Henry turns 5!

Our sweet Henry turned 5 years old!  He requested a donut instead of a cake.
Happy Birthday Henry!
 

9/11

I watched the 9/11 anniversary events with tears in my eyes.  We all remember exactly where we were when we heard the news ten years ago.
Five years ago, on 9/11 we moved from the Washington, DC suburbs to our new home.  A bittersweet move but it allowed me to stay home with Igor and Rob to work full time.  In hindsight, the move was a huge blessing for our family.

Three years ago on 9/11 we received our second referral from Ethiopia.  The picture of Henry was grainy and blurry but the smile on his sweet face was precious. 
This year we celebrated Henry's referral anniversary and Ethiopian New Year (which is on 9/11).  It was a sweet reminder of how precious Henry is and how grateful we are to call him our son.

Henry's shoe experiment

One of Henry's favorite things to say, "Hey Mom, I have an idea!" 

We are on day 6 of his great idea- 

A different point of view

Our neighborhood has a Yahoo Group so we share information on contractors, share local events and most importantly, find out who is old enough to baby sit!

Today I checked my e-mails around 5PM and read this message which had just been posted:

Two young teenage african-americans are roaming our neighborhood trying to sell what looks like event tickets I did not open my door - please do not open your door - should I call anyone in the light of recent break in? Do I call 911 or just the police office number?? (fyi- it was an attempted break in at 3AM. No one was apprehended.)

I thought to myself- call the police, really? Why not ask who they are and what are doing/selling first?? And why are you so afraid of teenage African-American boys? My mind raced forward 10 years, I imagined Henry walking with the two other teenage African-American boys in our neighborhood and I thought this woman is ready to call the police because my son is black.  My mind quickly races back to the present.

Right now Henry is 4 yrs old, many see him as a cute novelty, adopted from Ethiopia. Okay, some see him as an orphan rescued by his wonderful, loving, and saintly parents (we ONLY meet the loving criteria and we did not rescue him).. but how people see Henry will change. As he grows older his adorable preschool cuteness will be gone and he will be a handsome teenage African-American boy. He won't be holding my hand or yelling from the backyard- Mommy look what I can do!! He will be "hanging out" in our yard, or walking in our neighborhood with his friends who may be African-American boys and someone may call the police because they assume he doesn't belong in our neighborhood or that the boys are up to no good.  This is racial profiling.  For the first time in my life I feel it in a deeply personal way, I sense the ugliness of it and I know I must do something.

I picked up the phone and thought what am I doing?? I set the phone down but I KNEW I must talk to this woman.  I calmed down enough to call this neighbor. I have never met her but she said she knew about our family. We talked about the e-mail, about the fact that two of our children are not white and we cannot assume these teens are up to no good just because they are black teens. She apologized for any offense I had taken to the e-mail.

Two hours later she came over to our house to introduce herself and apologized in person. As Henry and Merone stood next to us we explained that we want our kids to grow up in a neighborhood where they feel safe and our neighbors do not think of them as threatening no matter their age. She said she could see it from our side now and she was sorry she reacted the way she did.

You might be wondering what the teenagers were doing in our neighborhood. They are football players from our high school selling merchant discount cards which will benefit the equipment fund.

Henry's summer time favorites

jumping

water table fun

 lake fun

 puzzles

The boys meet Merone

Henry LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his baby sister!! 

He wants to feed her, read to her, carry her, etc.

Henry and Merone were up a 5AM this morning reading books in Merone's bed.  You cannot tell based on this photo but Merone thinks Henry is awesome.  She gave him a kiss this morning.  Something she has not given her parents yet.

Igor is a proud big brother.  He carries her around and is learning to comfort her when she cries.

Rob and I are over the jet lag but Merone is still struggling to adjust to our time.  We are looking forward to sleeping more than a few hours each night.

Coffee Anyone?

Henry loves coffee.  We don't let him drink it BUT if you leave your coffee cup unattended for more than a minute Henry can sense it..  He has a super human coffee detector that goes off and he hones in on the unattended cup.  He is happy to sip your coffee until you return.  This week Henry has taken coffee into his own hands.  I was upstairs getting ready for the day when I heard a noise downstairs.  I went to investigate.  Downstairs I saw this-

Much to Henry's delight, Rob had left the coffee can on the counter.   Henry decided to make a pot.  He even pulled out a coffee cup.  Since he made a pot I figured he needed to be rewarded for his ingenuity.  I poured him half a cup.  He took one sip then said, "mmmm, that's good." 
The coffee is back in the cabinet... very, very high up.

Henry is FOUR!!

Happy birthday Henry!  You are FOUR!!

