36 Months Old

I think the photos below speak a lot for Rocco at this phase. I thought we'd never get just a basic smile out of him. He had to be very, very silly with me. He's such a stinker.

At one point he fell between the crack. This really got him laughing. Daddy finally had to come in and get his attention. This is what we ended up with.

Here's the latest happenings on Rocco at age 3.

Rocco is so very loving. When I lay him down to change his diaper, he'll often beg me to, "Love!" Of course we have to cuddle right there on the changing table. At night, when it's just me and him in the dark, before Jason comes to bed, he'll sweetly say, "Cuddle me!" That's when I snuggle real close to his back and lay my arm over him. He seems to feel safe and snug and often drifts right off to sleep.

Another cute thing he does is to make fish lips, hold my face, and kiss me on the lips. Then, for some reason, he'll always say, "Eww!" as if it is gross. But then he'll just keep on doing it.

This must be the big age for "Me too!" or "I do it!" If he sees anything advertised on the TV, he'll say that Rocco wants it, too. He also insists that he do most things by himself. He takes great pride in being a big boy; why he won't decide to potty train is another thing. Even with his new Diego potty he prefers to tee tee and poo poo in his diaper.

Recently he has received a lot of new Diego toys. Hot Wheels are the new thing,too. He likes watching them do stunts on his Trick Tracks. Remote control cars are a new discovery for him as well. Still, he is true to his trains and continues to put many miles on them. Play doh and bubbles are also staples at our house.

He's started watching other "bee de oh's" other than just Thomas the train. He'll watch Wonder Pets, Backyardigans, Dora, and Diego. I think we're more excited over the variety than he is.

Our puppy is so spastic and crazy, he's decided he wants nothing to do with her. If he sees her in sight he'll beg us to pick him up. Who can blame him when she jumps all over and around him? The cat is another story, though. When Tiger comes around, he'll lay on his back and let Rocco pet him. They like each other, but I'm afraid Rocco's allergies aren't liking their friendship.

I thought this would be a good time to take the bottle away from him. Jason said that since that is the only way he'll drink milk that it is not time. And so at night. . . he still drinks his bottle and plays with his right ear. Such comfort to him.

At nana's house he can finally reach the pedals on the small tricycle. He can pedal it a little, but he just hasn't got the speed up yet.

As a little girl, I had imaginary friends. Well, Rocco is no different from his mama. His friend is Drew. How funny it is to watch him interact with Drew when he's not even there. On a golf cart ride on the farm a few days ago, he informed us that Drew was riding in nana's lap and Rocco was in mama's lap. "Hold on, Drew! Bumpy ride!" Drew also swings and slides with him on the play set. The imaginary play continues at lunch, so much so that nana had to once open Drew up a drink, too.

This past month he learned that Adam was the first man that God made. For a while now he has known who made him handsome . . . Jesus. Who made the beautiful sky. . . Jesus. And he knows who loves him the most . . . Jesus. And on any Sunday when you ask him what daddy preached about, he'll say. . . Jesus.

Rocco loves books. He begs to be read to before nap and before bed. One day when he was sick, I stayed home from work to be with him. I know we read about 20 books, but he was still saying, "More read, mommy!"

I love this age, but then again I say that about every age he's been. There are moments when he gets a little attitude and just repeats, "No!" to anything you suggest or ask him. . . but I would say those moments are only a few. Hopefully they'll stay that way. One thing is for sure, when I tell him that he is going to have to have a talk with his daddy, his attitude often starts to soften.

As far as foods go, we try to keep it healthy but the kid just loves fries. He also asks for gum all throughout the day. Our deal is that if he swallows it, he gets no more the rest of the day. If gum really does tie up your intestines, he's one sticky little fella. But then again maybe that's why he's so sweet ;)

Rocco's 3rd Birthday. . . and Lessons Learned

So today was the long awaited birthday party at the jumping gym that we've been talking about with Rocco for over a month. Everything was prepared by K. J. for us; we only needed to bring the cake and candles. This sure was a lot easier compared to last year's party at the farm where we spent an entire week getting the barn cleaned out and all of the party supplies ordered. Let me just say though that the easy way is not always the best way. I'll explain more later.

From a 3 year old's perspective, it was a great party. All of Rocco's friends played for an hour and a half inside the large gym that was filled with inflatables, tunnels, slides, trampolines, and towers to climb. Later there was pizza and drinks. We sang "Happy Birthday", blew out the candles, ate a delicious chocolate cake, and opened some presents. It was everything you'd expect at a birthday party. All of the kids were pretty tired when they left. The entire party lasted 3 hours and many of them were ready for nap when they left Rocco's celebration.

