November is Adoption Awareness Month

I love that November is Adoption Awareness month, as it is the month I met my little guy. 3 years ago last Sunday I met Denis for the first time. I can't believe it has only been 3 years, at the same time I can't believe that 3 years have already passed.

Denis and I celebrated our anniversary by going to the Toronto Santa Claus Parade with our good friends Alex and Loretta. It was a fun day even though it threatened heavy rain.

Denis loves taking Selfies, but hates when I pull out the camera. Here are some silly poses he made as we watched the parade.

This Sunday we went to the Maple Santa Claus parade. We've been home over an hour and I'm still feeling chilled. Boy was it cold out there today.

Here is Denis when we saw Santa. I think Uncle John and I were happier than Denis.

We do love the parades and hope to attend 2 more before they end for another season. I am proud to say that I've actually put up the Christmas lights this year. They didn't make it up last year and poor Denis was still asking me in February when we were going to put them up. Next up is the Christmas tree, and this year it won't be Mom's macrame tree, it will be a real artificial tree. Darn day care has shown him what most people have as a Christmas tree.

But I loved putting up Mom's tree, it took all of 5 seconds. Ah the memories!

2 years Thursday

It was 2 years ago that I returned to Uralsk and brought Denis out of the baby house forever.  Here is my blog post from that day.

As I write this blog, Denis is going around the house with a Kazakhstan flag and singing O'Kazakhstan, talk about blending two countries.

It has been a wonderful 2 years. I marvel that this little person is my son. There have been hard days, and even harder nights. The night terrors, which started at the 3 month home stage, ended almost a year ago. He still needs to sleep with me for at least a part of the night as he will have a nightmare when he doesn't. We have finally reached a point where he doesn't throw a major temper tantrum or run around the place like a mad man when I pick him up from day care. We are still working on his temper, he no longer throws a major kick, screaming and biting tantrum, but he still throw something or slaps me.

Denis' health has been great since the day he came home. Next week we go to see a doctor about tubes in his ears, but I would never have known about the need except for a routine check of his hearing, as Denis came home with no language skills. I'm amazed at his language skills. January last year we went to see the speech pathologist and she said at the time he was meeting less than 1/2 of the typical benchmarks of a three year old. By June Denis was meeting 85 per cent of a 3 1/2 year old. And last month the speech pathologist signed off on his file as she no longer has any concerns with his speech. Actually, at one point during the assessment she turned to me and whispered "WOW" to me, and later she told Denis to slow down as she couldn't write notes as fast as he spoke.

And I'm so glad as I approach 2 years home that I read on the blog of S and P are awaiting news of a referral. Soon another family will be traveling to Uralsk to bring another wonderful child of Kazakhstan home to Canada.

Here are some recent pictures of My Little Man

Tobogganing during the Christmas holidays

Loving the snow

All the comforts of home in my wonderful laundry basket

Night time snow removal equipped with headlights

Denis' first protest rally (against Bill 115) and his first television interview. Too bad Uncle John and Denis didn't make the news.

Uncle and nephew with matching mustaches.

A Blast from My Past

As an elementary school kid a century ago, I borrowed this book from the school library. I loved the story of a witch who tried to beat the perennial winner of the best original cake at the county fair. The witch (as I remember the story) wanted to use magic to win, but then decided that wouldn't be right, so she just tries her best. Eventually, she discovers the rich lady who always wins actually buys her cakes.






The story was fun. But to me, the best part was the recipe on the back cover of the book. This was my staple, go-to recipe for years. My mother and I once lost the recipe and I had to go back to the EASY section of the library to borrow it again to get the recipe. This was back in the days before photocopiers, so we had to hand write out the recipe.

For some reason I decided to use Google to see if I could find the recipe and there it was on someone's blog from 5 or 6 years ago (that's where I found the pictures of the front and back of the book). I understand the book is out of print, but I once again have the recipe. Of course now I'll have to make it nut free if I plan to take it to school.

