3 years and 4 months old

I believe this month has been one of his greatest for cognitive growth. His vocabulary is unreal. The little boy that used to point and grunt now talks about everything from helicopters to whooping cranes. One of my favorite new words he says is Nehemiah. But it comes out "Me uh Me uh." He knows this is a book in the Bible though.

This has also been the month when he started reading. By memory, of course. Still, he can read Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See, Panda Bear Panda Bear What Do You See, Goodnight Moon, and Freight Train. He has just taken off. It's as if he wants to hear books over and over just so that he can read them back to you. Reading has been so good for his self confidence. At night, he begs, "Read a book to us!" No matter how many we read it is never enough.

Rocco gets excited when we have to go to Wal Mart. Perhaps it is because we often buy him new trains there. But he also loves to push the buggy. He just doesn't want to push them; he loves to CRASH into things! Then, he just laughs.

Speaking of laughing, he loves to make himself laugh. Most of the time it is fake. During his videos (Backyardigans, Diego, or Thomas) he will get himself tickled and tell you, "Rocco just laugh and laugh and laugh."

His imagination has taken off lately. Since we've been reading the polar bear and brown bear books, he pretends that the animals in the story are in our house. "Mommy! I saw a leopard!" or "There's a polar bear in there! And a peacock!" We'll have to push them into the bathroom closet or hide from them under the covers. Every now and then we'll throw them food or water so that they won't eat us.

His new found fascination with animals is neat. He knows what his favorites are. Horse ("weece"), leopard, and zebra. He likes them because they run really fast. We've also focused on picking more favorites. Color: blue. Number: one. Shape: circle. Food: fries. Drink: Sprite. Pet: cat. Train: James. Friend: Drew and Matthew. He also knows that he is a boy with brown eyes and hair. He can tell you the city he lives in, where he was born, and his full name.

The two latest things that he plays with are the flashlight and the old digital camera. One day when I was shopping I just let him walk around with me and take pictures. I guess he has had so many pictures taken of him that actually being the photographer gives him a feeling of independence and power.

Being able to recognize the numbers has been another accomplishment recently. His Nana Carolyn bought a dry erase book to help him with this. He can circle the number you ask him to. Sometimes he will write the number. It often looks really close, especially number 7 and 10. Rocco is really good with his hands. He enjoys holding a pen, pencil, or marker and drawing. After he doodles a little, he will tell you what he drew. It's amazing that his fish, or boot, or whooping crane looks just like what he tells you it is.

Our biggest challenge lately is keeping him away from mosquito bites. It's really sad that he can't go outside and play all the time like he wants to. And when he does we have to bathe him in deet / repellent. On days that we don't play outside, a mosquito will find its way in the car or in our house. We've been keeping the bites covered in Band-aids so that they won't turn into impetigo again. Thankfully, I have a photo editing system on my computer to erase his bites in this picture. Regardless, he is our handsome boy. . . a blessing straight from Jesus.

Our Week with the Carlson Family

This photo was taken at the orphanage after we first met Rocco and the Carlsons met their daughter, Maile. After only being able to spend a couple hours with our babies, we were made to leave and go back to our hotel. Two hours of loving on them had to come to an end.We would arrive the next morning to pick them up for the adoption ceremony. The sad look on both their faces in this photo grips my heart. The strangers they had just met would soon be their parents. They had no idea that their world was about to change. And this is 2 and a half years later. . .

This summer we were able to have the Carlson family at our house for a summer visit. Rocco and Maile have both come such a long way since leaving the same orphanage in Vietnam. It's great to watch them interact together and still be able to play some two and a half years after leaving Ninh Thuan. I often wonder if he remembers Vietnam and if seeing her triggers any memory of the time he spent in the orphanage. Of course he was only eleven months old when he left. Perhaps Maile remembers more since she was a little over 2 when she left. Regardless, I'm glad that we've been able to stay in touch with her family and form a friendship with them. I think later in life the kids will appreciate the fact that they have a piece of Vietnam still alive somewhere in the world.

The thing I remember most about this visit was how Maile babied Rocco. She's only a year older than him, but she definitely treated him with special love and care. At night she would beg to give him his bath and bottle. Rocco just smiled and said, "Misey give me a bash!"

We tried to cram as much in to one week as possible. Drew, my nephew, spent the entire week with us, too. This was the longest he had ever been away from home. His parents live in town, but he spent every night with nana and was at our house each morning to play with Maile's brothers, Jo and Sam. Below is a quick list of all we did this week. . . .

picked tomatoes and peppers from granddaddy's garden, rode the golf cart AND four wheeler, drew some fresh water from the spring, swam at nana and granddaddy's, jumped at the play gym in town, played in the playroom, had a picnic at the beautiful college campus in town, went to church (Maile was in our Sun. school class), shopped downtown, rode horses, played putt putt, and had a water balloon fight. In the midst of doing so many fun things with the kids, Kim-Lan and I did manage to sneak off one night for a girls' night out and watch a movie after eating at Olive Garden. It was a week filled with fun! It's amazing that we've only spent 6 weeks of our lives with this family and yet we are so close. Having our "birthing experience" brought us together in a way that I can't really explain. I just know God blessed us with our bond. Here are a few pictures to show what a great time we had!

