Milestones. . .

Jakob is amazing. . . simply amazing. Today I watched my son pretend he was taking care of a baby bird. He was trying to tell his daddy about the bird that hit the window while we were watching some T.V. Oh, and in case you were wondering, The Wiggles are so yesterday. . . it is now The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon on the Disney channel. He actually asks to watch that show. He also is making choices. . .like giving away his green fruit chews because he doesn't like that flavor and asking for specific things to eat--like toast or yogurt for breakfast. It is so amazing to me to watch him develop his very own likes and dislikes. His words are coming like ants on watermelon. I know he has been a bit behind with all of the major milestones, but I bet by this time next year. . . nobody will even remember. That is so amazing to me.

The last few weeks have been crazier than ever. We've had visits from my parents, Craig's mom, and my sister and her friends. I found out just last week that this coming weekend is my 20 year class reunion (another great milestone)--so we have decided that we will be returning to my hometown to attend. I love travelling in the summer--you know the roads will be slow going with construction and traffic--but no snowstorms. I can't believe it is my 20 year class reunion already. I keep telling myself that it is not possible that I am "that old." I don't feel that old. I did skip first grade, if that gives me any leeway. Evidently "way back then", if you knew how to read in the 1st grade you were some kind of genius. I'm sure we will have the youngest child and probably the only ones wanting more. . . . but, you never know.

Jakob has been having issues sleeping, so I'm not worried about messing that up. He has decided that he doesn't want to be alone in his room. He is afraid of the dark and who knows what else. He caught a glimpse of ET one night as we were flipping through the channels. It was the scene where they had him all dressed up too--if he doesn't look creepy enough already, that's enough to totally scare a 2 1/2 year old. If you have ever slept with a toddler--you know a king sized bed is a must--and that we don't have. So Jakob and I were camping out on an air mattress downstairs. BUT, he was waking up around 5:30 or so when Craig was getting up for work. WAY TOO EARLY!! Especially when we haven't been falling asleep until after 10pm. So, I went and bought a twin air mattress that will fit into his room and things are much better--aside from the fact that I lose my late night freetime and early morning freetime. Oh, well, someday, Jakob won't want me in his room at all--so I'll take it while I can. Don't bother lecturing me on this one--I simply won't listen. It is amazing how many people just feel they have the right to tell you what you are doing wrong and how you are hurting your child (hmmm. . . by paying attention to their fears? I guess I don't get it.) Someone told me they were going to get me their book on the Ferber method--that has abandonement written all over it--in my opinion! Ummmmm, yeah, evidently she didn't read Nancy Verrier's book "The Primal Wound." This is after she told me she slept in until 11 am because she was tired from travelling all weekend--not getting the fact that sleeping in isn't an option at our house. . . duh.

I hope that I have never given out unsolicited advice. I may tell my own experiences, but I hope I always state that I feel that everybody is different and not everything works the same for each family. Trust your instincts. . . . always, and try not to second guess yourself. Or, only ask for advice from the people that you know are going to answer the way you want them too! haha!

Nothing new on the adoption front. Well, I guess I could mention that I spoke with a young woman on the phone who thought she was approximately 6 weeks pregnant. Her co-worker is one of my ex-boyfriend's longtime friends. Strange, I know. I gave her lots of information about adoption and talked about our experiences between our two agencies and how she should not feel pressured by anybody to make any one particular decision. I talked about our feelings on open adoption and why it was important to us and why I felt it was important for her to get good unbiased counseling. I also gave her Kaiti's name through myspace to talk to. I figured she would be able to help her more with the emotional aspects that a birthmother will endure throughout her life. So, I think both Kaiti and I have kind of found our calling on helping others. I really do think we can both be unbiased. I am so not aggressive and don't want to feel like a child was ever placed into our family under pressure. I don't know if it will go anywhere. . . but I think I gave her enough resources to help her get started on researching and thinking about what she would like to do. It felt good and it felt right. So. . . as you guessed, we still wait--so patiently.

Oh, and in case the K&K read this. . . I was garage saleing and met two people who each recently brought their girls home from China. They met through their program. It was approximately 3 years from start to finish. So, I will wait right along with you guys. Our days will come too! :0)

Tomorrow, you may not see me at all as I have to dye my hair for my class reunion!! haha!! I hope I don't wreck it. So far, I am liking my professional haircut that cost a fortune. I may even splurge on some decent shampoo--geez--what's gotten into me? Maybe I'm just trying to cover up all the stray hairs growing on my face and my own case of adult acne. With that--I should probably go buy some mascara too since my other stuff is probably 8 years old--it wouldn't be cool to get some funky eye infection--could you imagine? I wonder what people with expendible income spend their money on to get ready for their 20th year class reunion. . . .