Yes, I went out with the young archaeologists tonight. They aren’t even that young – late 20s and early 30s. We went out to eat at a seafood restaurant on the water and then to a karaoke bar just a bit down the street from the motel. We work hard and it was good to relax a little.
I hate ticks.
One of the crew members is a great singer and sang in choruses throughout school. She wanted to sing three karaoke songs. Of course the DJ gave preference to his friends, so her third song didn’t happen until after 11:30. It was cute – after I told her that I was fine and had half a beer and half a napkin left to doodle on, she told her friend, “it’s ok, she’s not mad or anything.” Of course it makes me feel old to be the one who may be “mad” about staying up late, but they are sweet and good archaeologists so I forgive them.
Tomorrow I just have to monitor a backhoe and dig a 50-cm square hole 1.5 meters deep (or two). But I am sending the young ones to dig as many shovel tests as they can in an open field.
Ticks are bad.
How can anyone not want to be an anthropologist? There is nothing more interesting than watching people at a bar in a town you are not from on karaoke night.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Cute Things
When we pull into my parking space in the evening, Nikolai now happily proclaims “we’re home!”
Daycare has graham crackers for the kids on the way out the door. Nikolai eats his on the way home, biting them into various shapes such as cars, buses, lions, and kitty cats (or so he claims).
I took him with me to the grocery store this evening just to pick up a few things. As soon we parked he started crying, saying “no shopping, no shopping cart.” I assured him we would not get a cart and he could either walk or be carried. I handed the first item to him to carry and then put in the basket. Then he wanted to carry the basket, so we got a separate one for him. He was SO cute carrying it through the store and putting things he wanted in it. I let him keep most things (a toy chick, a pear, blue berries) but the cookies, candy and lettuce had to go back and the bananas were too heavy so they ended up in my basket. This was definitely not a quick shopping stop, but still a fun outing.
Driving home this evening I actually was able to figure out what song he was singing. He said “no! no more! No more!.. Doctor…jumping, jumping.” Can you figure it out? It’s the “no more monkeys jumping on the bed” song. Although he kept correcting me when I was singing; he said “no monkeys…doggies.” Maybe school sings it with doggies jumping on the bed? I doubt it, but who knows.
He has started memorizing parts of the books we read at night, and now “reads” them to us.
When we eat together, if I finish something, Nikolai will kindly ask “do you want more?”
Daycare has been working on opposites (up/down, big/small, left/right). All of a sudden he suddenly ‘gets’ big and small. He correctly identified the baby bears as small bears and the mama as a big bear. He got it right with his rock collection tonight too! It is amazing to watch him learn new things every day.
He plays air guitar, violin, mandolin, and piano.
Daycare has graham crackers for the kids on the way out the door. Nikolai eats his on the way home, biting them into various shapes such as cars, buses, lions, and kitty cats (or so he claims).
I took him with me to the grocery store this evening just to pick up a few things. As soon we parked he started crying, saying “no shopping, no shopping cart.” I assured him we would not get a cart and he could either walk or be carried. I handed the first item to him to carry and then put in the basket. Then he wanted to carry the basket, so we got a separate one for him. He was SO cute carrying it through the store and putting things he wanted in it. I let him keep most things (a toy chick, a pear, blue berries) but the cookies, candy and lettuce had to go back and the bananas were too heavy so they ended up in my basket. This was definitely not a quick shopping stop, but still a fun outing.
Driving home this evening I actually was able to figure out what song he was singing. He said “no! no more! No more!.. Doctor…jumping, jumping.” Can you figure it out? It’s the “no more monkeys jumping on the bed” song. Although he kept correcting me when I was singing; he said “no monkeys…doggies.” Maybe school sings it with doggies jumping on the bed? I doubt it, but who knows.
He has started memorizing parts of the books we read at night, and now “reads” them to us.
When we eat together, if I finish something, Nikolai will kindly ask “do you want more?”
Daycare has been working on opposites (up/down, big/small, left/right). All of a sudden he suddenly ‘gets’ big and small. He correctly identified the baby bears as small bears and the mama as a big bear. He got it right with his rock collection tonight too! It is amazing to watch him learn new things every day.
He plays air guitar, violin, mandolin, and piano.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Nikolai is 2!!!!
Nikolai's birthday was Thursday. Due to the forcast for two feet of snow today and tomorrow (oh my), Chris's mom and my parents came down on short notice for a party. Nikolai had fun, and enjoyed the sports theme, with lots of footballs, soccor balls, etc. We had to relight the candles and sing to him twice. I did not finish his cake in time for the party, so we had little cakes from the store - which Nik assumed were his alone. When we did not produce a fork fast enough, he just leaned over and took a bite! We got his cake done, and sang to him again today.
Yummy!
What? Nothing to see here.Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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.
"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.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Catching Up
The week after Thanksgiving my Grandmother passed away, so Nikolai and I got on a plane and headed back to Michigan. It is always hard to lose someone, but it was nice to see all of my mom’s family and to visit my sister again. Nikolai now really knows his aunt, uncle and cousins; he will still occasionally name them all (including Cocoa and Sebring) and then sadly say “bye bye”. The day after the funeral we went to Grandma’s house and the whole family went through her house and chose things we would like. It brought back a lot of great memories about Grandma and Don. Some of my favorite memories include playing spoons, raiding the pantry for home-made pickles, fishing, looking at the polished rocks Don was working with (we always got to keep one!), and just laughing a lot. The smell of bacon in the morning still reminds me of vacation. Chris still talks about the first time he met Grandma and Don and one of the first time he met my family in general. He came up to watch a skating competition my sister was in and we all met at a restaurant, where Grandma and Don proceeded to start a mini food fight!
