Miscellaneous tidbits. . .

We have been invited to our first birthday party!!! It is one of the neighbor boys. . .Logan. . .He and his family are new to the neighborhood. He is celebrating his 5th birthday and Aidan was invited!! I'm so excited for Aidan. . .I hope he doesn't get upset that the presents aren't for him. . .

Today was a great day! Aidan didn't have a single meltdown and, in fact, it seemed he was really trying to be a good boy. I was, and am, soooo proud of him! He was a perfect little angel and I can't tell you how grateful I am for it. I have been reading a lot of information and have really come to the conclusion that most of the meltdowns occur because he is frustrated over communication. He has come so far with learning English, I want to encourage all of his progress. So, I have been trying to make a more concerted effort to understand what he is saying and we work on pronunciation once I am sure of what it is. He seems to really like this extra attention and effort on my part and today, I hope, is the beginning of the fruit of that effort! What a great and smart kid he is!

A couple of weeks ago, Aidan and I were walking up the street on our way to go into the church and Aidan all of a sudden looked up at me and then back at the church and said "Home." I tell you, tears sprang to my eyes so fast!

For all of you Kitty Cat watchers out there:

Yesterdays shot went relatively well. Pat said Aidan did cry. On the way back to the car, when he was calming down, Pat asked Aidan what had happened? Aidan replied softly, "Kitty cat," and touched the band-aid on his thigh. Of course!

This weekend I will take Aidan to the Outlet Mall to shop for clothes and shoes for the coming fall and winter seasons. I am meeting a friend up there and then later in the day, we will all meet at the Dulles Town Center mall for more shopping and then dinner. We'll get Aidan's nap first. Pat and I have decided, after having done the "nap in the stroller thing" a few times that it is actually worth the hassle of going back home and dealing with the 2 to 3 hour down time rather than miss the nap and deal with the consequences. Let me tell you, it ain't pretty. We no longer mess with nap time. It's just not worth it! So, this actually works out okay as I will then be able to do a little cleaning--my cleaning lady cancelled fo rthis week!!!! Arrrrggghhh!!! (this is a tragedy of untold proportions. . .)

I've been cleaning out the Study/Office, with Aidan's help, and have thrown away a lot of junk. I still have a ways to go. In the meantime, I have also developed quite a pile of Ministry books that I will be donating to the church. That will be nice to get them out.

Finally, for all of you wondering, I have not forgotten about doing my birthday thank-you notes. I know it's been over a month. I don't know what happened to the time! My only excuse is that I haven't had any Aidan free time! I promise to try and get them out soon.

Speaking of Aidan-free time, it will be 4 months on this coming Monday since Aidan came out of the orphanage--Gotcha day. We have not had any free time without Aidan for the two of us in that entire time. I'm not complaining, mind you, I am just pointing out that Pat and I haven't had a chance to really have any deep meaningful discussions for those 4 months. We talked about getting a babysitter and then nixed the idea. . .I don't want to leave him yet and I don't think Pat does either! We'll have to do it eventually, but who exactly will be good enough for me to leave him with that person??? We really do need to try and resolve this, though. We really should get out for a little while at least for our Anniversary.

More soon! Happy August!

Stacy