You've Come a LONG Way, Baby!

Thursday at OT, Carson...once again...was able to perform tasks for Miss Mary that he would NEVER attempt for Mommy. In an attempt to help teach him how to dress his upper body, Miss Mary has him put on a vest during his sessions. The vest is twice his size, which makes it much easier for him to manipulate it. He is required to put it on, zip it up, then button the very large buttons over the zipper -- all with Miss Mary's help, of course. After the sessions, he has to help unbutton, unzip, and remove the vest. In the beginning of our OT journey, that vest was an unattainable goal. That was then.

Now, he EASILY puts the vest on with little or no assistance, zips it independently, and buttons it independently. Thursday at the end of the session, he easily unbuttoned and unzipped the vest. He started to struggle with removing the vest and I was trying to give him advice, which he did NOT want to accept. (He typically knocks the vest off of one shoulder, then shakes his arm until the vest slides down that arm. He wouldn't do that Thursday for some reason.)

As I sat on the floor talking with Miss Mary, Carson walked around behind me to work on removing the vest. Miss Mary suddenly stopped talking to me and her eyes got as big as saucers as she looked over my head at Carson. I whipped my head around quickly to see Carson holding the left shoulder of the vest with his right hand as he slowly pushed his left hand THROUGH THE ARM HOLE FIRST!! While that is the way most kids would typically remove the vest, Carson's elbow mobility is so restrictive that that movement is nearly impossible for him. Or, should I say, WAS nearly impossible for him. Miss Mary and I whooped and hollered like crazy people!! This boy never ceases to amaze us!!!!

On Friday, it was Miss Tracy's last day of school for the summer. (Miss Tracy is Carson's preschool teacher and his reason to get out of bed in the mornings!) She gets a typical teacher schedule (summers off) and the rest of her classroom aides run the summer camps that start this coming week. While Carson's first meeting with Miss Tracy wasn't earth-shattering...remember this awful picture?...
...he warmed up to her pretty quickly on his first real day of preschool...
...and now is completely and utterly in love with Miss Tracy! This picture...
...was taken yesterday morning when I dropped him off. I've been talking to Carson about vacations and taking breaks and that Miss Tracy is going on vacation. He says OK and seems to understand that she won't be there Monday. However, I dread his daily written report from Monday and feel sorry for the teachers who WILL be there! Since Carson still needs a bit of catching up in school, we've enrolled him back in Miss Tracy's Pre-4 class to start the next school year, with the plan to move him to the Pre-K class as soon as he's ready.

Thanks, Miss Tracy, for helping your "Baby" -- as she calls him -- transition smoothly into your class. Have a great summer...and hurry back, your "Ladies Man" will miss you!!

Our Lunch with Celebrities...

For those who don't understand my obsession with my Yahoo group friends (like my dear husband), this post won't make a bit of sense. However, for the REST of you...

There was a woman in one of my Yahoo groups who greatly inspired me about a week before we accepted Carson's referral. The source of that inspiration? She and her husband accepted the referral of a boy from China. A boy?! The idea seemed unreal to me. I thought everybody got a GIRL from China. Everybody certainly does not. And their acceptance of this adorable little boy opened my mind to the idea of being a Mommy to a Little Man.

That woman's name is Sara (did you know you inspire me, Sara?) and we have e-mailed one another frequently over the past year. Sara and her family were driving through town on the way home from a short vacation north of us... and we coordinated to meet for lunch.