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Nikolai amazes us every day. He is so cute and silly! The other evening he pulled a yogurt out of the fridge and carried it around while I got the rest of his dinner ready. A few minutes later I asked him where the yogurt was, and he said “where go?” I asked again, “where did the yogurt go?” Nikolai suggested “fridge?” (not likely – he cannot open the door). I found the yogurt inside the seat of his ride-on truck. When I pulled it out, Nikolai declared “oh yogurt” in the tone as if he was saying “silly yogurt”.
He calls Santa Clause “binga ball” (jingle bells) and his Frosty the Snowman musical card “happy face card” since the song says Frosty was a “jolly happy soul”. He loves to dance and sing.
Current cute phrases: careful!; where are you?; let’s go!; (I) did it!; come ere (here) let’s play; this way; whoa big truck
He asked to poop on the potty, and actually did! He often asks to pee on the potty, but has never actually gone. I think perhaps he asks when it is already too late. At least he seems to be starting to become aware, not that we have any intentions of potty training in the near future.
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SNOW! We got about 2 feet of snow. Shoveling off the sidewalk and around the cars reminded me how many muscles I have lost since I have transitioned from mostly fieldwork to mostly office work. Nikolai has no interest in playing in the snow, but admittedly it is nearly above his head. He loves to eat it though. Although lately he has been asking to go “outside snow” a lot, so I think the snow is starting to grow on him – or perhaps he just likes to wear his hat and gloves.
Now on to Christmas!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
We are Very Thankful
Happy Thanksgiving
Sharing Nana's Lap
Drumming at Jungle Java
Mom and Jen trying to flip the turkey AFTER it was put in a bag to marinate
Sweedish pancake breakfast
We drove to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving weekend with my sister and her family. My parents, Ron’s mom, and Ron’s brother and his family all came too. Ron’s brother has a daughter just three days younger than Nikolai. They were really cute together, especially leaning in at dinner to smile at each other down the length of the table. Nikolai sounded a bit like a broken record, though, constantly saying “mine”. He gathered his and a few of Ryan’s footballs and guarded them. While Bella does not say a lot, it was clear she got the “mine” idea as at one time she got a hold of one of the footballs and paraded around waving it above her head. Kids are SO funny. Nikolai was especially disturbed to discover he has to share his Nana and Pop with his cousins. We heard a lot of “My Nana!” “My Pop!” “My football!” “My Dada” “My ice”… you get the picture. By the end of the weekend he was ok if my niece or nephew sat on my parent’s laps, and even shared my lap with Alexis at one point.
Friday we went to Jungle Java – a coffee house with a huge indoor play area for kids. Nikolai had so much fun, especially once he abandoned the under 3 playground and headed to the big kids’ climbing area. Of course I had to go with, which was fun and great exercise. He (and I) was exhausted by the end.
I think everyone had lot of fun. I was so impressed with all of the kids – no one had any real meltdowns and everyone had fun playing together. Nikolai even learned to take turns. And the adults got to play a lot of cards and watch movies.
Adoption News:
We received Nikolai’s Certificate of Citizenship!!! It only took 12 months, three in-person meetings with USCIS officers, and the involvement of our Senator. It made me laugh, though, when we finally got the certificate it had Nik’s original visa photo despite our having to provide new passport photos and a full N-600 application (luckily without fee!). So USCIS had the info just sitting there for 12 months and no one thought to hit print??
No good news from China. While referrals came out today and finally all of March 2006 LIDs have been matched (with adorable babies!), no referrals were sent in September or November. In September there was a big holiday and in November a new director of CCAA was appointed (first time in about 7 years) so there were reasons for the delays and hopefully it will NOT become a pattern to send referrals every other month. Still, since we had been thinking we would get referral at the end of 2010, skipping two months pushes us into 2011.
The atmosphere in the China adoption world is all doom and gloom, with rumors that the NSN program will close and no one beyond April 2006 will even get referral, or that May 2006 will wait an additional 2 years. I am worried about the increased time between referrals, but otherwise do not buy into the horrendous predictions. I really think all of April, May and early June 2006 LIDs will get referral next year. I really feel for those with 2007 LIDs, though, who have already waited 2+ years and probably have 4+ years to go.
Friday we went to Jungle Java – a coffee house with a huge indoor play area for kids. Nikolai had so much fun, especially once he abandoned the under 3 playground and headed to the big kids’ climbing area. Of course I had to go with, which was fun and great exercise. He (and I) was exhausted by the end.
I think everyone had lot of fun. I was so impressed with all of the kids – no one had any real meltdowns and everyone had fun playing together. Nikolai even learned to take turns. And the adults got to play a lot of cards and watch movies.
Adoption News:
We received Nikolai’s Certificate of Citizenship!!! It only took 12 months, three in-person meetings with USCIS officers, and the involvement of our Senator. It made me laugh, though, when we finally got the certificate it had Nik’s original visa photo despite our having to provide new passport photos and a full N-600 application (luckily without fee!). So USCIS had the info just sitting there for 12 months and no one thought to hit print??
No good news from China. While referrals came out today and finally all of March 2006 LIDs have been matched (with adorable babies!), no referrals were sent in September or November. In September there was a big holiday and in November a new director of CCAA was appointed (first time in about 7 years) so there were reasons for the delays and hopefully it will NOT become a pattern to send referrals every other month. Still, since we had been thinking we would get referral at the end of 2010, skipping two months pushes us into 2011.
The atmosphere in the China adoption world is all doom and gloom, with rumors that the NSN program will close and no one beyond April 2006 will even get referral, or that May 2006 will wait an additional 2 years. I am worried about the increased time between referrals, but otherwise do not buy into the horrendous predictions. I really think all of April, May and early June 2006 LIDs will get referral next year. I really feel for those with 2007 LIDs, though, who have already waited 2+ years and probably have 4+ years to go.
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