bright eyes + blue eyes

cute little turkey

The mothers-day-out teachers sent Manzo home with another photo today.

Cute little toothy grin!

manzo : five loves

Here are 5 things that Manzo LOVES these days:

(1) Big trucks & schoolbuses: When a noisy truck passes our house, he looks at me and smiles. Then he makes his best car noise with his cute little lips.

(2) Music: Manzo LOVES listening to music. Sometimes, when we're in the car listening to a playlist, he will cry when we get to the little 10 second pause between songs. Poor little thing! We try to tell him, "just wait! The next song is about to come on!" but he remains distressed until he hears the "moo-kah" come back on. (Moo-kah was Superboy's word for music when he was about 2. We still say that word a  lot.) Manzo usually bobs his head up and down as he enjoys the music.

(3) Dogs: When a neighbor walks by our house with a dog on a leash, stop the presses. Manzo is very interested in dogs. His "word" for dog is "Buh! Buh!" I think he might be trying to say "woof woof", but I'm not sure. He eagerly points out dogs in books, magazines...you name it. He looks over at me with such a happy, surprised look as if to say, "there's ANOTHER one!!"

(4) Wrestling with daddy: This is very cute. When Hunter is down on the floor, Manzo will charge into him and climb on top of him. Hunter is such a good "baby wrestler"...he rolls around on the floor with him, and Manzo just loves every minute of it.

(5) And lastly, the beloved blanket fort: Manzo loves it when his big brother or sister puts a few chairs together and drapes a blanket over the top. For some reason this is like winning the lottery for him--it makes him so excited. He crawls in and out, in and out, in and out! Here's a quick fort that Superboy built this morning before school.

disney souvenirs, part 2

 

Manzo is a bit bow-legged. And his right foot turns in a bit. ("in-toeing", aka "pigeon-toed")

He is 13.5 months old and not walking yet. He doesn't stand on his own (until tonight! He stood un-assisted for about 45 seconds and we all made a big deal out of it, clapping and cheering. He looked so proud of himself.)

He does stand when holding on to something (all the time), and does like to cruise around the furniture.

He loves walking with help. He'll reach his hands up in the air so he can grab on to my fingers. He loves walking like that.

So, all in all, it sounds like he's on his way to being a walker. But every once in a while I wonder if the bow-legged-ness or the in-toeing is causing him a problem. I asked the pediatrician about it at the 12 month check-up. The doctor didn't even hesitate for one second, "It's not a problem for him. Everything will straighten out over time. He's fine. There's no problem." That put my mind at ease for a few weeks, but as the time continues to roll by, I find myself wondering if perhaps there could be an issue after all.

Let me be clear: if he's just one of those kids who wants to take his time learning to walk, I'm totally fine with that. I have no mommy agenda that dictates when he should be an independent walker. This is not about my expectations. Rather, this is about not wanting to miss something that he should be doing if there is a problem which needs to be addressed. i.e., if he's supposed to be wearing a brace or doing certain exercises, etc.---then I want to be doing those things!

My take at the moment is this: I make sure he has lots of fun "walking practice" each and every day. I make sure we don't get things for him and bring objects to him when he's curious. (..as his siblings are inclined to do simply to be helpful!) In learning to walk or crawl, curiosity is a huge motivation in getting from Point A to Point B. If I see that he'd like to get a ball (his favorite) from across the room, I let him go for it!

So anyway, I'll keep you posted on how all that develops.

And on a related note (seriously, there is a connection here. Just keep reading and you'll see)....let me get back to the Disney princesses which I mentioned yesterday......

* * * * *

So here are the princesses. They live in Pumpkin's room.

The other day I was cleaning out her closet. I found the box these girls originally came in. As the box was on its way to the recycling bin, I noticed something which I think is a bit odd....

Here's the front of the box:

And here's the back of the box:

Are you seeing what I'm seeing?

So many cases of tibial torsion in Princess Land!

