Uncontrollable Urge Makes Me Want to Scream and Shout!

Dear Peepvo,
A VERY exciting Monday for Mommy and Daddy.  We went to see DEVO at The Vogue in Indianapolis.  Most people know DEVO by the song "Whip It" but you are already fond of many others.  While at the show you spent the day with your Wooby and Samantha going to the fair to see animals and to ride the carousel. 
-Lately we've been singing a few DEVO lyrics to you... "Uncontrollable Urge"...you laugh at the "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yea-yea, YEAH!" part and will often repeat it back.  Your little mouth doesn't move quite fast enough yet but you give it a good effort with a huge smile.  The show was amazing but that wasn't the really exciting part...

After the show we sat around while the equipment and light displays were taken down and waiting for the people to clear out and happened to sit down just as the band was sitting down to sign autographs on a long red bench at the side of the theater.  A long line configured around the theater and we just sat there...next to the band... and I started talking to Mark Mothersbaugh!  You know him from Yo Gabba Gabba!  which admittedly I was for some odd reason more jazzed that he was from Yo Gabba Gabba! than the band DEVO? HUH? A clear sign I am in the trenches of motherhood! 


So, I asked him if he could deliver our boy at home a special message...and he did!  

It was so cool.  Turns out he is also a parent through adoption of two daughters!  I wish I had known this while we were there it would have been really cool to discuss our experiences.  Then our friends Mason and Johnny were DJ'ing the after party so we went and DEVO 

showed up too.  It was a small number of people but we and the band stayed until 2am and we hung out with Mothersbaugh quite a bit.  It was a lot of fun but the details will have to stay in oral and visual history until you're older.  Why am I telling you about this?  So someday when we are much older and you are reading this you will know that your parents are sort of cool.  We can't wait to take you to your very own DEVO show.  You will love it!  It was hard not to dance.
Love you, Mama

Met A Girl Crazy for Me! Met a Boy Cute as Can Be!

Dear Loverboy, 
A few weeks ago we had an adoption support group meeting and all were in attendance, except for Papa.  We missed him but still had a great time catching up with everyone.  You enjoyed catching up with one little girl in particular, Lily!  You circled each other the entire evening and from time to time intersected.  Lil' was giving you hugs, you would return kisses and flip her Pebbleseque ponytail.  Like best friends you shared your goldfish crackers and kicked a ball around.  Brook and I were melting at the sight.  I took a couple of photos, of course!  I grabbed my camera quickly so some are better than others but the cute is oozing.  I delight in seeing you play with other kids and other kids taking interest in playing with you.  


Love you, 
Mama

Corn! CORN! Corn!

Dear Henry,
We found something you love as much as muffins!  Corn!

You live in Indiana so it is highly appropriate to love corn on the cob.  Clearly you do!  You love gettin' to hold it and gnaw it off.  You're so lucky to have all those teeth!  I also love when we are done eating eat we looked at each other with big butter smiles.

Love, Mama

Henry Sits Up

Dear Henry,
This was a year ago...OH MY! You were four months and some days and you were sittin' up. Now look at ya! So fast!



Love, Mama

Deck-o-rama

Dear Henry, 
Our deck is done!  It has been for a couple of weeks and it is pretty darn awesome!  The days of work with Bahboo and Grandpa Tim were hot and long but a lot of fun too.  You would wake up every morning running around the house, pounding on the windows and calling for your grandpas and Grandma P, this continued for days after we were done with the deck.  As you know we had a pool that sucked.  The concrete around it and the pool itself had been so neglected before we moved in that $40,000 bucks to just fix it would have sucked even more.  For a fraction we filled the pool in and built a deck that is awesome for all of us to use.  You run across it and enjoy climbing up and down the ramp and steps.  It was so wonderful to work with the 

grandpa's again, it looks like it could be our last really cool project together.  Bahboo's hips are good now but the ankles suck worse than our pool did and Grandpa Tim is in full retirement grandpa mode...No grandpa's! I'm not saying you're old, I'm just saying that I love you and appreciate the days working together on our projects almost more than the finished
results and I will miss it...and I will miss that Henry won't be around more of it.  Peep, a result of watching this project come together you are already more curious about how things work and go together.  You seem to be able to pick up different tools and mimic how they are used.  Bahboo bought a special little nail gun for mommy to use when installing the joist hangers.  You loved to come and sneak your nose up close to watch this.  Daddy even enjoyed using it.  

During the building process you loved on your grandpas, you died to come out and help us, you picked up the hammers and brought them to us and/or tried to use it yourself, you blew bubbles and went on walks with cousin Jonny, played with Lily, you ate lots of popsicles, you picked up rocks and threw them in the post holes, you brought us our water bottles, picked up little pieces of wood for us, started dipping french fries and eating fast food (shame on us!), were covered in mud on more than one occasion requiring Grandma P to give you a minimum of two baths a day, and you tried to bury yourself in a post hole so you could peep up like a ground hog.

