797

I lifted this from Mary on Rumor Queen. I thought it was really funny:

"Surprise Paper Pregnancy"

Wife: Honey, sit down. I have some news for you.
Husband: What is it?
W: Well, I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. I went to the mailbox today and, well, we got a 797.
H: A what?!? A 797? As in, we’re going to have another baby?!?
W: It looks that way.
H: But how? We’ve been so careful! I put away all the blank I-800A forms. Didn’t you hide our homestudy update?
W: Of course I did, but don’t forget, there was that one night?
H: What night? (pauses) Ohhh, that night, But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn’t print clearly. I didn’t even use ink! (pauses again) But it was kind of fun. (giggles). It was, wasn’t it?
W: I’ll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints taken.
H: So now we’ve got our 797, eh? But that doesn’t always mean you’ll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn’t you see the agency or something, make sure everything’s okay?
W: I already did.
H: And?
W: I’m five documents along.
H: Five documents! And they’re all notarized, certified and authenticated okay?
W: Just great. There was one small scare when the agency couldn’t see the Notary’s middle initial but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass. Thank God. And you, honey? Are you feeling okay?
H: I’m feeling fine. As long as I know you’re happy about this.
W: Happy? I’m thrilled! It’s always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I’m happy.

And yes, we got our 797 for China. We are officially approved for one or two kids, either gender, up to 36 months, non special needs or mild to moderate special needs. That should cover all potential variations of our referral. Of course when I had hoped USCIS would actually drag its feet, they decided to be ultra efficient and we got our approval in 35 days – which is among the shortest time recorded in the past year for people who have submitted their stats on RQ. Our approval expires in April 2011. I think we will get referral some time between January and April 2011, so we will probably have to file for an extension since the 797 must be valid for 3 months after referral.

Nikolai is going to be a good big brother. This weekend we ended up watching a 13-month old during the choir concert at church since both parents are in the choir. Nikolai was so cute with him. When the concert started, Nikolai kept pointing to the choir and asking the baby if he saw the singing. When the baby flicked a few cheerios on the floor, Nikolai picked them up. I thought he was going to eat them, but instead he put them back on the baby's tray and wagged his finger saying "no throw." Nikolai also gently scolded the baby for "throwing" his sippy cup - of course Nik did not seem to see the correlation as he threw his toys on the floor. Nikolai shared his toys with the baby, sweetly saying "here you go." So CCAA - you see we are ready NOW.

Christmas +

Christmas was a lot of fun. We had Christmas morning at home with both sets of grandparents. Then a few days later my sister and her family came into town. Nikolai was really good – he loved opening presents, but understood that many of them were not for him. He really likes all of his new toys; we are trying to figure out how to manage all of the pieces, though. It is fun to see how imaginative he is when he plays now. He is so cute with his stuffed animals – and new Mr. Potato head. He acts like they are real. He will lay them down and say “night night”, ask “do you need help?” when putting on their sunglasses or having them turn the light off or on, and put them in a chair, walk a few steps away, and turn back and strenuously says “sit!”.

Nik has started talking in complete sentences! He has moved into the 2-year old/discovery preschool class almost full-time and seems to really enjoy it. I don’t think he can officially move until he is actually two, though. One of the morning teachers teaches him Spanish, and actually pulled him into the room after the Spanish classes’ performance at the “Winter Gala” to show him off. I kind of think they are angling to get us to sign him up for the Spanish enrichment class. I have no problem with him picking up as much of any language as possible, but I am not ready to pay for Spanish class for a 2-year old!

He just learned almost all of his colors. It happened in one day – we sent him to daycare knowing yellow, black, and pink – and he came home knowing all the rest. I am not sure if he just learned them or just decided to identify them correctly. He thinks it is hilarious to answer incorrectly.

Nikolai is generally still a really happy and easy going kid. But clearly there is a switch somewhere in that little brain that has alerted him that he is about to be 2. He will yell and throw things across the room for the most minor thing – like if I give him the wrong spoon, or if I try to help, or if I don’t help quick enough, etc.