This morning I brought out the finger paints & let Owen & his friend have a little fun. Neither one of them enjoy getting their hands really messy, they both prefer to use paint brushes. Owen decided his picture was of the moon & stars. He always chooses to use the blue & yellow paint for some reason, he never chooses red or green.

Whatever Works

Since we transitioned Noah to one nap, he has slept through the night two of the past three nights! he woke up once the second night, but we are really hoping things are turning around. He wakes up sometimes around 6am, but we are making progress!. You will also notice he has taken a soother. When he was younger he wouldn't take it at all, then recently he started stealing Owen's. We've caved in and let him use one strictly for sleeping. The soother/one nap combo seems to be working. Another reason I'm likely not going to win mommy of the year is because I let him nap on the floor! The daycare kids & Owen all nap at the same time & I don't want to risk Noah waking any of them up early.

My baby finally started saying "mama"! he says it all the time now. Usually in a slightly whiny way, but it is still cute.

update: Noah's been waking up between 3 & 4 times a night!

2nd Forever Family Day

Orphanage


1st moment seeing Owen with his wonderful Nanny.


View of Hanoi from the top of the Sofitel


Owen in the hotel




We miss Vietnam so much & look forward to the day we return as a family. Just looking at some of these pictures have brought back so many memories of our time spent there. We were blessed with three wonderful weeks in Vietnam, but long for more. I am forever grateful to Owen's nanny for taking such great care of him the first few months he was in the orphanage. Even though we think of Owen's birth family often, we think of them more on days like today. We are truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to parent such a fabulous son, & couldn't ask for more.

Our day started out with Owen having his second swim class. He is really doing well & he loves it. There are photo restrictions at the pool, so unfortunately we don't have any pictures to share. Later in the afternoon we went to the zoo. Had a great time getting outside, even though lots of the animals are not on display in the winter.



After the zoo, we stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. Owen ate a huge amount of pho soup & some of a vermicelli bowl. He loves vietnamese food & we need to make an effort to eat more of it.


Happy 2nd forever family day Owen!
1st forever family day & adoption video

11 Months Old

Noah seems to be getting taller, but when I weigh him on our scale he is still about 19lbs. I'm guessing that's because he is constantly on the move, crawling & cruising furniture to get where he wants. He is certainly keeping us busy, he gets into everything. We definitely have to keep an eye on this boy at all times!

Unfortunately he still doesn't sleep through the night. It's been almost a year since we've had a decent night's sleep.From what I've read, the first step is to eliminate night feedings. It doesn't seem to matter how much I feed him during the day, he still seems to wake between 2am & 3am for a bottle. Even if he settles back to sleep he wakes soon afterwards to eat. His naps during the day need work as well. He hates to nap in his crib, but will sleep there at night? his naps are only about 20 minutes in the morning & a longer afternoon nap. I may try & transition him to 1 early afternoon nap & see if that helps. He seems too young for one nap, but maybe he's ready.

I've been searching the internet for a first birthday theme. I think I've settled on a cake, now it's time to find a gift!

Happy 11 months Noah!

Interesting choice of dress up clothes.

Someone like his spaghetti


OK so it's really cut up penne, but we still call it spaghetti. Much easier for my little ones to eat on their own & they love it!

Enjoying the Winter


It doesn't seem to matter what the temperature is, Owen loves the outdoors. I need a little more convincing to get out in the winter, & tend to go into hibernation. However, the weather has been nicer the last couple of days so we played outside in the afternoon. Who could resist this cute face?

Finally!

The basement reno is complete! minus some trim painting. I love the space, it is completely kid friendly, cheerful & fun. The kids are having a blast playing downstairs & there is lots of room to still run around. Plus the added space clears up the toys from my main floor living area, it's a total win! I especially love how much storage there is, no toys are left on the floor etc. It makes clean up really easy & fast too!

Here are a few pics




I officially started back to work today. The daycare is open & the little girl I have full time is so sweet & gentle. She didn't even want to go home when her mom came to pick her up!. Last week she started with a couple of play dates to ease her transition & things couldn't be going better. Now I just have to let my employer know I won't be returning. I'm hoping they keep me on for some casual work, but that seemed to be coming to an end when I was leaving last January.