Take me out to the ballgame...

Patrick took Drew to his first baseball game Friday night!! It was a special Daddy/Drew outing and everyone had fun - especially Mommy who didn't have to sit through a baseball game!

They went to a Connecticut Defenders game - minor leage, Double AA I think, but I could be wring about that. In any case, they had a great time at the game, Drew ran around with a whole bunch of kids, he got a ball and a bat, which he's been carrying around for two days now and he had a great time!

So - it looks like all three boys love going to baseball games with Dad - he's in his glory!! :)

Yesterday we met with our Chavurah (temple group) at a park for a picnic - lots of fun - great playground that the kids had fun on. Then Drew and I spend the afternoon visiting my friend Sara and her twins - Zach and Abby - who are adorable!! We had fun.

No big plans for today...except for Mom to hit the mall for great sales!!

A boy and his sneakers....

Two days after Drew came home, Grama and I took him to Stride Rite to buy him his first sneakers. He was a size 4, so they didn't have many choices. He got a nice white pair with some blue and yellow on them.

About three months later, Drew's feet had grown so we went back to Stride Rite. He was about a size 5.5 now, but still, they didn't have many choices in style, so we kept with the same ones we got the first time.

Yesterday, Patrick and I took Drew sneaker shopping, again at Stride Rite, and lo and behold he's now a size 6 and they make many more styles. So we picked out a couple to try on thinking it would be nice to try a new style of sneaker.

Drew was not having that at all!!!

He cried when we put his new sneakers on, saying, "No, No, No..." Then he pointed at the sneakers that looked like "his" sneakers and said, "Drew, Drew..." We tried a few times to put different sneakers on him, but he was not having it...

So - we left the store with a new pair of the same old sneakers...

I guess he just loves the style??!!!

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He's been talking much more in possessives - pointing out what is Mommy's, what is Daddy's and what is Drew's...somehow most things end up being Daddy's or Drew's - not sure how that happens!

Kazakhstan update...

So many disturbing things going on with Kazakhstan adoption these days...though still officially open to Americans, it's becoming more and more difficult to adopt from there...

As of Sept. 15, only agencies that have Hague accreditation may work in Kazakhstan. I admit, I'm not too sure what this really means, but I do know that the largest U.S. agency to work in Kaz. does not have this accreditation, in addition to others. This should significantly slow down adoptions.

In addition, the N.Y. Consulate will no longer process dossiers, they all must go through the Embassy in D.C., which is notoriously slow and allegedly will only process two a month from any agency - wow! That is insane, huh?? Additionally, documents may be no older than 4-months old by the time they reach the embassy. Anyone who has put together a dossier (and Kaz. has one of the largest, with more than 30 required documents!), knows that it is impossible to have all your documents have the same dates. For example, the dossier has to include fingerprints and a letter from the FBI saying you have no criminal record - that can take 3 weeks or longer to obtain. So, by the time many of these documents make it to the Embassy, they have to be redone and the process starts all over.

I know I've said it before, but I will say it again...this is crazy!!!!!!!!! There are sooo many children over there that need homes - if Kazakhstan thinks these kids should stay in their own country, fine, but then people from that country should adopt them, not leave them in orphanages!

Adoption is never easy - no matter how it's done...but there's just no reason to make it harder than it needs to be :(

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On a happier note...Drew is having fun watching the Olympics!

The other night we cheered for the Kazakh boxer, who won!! And last night Drew and I watched equestrian events. Every time the horse jumped, Drew said, "Wow!" and at the end of the event he clapped when he heard the people on TV clapping...he is too cute for word!! :)

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Carolyn - Otto lives on!!! :)

Full circle....

In 1997, when Patrick was an editor at The Hour in Norwalk and I was a reporter there, I gave him a leapord Beanie Baby named Freckles as a going-away gift. At that time, Beanie Babies were all the rage - I wrote stories about people who would line up for hours just to buy a Beanie Baby. They were the pre-Internet version of Webkins...

Through the years, Patrick has kept that Beanie Baby on his desk at his various jobs....

Yesterday, Patrick took Drew to work with him for a little while and Drew spotted Freckles on his desk and immediately said, "mine, mine...num, num" (Num, Num, is really meow, meow and what he calls cats).

So Freckles now belongs to Drew, who likes to stage fights between "Num Num" and "Bunny" - "Num, Num" usually wins...

I said to Patrick last night, "So, when I gave you Freckles, if I had said that 11 years from now we will be married and our son will claim Freckles, what would you have said??"

I guess everything comes full cirle....

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On another note - tonight is the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE the Olympics, I am OBSESSED with the Olympics, I can not overstate my fascination with the Olympics...

I'm hooping to get Drew into the 2020 Olympic games - he can already do somersaults and he likes to swing on bars...he's a natural gymnast. And, he can compete with either Kazakhstan or the U.S. - how great is that dual citizenship thing, huh???

So for the next two weeks or so, we will be watching the games and rooting for both of our countries! Go USA, Go Kazakhstan!!!

Big boy bed....

Well - it was inevitable that Drew would outgrow his bed and be ready for his toddler bed...he was ready way before I was though! Today we made the change - my little boy is gone - replaced by a big boy who can now climb in and out of his own bed...

He thought it was cool when Patrick took the side off and we showed him how to do it, though he was a little freaked out at bedtime - a little confused...but he did OK and he's sleeping like a baby (or should I say big boy) now. So we have the gate up so he can't go down the stairs or anything. I wonder how long it will take for him to realize he can get up and walk around his room after we put him in bed and he can also come see us in the morning, rather than waiting for us to get him...

Daddy also bought Drew a 10-gallon aquarium today! It's all set up, but the water needs to filter for about 24 hours before fish can go in, so we'll go fish shopping tomorrow. Drew's favorite book these days is "A Fish out of Water" - he loves Otto - so now every fish is named Otto!! This should be funny to watch tomorrow...

Drew and Daddy are on vacation together this week - so hopefully they will have fun and live to talk about it - LOL!! I'll be slaving away at work :)

Other than that - Drew continues to be funny, crazy, grouchy, crabby and generally wonderful!! :) He's speaking more and more each day it seems and his speech therapist doesn't think he'll need her help for too long. He picks up things amazingly quickly. He's still loving all his puzzles and today we played with Mr. Potato Head and he loved it. He's still fascinated by all things having to do with animals and cars, he loves to use his bubble grill and make bubbles...and that's all I can think of right now! :)