Spring: Monday for Mammals

In celebration of National Wildlife Week we are spending as much time outside as possible! The National Wildlife Federation has a list of suggested family activities, today’s being a search for signs of mammals. We found a squirrel nest, a stick pile den (rabbits?), several holes in the ground, lots of new mole tunnels and significant damage to our apple trees (argh, those deer). Many squirrels were spotted during a walk around town this morning, but we’ve only seen a couple in the woods. The chipmunks are being elusive, too. Hmm, the village residents must be much better about keeping their bird feeders filled than we are.

It's Coming...

Feliz Cumpleaños, Tia Pat!

S is for...

S is for Dr. Seuss! We celebrated his birthday on March 2nd by making a wacky birthday cake and reading some of his books – luckily we have 9 in our collection because the library was all out! Mateo’s favorite: The Cat in the Hat. My favorite: The Lorax.

S is also for Snake. We met a fox snake (not a Fox in Socks snake) at the park last week. The kids were able to touch the snake, as well as a shedded snakeskin. Sssssssssuper cool! We also learned that there are no poisonous snakes where we live. Sssssssssuch a relief!

R is for...

R is for Recuperating!

Wow, this cold has hit all three of us and is Really dragging on. In an effort to be Responsible, we cancelled our activities for two weeks – two whole weeks cooped up in the house! Our Recovery has involved a lot of movie watching and Reading and Resting. In addition, I set up an art corner for Mateo with supplies that he can use whenever he wants to without asking permission – he is a big boy now, you know.

We’ve started feeling better and venturing out again, which will lead us to the letter ‘S’…next week!

Q is for...

Q is for Questions…

Mateo, on the loss of his voice:
Will the ibuprofen go down, down, down? (running his finger from his throat to his belly)
Will it find my voice?
Will it bring it up here? (running his finger from his belly back up to his throat)

Mateo, on the color of his eyes:
If I have dark eyes, does that mean I can’t see?

Mateo, on adoption:
Why did you take so long to come and get me?

These have all been recent questions, the last of which came up for the first time in December just as Kevin and I were getting ready to go to a holiday party, and again earlier this month. February holds a lot of celebratory moments for us: the day we finally held Mateo, Mateo’s homecoming, remembering Kevin’s Grandma – all that in addition to Valentine’s Day and, let's not forget, President’s Day. So we talk about these moments as a family and look at old pictures and videos and when he says things like: “If I get little again I don’t want to go back to live with my foster mommy” and “Why didn’t you get me right away?” it just breaks my heart. I go right back to that time of waiting for him and wanting him with us so badly, and being angry at that “someone” for delaying the process. I go right back to that time of meeting him in the hotel lobby, taking what felt like my first real breath in months at the relief of finally, finally holding him in my arms. But, my knowing that we are a forever family doesn’t equate to his knowing that we are a forever family. So we will keep loving each other and hugging each other and sharing stories and special moments. And one day he will know, as much as I do, that we are and will be a family forever.

P is for...

P is for PreK orientation and Pizza celebration! Mateo registered for PreK this week and, initial separation anxiety aside, he had a lot of fun. We’re all very excited for him to start this fall!