdom. He got to see all of his favorites and ride in race cars and everything! It was a great 3rd birthday celebration.

We are now looking forward to Christmas. Charlie found a toy catalog at his Mimi's house over the weekend and now he carries it everywhere. There are couple of items in there he wants and so we have been talking about how he would need to ask Santa for them. So, now, each morning he wakes up and asks me, "Is today Christmas?" We have added Santa to our nightly prayer routine! :)

Here is Charlie's latest school pics.....he is still the cutest guy ever!! In my opinion.

School Pictures

Charlie has been attending day school near my work since September of last year. He is doing great with his classes and all of his friends. He learns something new every day, in English and Spanish. :)

Lately I think the two-year old class has been working on "listen with your ears!" - surely an important lesson for a group of very healthy, curious two-year old boys and girls. Listening, the life-long learning lesson begins in the 2B classroom, right along with potty training and the lesson titled "we don't hit our friends."

By the way, I think Charlie is doing great in "we don't hit our friends" and still has some work to do in the "listen with your ears" lesson. He is, much to mama's delight, also doing great in his potty training. He has gone through the last couple of weeks with none, or maybe only a couple of accidents at school or in the evening at home. I never knew how proud I could be that my son was wearing the same underwear when I pick him up that I put on him in the morning. But I find myself perfectly delighted when I arrive and that is the case. It is happening almost every day now. Wow!! three weeks ago, I thought these days would never happen.

Here are a couple of Charlie's school photos from last month.

He is getting so big, no longer a little baby, but becoming a little boy. He knows it too!

And Pa Pai Makes Three

It has been an eventful couple of months, with the celebration of one year of Charlie's arrival at home, Easter, mother's day and a wedding. Ramona and Paulo, long time best buddy of both Mom and Charlie, got married just after Charlie's first anniversary at home. It was a small ceremony on a Friday afternoon, with a surprisingly large number of family in attendance. :)

We are a very happy family. Paulo is Brasilian and so Charlie is calling him "papai" the Brasilian word for Daddy. We are working on Portuguese as well, learning greetings and so forth. Charlie got to meet some of his Brasilian cousins via webcam a few nights ago and had a great time.

This past weekend Charlie got to spend part of an afternoon with other friends from Ethiopia as we gathered for a first, I think, social time together with other families who have children from Ethiopia. We met at Lake Eola here in Orlando and enjoyed playing and sharing snacks as well as having a blast at the playground.

Charlie is expecting a new cousin in August, as Uncle Rodger and Aunt Melissa will be welcoming their first son. We have already included Brady into our nightly prayers and Charlie is still trying to figure out the part about Brady being in Aunt Melissa's tummy.

Here is a funny little story: while driving home from work and school the other afternoon Mom was asking Charlie about which of his friends he played with at school. "Did you play with Sophia? Was Liliana there? How about Lincoln, did you have fun together today?" After answering each one the Mom asked, "who else did you play with today?" Charlie replied, "I played with Jesus." "What did you and Jesus play today, Charlie?" "We played with blocks and with the trucks." Mom is still smiling about these after school stories. :)

Here are some pics from the picnic and playground and working around the house.

pics and thoughts

Just a few pictures of my growing little boy. He has transitioned into another class at school, based on his age and developmental progress. He is growing and thriving. We got home tonight and watched "Cars" the movie. An all time favorite. You wouldn't know it at other times in the day that he could sit and pay attention to something for as long as more than half of a movie. Well, for this he will. Loves Lightening McQueen.

Charlie's favorite things to do are climb, run and hang upside down. In addition to that he is still in love with cars and all things with wheels, and has recently been very much enjoying Bob the Builder. He is two and a half - - no doubt about it.

ANNIVERSARIES

This is the season of anniversaries for Charlie and I. March 27th marks one year since our meeting and April 7th, one year of our arriving home. If you look back through the blog entries, you will see about that meeting, and about the days since. They have been busy and wonderful. In this year that has passed, Charlie has grown in many ways - he is walking, running, climbing, jumping. He couldn't walk at this time last year. He has moved from the 20th percentile on the growth chart to the 55th percentile. Shot up three inches and gained almost 20 pounds. He is working on potty training, although it is not his favorite bit of learning. He has learned English and is working on Spanish, knows shapes and colors in both languages. This morning he was singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "The Wheels on the Bus" as we were in the car running Saturday morning errands.

On April 9th, we will have our final post-placement report/visit with the social worker, the immigration paperwork is sent and received for his naturalization process.

A year ago I didn't know how love could fill my heart. Each night Charlie and I have a bit of a ritual we go through at bedtime. We sit on the end of his bed and have prayer time. At the end of prayer time I tell him how much I love him and wish him sweet dreams for the night. Last night when I told him how much I love him, he put his nose against mine and said, "I love you too, mama." My heart was so full - I immediately began to cry. How did I get so lucky!?!

Our first time away!

This week marked a developmental marker in my and Charlie's relationship, we spent two nights apart!

I had a meeting related to work in Jekyll Island, GA which spanned over a couple of days. So, we made arrangements for Charlie to stay at Suzy's (my sister) house in Ocala. If you have read this blog since it's beginning you know that Suzy accompanied me to Ethiopia when Charlie and I met. BTW: the anniversary of our meeting is happening on March 27th. What a fabulous year!

Charlie did fine at Suzy's house, he enjoyed being with Suzy and with Lewis and Rachel. I however, called every few hours to see how things were going. I know Suzy must have moaned when she saw my number on the caller i.d., but she was gracious and kind each time. Charlie enjoyed taking Rachel and Lewis to the school bus and picking them up each day, as well as "helping" Suzy around the house with whatever project she was working on. The first night he found a container with several cars and trucks in it...that kept his attention as well, I hear.

The trip away was nice, but I felt like part of me was missing and was easily drawn to tears when I would talk about Charlie and how much I was missing him while I was there trying to pay attention to the business and speakers.

We are very, very fortunate to be near family who are willing to help out with Charlie, when things like this come up for work. He loves being with family and enjoyed getting back home.

You might expect that I would tell you about the wonderful reunion we had when I arrived in Ocala to pick him up, well he did come running when Suzy told him that Mama was here, he smiled at me as he ran right over to Paulo - his best buddy!

It felt good to have him and Maui back home, everyone where they belong, last night.

I never really understood what Mom meant when we were all home, as we were older near the holidays primarily. She would always say how good it feels to be home with everyone there and have all the doors locked. I know that feeling now. All is right with the world when your little family is safe and together!

This is Charlie exploring on a Saturday afternoon at

Barnes and Nobles, he loves to read!

This is Charlie getting ready for some bird hunting with his uncle Charles someday....