16 months/2 years/49 years

Yes, I admit, I did color-coordinate my outfit to my son's.... does that make me shallow???

Riding the "neigh-neigh"..... we'll break the news about zebras soon!

Helping mommy get ready for Thanksgiving

Mine mine all mine.

Micah is sixteen months old today, and today is the two-year anniversary of his conception -- that crazy day we sat at a beach bungalow in Goa and heard the 36-hour-old news about the terrorist attack in Mumbai, and it slowly dawned on us that our families might be worried..... the start of our crazy, delayed journey back to Mumbai and onward to home, with new security in place and unexpected flight delays, admidst our continued deliberations of whether we were ready to be parents.... what a start you had in this world, Micah Moo!

Today is also my parents 49th anniversary. How much worry we caused them 2 years ago, and what a great present we brought home!

Micah's list of accomplishments keeps growing. We couldn't be more proud of him if he sprouted wings and began to fly. Today he said his first three-syllable word, elephant, loud and clear, and daddy was there so he believes me. He also knows to point at his hair if you ask him "Where's your hair," and asks for his favorite foods, "Ap-pul" and "na-na" every time the refrigerator is open. He got a new little walker toy today, and demonstrated that he can walk backwards nearly as well as he walks forwards. He recognizes so many words now: bath, brush, ball, book, and loves to point and ask for "Dat" or to ask what "Dhis" is. He loves to sit in mommy's lap and read books, particularly Boyton books, the Cat and Dog books with moving tails, Brown bear, Brown Bear. However, he still loves to eat the dry cat food and play in the cats' water bowl, so perhaps he's not as bright as we think.

It's Official

Dear Micah,
You weren't with us today in the courtroom because it was your naptime, and after your recent performance at our favorite Sunday brunch restaurant, we've learned not to mess with the nap. We were there for a very important reason -- to complete the process of making sure I have all the legal rights and responsibilities of being your mother. Of course, it changes nothing. I'll still be the same woman who has been feeding, cuddling, reading, bathing, and shopping for you. But somehow, it was momentous, too, when the judge asked your daddy why I should be your mother and he said "Because she is. Because we wouldn't have a child if it wasn't for her." The judge asked daddy about my moral character, and he vouched for my honesty and integrity." Good thing the judge didn't ask me too many questions, because I started to cry as soon as we got in the courtroom, and all I could muster were simple answers with my voice cracking. "Because he's my heart and soul" is what I would have liked to have answered. We were lucky to have a judge who really "got it" that you came to be my son immediately, that no one else considers you to be her son. In 9 minutes it was over, and the record states, "In the matter of the petition of Stephanie KB for the adoption of a child Micah Gabriel S, it is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed that the Final Decree of Adoption for the child is hereby granted, and that the child shall be and is hereby entitled to all rights and privileges and subject to all obligations of a child pursuant to statute."

I wonder if you have any idea of how ridiculously loved you are? It isn't just your daddy and me, though we spend most of our free time these days watching you toddle around with your little gorilla gait, exploring and showing off your newest skills. It isn't just your grandparents, either, who seem watch you with a special sort of pride reserved for the youngest grandchild. It seems like everyone you meet seems a little enthralled by you. You have such a gentle way, such a happy smile, and eyes that lock into connection with others. Kvell, kvell, kvell, we are proud of you beyond measure, for these traits lie within you, not through anything we've done as parents.
What's been most excitely lately is watching the pride you take in your own accomplishments. This week I bought you new "big boy" shoes, not the soft slippery type shoe you'd been wearing up until now. At first, you acted like we had poured concrete around your feet, and that we had played some horrible trick on you, but after one day of wearing them, you're walking so much stronger and you want your shoes on immediately on waking up, even if I have to put them on over your pajama feet. Today, when I brought you home from daycare, I let you walk up the front walkway instead of carrying you, and instead of going inside you walked to your stroller and demanded to be taken on a walk. It was the first time we say you really express an opinion on wanting to do something. It seems like you make a new amazing discovery every day. A few days ago it was the moon, today it was mommy's bubblegum. I guess what really makes me your mother is being so excited to see you learn and grow, becoming a real person in your own right.

Today I am a Boy

Today my little sweet baby became a boy. How do I know it was today? Call it the Three Stoodges Test: he laughed at his own fart noise. 'nuf said.

On the growth and development front, Micah had his 15 month check-up today: he's in the 45th percentile for height and the 10th percentile for weight. He's gonna be a lean boy like his daddy.

More Halloween Cuteness

Dang, why did I make "duck" my first word! This hood is annoying........