Ariel is the only one not suffering from this issue--and that's only because she doesn't have legs!

Maybe there's a special day at Disney Illustrator School which emphasizes the following necessary components. These items should be included in the illustration in order to make the Disney princess look REALLY CUTE:

• In-toeing
• The presence of a small animal somewhere in the vicinity
• Sparkly pixie dust to indicate magic
• Wide eyes & elevated eyebrows

The next time I want to look cute, I'm going to turn my toes in and shoot my eyebrows up to the sky.

baby babushka

Pumpkin has always loved to playing with play silks and scarves. She loves to come up with various "outfits"...wrapping and draping the scarves in a certain way.

The other day, Pumpkin was "babysitting" Manzo in her room. (This means she was playing with him in the bedroom while I got a few things done around the house.)

Next thing I know, she tells me she has something to show me. This is what I saw.

Oh my goodness---so cute.

 

IMAG1125 from ellie and abbie on Vimeo.

haircut #3

Manzo had haircut #3 yesterday. (...and he's a mere 13 months old (almost)! This child has a lot of hair.)

Here's the before & after pics.

Before

After

While we were outside taking his picture, we saw an airplane!! (major excitement.)

one year ago today

Manzo's "Gotcha Day" was one year ago today.

On that day, our family went to the adoption agency--where they put our son into our arms!

Wow. I will never forget that amazing day as long as I live.

Here are some pictures taken after we'd left the agency.

We were back home together--as a family of 5.

The big kids were in awe of their little baby brother!

on the lookout for airplanes

Manzo is absolutely fascinated with airplanes lately.

If he hears one in the distance, he drops everything and immediately looks up at the sky---on the lookout for a visual on the plane.

He takes his airplane searches very seriously.

* * * * *

Unrelated to airplanes: here's a video of Manzo from the front yard. This is from last week.

Before you watch it, you should know the context.

Manny was in his pjs...about to go to bed.

We were sitting in the grass playing before it was time for his bottle.

I had been waving a bunch of bugs out of my face, which for some reason really cracked him up.

So then we just started waving bugs away for the fun of it.

front yard from ellie and abbie on Vimeo.

baby walkin' on the grass

We moved in to our current house in 2008.

Fun fact: we've now lived in this house longer than we've lived in ANY other home.

(apartment, house, anything.)

(almost 16 years of marriage.)

Anyway, one of the things that I immediately loved about this home, when we first came here with our realtor in '06, was the big grassy front yard.

During the time we were house hunting, I had a 6 year old, a 4 year old, and baby fever.

As we considered buying this house, I remember thinking to myself: "That grass would be so fun to play on with the kids. AND: it would be the PERFECT place for a baby to learn how to walk."

The week we moved in to this house (back in '06), I had a strong inkling that I was pregnant.

(Or should I say: I had a strong feeling that I had fallen pregnant.)

I remember thinking to myself: "I'd better be careful with these boxes....better not lift anything too heavy..."

As it turns out, I was not pregnant.

* * * * *

Fast forward.

During the summer of 2011, after pursuing both biological and adoptive avenues for three years, I began to wonder if the Lord was closing the door on something that I'd always assumed would happen. (more children.)

I discussed this very thing in a previous post: Oh Eight, Oh Eight - Part One (written August 2011.)

I remember once, during that summer, I was doing dishes at our kitchen sink.

The window above our sink looks out over the grassy front yard.

I vividly remember pondering a very quiet question which was coming from deep down in one of the hidden corridors of my heart:

"But what about the baby learning to walk in the front grass?"

I knew, at that time, that the Lord might be leading our family in a different direction than I'd expected.

I was trying to wrap my brain around what that would look like.

* * * * *

Sometimes the Lord does close doors.

Often, He does lead families down unexpected roads.

Sometimes a woman has a "good" desire that He doesn't write into her story.

Just because it's theoretically a good idea doesn't mean it is His plan for me.

I learned so much during that season of our family's life.

I found myself MUCH more grateful for the gifts that He had given us over the years.

