Wonderful world of Kaz: 2008

July 13/08

It is hard to believe that a year ago on the 13th of July, we got on a plane to travel half-way around the world to meet our child. We feel ill at the thought of how close we came to not being able to go at all. We can't imagine Matthew with anyone but us! A year ago on the 16th they brought in this tiny, skinny legged little baby who had the biggest smile! He is no longer skinny, in fact he has great calf muscles! He does however, still have his big smile - it is now full of teeth instead of just one!

Matthew is a bit of a dare devil and really has no fear. He loves water but hates to wear a life jacket. In fact, he doesn't even want to hold your hand anymore as he walks deeper into the water! The pool in our town has a beach entry and last week we went with Matthew's cousins. He walked all the way in until the water was up to his neck and was mad because when he went farther, his feet wouldn't touch! He also had a ball going down the little water slide, especially since his cousins took turns going down with him! In the bath, he LOVES to splash still and now has progressed to splashing water on himself and grinning as it pours down his face. He is also a big fan of laying on his tummy and becoming a motor boat complete with sound effects!

Aug. 29 - Sept. 5/08
I can't believe it is actually our 1st anniversary of Gotcha Day already! In some ways it feels like yesterday that we were in Kazakhstan and in others it is like we have always had Matthew with us. We decided to have a party for Gotcha Day and had it on the Sunday the 31st instead of the 29th. Matthew had a ball since he was surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents! He has spent the last few days recovering from all the attention he received! He finally fit into the "I'm a Keeper" t-shirt that I had made before leaving for Kazakhstan last year! At the time I was convinced that our child would be 18 months so I got a size 2 shirt!

I can't believe how much Matthew has changed in one year! He is not a baby any more that's for sure. He is such a boy too! He LOVES trucks, tractors and semis. He drives his all over the house and always wants to go along with daddy. He has already been seeding, cutting hay and hauling canola in the semi! Any time we see a tractor or a semi he says, "Daddy brrrmm?" He also loves tools. He has toy tools, but if daddy gets out the real deal you can bet Matthew will be in there before you can even blink!

Matthew has really started to talk now. In just the last few weeks he has started trying to copy a lot of the words you say to him and I bet he added ten just in the last week alone. This doesn't mean that they are totally clear though! If you ask him "did you say ..." he will either nod his head vigorously yes or keep saying it until you get it! One of the words he started to say last week was beebee. I thought he was saying baby but it turns out he was saying peepee. I figured it out when he came to me carrying his potty seat and saying the word! He likes to sit and try to pee and my big boy even managed to squeeze out a few drops once! I'm not pushing it but I'm not going to tell him no when he asks to go!

This summer we tried to do some family things like going to the zoo, to the beach and visit with family and friends. We also met up with Jila and Kiana so that our Can/Kaz kids will know each other. We feel so fortunate that they live close by! We also took in our agencies annual picnic weekend at Minnedosa in August. We (Kaz families) were out numbered by the families from Ethiopia again but we were excited when there was a grand total of four Can/Kaz kids (including Matthew) there! Hopefully next year there will be more able to attend. We had a lot of fun and were in the water quite a bit. In fact, 5 minutes after we arrived, Matthew was soaking wet! He spotted the water seconds after his feet hit the ground and he immediately sprinted towards the lake! We waded for a brief time before he slipped and fell in fully dressed! He didn't care, of course! Good thing we were staying only minutes away at my Aunt's cabin. Boy did CAFAC do a good job of the weekend again. I seriously doubt there is a harder working, fun loving, competent group of people than them and we are so glad that they are there to help us through the adoption process.

Speaking of adoption process, we are finally feeling motivated to get moving on the next one. We have had the papers for quite awhile now, but I just haven't felt "the urge" to get working on them until a couple of weeks ago. I figured that meant that our second child just wasn't ready for us yet! A few weeks ago while shopping with a friend, "the urge" made me buy a little pink onesie that says "Worth the wait" on it! When we began the process for Matthew, we didn't specify gender, but for some reason we feel "the urge" to say girl this time. We are working with the Kazakhstan program again and hoping to go back to Astana. Did I mention how glad I am that we have CAFAC behind us? I have already been pestering them with questions!