Uh-oh, Mom, we have a problem here! (With Marley, our across-the-street neighbor.)

I'll show you my pacifier if you show me yours!

Halloween Warm-up

Just had a nice-sized spider run across my keyboard as I was catching up on other people's blogs.... a sure sign of fall in Colorado. We're getting ready for a balmy Halloween weekend here. Of course, Micah doesn't know what this is about, but we plan to take him out to some daytime costume events to show him off in his adorable duck costume. Photos of that to come, but in the meantime, thought I'd show off what he wore to daycare today, courtesy of Aunt Victoria (cute beret came home with me from France). Little boys aren't nearly as much fun to dress as little girls, but this is pretty darn cute!

Where did you learn THAT????

Micah's 15th month has been one new trick after another. I was away from home for a week on a long-awaited get-away with two dear friends (to France!!! I'm a very lucky mommy!) and came back to find a skinny little boy where my soft baby had been. Adam kindly pretended that Micah hadn't walked his first steps alone while I was gone, but then, the first day I picked him up from daycare, he took a few steps to the teacher. While I felt a twinge of jealousy, I also am happy beyond measure to see him grow and become independent. Walking away from me is what he was born to do.

His walk is like Frankenstein, and he still prefers to have a finger or two supporting him (or to crawl), but every day he gets a little stronger and more sure of himself.

Other new and surprising tricks come every day. A few days ago, I was in the bathroom washing my face and heard him crawl in behind me. I turned off the water to see him, and was confused when I heard water still running. He had gotten into the bathtub and turned on the faucets, and was watching the water hit his shoes. On another day, I was making a quick potty stop before taking him to daycare, and he came in and sat down on the little step-stool we have next to the sink. Where did you learn to sit on a chair like that?? So cute!

Daycare is where a lot of these new tricks come from. Yesterday when I picked him up, he was sitting at the table with two other kids, "coloring," or at least, holding a crayon. He's also learned to get onto a swing and will hold onto the chains while Daddy pushes him (with a hand positioned in front and back just in case his attention waivers.)

My favorite new development is an interest in looking at books. From about the time mobility started, he's had very little interest in sitting to look at books, but now he will pull books off his shelf and turn the pages. His favorites seem to be ones with photos rather than illustrations, particularly of animals and babies. Every day he wants to look at his books called "Cats" and another called "Dogs" that has tabs that move the animals' tails. I'm partial to the page that has 4 dog pictures showing "Bark dog, howl dog, sniff the tree. All dogs poop and all dogs pee" -- the tab lets you move the dog's leg to show it peeing on a tree.

All this learning is tiring, though! By 6 pm on several nights this week, Micah cruised over to his crib to look for his pacifier, by which I decided that he was ready for bed. A few minutes of snuggling and our special song, and I put him in the crib and he happily curls up and settles down within moments.

Life is good and babyhood is fleeting!

Autumn sights and sounds

It has been a lovely, warm fall here and we're trying to take full advantage after August's heat and September's day care/diaper mess. Micah continues to be a gentle, loving, easygoing little boy, as long as he gets enough sleep and lots of food! Within the last 2 weeks, he went from no walking to some tentative steps (only when one of us holds at least one hand); it is only a matter of days before he forgets to plop down to the ground and crawl when he wants to go somewhere.

We're also enjoying Micah's newly learned playfulness. He's starting to find it funny when Adam "wrestles" with him, and will also play peek-a-boo type games. Thankfully, mischieviousness has not yet arrived, though I have no doubt it will, knowing that he's Adam's progeny. A few days ago, he discovered this box full of packing foam, and amused himself for a long time in it.

And words! Words, words, words, a new one appearing every few days. I've noticed that when he gets a new word, a very similar sounding word often appears a few days later. This weekend, it was "apple" (pronounced "ah-puh") one day, then the next, when he heard a low-flying plane overhead, "ah-pun." Sooo cute! He definitely meant different words, and when we were outside at a harvest festival, he turned his head upwards every time a plane flew overhead. I don't remember specifically using that word, but his new daycare has a retired DC-9 in the playground (they use it for a kindergarden classroom), so perhaps he learned it there.

This weekend we went to a little pioneer pumpkin festival held near our house. Micah enjoyed seeing the farm animals up close, though he didn't seem to associate the giane working horses with one of his other recent words, "neigh." (I made up a little song that goes "The duck says 'quack,' and the cow says 'moo,' and the horse says 'neigh neigh neigh neigh neigh" -- even before I get to "quack," he starts singing the neighs.)

He sure looks like a little boy in this picture and not a baby anymore....(do you hear mommy crying just a little?)