Tumbling

Rocco is still in tumbling class on Monday nights. I'm not sure how much longer he'll take lessons, but he's enjoying it for the time being. We may enroll again in Kindermusik this fall. He's really progressed since he started in February. Now he will kick off the ground to do his version of a cartwheel and with help he'll also do a handstand. Ms. Rachel and Ms. Erica also help him do a backbend. At the end of the lesson he always comes to me smiling with a sucker or other piece of candy he's earned. I don't know if he'll turn out to be a gymnast; it looks like he's more into golf. Either that or baseball. He has a carrot bat that he carries around with him a lot lately. He begs for us to throw the ball with him. He certainly gets his athletic abilities and interests from his daddy.

A Visit From Our Friends in Texas

Yesterday afternoon our friends from Texas arrived. They had travelled 12 hours to come see us. We met Don and Kim-Lan on our adoption journey to Vietnam. They adopted Maile from the same orphanage that we adopted Rocco. During those three weeks we spent together in Vietnam, God bound our hearts and produced a friendship that is still going strong today. This will be their third visit to GA. We can't wait to see what all this week will hold. They should be here through Friday. Here's a picture of our Ninh Thuan sweethearts after morning church in their Sunday best.

Rocco is Reading

The Fourth of July

This year we were back to our traditional Fourth of July festivities. Last year I spent the holiday in the hospital visiting my nana. We thought we were going to lose her, but Jesus Christ touched her and I'm glad to say she's with us this year and at home with papaw. . . right where she should be! Thank the Lord for miracles and that He has power to heal.

The morning began bright and early as we prepared for the parade. Our very small town has the neatest parade; you know most of the people in it and you can wave and throw candy at old friends as you yell, "Happy Fourth!" There's really nothing else I've seen in other towns to compare to it. Some may think it a little "redneck", but we love the small town feel where dogs and tractors are some of the prized sights of the event. The lady who started the parade years ago walks in it every year; she's the Statue of Liberty. I just love her aluminum foil crown! The golf cart was our parade vehicle of choice. We're thinking about decorating the big John Deere next year.

Jason's sister and her two kids were in the golf cart with us. Drew is ten and Sydney is not even a year old yet. She spent the parade ride eating on her cute dress and fingers. Drew, Rocco, and I threw candy.

Four wheelers and golf carts were toward the front of the parade, so once we reached the end we just parked and watched the rest of it. Horses, miniature ponies, fire engines, army trucks, and clowns were just a few more of the sights we saw. The best part of the parade was having family there. Below is Jason's mom and dad with the three grandkids.

After the parade, we swam for a bit at Nana Carolyn and Granddaddy's house. Rocco showed his daddy what a big boy he was in the pool. His newest trick is swimming by himself with just his life jacket and a swim noodle. After we had a nice cool down, we ate some grilled out hamburgers.

That evening after Rocco's nap, my family came down. We celebrated my mom's 52nd birthday (which is actually on July 5th). This was the first time my brother's wife and baby had been to our house. They were just married last month. Here's a picture of my nana who was miraculously healed. She's holding Daelyn, Tyler's little girl. We had a great time celebrating until I noticed Rocco had a fever. To make matters worse, his right ankle was dark red and swollen really bad. After talking with nurse call, we decided to head to the ER for fear that he had been bitten by a spider. Long story short, the doctor (who happens to be the Statue of Liberty's son- the lady in the parade) decided it was not a spider bite but possibly staph or a severe reaction to a mosquito bite. Regardless, we played it safe and decided to put him on an antibiotic. Poor little guy just finished 10 days of antibiotics for impetigo. I'm ready for him to get well.

The Fourth of July is a time to stop and thank God for our liberty and freedom that we have in this great nation. I'm grateful to be an American. I respect our servicemen and women who are serving now or who have served with such bravery to protect us and this land we love so much.

Amusement Park

There is an amusement park about an hour and a half away from our home. I took Rocco twice last year. As he was going through my photo albums, he looked at a picture of him riding the motorcycles and said, "Rocco wants to ride that again." So. . . two days later we found ourselves in for another amusement park adventure. This time we took granddaddy and Drew.

The four of us arrived right after they opened at ten, bought our unlimited ride armbands, and set off to ride as many things as we could before nap time set in. We lasted until around 3:30.

The train ride was a big hit; we rode it three times around the park.

Kiddie land was full of rides for Rocco and Drew: the motorcycles, cars, boats, and elephants.

We also managed to go down the big yellow slide, ride the carousel, the Wacky Worm kiddie roller coaster, and chair lift. Rocco really liked looking down on the park from high up in the sky. It was probably his favorite ride. Drew and I rode the Lightning roller coaster while Rocco cried with granddaddy. He did some better with Gary while we went down the water slide though. I think he was still mad from getting a surprise soak in the water cool down park. From out of nowhere a water spout came on and shocked / embarrassed our little man. It took him a good 45 minutes to get over it. He was mad!

One ride that he used to really love was the carousel. For some reason he was scared this time. When we rode it he clung to me for dear life as we sat in the chariot. The next time, I held onto him as he rode a horse. . . still he wasn't so sure. I told him if he would smile the horse would slow down and come to a stop. Here's the response I got. . .

Granddaddy was such a sport all day with us. The weather was really warm all morning long, but we did have a nice breeze. By one o'clock, though, it was in the nineties. Granddaddy even rode several rides with us (the train, chair lift, carousel, & antique cars). He was even courageous enough to get on the boat chute. . . the oldest ride in the park that takes you through a dark tunnel, up a hill, then straight down into a big splash in the lake. Rocco was really proud of himself for being able to ride the boat chute. Having been told that he wasn't tall enough to ride the roller coaster and water slide, he kept bragging, "Rocco big enough!"

I'm so glad that Rocco is now able to enjoy the same amusement park that I enjoyed as a little girl. Hopefully, we'll be able to make more memories here every summer!