Having lunch with someone I feel I already know from blog watching and e-mailing is VERY much like having lunch with celebrities. I've seen their pictures on Sara's blog and I feel like I already know them. We had a fun lunch (the kids were so well-behaved, even the waitress complimented them on it!) and I took a few pics while we were there. To protect her children's privacy on their blog, Sara (aka Mama Shoe) has given her children nicknames. I will continue that here:

This is Carson, PunkyPie, BuddyBoy, Moonface, and Sara. We thought it was a cute picture...until I looked closer and realized PunkyPie had FALLEN ASLEEP during the picture! OK, not really, but her eyes were closed...
...so I retook the picture. Sara had already stood up to come sit back next to me, so she didn't make it in this one. PunkyPie is wide awake this time (yeah, girl!) but Carson isn't smiling! Ugghhhh...this is harder than it looks, getting four kids to cooperate in a picture! At least they are all looking at me!
Here is Carson proving that, yes, he does have teeth and can smile. PunkyPie is in the background, laughing at Carson.
The requisite "Silly Shoe Kids" picture...
...and the "Silly Older Shoe Kids" with my equally silly Little Man, who is showing off the action figure the Shoe Kids gave him. (Thanks for bringing him a little gift -- you kids are too sweet!!)
Moonface not happy to be back in his highchair after the pictures were over. He's reaching for Sara to pick him up.
Long distance pals, finally together! This picture was taken by PunkyPie. (Great job, Punky!) It's still hard to believe I got to sit right next to Sara and have lunch! Too weird...
Moonface is now downright irritated that lunch is taking so long. The boy is HUNGRY!
PunkyPie posing for us. (Carson took this picture. Pretty good, huh?!)
Sara's husband Mark was there, too, but didn't end up in any of the pictures! Sorry, Mark!!

After lunch and a nice visit...and about 500 napkins, spaghetti makes a MESS!...we headed to the front of the restaurant so the kids could "play" the video games. (No, we were not willing to shell out 75 cents for them to play these games for 12 seconds, so they just pretended to play.)

Moonface liked pushing the buttons and checking for change...
...while Carson showed BuddyBoy how to crash the car in this game. (Remind me NOT to let this boy get his driver's license anytime soon!)
Here's PunkyPie, trying to decide how she's gonna convince Mom to give her the money to actually play a game. Nice try, Punky!
So that's it...our lovely lunch get-together with celebrities. Unfortunately, the kids were shy most of the meal -- except Punky, who was the LIFE of the party! -- and didn't warm up until we were ready to leave! Sara and I talked about how weird it was to actually hear one another's voices after all this time. She said I sounded exactly like she thought I would. Loud and obnoxious?! No, she sweetly said something along the lines of excited and bubbly. I, however, was surprised that she had a slight Southern accent. (I don't know why that shocked me, they ARE from Tennessee!!)

After hugs and high-fives, they headed back to their van to finish the drive home to Tennessee. As we take our own road trip this summer, we're planning to head through their town and visit with them again -- this time with Meggie and Daddy along.

Isn't it funny that we had to travel all the way to China in order to meet a sweet family from Tennessee??

Who Says Mother's Day Has To Be the Second Sunday in May?

Since my Mother's Day was so...lacking...I made a personal decision today. Yes, the entire world celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. But today ended up being such a perfect day, I declared it my PERSONAL Mother's Day!

Yes, I had to be at the hospital at 6:30AM for work (which is CRAZY early and really ought to be outlawed!), but the day went well, two of our five patients canceled, and I got out early. I left the hospital to greet a beautiful, mild spring day -- barely a cloud in the sky -- and came home to this:
Yes, folks, my teenager was cleaning the house...VOLUNTARILY!! She literally spent about six hours of her day...WITHOUT BEING ASKED...and gave the whole house a good cleaning!! She dusted, she vacuumed, she cleaned BATHROOMS! To say she blew me away with this is an understatement. She told me it was my belated Mother's Day present.

Carson was watching a movie (The Little Mermaid -- a princess movie, of course!), Daddy kept an eye on him, Meggie kept cleaning, and I got to take a NAP!! An uninterrupted, guilt-free, much-needed nap. All I can say to that is...YEAH!!

