Mom and Dad visited for the weekend and Lucy, Eli and Samuel kept them busy with all sorts of Lego projects! We had snow both Friday and Saturday mornings, so there was good sledding and hot-chocolate-drinking! Fred, Kay, Kelly, Andy, Lauren and Nathan joined us for dinner on Friday night, then again at our house on Saturday for Samuel's party...it was great to be together! We missed Nancy, Justin and Jason since the weather was too bad for them to come...that can happen in February...brrr!
Samuel seemed to really enjoy himself and all of the attention! He had a complete change of personality while we sang "Happy Birthday"...he got very serious and just stared at all of us, like "why are all of you looking at me and singing?" But, once that was over, he gobbled up his petit-four, ate all of his lunch, and loved opening his gifts! He tried very hard to hold up two fingers on one hand, but those chubby little fingers just couldn't do it...so he resorted to one-finger on each hand...he was very proud of himself!
It has been such fun watching his little personality develop! He loves all things related to "self care"...he wants to put on his own lotion after his bath, loves to put toilet paper in the potty (and flush...a lot)...and he he has serious "no one brushes alone" policy - he insists on brushing his teeth if he sees you brushing yours. Even if he just brushed moments ago! We like to joke that he's doing his best to make sure he's the caboose of our family - he is very physical and loves to run fast and climb. He gets on the kitchen table numerous times a day - I think he just wants to be up higher and have a different view-point. He loves to read and we'll find him in his room looking at books. We had two copies of "Goodnight Gorilla" and the covers have fallen off both - that was his favorite all Fall. Now, he is loving "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" and all of the Eric Carle books. He enjoys working puzzles too!
He has his 2-year check up last week and we are amazed at his growth! When we arrived home from China, he was in the 30th-percentile for height and 19th for weight. Now he's in the 50th for height and 55th for weight - he is 34.5-inches tall and weighs 27 pounds. He is an excellent eater and sleeper - good thing, 'cause he wears me out some days with all the energy!
His speech is coming along too. His most frequent words right now are "book, sock, milk and ma-ma." He does a lot of babbling and he tries to say so much...we are seeing improvement each month. Thankfully, we have all sorts of good therapists in this area, so there is a lot of help if we feel his progress slows down. Most professionals seem to think I'm too concerned and that he is fine. Samuel goes back to the plastic surgeon in Spring 2014 to discuss his next surgery for the cleft lip and palate...we last saw the surgeon in September and he was impressed with his recovery so far. His awesome eating, remarkable weight gain, and constant babble mean that mouth is working!
He is quick to give us hugs and greet people he knows! He's learning all sorts of normal American stuff...the other day, I said "Samuel, come with me..." and he looked at me, held up one finger (like "hold on!"), ran to get his lovey and came back to hold my hand. He's also mastered the shoulder-shrug-hand-in-the-air gesture for "I don't know!" He loves to mimic what we do and be part of the action...we love him so!
I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...
Psalm 139:14
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