Behind the scenes there was a different story. At our arrival, the disorganization was already evident. There were carts set out for each child's birthday with their presents piled on top. I looked and looked, but there was no cart for Rocco. The mama bear inside me wanted to roar, but I decided to lay low. Young teenagers were the workers, and they obviously didn't have their act together. They were all running around; one guy up front asked them to get a cart for our little man.

We finally went inside and began playing. That part was fun for the kids, but as a parent I really wanted to see Rocco play with his guests. The building was so large and there were so many kids there, it was just crazy. Running behind Rocco and trying to talk with the parents of our guests was really hard. In fact it was almost impossible. We were all spread out from one end to another, and it bothered me that we weren't together for most of the party.

From here it went downhill a little more. We were supposed to be in the orange room by 1pm for our party. At five til one there was still another party going on in there. I felt my blood pressure rising; I wanted to demand justice for Rocco. Didn't we pay our dues? At this point the kids had been playing for an hour and a half and were thirsty, hungry, and tired. The concession stand was either out of stuff or it wasn't on the menu any more. I asked a young girl who worked there where Rocco's party would be and told her that it was supposed to start at 1pm. She apologized and said that she had been overbooked as a party server but that she thought they were moving our party to the yellow room. I looked in the yellow room and there was nothing that said Thomas. A few minutes later I informed her that we had ordered a Thomas party. We ordered a Thomas cake from a bakery in town and had promised Rocco that he would have a Thomas the Train party at K. J.'s. All of the party decor was just generic paper plates with balloons. "There's been some confusion," she told me. I forget what I mumbled under my breath at this point, but I was finding it very hard to act like a Christian. I had to tell myself to have patience and that it would all work out. But when it comes to your child's birthday party you just want everything to be perfect for them.

We finally got in our party room. . . 20 minutes late. There was only enough food and drink for the kids. If the adults wanted anything they had to buy it. I asked ahead of time if I could bring some chips for the kids and was told no. They would not allow outside food. So as the kids sat there eating, I felt like a hill that not all of our guests had a drink. Then to top it off, K. J.'s would not let us serve the ice cream that we brought for our guests. The only "outside" food that they would allow was the cake. We thought cake and ice cream went together. They didn't. For a price we could have bought some from them. And for an additional price we could have bought the kids more to drink. They only got one Capri Sun. After drinking that with their pizza, they didn't have anything to drink with their cake. So. . . the kids drank water with their cake while the ice cream sat back in the freezer. I was so over it at this point, I just tried to smile and go on for Rocco's sake. But there were lessons learned. . .

1) Have a birthday party at your house so that all of your guests can speak to one another and the kids can play together.

2) Never have a birthday party where they won't allow you to bring an extra drink or bag of chips or for crying out loud some ice cream for your kids to enjoy.

3) K. J.'s is a great place for your kid to play, but never have a party there.

4) If something that is important to you goes wrong, keep your cool. You never know who's watching, and your testimony is at stake. Jason prayed over our food and the party lady saw this. I know she saw my frustration earlier, but the last thing I would want to do is give her a reason to say that Christians are hypocrites. Hopefully I didn't.

In the end, all that matters is that Rocco had a great time at his party. And I know he did. Twelve kids came out to celebrate his birthday, and they made it very special for him. For this I am very grateful.

Gotcha Day Celebration

The Kids' Discovery Museum was our choice this year for our Gotcha Day-Out Celebration. On March 14th, we had VBS training with our church, so we postponed our outing to today. I was on spring break and it was Jason's day off. It was a great opportunity to spend the day as a family. This was our second gotcha day with Rocco. Last year we celebrated at the aquarium.

The museum was all about hands-on science. Since that's what I do every day in my teaching job, I really enjoyed seeing Rocco get involved. The first section was river play. Kids put on water aprons and experimented with water routes, pulleys, water spouts, and draw bridges.

There were also crafts along the way that you could do with your child. Rocco and I made a bird's nest with some raffia.

Throughout our museum experience, we also played musical instruments, built houses with blocks, climbed a tower to overlook the city, laughed at our skinny selves in the crazy mirrors, danced in front of a large neon screen, blew large bubbles, and played outside with the simple machines. Rocco was amazed at some of the exhibits. He couldn't quite figure out how these balls stayed in the air.

Jason showed Rocco how this electrical experiment worked; he thought it was neat, too.

Having Gotcha Days are really fun around our house. Our adoption day just gives us another good reason to have a family day together. I'll close with these two photos. One was taken in March 2007 and the second was taken on our outing today (March 2009). As you can see, after all this time, Rocco still rocks!

Diego Birthday Party

This year I decided to have two birthday parties for Rocco. One with my family and one with Jason's side of the family. My side of the family lives more than an hour away; for the past two years it has limited who has been able come to his parties. My mom and dad graciously agreed to let us have a birthday celebration for Rocco at their house this year. I'm so glad we did. Many of the friends I grew up with were able to come and celebrate with us!