When I woke up from that blessed nap of mine, Meggie resumed vacuuming (she stopped so I could sleep in peace, what a doll!). I headed downstairs and looked out in the back yard to see this:

The boys wrestling...
...and laughing......and jumping...
...and body slamming! In other words, Daddy kept Carson outside so my nap wouldn't be interrupted after his movie ended. Who needs flowers and diamonds when you can have THAT??!!

So, instead of writing the paper that's due Thursday, or paying the bills due next week, or organizing the ga-zillion piles of paper on my desk...I went outside. I sat in a chair on the patio and watched them play on the trampoline. I played wiffle ball with my silly son while Daddy grilled our dinner. We ate dinner outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Then we headed to see our friends, Scott and Sarah, and their kids (well, actually, only Selleck since baby Slade slept the whole time) in their brand new house! We got to sit and chat and catch up...which we were WAY overdue for!

It was a great day!

So to all the Moms in the world who celebrated a great Mother's Day on May 11th, good for you! This year, my Mother's Day was May 24th...and it was AWESOME!

Maybe Soccer Isn't Carson's Sport After All...

...maybe we ought to sign him up for boxing! The little thug has been hitting EVERYBODY lately!! He really doesn't seem to be trying to hurt anybody...doesn't even seem angry when he does it...he just keeps on swinging. Tuesday at soccer he was spotted smacking a little girl in the head (claimed to just be playing with her hair -- yeah, right!) and then, as we were leaving soccer, he smacked a BABY as he walked past it! A BABY!!!! This is getting humiliating!

Today, the little thug hit me...TWICE!! The first time, we were in public and he threw a Beanie baby stuffed animal in my face. The second time, he smacked me with a hanger as I innocently walked past him in the hallway. What is UP with this kid??!! My first reaction is to spank him...but I think that teaching him NOT to hit by hitting HIM is sorta sending mixed messages. Ugghhhhh. (Is this another "boys will be boys" moment in my life?!?!)

On a completely different topic, weaning Carson from his naps is getting harder and harder. He keeps falling asleep EVERYWHERE, including in the car on short drives (which he never used to do) and even here...
...while he was in time-out! He was being really mean to me this afternoon...yelling at me when I asked him simple questions...and I sent him to the bottom step for a time-out. When I checked on him minutes later I found him sound asleep, left hand still holding onto the railing. Isn't that a hoot??!

One more peek at my sleeping angel/devil...
...and this post is complete!

Oops...Forgot an Important Anniversary!!

Many people make a tradition of taking their adopted child's picture every year on the anniversary of their referral. Well, that anniversary for us was this past Saturday...and I completely missed it!! So, in honor of tradition...

May 17, 2007 -- one year and three days ago -- we accepted the referral for a serious, chubby little guy wearing a purple t-shirt. Meggie and I had watched his picture sit on our agency's Waiting Child page for weeks, never thinking seriously of asking about him...after all, we were waiting for a girl! But as I showed everyone at work his picture on the computer, Sherry (one of my co-workers) convinced me that I was already in love with the little guy, maybe I ought to inquire about him. So inquire I did...and that's how this little guy became our son.

I know it's posted elsewhere on the blog, but a reminder of the first picture we saw of Lu Qiu Feng...now Carson David QiuFeng...
...and a picture taken May 16, 2008, with his beautiful big sister...one short year after we told our adoption agency, "Yes, he is our son!"How wrong we were, thinking Carson was a "serious" little guy. He is anything BUT serious. He's silly, funny, mischievous, smart, sweet, clever...I could go on and on. Needless to say, this has been a wild year!

We are so grateful to our family and friends (including my online friends!) for their support this past year, to the People's Republic of China for allowing us to add this sweet boy to our family, to CCAI (the BEST adoption agency in the world!!)...and to Sherry, who gave me the push I needed to get the wheels in motion!

Sherry, I owe you one!!

This Boy is Trying to KILL Me!

When people say things like "Boys will be boys" to excuse crazy boy behavior, I have to admit it...it has ALWAYS bugged me! I've always thought in my head, in response to that cliche, "Set your standards high and kids will meet those standards." Apparently, I'm an idiot.