I found myself staring at Superboy and Pumpkin with awe-- what miracles they really are.

I found myself filled with thanksgiving for my husband. I knew more than ever that he was a gift from the Lord, and that each day that we get to walk side by side is a priceless treasure.

Many of the things that I'd previously taken for granted suddenly looked totally different to me: so much more amazing.

And more than ever, in my mind, each gift (husband, two children, two incredible parents, wonderful in-laws, precious siblings, dear friends...) seemed to have a big arrow pointing to God.

His provision.

His goodness.

His plan for me.

Each relationship in my life was part of the tapestry that He is weaving in and through me.

He is the supreme artist.

These gifts are from Him.

I knew that I His faithfulness is the rock under my feet.

His faithfulness would undergird us--no matter what story He plans to write for our family.

 * * * * *

What I didn't know is that all during our years of waiting, God did have a plan for us to have more children.

I wrote that Oh Eight Oh Eight post in early August 2011.

I stood at the kitchen window and started to prepare myself to have closure about the baby-walking-in-the-grass thing in early August 2011.

What I didn't know was this: by the end of that same month, we'd be getting a very important phone call from our case worker at the adoption agency.

She would be calling to tell us that there was a baby boy who was about to be born.

His teenage birth mother planned to place him in an adoptive family.

The baby's birth mother had reviewed some of the "family profiles" (little scrapbooks) of approved-and-waiting families, and she decided to place her baby with us.

* * * * *

Fast forward again.

In May of this year, when our sweet little Manzo was about 9 months old, Hunter and I were playing with him out on the grass one evening.

Suddenly it dawned on me: "Our baby is going to learn to walk on this grass!"

!!!!!!!

I took Hunter's phone & snapped a few pictures.

Manzo is almost one year old now.

Before we know it, he'll be a new walker, and he'll need to have a nice soft area to practice his new skill.

I know just the place!

Thank you, Lord, for our precious little boy.

Thank you for our big boy. Thank you for our big girl.

Thank you for your plan.

Thank you for your goodness and faithfulness.

* * * * *

A song we used to sing at summer camp when I was a little girl....based on Lamentations 3.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

His mercies never come to an end.

They are new every morning,

New every morning.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord.

Great is Thy faithfulness.

{posted by Abbie}

for every high there is a low; for every to there is a fro

Well, folks, it's official.

Baby Manzo Cherub Linebacker is on the move.

He pulls things off shelves.

He makes a bee line for the dog's food/water.

He pulls himself up on objects--some of which are not very steady.

In a nutshell: this child is in the stage where he needs eyeballs glued to him at every waking moment during the whole day. (every one of HIS waking moments, that is.)

Gone are the days when he will sit next to me on the bed while I fold an enormous pile of laundry...

...and here's an example:

Last week I was folding laundry in one of the kids' bedrooms. I shut the door (baby containment) and kept my eyes on Manzo the whole time.

The good news: I got all the laundry folded.

The bad news: During that same period of time, he pulled a bunch of books off the bookshelves.

Good thing I had been meaning to go through that bookshelf to organize/purge anyway, right???

Ah, I remember this stage well.

Basically, you make a little progress in one area...but while you are filling one bucket, there is another bucket that is being poured out.

For some crazy reason I get a kick out of this domestic poetic irony.

And for some crazy reason, this song from my childhood always comes to mind.

This song is from one of my favorite Disney movies, The Sword and the Stone.

My little brother Robert must've watched that movie 6,853 times when he was a little boy. He really liked it.

As a result, I think I know most of the songs from the movie.

This one is the one that comes to mind when I comtemplate folded laundry + messy pile of books.

"That's What Makes the World Go Round"

Enjoy!

and happy weekend!

{posted by Abbie}

baby yoda

He's about to outgrow the Baby Yoda costume. (The inner shirt and the hat are getting snug.)

I put it on one last time and snapped a few more pictures of our mini Jedi master.

{posted by Abbie}