We had a garage full of kids since many of my friends now have kids of their own. Getting all of their attention and having them to smile at the same time was a little challenging.

The party was a success. I made Rocco a birthday party CD with some Diego music and other kid classics. He really got down!

We snacked on sandwiches, chips, and peanuts. Then Rocco blew out his "3" birthday candle, with mommy's help. Opening presents was so much fun. He got a lot of great gifts that every 3 old would love (hot wheels, remote control car, Diego puzzle, Wonder Pets/Backyardigans/ Diego DVDs, educational toys, bubbles, play doh, and much more).

Other than playing around with the balloons,

(cousins Dillon and Zackery)

(cousin Garrett and friend Samuel)

the kids also enjoyed playing the Animal Rescue game that I managed to put together. Our guests had to ride the Diego push car to the "tall mountain" of blocks, find Diego, wrestle the jungle snakes - aka long balloons, run to the ball pit, pull the trap door, grab the animals in need, and race them back in the wagon. All the kids loved it. Some of the parents even helped out. (Below: Phillip and Aiden).

I guess what made it even more special was that my grandparents were there. That's one of the main reasons I wanted to have a party in my parents' hometown. Nana and papaw have not felt the best lately, and I knew the drive to our house would be a bit much. Growing up they were such a big part of my life...and they still mean the world to me. Any gathering, party, holiday, or just an ordinary day. . . you name it and they were there. It meant so much to me that they were able to make it to Rocco's party, too.

Black and White

I've submitted one of my favorite photos for the monthly theme of black and white. The site is We Picture {this} . . . a mamarazzi photoblog. It's found at http://www.wepicturethis.com/

If they only knew the story behind these two beautiful faces. Both taken to an orphanage in a small town in Vietnam by their birth mothers. Both of them needing a home. . . a place to belong. Both destined for adoption. Neither had an easy road early in life, but both were survivors. And as we watch God's plan unfold for their lives, we stand amazed at what an awesome God we serve! Maile was adopted by the Carlson family the same day we adopted Rocco. These two tikes have a friendship that continues today. This time on the opposite side of the world.

My Little Train Conductor

Spring Break

I've been off the entire week for spring break, and we could really get used to this! We've been to several birthday parties. One of my best friends, Heather, celebrated her kids' parties back to back. Lillian turned two and partied princess style. Rocco was her prince. Aren't they so cute? Lillian was adopted from China just three months ago. They are our Asian beauties.

Heather's oldest child, Samuel, had a big pirate party for his fifth birthday. "Arrgh matey." It looks like Samuel just might unhook Rocco's earring any second.

The fun really began when the boys mixed up the party themes and partied like a Pirate Princess. Samuel painted his fingernails (his daddy had a cow later) and Rocco found the hair crimper. Check out these pirates inside the princess' castle.

I just love this pirate outfit on little man. My brother who is now 20 years old, wore it when he was two at Halloween.

Other than partying, we also spent some time with family. Mimi and papaw enjoyed our three day visit. We also stopped by our cousin Stephanie's house to play with Zackery. He is only one month older than Rocco. Within four hours they managed to jump on the trampoline, swing and slide on the play set,

ride around the country in Diego's safari jeep,

steer remote control cars all over the living room, rock and roll on the guitar,

and play with Thomas the train. Both boys were tuckered out; they were so busy playing they missed their naps.

March 13th The Day We Met Rocco

Fun With Photoshop

My new project is experimenting with Photoshop Elements 7. I was able to save some money by making Rocco's birthday party invitations myself. After playing around with the "Create" tab, I was also able to make some photo collages. I'm an amateur, but I'm having fun coming up with creative ways to post and print the many photos I've been taking of our little man.

Heading for Vietnam

That's what we were doing exactly 2 years ago today. On March 10, we left South Carolina, headed to Texas, took another plane to Korea, and some time the next day we landed in Vietnam. Our final destination would be a 7 hour bus ride outside HCMC. A little boy awaited us in a place called Ninh Thuan. He would forever change our lives.

Two years later we are wondering where the time went. We have truly cherished our blessing, Rocco. He's the sweetest, most handsome, energetic little boy . . . so full of life and happiness.

We celebrated the day by eating dinner at a Japanese steak house. He wore his Vietnamese outfit and chowed down on soup, salad, and rice. Later we spoiled him with some treats at Toys R Us.

I believe this is the last time he'll get to wear his Asian outfit. He's getting so tall . . . and handsome. He takes after his daddy!

Our Adoption Story is Published

Almost 450 pages long, the Willis Adoption Story Blog is now bound in two volumes. I am so thankful I began journaling over two years ago about the story of our lives with Rocco. It has taken many hours, sometimes blogging after midnight when Rocco and Jason were asleep, and many memory discs of pictures.