Meggie was, admittedly, the world's easiest baby, toddler, preschooler, and school ager. (She's getting tougher as a teenager, but I digress.) I truly never took full credit for that...I'm no super parent, after all. I always admitted she was an easy-going kid, but felt like expecting certain behaviors from her helped keep her on the straight and narrow.

May I just tell you that Carson is on the verge of turning me into a screaming lunatic?!?!?!

Exhibit A: Last week, Carson and I were on the second floor of our house, heading downstairs to the first floor. He started gesturing wildly while telling a story...and took a tumble. From the SECOND STAIR FROM THE TOP!!! I saw it in slow motion and kept screaming, "Oh my God! Oh my GOD!!" Thankfully, I was able to snag his arm as he tumbled past me (I was halfway down the stairs), saving him from breaking his stinkin' neck. I did, however, slightly sprain my wrist. Ouch!

Exhibit B: This past Saturday, Carson was at the foot of the stairs and I was upstairs, doing laundry. He was babbling away to me...then, suddenly, silence. The experienced Mommy in me knew that silence is NEVER a good sign. I peeked down the stairs and he was on the second step up, swinging his arms as if he were GOING TO JUMP! This is a bad idea for a couple of reasons: (1) Carson is clumsy and falls constantly and (2) at the bottom of our stairs is a small section of flooring, then a WALL!! I screamed, "NO!!" -- which stopped him in his tracks -- and sent him to the time-out chair. I then also required a time-out to recover from the heart attack his shenanigans nearly caused me!

Exhibit C: Last Thursday, Carson awoke just after midnight, sobbing. He has done this before and we were able to console him in his own bed. For some crazy reason, Daddy felt like it was a good idea to bring Carson into our bed this time. Not only did I not sleep after Carson joined us, but Carson didn't sleep either! He was awake for HOURS, stroking my hair and repeating, "I like-a Mommy." Meanwhile, Daddy snored away. Saturday night, it happened again...sobbing followed quickly by dumping the boy in the bed with the parents. (Our king-sized bed is starting to feel VERY crowded!) Sunday morning, I asked Carson why he was crying in the middle of the night. His response? "Because I wanted to sleep with Mommy and Daddy!" Are you KIDDING ME??!! This has become a game to him!! Arrggghhh!!

As if those examples weren't enough...and, believe me, I could tell you PLENTY more...we have now had to cut out his naps! (Boo-hoo for Mommy!!!!) He has started having trouble falling asleep at night, sometimes lying awake until past 10PM, and now wakes up at 6AM!! (He used to sleep from 8:30PM 'til 8 or 9AM!) Cutting out naptime is making him sleepier at night, but also grouchier! But we can't have him up past 10PM and expect him to behave at school, so cutting out naps seems logical. And, since he's heading toward his 5th birthday, really we were spoiled that he napped at all!

Now when am I going to take MY naps...

The Big Freshman Dance!

Meggie and her friends got all dressed up tonight and headed to the Freshman Semi-Formal Dance. The gang met up beforehand for pictures...and Carson and I were there. Take a peek:

The whole gang...Meggie is the fourth girl from the right...
...Meggie and her favorite guy...
...Sarah, Carson, and Meggie...
...Carson pacing the yard with the camera case, waiting for the teenagers to finish eating so we could carpool whoever needed a ride to the dance...
...and all the gorgeous young ladies...Meggie is third from the left.
It was so funny to watch Carson among all of Meggie's friends. All of them knew his name and greeted him like an old friend, all high-fives and hugs. He seemed a bit confused how all these teenagers knew him...but ended up enjoying the attention. At one point, he pulled Sarah away from the crowd and told her, "Sarah, you a princess!" So cute!!

I really enjoyed seeing the teenagers all dressed up and having a good time...and I am so happy Meggie let me be there to stand on the fringes and take a few pictures.

