bright shiny things

Five reactions to this image.

1. PC has no idea why he's looking, but it sure is enjoyable.

2. TV is the opposite of books, and we are therefore bad parents.

3. He's just like his parents.

4. Damn, nice TV!

5. "Boobah" is the new Teletubbies. Only no gay characters (maybe :))

baby steps

About a month ago we took a picture called "no hands" that showed PC standing by his truck clutching a couple flowers he'd just destroyed. Since that time, he's been doing a LOT of "cruising" along furniture and he loves to walk around holding our hands.

But now we're getting very very close to full walking independence. This afternoon, after lola and lolo's, we went out in the front yard where there's thick grass and set him on his feet. And bam! Five steps! Five, unaided steps, and twice--once walking from me to his mom, and once the other way. It's exciting.

I think this is the first time I've ever used the phrase "baby steps" to refer to the actual thing.

Lola's Birthday

Lola's Birthday

Color

No way! After too many years of enjoying a split pea soup colored
bedroom, I was determined to change it up a bit. I actually was going
for a super-bright green. I will gladly admit that the shade I chose
was not exactly what I had hoped, but it is pretty close..... And
bright!!!!

getting there

PC's room is complete; what was once a small work space now has a crib, rocking chair, and storage shelf for books and toys. The room is on the second floor at it has a nice, tall window that looks out the front of the house and up the road. A not bad first room, for sure.

The paint was the major change and has been the biggest surprise of the room makeover. We were going for something like the green in the sidebars on this blog, but we ended up with something even brighter than the green in the title bar up top. I mean, green---neon green. The shoelaces I bought in 7th grade neon green. It's so bright that it casts a light green veneer onto every white surface around it. The crib grandma A. bought is not white, and it looks fantastic in the new room.

For flooring C bought half-inch foam tiles, 26 of them, one for every letter of the alphabet. We needed cushioning for the wood, most of all, but an extra added bonus is that Stanley gets his name on the floor. And Buford too.

units parental

Children are our future--Whitney Houston was not being ironic when she sang that.

Friends in Champaign-Urbana and central MN are expecting in the next two months, and friends right here in the RIC also have oven-with-bun. Two girls, one boy. We're in "that age," I guess, among that dense and predictable cohort of people who are having kids now. I can think of ten little ones under the age of two in a small group of folks we used to hang out with. It's much like the cycle of marriages among our friends ten years ago.

I learned from my colleague that China has become much more strict about adoption these days. Though they more lenient as a culture in regard to the state's "one-child" idea, there are still a lot of orphans and a lot of us in the U.S. adopting them---30,000 families in the U.S. are waiting right now. Very cool. This also makes for quite the wait these days--it will be four years before the child is here and they can start livin' family style. Anyway, the background check she described is quite extensive now, and includes things like if either parent takes anti-depressants. Taking anti-depressants rules you out.

I don't know if that's the case in other places. But I do know that there has been a happy transition from Russia to Minneapolis in recent months for this new guy. We are so happy for you and we love following along.