Henry wanted teeny, tiny cakes, and small cakes with blue frosting!

Here he is in his new Toy Story PJ's!

Henry's lotion

On the way back from the adoption retreat we started talking about the lotion I make for Henry. Here's another oldie but goody post!  I have been using this recipe since Jan 2009, and it has never failed me.  Henry's skin looks great and stays soft.  The lotion is inexpensive compared to name brand lotions. 
Jan 22, 2009
My friend and blogger pal Susan has started making body butter for her son. She inspired me to make body butter for Henry since his skin is so dry. Susan's recipe uses Aquaphor but I did not have that on hand so I used Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream.  I have had great results with the Cetaphil version.  It's the only lotion I use on Henry's skin.
I buy raw shea butter at our local African American beauty supply store.  I purchase Cetaphil Moistsuring cream at a big box store

I mixed 6 oz of raw Shea Butter and 3-5 oz of Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream in my KitchenAide mixer for about 10 minutes and wallah, the mixture is like body butter and it keeps Henry's skin from getting ashy. I store the lotion in an air tight container and apply it to Henry's skin once or twice a day.  I hope you love the lotion as much as we do!

Two years...

Time has flown by.  I can hardly believe two years ago today we met Henry for the first time.

We love you sweet boy!! Happy Meetcha day!!

Two years have flown by

Two years ago we received a referral and a picture of Henry.  His shirt said "Captain Chaos".  I wondered what we were in for.  Chaos means- a state lacking order or predictability.  Henry has been predictable in many ways- he is always an early riser.  As Rob and I slumber we often are awakened just before dawn by Henry clapping and singing in his bed.  99% of the time Henry is happy and delightful.
However, he is also full of mischief, drama and whimsy which keeps me on my toes!
We love you dear Captain Chaos!  We are so grateful and honored to be your parents.

Look who is riding a bike

Henry has only been interested in riding a scooter until July.  That is when he decided he wanted to learn how to ride a tricycle.  Henry rode the tricycle for a month then moved on to a bike.  He is no longer interested in the trike or a scooter.  Everyday he says the same thing to me- "ride my bike?"

Henry

Henry loves to wake up early- before 6AM.  Most mornings Rob puts Henry back in his room to play until we are ready to get up.  The other morning I went to get Henry and this is what I found

25 feet of Christmas wrap decorating the floor of his room.

Picnic anyone?

It has been so hot outside that by mid-morning I want to go indoors until the sun starts setting.  Henry doesn't seem to mind the intense heat and humidity.  The other day I started to make lunch and Henry walked into the garage.  I thought he was looking for a toy until I heard the garage door open.  I peeked outside and this is what I saw

Yes, my son wanted to have a picnic on the concrete in 95 degree weather.  I tried to convince him that we'd be more comfortable inside.  When that didn't work I tried to talk him into sitting under a tree.  Henry was not interested in options.  He wanted to eat in the driveway.  Yes, I know I am his mom and I could make him come inside... but he was so proud of setting up for a picnic, I grabbed my hat and the sandwiches.  He was waiting for me and we had a lovely picnic.

getting dressed

In May, Henry decided that he was old enough to dress himself. Every morning after breakfast he runs to his dresser to pick out his outfit and dresses in private. Almost every morning he comes downstairs dressed in shorts and a shirt that match. Last week he put on his shirt backwards. When I gently mentioned this to him he said it was okay. If he was okay with it, I was okay with it. My boy is teaching me not to sweat the small stuff in life.
After Henry gets dressed Rob and I say, "Henry, you look good!" Now when we get dressed Henry tells us we look good. My boy puts a smile on my face every morning.




My Friend, Riana's mother-in-law bought Henry a South African soccer jersey. Henry loves it. He would wear it everyday if it was clean. Last week he decided his jersey needed to be dressed up a bit. All day he wore his jersey and Batman tie. He is creating his own style.

Hey Baby!

Henry loves to say "Hey Baby!"
We don't know where he picked this up and we are trying not to laugh when he says it. He loves to say it at church where everyone laughs and tells him that he is cute. I have a feeling, "Hey Baby" is going to last a while.
Here is he saying, "Cheese and Hey Baby!"

5 MONTHS!

On January 2, 2009 we landed in the USA with our adorable son Henry!

We've been home 5 months.

We love you so much Henry! We cannot imagine life without you.

