Changes. . .

I've changed the name of our blog. I decided that since Aidan is home, that is what it should now be called!

The heat is back. And the humidity. It's so humid this morning that the windows have condensation on them. Yuck! I know. It is July 30th. This is the worst part of summer though! In a weird way, I had a sign that the end of summer isn't too far off the other day. While driving back to Leesburg on the Toll Road, I saw some ragweed on the side. I said it was weird! And I didn't say I liked seeing it! My nose immediately started to burn. . .psychosematic, yes. The Queen Anne's Lace has been around for a while and is now in full profusion.

I was reading a blog yesterday that I follow, of a couple who adopted a little boy, also from Russia. They live somewhat in our area (must see about meeting them!), Quantico I think. She said something about keeping it real on the blog. She is absolutely right! I do tend to share all the good stuff and not much of the bad stuff that goes on around here. Okay, I did share the fever stuff, but I haven't really touched on the daily struggles that result in despair and triumph. So here goes:

Pretty much Aidan is a typical two year old little boy. He has a whole host of likes and dislikes. Two of his favorite things is to go bye-bye or to go outside. He says these to us constantly. Of course, Momma doesn't really like to go outside in this heat so I try to redirect him to going to play in the basement with his toys--trucks and cars, etc. (his inside obsession). However, this usually doesn't work right away. In fact, our little guy has got one heck of a temper! He will stomp his feet and scream and even throw himself on the floor crying, (real tears, too!) if he doesn't get his way. It's awful, to say the least. Most days, Aidan has at least one time out from the time I get him up at 6:40 until the time we leave the house at 7:15. It could be anything, really. He doesn't like the shoes momma put on him; he doesn't want to finish the cereal; he wants to feed the dogs his cereal and is mad because momma said no; he wants water and not milk; he wants milk and not water; he wanted a different sippy cup. . .you get my drift.

A friend of ours pointed out that he is actually showing signs of being spoiled. Not our Aidan!!! WE didn't do that. . .well, yes, we did. After thinking about it all, I realized that Pat and I have already made some pretty big mistakes in the raising of Aidan: we give in too easily and we gave him too much all at once early on. It was hard not to. We saw where he came from. We knew what his life would be if we didn't bring him here. And, he's so cute! The child is incredibly intelligent, too, which adds to our dilemma. How do we fix this? Well, we're trying anything that is suggested. We do the time outs, of course, and because he is so smart, I usually try and talk to him about what caused the time out when I bring him back out. So far I am sure my message sounds like this to him: Wa Wa Wa Wa Wa. . .love you, Aidan. (hug and dry the eyes) Afterward, you would never guess he had been crying or that he had had a time out! He doesn't immediately go back to being the whirling dervish, but he is back to testing the limits! Some days I sit in the rocker at bedtime with him and just relish the joy of having our son here with us. Then other days I am so exhausted from him I go to bed immediately and think to myself, "What have we gotten ourselves into???" I know this is not unusual, but it is intimidating and daunting, to say the least. We welcome suggestions on how to handle this as well as prayers that we can all survive until this phase passes!

Aidan is staying home with Daddy today. He has a doctor's appointment this morning to have the second in a series of three Hepatitis B shots. I feel sorry for Daddy. . .Aidan hates shots. . .I'm hoping they will weigh and measure him, too. I think he has grown again.

This weekend is the tax free weekend in Virginia. During that weekend, you made purchase shoes, clothing and school supplies tax free. I am taking Aidan and will stock up on winter clothes for him and possibly some shoes for Momma and Daddy, too. Should be fun!

Blessings.