Soccer Star
Joey is our new soccer star! This is his first season playing soccer and so far it's a success. He makes sure to find time to dance and entertain while on the field. Of course! Follow the soccer ball? Nahhh, sometimes he just gets too tired or so he claims. It's hilarious! When he is able to get control of the ball, he's quite proud. When Joey gets a turn to be the goalie, you'd think he won the lottery. And when he revs up for a grand kick, the form...it's unique!
This is one happy soccer star!
This goalie is all in the game!
Some serious concentration
Just look at that "form"
Two of Joey's biggest fans
These guys couldn't be more proud of Joey!
Celebrating Down Syndrome Day
During our adoption trip in China, we were grateful to be grouped with an amazing family who was there to adopt their second little one with Down Syndrome. Joey has an even greater appreciation of how special God made each of us. Friends with Down Syndrome are brilliant, creative, joyful, and a great gift to celebrate. Our guys celebrated with silly socks!
These silly socks are for you, J and V!
Happy to be celebrating two special friends
Signals vs. Sign Language
As I mentioned in an earlier post..."how do you unteach something?" By mistake, I taught Samuel that pointing to your mouth is the sign for "up". While trying to encourage him to speak out loud when he wants me to pick him up, I accidentally taught him this handy dandy signal (not to be confused with legitimate sign language).
"Mama, up-a"
Sometimes he's too cute for his own good!
What's new with Samuel?
Sit down for this. He's letting me rock him at night. Yep! This is a big deal at our house. While in China, Samuel would often fall asleep while I sat on the couch to feed him a bottle at bedtime. Once we arrived home, I just slept in his room on the floor. So, that's where he fell asleep and slept all night next to me. Samuel wanted nothing to do with the rocking chair. The idea was foreign to him. And it seemed foreign to me that it was foreign to him. Why wouldn't he want to be cuddled and rocked to sleep? Well, while he was feeling yucky a week ago, I tried rocking him again. To my surprise, he was ok with. It wasn't just a short-lived concept while he was sick either. And that was the beginning. Now that he's feeling better, he still lets me cuddle and rock him. No more fighting stiff arms and legs. No more giving in to his request to be placed in his bed. What's really fun is looking down at him with just a glimmer of light shining in from the hall. When I smile at him, one corner of his mouth slowly turns up. My goal has been to rock him until just before he falls asleep. When, I place him in his bed at night now, he barely has the energy to whisper "night night" before giving in to his heavy eyelids.
We have a copycat too. Unfortunately, not everything he copies would fall into the NECESSARY or even the APPROPRIATE category.
Brushing teeth - necessary
Blowing on your arm to make a tooting sound - not necessary
Holding hands in the parking lot - necessary
Making gurgling sounds at the dinner table - not necessary
I guess that's what brothers are for though. Some things are quite helpful. As I'm putting on Samuel's PJs at night, he gently reminds me "teeth". And while it may take me a few moments to figure out what he's saying, I finally get it. He endures the brushing pretty well, complete with a slobbery spit at the end. It's cute! Anything Joey does, Samuel will gladly attempt. That works in our favor often. At 2 years old, our littlest guy wants to be 5. He wants to be like Joey. And truly, I want him to be like Joey...because Joey really does have a tender heart and a special love for all his friends.
We continue to catch little glimpses of Samuel's personality as the days go on. He's quite the silly, opinionated, and cuddly little guy. He's a little stubborn and bold too. He understands the word "no", but he will flat out tell me "no" and lift his little arm to swing at me. Yikes! I must be on my toes! He's testing those limits. Since figuring out that Daddy and I respond to "Mama", he repeats it almost constantly. I tend to respond with a "Yes, Samuel. What do you need?" while Daddy simply says "I'm Dada, not Mama!" We must get the facts straight for this little guy. Sometimes, Samuel repeats "Mama" over and over and then just flashes a smile. That has been good for me. Sometimes I get caught up in being a referee. I get distracted with trying to keep a certain someone from jumping off his headboard (yep, it happens here). I get focused on breaking up fights. Samuel's innocent beckoning and joyful smile is a great reminder for me to just take in the sights and sounds of motherhood. God has used these unexpected, funny moments to remind me of the gifts surrounding me. Even among the tooting sounds, the kick and punches, and the incessant need to say "Legos do not go in your nose", it's a privilege and honor to parent these little munchkins! We are grateful for these blessings!
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