Santa Visit

Merry Christmas!

Flashback

This morning Ezra and I are going to visit a friend and her 3 week old baby girl. Admittedly, I have moments of sadness that I didn't get to be with Ezra during those early stages of his life. I can usually talk myself out of them pretty easily but I surely would have loved to have cradled him in my arms at 3 weeks old. I have some pictures of him when he is 4 weeks and 6 weeks old and that is the furthest back they go. The photos of him at 4 weeks were taken by Gladney when he arrived at the Gladney foster homes in Addis. The photos from 6 weeks were taken by a friend/fellow adoptive mom, Maribeth, when she went to bring home her sons. At the time she didn't know he would be referred to us. After we got our referral, we exchanged a few emails and I described Ezra to her. Here was her response back to me. (Hopefully she is okay that I am quoting her.)

"Oh, Emily, I knew it! I woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning about 3 days after your referral and just knew that it was him. I am almost certain I know your little guy, and if it's who I'm thinking of, I have some pictures for you. This little guy is amazing."

As you can imagine, the tears started flowing as I read those words. I sent her some photos so she could confirm if it was him. After receiving the photos and confirming it was our guy, she told me a little bit more about her interaction with him.

"He was so tiny and fragile I was afraid to hold him. So, I just touched his sweet little face and let him hold my finger. I won't lie... he fascinated me. Just lying there in his crib, he was just so tiny... but he was wide awake and looking at everything going on around him. I would expect a malnourished child to be so weak that he couldn't interact with his environment, but he was definitely checking out all the people coming in and out of his room. He broke my heart, but I can't tell you how amazing it is that he's yours."

Her description of him is still so accurate to this day. He does not miss a beat! His physical appearance has obviously changed so much since those early days but the brightness of his eyes and the joy in his smile remains.

About two weeks after our referral another friend/fellow adoptive mom, Heidi, went to bring home her boys. Ezra was about 4 months old at the time of her visit. She was able to take some video of Ezra and I blogged about the excitement of receiving those videos. Since today is Ezra's 11 month birthday, I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and share those first videos. I still cry when I watch them. Enjoy.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

First Words

I had mentioned on a previous blog post that Ezra was trying very hard to say the word, "stinky." It is from a book that I read to him. He is still trying very hard to say this word but if you didn't know that is what he is saying then you would have no clue. Does that still count as the first word? Or does it have to be something distinguishable? If so, then we have a winner in that department as well. Ezra has very clearly started looking and pointing at Damon and saying, "Dada." You can't mistake it. His voice is super high pitched when he says it and he gets the biggest grin on his face. Ezra has said "dada" as part of his babble talk for a while but he wasn't saying it in reference to anything. That has now changed. Can you sense that I am not at all jealous about this and am completely fine? Hmmmm. Even though I may be a wee bit jealous it is unbelievably cute. I may be giving him more credit than deserved but I also think Ezra associates the sound of the garage door with Damon. Two times in a row recently he heard the garage door and said, "Dada?" He was right that Damon was coming home. When Damon walks in the door Ezra kicks his legs and shakes his arms and says, "Dada." Damon doesn't have to tell me that it totally makes his day. I will admit to having a little chat with Ezra about the lack of "Mama" in his vocabulary. Hopefully, that day will be soon.

At the suggestion of fellow Gladney mom, Amy, I have started working with Ezra on baby signing. My mother-in-law taught it to my niece and I remember at a wedding my niece was sitting on my lap and she essentially constructed a sentence with two signs in a row. I was blown away and thought my niece was the smartest 18 month old ever. (I still think she is very smart.) Ezra seems to really like signing and I think it is because he is so eager to communicate and interact. So far he has mastered ceiling fan, light and book. He gets super excited when he points to those items and does the sign. I will do the sign back and praise him with lots of encouragement. He eats it right up.

Speaking of mouths, my little guy still has NO teeth. He will be 11 months old on Friday. Anyone else out there have a little one that was late to get teeth? I know they are in there somewhere. Everyday I ask him if he is ready to show me his teeth. So far, nothing.

I do love that toothless grin.

All Boys

I am very lucky in that I have remained close with several of my good friends from Earlham. There are four of us, Allie, Molly, Mahli and me, that have made a special effort to continue to see each other even though we all live in different states. At Mahli's wedding the idea was hatched to have an annual ladies weekend. We had three in a row and the last one was in March of 2009. Then in April of 2009, Damon and I started the adoption process. A few months after that Allie got pregnant and so the 2010 Ladies Weekend was put on hold. Earlier this year both Molly and Mahli got pregnant! Ezra was born in January and then Allie had Miles in April. On November 1st Molly gave birth to Henry and then on Saturday Mahli had Oliver AND Teagan. Mahli upped the ante and had twin boys! The four of us now all have BOYS and they were all born in 2010. It was quite a year for our little group. I am so grateful for each of their friendships. We have stood by each other through some ups and downs and now we are all moms to boys. I think a ladies weekend will be needed now more than ever!

Senior Year at Earlham

At Allie's wedding in November 2007

First Ladies Weekend at Sundara Spa

Second Ladies Weekend at Nemacolin Resort

Third Ladies Weekend in Georgetown

I love you, ladies! Cheers to our boys!!

Sunday Snapshot

Florida Trip

Last weekend we went to Florida to celebrate my Grandma Edie's life. She passed away on June 22nd, which was 38 days before the judge in Ethiopia declared Ezra to be our son. I was so grateful that she got to hear news of our referral and see pictures of Ezra. My dad was in Florida with her the day we got the referral call and he told me that she had him put photos of Ezra in every room so she could always see him. I remember talking to her in the spring of last year and she told me that she had "a chat" with her oncologist. She told him that she was, "putting the pressure on him to keep her alive so that she could see her grandchild come home from Ethiopia." Thinking of that comment now makes me smile because it sounds just like her.

My dad's side of the family gathered in Florida this past weekend as she would have turned 87 on December 7th. All of us stayed at the same hotel right on the beach. It was a wonderful getaway and I know my grandma would have loved the idea of all of us together. The trip was also exciting because it was Ezra's first time to see the ocean. The water was too cold to get in but he seemed to enjoy observing it from a distance. Here are some photos from the trip.

The view from our hotel room balcony.

Ezra with his Grandfather.

Damon and Ezra venturing pretty close to the water. As with most things, Ezra seemed very curious.

The original TomKat. So cute.

Ezra chilling on a poolside lounge chair.

At breakfast in the morning with Grandma Kathy. Ezra always has something to say. Do you think my mom is in love with her grandson?

Too bad Ezra was more interested in Damon's button and wasn't looking at the camera.

A beautiful Florida sunset.

I would say Ezra's trip to the beach was a success! We were able to sleep with our balcony door open and you could hear the waves hitting the sand. I even think the fresh air helped Ezra sleep through the night! Unfortunately, the flight home was miserable. It would be fair to say that it was easier flying home from Ethiopia. It's amazing what a difference a few months makes. In August, he was content with sitting on our laps but that is not the case anymore. Ezra did not enjoy being contained or in the same space for a long period of time. He had one of those meltdowns in the airport where you want to crawl under one of the chairs and hide. He was totally out of sorts. (So was I.) Luckily his personality and smile won over most of the people around us so they didn't seem too mad when he decided to scream. I was so glad we got to see all my aunts, uncles and cousins on my dad's side so it was worth the drama filled flight home. I will be crossing my fingers that the flight to Tulsa at Christmas will be easier!