This was the last picture I took...and it ended up being the best of the bunch!
Truly the cutest kids in the crowd! As Meggie hopped in a friend's car to head to the dance, Carson got so upset. He kept repeating, "I want Meggie...I want Meggie!" When Daddy changed Carson out of school clothes into jeans and a nice shirt, Carson must have thought that meant he was going to the dance WITH Meggie. Poor little guy...but it truly does warm my heart to see the love between these two!

Our Son's Newest Fascination...

While cleaning out the nursery last weekend (which had become our junk room since Carson's adoption), Meggie found a bunch of "girl-oriented" Golden Books...you know, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella. She added them to Carson's book shelf...and he found them. So my boy who has always been obsessed with cars, sports, guns, action figures, and wrestling (which he calls "hi-ya") is suddenly fascinated with Princesses!!

Not that he dresses up or anything -- calm down, Daddy! -- just that he wants us to read him the Princess books constantly and begs to watch the old VHS tapes we've saved from Meggie's younger years. In a last ditch attempt to salvage Carson's masculinity, last night Daddy introduced him to Peter Pan. Yes, there are girls in that story...but there are also pirates and sword fights! Well, Carson is officially "hooked" on Hook and the gang! Since I am desperate to get my paper written today and pay the bills, I'm using that to my advantage. So, on this beautiful, mild, sunny day when he ought to be outside getting some exercise, my son is glued to the TV watching a grainy VHS version of Peter Pan.

Hey, we do what we have to do when there are deadlines to be met...

Why Did I Get My Hopes Up?

I should have known better. I should have kept my expectations low key. I did not...and I had a rough time today.

See, this is my first Mother's Day having two kids. And this is Carson's first Mother's Day having a Mommy. Those things are pretty big in my mind.

Problem #1 with my fantasy Mother's Day started with the blizzard we had back on March 7th. That blizzard resulted in one of Meggie's dance competitions getting canceled -- and rescheduled to MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND!! Are you KIDDING me? There was always a chance Meggie would dance on Saturday, thus preserving my fantasy Mother's Day...NOT! She was scheduled to dance this morning.

That's OK, I thought -- trying to salvage my fantasy Mother's Day -- we'll all be together as a family. That's cool, right?! We can still go to the competition, go out to dinner, enjoy a nice day. Oops, I forgot...since the competition is going to take up half of the day, we have to split up for dinner -- Daddy going to see Grandma B and me and the kids going to see Grandma D. So much for family time...problem #2.

Problem #3 came when the "nice day" I was hoping for turned out to be a rainy, chilly, yucky day...and that yuckiness, for some reason, spread to the attitudes of my darling children. Yes, folks, crabbiness was the order of the day. (What...was I expecting Mother's Day to be some kind of MAGICAL day?!) In fact, Meggie was so crabby, she didn't even go to dinner with me after the competition. Teenagers.

Well, we did end up having a nice dinner. Carson and I met Grandma D, Aunt Debbie, and Baby Sophia for an Italian feast. A few pictures:

Grandma with her two newest grandchildren, Sophia and Carson...
...me and my Little Man...
...Aunt Debbie and Carson...
...Aunt Debbie aggravating Carson...
...Aunt Debbie and Carson toasting with chocolate cake..."Cheers!"...
...Carson being a piggy with the chocolate cake...
...Carson mocking Sophia when she began...ahem...making her needs known (also known as screaming her stinkin' head off) while Grandma was holding her...
...Carson stealing Grandma's lap when Aunt Debbie had to take her adorable, screaming baby back...
...and Aunt Debbie with adorable, sleeping Sophia.
So while my fantasy Mother's Day did not happen as I had hoped...all love and happiness and family together time...I'm still the mother of two pretty awesome kids and it was still Carson's first Mother's Day with a Mommy. So I guess the day wasn't a total wash, was it?!