Those of you who like me who can barely see the print, I found the recipe on a few places. On Food dot com  it is written exactly as it is on the back of the book.

Now my next job is to make the cake again and see if it tastes as good as I remember.

It Fills My Mind

At this time of year, my mind is filled with thoughts of getting to this point, being Mom to this wonderful guy. I actually don't think at all of the years of waiting, but I do think of the week prior to leaving,and the flights to Kazakhstan. I think of my arrival in Kazakhstan and the spending a wonderful (not) 12 hours hanging out in the airport in Almaty, (unfortunately it wasn't the only time I would spend a night in that airport waiting on the benches outside the security check for my flight to Uralsk). And I think of those first 2 days in Uralsk waiting to get to the baby house. But most of all I think of meeting Denis.

March 2011 Celebrating a belated Christmas

April 2011 Driving his favourite vehicle after I finally put it together.

August 2011 Planning to tell Mommy and Uncle John where to go (something he does all the time).

June 2012 Making faces at Kazapalooza.

July 2012 More faces for the camera

Sept 2012 Driving a car at the CNE.

2 years ago today I met this little guy, crying his eyes out in the director's office in Kazakhstan. I got to spend and hour with him. I have very fond memories of that day, I started to fall in love that day, then spent another week trying to 'be logical'.
Today I got to spend the entire 24 hours with him, and I'm sure in days, weeks to come, I won't have any memories of today, but every moment is enjoyed and a gift.

Polar Opposites

Wednesday will be my sister's birthday, today we went out to celebrate. We went to our local Pioneer Village to enjoy the fall colours and then we planned to go for an early dinner. We have had a membership to the village for almost 30 years and usually visit a few times a year. Both Denis and my sister love the village and are very comfortable there. I love it as I don't have to worry about either of them while we walk around (no traffic and a lovely fence, tree and brush separation from the actual roads).

A hat to mark the LACK of a hockey season (as if I care about hockey)

 This is the first time my sister has been well enough to walk around on an outing since Denis came home 19 months ago, my brother and I discovered how they are such absolutely opposite.

 The only times we were all together was entering and exiting the village.

This is the typical view that I had of Denis while we were in the village.

And this is how I saw my sister.

 Oh, you don't see her, let me use the zoom on the camera for you.

There she is, standing still, quietly waiting and wondering where Denis and I were.

See, Denis didn't walk around the village, he RAN. And Kathryn would take a step and wait about a minute before she took another step. My brother and I had to divide to conquer with these two.

We didn't go into any of the houses. We've done that before. We just walked around and visited all the animals.

I did get Denis to stand still for a photo. It was a challenge.

I love the village. And it did look so beautiful in its fall splendour. We had a great time crunching through the leaves. But it was nippy for a fall afternoon and rain was on its way. So it was sad to see the preparations for the evening OUTDOOR wedding on the green and in the pavilion. I hope the guests realized exactly what they were getting into. I know the village had those tall standing heaters, but we were wearing winter jackets and hats, and it was daylight.

I love this photo. It isn't easy to get a good photo of my sister. 

We ended up just taking my sister to Tim Hortons for a donut as Denis fell asleep shortly after we got into the car. Geez, wonder why he was so tired. We took my sister back to her group home where she promptly put her head down for a nap. At least on that level they are at the same speed.

As we were leaving the village, while waiting for my brother to bring the car from the parking lot, I had to promise to take Denis back to the village without either of my siblings. He complained that they were no fun and too slow. Too funny.

I No Wash My Hands

Denis keeps trying to talk his way out of having to wash his hands. He is always arguing that his hands aren't dirty, or that he washed them at day care (even on Saturday he'll use that excuse).

Tonight he was in the washroom with me and I told him to wash his hands and he started to argue that he couldn't wash his hands. I was just about to start my lecture when he said to me, "I'm a doggy, doggies don't have hands, they have paws. I have to wash my paws."

Can't argue with that.