Love, Mama

IAC Picnic 2010 Indianapolis, Indiana

Dear Henry,

We attended the Independent Adoption Center's annual picnic again this year.  It was fun meeting new couples at the start of their process like Shane & James.  They enjoyed playing with you and talking science fiction with Doug and Daddy.  I think your cuteness put a kick in their butt to complete their paperwork as soon as possible.  Our friends Andrew, you two share the same birthday a year apart,  and Julie were there with Andrew's grandma, birth grandma, birth mom E and a couple of his birth siblings.  Then we saw Emily, Kirk and Nicholas and met his birth mom too.  Nicholas was brand new!  They are a family that sat with us at our weekend intensive at the agency.   There was food, face painting, a playground, and balls to play with.  Julie was sneakin' you fruit snacks and we allowed you to drink juice so you were really happy despite the heat.

Many people ask why we choose an open adoption with continued communication.  If they could attend the picnic they would understand.  While waiting to get your arm painted a girl was saying see ya later to her birth father and birth grandma.  He said, "Bye honey, we'll see you next year, we love you! Have a great time on your trip."  The older woman said, "We'll miss you.  Have a great time!"  The little girl responded with, "I love you too, I'll miss you too. Bye, Thanks for coming!"  I said to her, "Wow! You sure have a lot of people who love you!"  She smiled at me really big and said, "I know!"  and she ran to play.  For her the concept of her birth family isn't threatening, scary, unknown or a fantasy of grandeur or of horror; it is natural!  

This is why we choose to have an open adoption.  Why shouldn't we all get along and be in each others' lives.  I have no doubt that I am your mama and I don't think you are confused.  There isn't a threat from knowing J.  You are legally our child so we are always going to be your parents.  Yes, I know there can be many reasons why contact could be determined to be destructive rather than nurturing...but when it isn't destructive?  Raising a child isn't about ego, it isn't about me, it is what is best for you Peep.  We want you to have a strong sense of all the facets of yourself.  We love J because she made us parents, she made our dream come true, she is a strong woman that taught me to do what is hard if it is best for you, and she has such compassion for us.  J loves us because we love you so much, she is confident that you are safe and happy, and because we have such compassion for her.  We hope that we continue to have a positive relationship, it could ebb and flow as the years pass, as naturally happens in relationships but our sense of family will not.  We invited J to the picnic but it just wasn't going to work out for them this year.  There is always next year!  We hope that she will be there with us next year, but if she isn't able to... we understand.    

BTW: You did get painted...A spider on your hand.  Doug and Peter were there with us and couldn't stop laughing because you smeared the spider across your face reminiscent of the icing from your birthday cake.  You had black teeth and lips for the rest of the day.  It didn't hurt your looks though, you were still cute!

We love you,

Love your mama 

What Goes Down Must Come Up!

Dearest Mighty Peep, 
The latest on your muscle strength...a couple weeks ago you climbed all the way up a slide ..all...on...your...own! (Yes I know! developments this huge should be shared instantaneously!) We were playing at the park with Peter and a little girl they were fostering for a couple of weeks.  She is the cutest!  The two of you got along swimmingly and she kept talking about "the boy" when you were 
gone.  As you ran around the playground you decided to go down the slide by yourself.  I sat at the top hoping ya didn't bonk your face at the bottom, and you didn't.  You landed firmly on your feet only to turn around and start climbing up the slide.  
This was not your first attempt but your determination was a 10+ to make it back up to the top, where I was waiting.  You snorted, grunted and huffed smacking your hands one over the other to sssssqqreeeaak back a few inches after a mighty gain.  You learn as you go so you realized the slide's seams are easy hand and foot holds and began using them to your advantage.  You strained and scrunched your face but steadily pulled and pushed to make it to the top.  I reached out to you for the last lurch and there you were!  

I have the ascending pictures but I was so proud of your accomplishment and you were clapping for yourself that I had to put my camera down to celebrate with a big kiss and squeeze.  After that you conquered the tube slide with a smile on your face and no last hand up.  One day you don't, the next day you do.  Amazing!
Love, Mama

Waadoo is My Thing!

Dear Henry,
This summer we have learned you LOVE water.  It must be typed in all caps to emphasize the magnitude of your desires to splash and play.  You don't mind getting it in your face or going under which makes it extra fun.  In fact, you will purposefully make sure it is shooting right into your face.  You like jumping from the side of the pool into my arms and giggle when I pull you along playing motor boat...you help with the sound effects.
Sources of water fun this summer...and if you can throw dirt in on top of the water?! Heaven!
















*Bahboo and Grandma P's pool and hot tub

*The fountain at the farmer's market
*The tub
*The sink when I wash your hands.
*Our backyard sprinkler

*The Bryan Park Public Pool
*The rain
*The nasty gutter when it is pouring down rain

*Any glass of water you are drinking with ICE.  We don't give you juice or sodas (a few times on special occasions) so you think WATER is awesome all day long

*The splash park at Karst Farm Park...built to be inclusive to children of all abilities with an adjoining playground

 *Any water outlet you can find, Grandpa Tim's pump or the water outlet at the park.  You're not picky.

P.S.  I so need to catch up your blog! or at least get into the flow,  And I will.

Love, Mama