I kept Staples in business buying a nice printer and many ink cartridges to print the blog. I didn't print all 317 posts in one night. I've been working on it for the last two years. I really turned on the fan in the last two weeks though trying to get caught up. Tonight I'm officially caught up on printing the blog, and it is neatly bound in two white folders. Every page is in a page protector and awaiting someone to pick it up and read. Maybe one day Rocco will take an interest in his early childhood. These pages will show him just how much he was loved and all the fun adventures we had together when he was little.

As I read through the pages I couldn't help but think about his birth mother. When she brought her malnourished little baby to the orphanage, I suppose she never dreamed what life awaited him. He would soon have a family to love him, nurture him, and fulfill his every need. No longer would he hunger or cry for someone to hold him. I wish she could read his story now. The story that began when he left Ninh Thuan and started his life with his forever family. I suppose her heart would hurt for her loss but also smile at the same time just knowing how much he is loved and cared for.

Thirty-Five Months Old

By far the most growth we've seen in Rocco this month is with his verbal skills. The little man just talks and talks. It doesn't always come out in the proper syntax, but we know exactly what he's telling us... most of the time. Every now and then he'll say a word and I can't understand what he wants. Eventually I'll figure it out. Little man certainly has his own way of communicating.

He loves to use his words to read us books now. He'll get pretend mail and read what the letter says or bring us a book and jibber on and on with his made up story. One night I was going to read the Bible to him, but he insisted, "No, Rocco read." He opened it up and said the same thing for every page, "Jesus said Bread of Life."

It's amazing to watch him call out his letters. One night I was working on the computer when he noticed the desk calendar. Without any prodding on my part, he quickly called out every letter without any help. "S-E-P-T-E-M-B-E-R." It was one of those moments when I was blown away by how smart he is. It reminded me of something a kindergartener would be doing, and he doesn't start pre-k for another year.

At this age most children can identify four colors. Rocco knows red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, pink, brown, white, gray, and black. He's also doing better with counting to five and he doesn't leave out 3 like he used to.

Speaking of 3, he knows that he is 2 years old and will hold up 2 fingers when asked his age. He also understands that at his party he is going to be 3.

Throughout the day, he continues to get "stuck." I have to stop what I'm doing and go pick him up. He refuses to move another step. Don't know why he does this, but it is sweet that he still wants his mama.

Books are a big part of his life. As soon as he wakes up in the morning or after a nap, he begs for us to read. There are a few books with few sentences and pictures to go in the place of some words. This has allowed him to actively read with us. When we come to the picture word, he'll say the word. It's exciting to see him so involved with books and learn all the pre-reading skills that will help him in school later.

Most recently he has become interested in Wonder Pets, Dora, and Diego. We actually get to listen to something other than the trains now when we're in the car. As he watches his video, he'll say, "Hey Diego!" when every episode begins.

Rocco's gross motor skills continue to develop. He's always had great flexibility and coordination, but he's getting even better at it. When we're at Kangaroo Jakes, he just climbs up those big inflatables like any big kid. He can get up and down on our really high bed now without any help. Since we started tumbling class this month, he's also learned how to do a hand stand, cart wheel, forward roll, and back bend (of course all with help).

The tumbling class has been really good for him because it has allowed him to have some distance from me and be around other kids his age. Two of the four times we've been, he hasn't wanted me to leave. He can look up at any time and see me in the balcony watching him. This has helped. When I leave him crying with Ms. Rachel, he only cries for a few minutes and goes on about his tumbling. It's neat to watch him interacting with other kids his age during his class.

Candy, mum (gum), and blue green are his constant request. I've never seen a little boy so into candy as our Rocco. I worry some about his teeth, so we try to stick with sugar free gum and limit his intake of the sweets. Only problem is that if it's anywhere to be found, he spots it. I will give him credit though. Even though he'll say, "Fries," when you ask him what he wants to eat, he has been known to eat some beans and even broccoli. Any kid who eats broccoli is due a treat every now and then!

At 35 months old, he continues to be the most loving baby in the world. He kisses on us, hugs us, and loves to snuggle. In the mornings, he'll just lay there in the bed with us and not even want to get up.

Even though he's a sweet boy, he has had some melt downs. He doesn't scream and pitch a wild fit, but he does become obstinate and yell, "No, no!" He'll sit there and sulk or get "stuck." At that point, picking him up won't even help. One of his most recent melt downs came when I made him eat some crowder peas. Another one began when granddaddy told him he could not place an open bottle of Sprite on a cloth chair. I'm wondering if he's going to begin having more melt downs as he discovers more and more independence. Every now and then he gets upset when told , "No." On other occasions, I can tell him to throw his sucker away or stop playing and he complies like an angel. Thankfully the melt downs are not very often.

We're so blessed to have Rocco in our lives. Hard to believe I've been doing these montly posts and recording his growth for two years now. He's growing up on us.