Henry, tummy troubles, Igor's drawings

Henry continues to amaze me. He loves to ride his three wheeled scooter around the block.
His daddy taught him that every puddle is his own personal water park! Henry cannot walk by a puddle without getting sopping wet.
If you ask Henry a question and the answer is "NO!" he vigorously shakes his head and waves his hands in the air. When he does this I stifle a laugh because it's so funny.
He eats everything except two of Igor's favorite foods; beets and cucumbers.
When he hears the dryer buzzer he taps his ear, grabs my shirt and pulls me into the laundry room. He also taps his ear, as if to say "hear it", when a helicopter or airplane flies over the house.
Henry loves sitting in the car. He doesn't want to go anywhere, he just wants to sit in the car. The other day we had our snack in the car which was parked in the garage. He thought it was the coolest thing ever. He was happy so I was happy. I know some day I won't want to sit in the car eating a snack but for right now I'm okay with it.
Henry still loves to spit. It's something he did in Ethiopia. We've tried to get him to stop spitting all together but sometimes he has the urge to spit. I needed a compromise so I have taught him to spit in the toilet instead of on the kitchen floor. He can go for days without the urge to spit then something happens and he is spitting in the toilet 5 or 6 times a day.

Henry continues to have tummy troubles. Yesterday we had to clean the carpet, the floor, Henry, etc... poor little guy. I am a fan of probiotics but they seem to be making his tummy worse. It makes me wonder if the giardia is back. I guess we'll know soon enough. We were able to fill and deliver the remaining stool sample kits to the lab this weekend. I hope to hear something soon!

Igor continues to adjust to having a little brother. Honestly, he wishes that he was still an only child. Heavy sigh. I am so grateful that Henry is so sweet and laid back. I'm sure he understands when Igor rejects him but Henry keeps trying to play with Igor. The other day I heard giggles coming from the other room. Igor was chasing Henry around the dining room and Henry was laughing. I peeked in, Igor looked like he was having fun! what a sweet, sweet picture! My hope is one day soon Igor will let Henry into his world.

Igor is really enjoying his art class. The other day a LL Bean catalog came in the mail. He looked at the picture and said mom that's a beautiful picture. He took the catalog to art class on Saturday. He told his teacher that he wanted to paint part of the catalog cover. She was very supportive! I think it will take a couple of weeks to finish.

The previous few weeks at art Igor has focused on drawing houses with colored pencils. I have looked back on the numerous houses Igor has drawn. All of the houses have red curtains and light (yellow) shining out. Here are two of his latest drawings:

doctors, blood and finding the Goth Guy

Yesterday, Igor and I took Henry to the doctor for his IA medical evaluation. We were scheduled for one hour and ended up being in the office for 2 1/2 hours! The doctor was able to confirm that Henry's ears are all cleared up. Woo-hoo! She said to keep Henry on a bottle for one more month, not because he needs it but because it's familiar. Henry has gained a pound in the last twelve days, so she was very pleased. Now, I can put on my work-out chart that I am carrying around a 25 pound boy.

She gave us the kit to collect "samples" so they may determine if he has any parasites. We dropped them off this morning. They couldn't do the TB test because the office will be closed on Sunday so the next step.. blood. I am not sure if I should insert circus music here or sad dramatic music, both probably apply. A former NICU nurse and 2 Physicians Assistants tried to draw his blood with no luck. Henry cried his little eyes out! I got the job of holding Henry down- ugh....The receptionist had to take Igor out of the exam room... you get the picture. The former NICU nurse told me that we will have to go to the hospital to get Henry's blood drawn. She said, "You want the "Goth Guy" at the hospital., he's the best." She could not remember his name. They gave me some formula, I paid the bill, scheduled the TB test for Monday and went home exhausted.

At home I shared our time with the doctor with Rob and mentioned that I need to find the Goth Guy. Rob shook his head- how are you going to find the Goth Guy? I didn't know but I figured it would all work out.

This morning I called the hospital and was transferred several times. I finally spoke with a nurse who suggested I call the Women's and Infant Unit of the Hospital since Henry is 23 months old. She gave me the number but before she hung up I asked her if the Goth Guy worked in this unit. She said he worked in her department but they don't make appointments you just show up and get one of the phlebotomists on duty. I explained my situation then she whispered, "His name is xxxxx. Call him at the following number xxx-xxxx between 12:30-1:00 to talk with him directly." Now we are getting some where! So, in 2 hours I will call to see if he will draw Henry's blood.
More to come...

Tummy troubles

I think Henry's antibiotic is causing tummy troubles. I won't go into the details but something isn't right with Henry's digestion. This afternoon I started Henry on Florastor Kids, it's a Probiotic. I will call the doctor's office tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning if I don't see any improvement. I hope it's not Giardia. I've been bleaching everything in the bathroom just in case. If it's Giardia, I don't want Igor to get it.

Here are some pictures of our sweet boy at the Transitional house.

With Robel