Playdate

Sunday was wonderful fun. We met Elizabeth and her mom at a local park and then ended up coming back to our house...it was just a tad bit warm. She is adorable. I know they don't remember each other but Jayden was all too excited to have a new buddy.

Apparently we had a complete role reversal. During my visit trip when Jayden was 4 months, we heard that his foster sister was very rambuctios and he was super quiet. Yesterday, she watched him and he was his full tilt self.

We're going to get together again soon. It's so much fun that they live so close.


Potty training - I am following Claudia's (daycare) lead on this one. She said he was ready and apparently is doing pretty well for her. For me...absolutely no interest. This coming weekend will be the big push from me. I have to slow our weekends down just a bit for us to have a shot at it. I figured out I need to talk about it a lot more. He defintely gets "el bano" but "potty" may be a different story.

Life Decisions

Last week, a life decision for Jayden before me, I had to make a choice. I was torn, not completely knowing what to do.

I stood at the display at the Carter's outlet.

Briefs or boxer-briefs?

We've begun potty training and I went to purchase the post-success necessities. We've got a ways to go but we're prepared.

For the record...I got a package of each... he'll have to choose.

Meeting a very special person

This Sunday afternoon, we have a very exciting playdate planned. I know the significance of it will be lost on Jayden, but I am so completely excited fot this particular playdate because I have wanted it to happen since before Jayden came home.

In Guatemala, a foster mom can have two babies at a time. When Mom and I went to visit Jayden in October of 2005. We heard about his foster sister and how spunky she was. She kept their foster mom busy. Her name is Elizabeth. Agencies are very protective of their clients information. I asked if there were any way to find out where Elizabeth was going or if they would contact her family on my behalf. As a matter of policy, both families have to contact the agency completely unsolicited, releases must be signed, etc.

Due to set of circumstances, I'll expound on a different post. Both Elizabeth's family and I contacted the agency at the same time. I was suspicious that they would contact the agency so I asked that they give my information to them. That day I received an email from Elizabeth's mom.

She and her mom live within a mile or two of my office !??!?!!? We set up a playdate for this Sunday. I know Jayden won't remember her, but I can't wait to meet them. It never ceases to amaze me how God arranges things.

the "other" kids

It's been a busy couple weeks with the "other kids" in the household. This is actually an older picture of Mama while she was recovering from surgery 2 years ago. She's been a little under the weather these past two weeks and gave me a little bit of a scare that I would be making a "decision" regarding both dogs at the same time. She is almost 12 and Willie is 14 1/2 so it wasn't out of the question.

After a big round of testing, she is going on long term medication and an all new diet. She should be with us for a while now. Phew...wasn't prepared to lose the Diva this soon. She is starting to feel better...her Diva dial is back on high. I know this because Needy Hour is back on in our home.

What is Needy hour? Needy hour starts promptly at 7 and usually lasts until 8/8:30. This is when everyone in the house needs something. Jayden gets his bath, jammies, snack and then is heading off to bed. The pups want some attention and usually get in the middle of the happenings. Several nights a week, the cat will chime in as well. I think their coordination in their efforts to demand something all at the same time should be appaulded... how often do a two year old, two dogs and a cat coordinate their efforts? It's chaos but it's our chaos. Needy Hour...we embrace you!

Get a Frosty for Dad

There are more than 150,000 foster children waiting to be adopted in NorthAmerica.

This Father's Day Weekend (June 16 and 17), you can help foster childrenfind permanent homes. All weekend, participating Wendy's restaurantsacross North America will donate a minimum of 50 cents from every Frostyproduct sold to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.The goal is to raise $1 million to support the work of the Foundation'ssignature program, Wendy's Wonderful Kids, and you can help!

Click on theweb address below to watch Rockin' Frosty and then forward this email toyour friends and family to spread the word about Father's Day FrostyWeekend.You can also cut and paste this url in your browser's address bar:http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/frostyIt's a Frosty you'll never forget!

Best regards,Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
800-ASK-DTFA

Two is rough...

Saturday was Jay's party. It was a great time. What you see above is Jay being faux upset. He'd been in there about an hour when it was time to come in to eat.

Two has brought some changes... his insistence on wearing a watch and his new found love of sleeping in his shoes. Attempting to remove said shoes usually is grounds for show casing new features in the tantrum arena. The latest features include new high levels of pitch and increased memory of the offense...i.e. out of sight, out of mind doesn't work anymore...it used to be you could bait and switch and he would forget and stop crying. No more. He is on the tenacious side, but as I remind him, I AM more stubborn.

He also is holding me accountable to be polite. Some of his first words were "thank you". I would hand him something and tell him to say thank you. Once we got the thank you part, and he does it without being reminded most times, I added the "you're welcome". Now he will say thank you repeatedly until he hears "you're welcome" or "de nada". He also is getting "please" down as well. That used to be pointing and adament "thank you"s in succession until you figured out what to hand to him.

He's quite the little boy and watching him change is so much fun.

Hello Two

Jayden had a fun day all in all. Saturday is his birthday party and several of his buddies are coming over for cake and playtime in the pool. It should be a wild time.

Terrible Two's

Today Jayden turns two. No one informed me that the terrible twos start promptly at two...to be more specific the morning he turned two. He woke up in a really bad mood...maybe it was because he woke up to a flash camera in his face. I'll post pictures later.

He was grouchy all the way to school (daycare) and when I dropped him off. They have big day planned - the kids are going to bake a cake together to celebrate and there are all sorts of fun party favors and sidewalk chalk that Mommy brought in.

Grumpy, grouchy pictures to follow....

Apparently he's embraced the E in extrovert

Hanging with friends (David and Matthew) at the Animal Planet Expo...we had a great time hanging with the crowd and introducing ourselves to other people waiting in line.

There are two women behind J in this picture. What I didn't catch on film was his multiple visits to pop his head in between theirs to say hi. He must have walked up behind them about 4 or 5 times put a hand on each shoulder, leaned in and said hi. I thought my friend knew them and I kept letting them know if he bothered them, I'd grab him. Turns out they were COMPLETE strangers and my friend didn't know them, but thankfully they thought he was hysterical.

This was at a Durham Bulls game on Friday night. The first hour was spent with Mommy chasing/walking him all over the stadium as he joyfully ran up to people to say hi. He settled down and enjoyed yelling and cheering with the crowd for an hour. He gets into sporting events so we'll keep going to them.