Baptism

Today we finally had Denis' baptism. I say finally because we have had a date multiple times, and then something has come up, or someone has come down with something and we've had to postpone and rebook. But finally everything was in place and all the essential players were hale and healthy.
It was a frantic morning for me though. I had to get Denis and myself and my brother out of the house and over to my sister's group home where I then had to get my sister dressed and out. And this had to be done so we could get to the church prior to 2 in the afternoon. I was so frantic, I just feared we'd be late for my son's baptism. We actually arrived at the church at 1:30, the final mass of the day hadn't finished when we pulled into the church parking lot.

I had only invited a few people for the day. Prior to meeting Denis, I'd dreamt of a very large baptism. But once I had Denis home I began to realize that life isn't so much about me and more about Denis and his needs. And then there is the reality that both my son and sister just need me, and I can't be there for both of them and host a huge celebration.

Denis was excited about the baptism, and excited meant running around. And I mean a ton of running around. Father came out to say we would be beginning in 2 minutes and suddenly Denis runs behind a large group of people coming into the church and he is gone. I was in a panic. The church vestibule was empty. He wasn't in the church. I motion to my brother to ask if Denis had run back to the pew where we were sitting, but no. Finally I heard him in the basement of the church. He had gone down the stairs and was waiting for the elevator to bring him upstairs.

During the baptism, Denis was loud. Screaming, talking, squirming and kicking the pew. With Denis there were 6 other children being baptised. 3 were wee tiny babies and three were older girls, but all of them were QUIET. It was overwhelming for Denis. We were also sitting in the front pew instead of our usual back pew, which totally confused Denis. But when it came to the important parts of the ceremony he was perfect. He was still and quiet for the annoiting and he truly enjoyed the actual baptising.

I had four favourite moments from the day. Denis asked me to dance at one point and insisted that we do a little waltz (at that point I'd do anything to keep him calm and quiet at that point). During a quiet moment, when Father was anointing all the children, Denis started screaming at his uncle that he couldn't hear what Uncle John was saying and could he speak louder. Just as I lifted Denis back up at the font from the baptism, my sister announced that it was time to go out and eat. And finally, at the end of the ceremony I was given the baptismal certificate, and Denis wanted to see what it said and I had to read it to him while he sat on his uncle's shoulder.

After the baptism we went to Montana's restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. It was Denis' first experience in a sit down restaurant. It was a wonderful experience. Denis had gifts to open and people to visit with. My sister enjoyed having lunch out at one of her favourite restaurants with sone of her favourite people. And my friends and family had a great time.

He was as good as gold for this, and this font is one of Denis' favourite things at our church.

Denis and his Godparents: my best friend Anna and my brother John

Myself, my sister Kathryn, Godmother Anna, Godfather Uncle John and Denis.

The most emotional point of the day was hearing Denis being baptised with both the names I'd chosen and the name his birth mother had chosen. At the beginning of the ceremony, we were asked what name we have chosen. Most parents mentioned one name. I said all three of his names, as it was so important to me to honour and remember his birth mother at this so very important occasion.

More Summer Pictures

Celebrating Canada Day

Waiting for the fireworks with Uncle John

On his way to Dance Camp for Pirate day.

A super day at Canada's Wonderland with Alex. We arrived just before a thunderstorm and when the rides reopened the boys got on about 17 rides in just over an hour.

 

First time on a beach. At Long Point Provincial Park

Playing in Lake Erie

Having a blast

Just a little sandy

First time flying a kite

Ask a Busy Person

You know that old adage that if you want something done, then ask a busy person. I'm guessing that it means you shouldn't ask me to do anything during the summer as I'm not busy enough. As proof positive, I offer this blog, 3 posts this week and prior to that June 27th, the last day I had students in class.

Driving, driving and driving away he will go.

At the CNE - money ripoff as I now call it.

First boat ride ever  in Muskoka at my cousin's cottage.

Trying to touch the water as we sped across the lake.

So what did I do for my summer vacation? Mostly I attended 20 different appointments, mostly medical for Denis, my sister and myself. A lot it turns out, here are some photos. I'll post more when I find the other camera disk.