Matthew and Mommy are heading back to work at the daycare on Monday. Yikes. I don't know if I am excited or horrified! Once I am back, I'm sure it will be fine. Just letting go of the freedom and getting back into the routine is hard. One good thing (I think) is that Matthew will be with me until he turns two.

To sum up this last year in one word ... wonderful! Even that seems inadequate. Everyone agrees that he just fits into our family as if he was meant to be here and we firmly believe that to be true. I recently said that I wished that we would have skipped all the years of treatments and tests and trying to adopt locally - all without success - and gone straight to Kazakhstan. But then I realized that would have meant some other child and not our Matthew. You know what, he is worth every painful minute of those years. I just can't believe that we are some how allowed to be his parents.

Matthew one year ago!

Playing at the playground in the spring.

Helping Daddy build our new chairs.

Ewww, mud doesn't taste good!

After falling in a mud puddle!

Matthew loves cucumbers!

Going seeding with Daddy!

Hanging out with my cousin!

Our strawberry monster strikes again!

I LOVE steak! Kazak version of Godzilla!

Sneaking cousin Stephanie's pop at the Gotcha Day party!

Mommy's attempt at a cake!

Goofy cousins at the Gotcha Day party!

Happy Gotcha Day!

Our little farmer!

I guess it has been a little while since the last post! Time sure flies when you are having fun!

We have been pretty busy around here. Matthew has been very healthy for the most part, but at the end of November, he came down with pneumonia. It came on really fast too! On the Sunday we had to wipe his runny nose just a few times, on Monday it really started to run and on Tuesday afternoon he was kind of gasping. He went on a ventilator at the hospital which seemed to help so we were sent home with the machine and some meds. That night he ran a fairly high fever for a few hours but by the next day, was already much better and raring to go. He never got sick again until after Christmas and this time it stayed just a cold, thank goodness.

December was a very busy month with Mommy's birthday, as well as Matthew's first birthday on the eleventh and his first Christmas a few weeks later! It was just the three of us on his big day. He had quite a little mound of gifts which he quite happily ripped the paper off of. He especially enjoyed his cake (both of them since mommy and grandma each made him one!) and ice-cream! We had the families over the next Sunday and Matthew had a LOT of fun with all his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents all doting on him. Christmas day was spent at my parents and luckily Santa knew where to find Matthew! We got to do it all again with Michael's family a little later! I think Matthew's favorite gift was the CAT dump truck he got from my sister. He constantly pushes it around the house making engine sounds!

Yes, he is definitely a boy! Santa brought him some little trucks and for the past couple of weeks he has been pushing them around the floor making engine sounds for them as well! Here are just a few of the things our little monkey has leaned since the last entry:

How to open cupboards and pull out everything in them
How to help Mommy (or Daddy) empty the dishwasher
How to say cat (but his first words were DADA)
How to say Mama (and in that order!)
How to push veggies out of his mouth
How to blow kisses
How to "play" "If your happy and you know it clap your hands"
How to climb up and down our 16 stairs like a pro
How to pull the suitcase that was blocking off the stairs out of the way when he thinks mommy is busy so as to try climb up the stairs by himself
Since the cat eats cat food out of a bowl and Matty eats food out of a bowl, it must be all the same thing (except cat food doesn't taste that great - right Matthew)
Snowsuits suck
Riding in the sled is fun
Has eight teeth and is currently working on some molars

He isn't walking on his own yet, but sure cruises along anything he can pull himself up at. He is also getting pretty good at walking with you, holding only one hand. We aren't in a rush for him to walk though. He'll do it when he is ready. Besides, he is only just coming up on a year, corrected age! Well, here are some pics of our Matthew.