Oh, Hello Blog

It's been a while since I've written to you. Time is cruising at warp speed and I'm usually just trying to keep up. Sorry I've neglected you, it's nothing personal. We have had a 'sick house' for well over a month now. It hasn't been cool. We are all okay and grateful for that but not well, which is a major bummer. I guess it's just going around. We seem to have been hit with a nasty bug that just doesn't want to give up, try as hard as we might to fight it. I keep hoping the end is near and then my hopes are dashed by my husband's nasty cough coming from the other room, or running my only little fever or hearing Noah wheezing as I lie next to him on the couch.

I'm going to believe that this is our fall/winter cold and at least we are getting it over with now so we can enjoy the holidays! Sound good? Okay, good, I thought so too. Let's go with it.

Here's a picture I wanted to share with you, dear blog, of the person that this blog was started for in the first place. The one, the only, Noah Arone. This one is from yesterday in his Halloween inspired number. Noah is growing like a weed and when I tell people he isn't quite 2 they shutter in disbelief. He is now singing his abc's and counting to 20 and saying new words every day, some that we can understand and some that we can not. And climbing and running and jumping and diving all over the place. He's a blast, a true guy's guy, that's for sure.

I'll try to share some Halloween costume photos soon but for now, I hope this will do. Bye for now, blog. I'll try not to forget to write.

Then and Now

I'm glad I pulled out this outfit that his caregivers gave him in Ethiopia last year...just in time too. The lighting was nice outside so I decided to go grab it out of the depths of the closet, we had put it back there thinking it would be years before it would actually fit. If I had waited an extra week, it probably wouldn't have fit at all!

Noah Arone is growing like a weed and we are really wondering just how tall he is going to get. Everyone always comments on how 'big' he is getting, and it's very surreal. Looking at these photos and others from when we first brought him home brought his mom to tears this weekend. Now really beginning to get what people have been saying since we became a family about time just jetting by. Trying to stop and take in, appreciate, savour every moment with this wild, rambunctious, unique, simply amazing little boy, so that when he's not little anymore, I won't look back and wish I had done more of it. Noah is special and I think sometimes that he is so special that it takes me taking a step back from him and really looking to be able to really SEE without being overwhelmed by his specialness. He astounds me.

He's just starting to repeat a LOT of what we say and it sort of happened over night this past week while we were on our vacation week. Anil thinks it's because he wasn't around all the other kids at school and so had to start communicating with some more 'adult' language. Not a bad theory. Whatever the reason, it's fun to hear him say and do new things all the time. We are very grateful for our little man-to-be. He's a hoot.

Yaya's Visit over 4th of July

Always a good time when Auntie L comes to town. Nana (as he calls himself) and Yaya (as he calls her) had a ball, and so did we. A quick video of the photos Yaya took here - good thing too because I have not had the camera out in a while. I'm going to try to update a wee bit more often so come back soon.

Just because...

One Year Ago Yesterday...

One year ago yesterday, we held our beautiful, insanely sweet and gentle, soft and cuddly, tiny little boy at 5 months of age in Ethiopia for the VERY FIRST TIME - in his basketball shirt and khaki shorts, just up from a nap and already smiling. You might have seen some of the images – it was surreal, amazing, beyond words – for us. As many have said before us, we really can't believe it's already been a year, as time continues to fly by.

Sweet and gentle, soft and cuddly has now transformed into happy and wild, hardheaded and defiant at times, tough and hilarious at others - he's a toddler and he enjoys his discovery that he is able to test our patience and tries often, and sometimes we pass; others, we fail. But all of the time, we find a way to enjoy it . Noah has so much raw energy that we are convinced he is going to be an athlete as it might be the only way he can get all of that energy out in a controlled setting. He's a BLAST. He's a RIOT. He's WILD. But all in all, he's that sweet soul we met one year ago yesterday, and he is all ours - and we feel like the luckiest people on this planet, in this universe, to have been given the gift of Noah Arone. He's a special boy and there really just aren't words to describe our good fortune and just how meant to be WE are.

One Year Ago Today...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Not only OKAY, but Student of the Month!

Just a quick update to let you all know that Noah Arone is doing great. He has been seizure free for over a week now (hopefully at some point it won't be as fresh in our minds but for now, we are counting the days - at first it was seconds, then minutes, then hours, now days) - and when we took him back to daycare on Friday of last week, we discovered that he had been named STUDENT OF THE MONTH! Anil found out when he dropped him off (the ladies had been dying to tell us) and he called me immediately on my cell - I broke down and cried. It's been a long time coming for this little guy. He's pretty umm...'energetic and friendly' at school and it often times puts him in the 'handful' category so we had pretty much written off his chances of winning this prestigious honor...but lo and behold, the timing...right after our traumatic event, he is crowned with sweet victory as the big cheese in the baby room.

We are needless to say, very proud.

Stay tuned on St. Pat's Day - I plan to post a blubbering tribute to our little man as March 17 will mark our one year anniversary of learning about him for the first time. Hopefully I can get something together to provoke some HAPPY tears.