Happy 3rd Birthday

Nicolas, you turned 3 a little more than one month ago...we can hardly believe how fast you're growing and how much you learn and change every day!

On your birthday, you woke up to balloons in your room...we had been telling you for days that your birthday was on monday, so when you woke up and saw the balloons, you said "don't touch, only Monday", because you didn't know what day it was...it was so cute! We ate breakfast and got you dressed and had some final preparations to do before your friends started arriving at 11am. Daddy had to do some errands so he went out and you stayed home with Mommy and Gram-Gram.

Daddy went to get the special pancit noodles, the bouncy house that we rented for your party and his friend Franck. You helped them to set up the bouncy house! Then your friends arrived. You all had so much fun jumping in the bouncy house! We ate lunch (home made fried chicken, bbq chicken, pancit noodles, matua (pulled pork) salads etc), opened presents and ate cake. Your cake was amazing! Auntie Shell made it...and it was so nice, that Mommy cried when she saw it!

You had such a fun day, surrounded by family and friends. It was exactly the kind of day that Mommy and Daddy hoped you would have!

We love you little Moose and we can't wait to see what this next year holds for you!

Mommy and Daddy
xoxo

Wake up sleepy head! 

The balloon wreath Mommy made for you

Helping Daddy and Franck to set up the bouncy house

presents

The coolest cake ever! 

The birthday boy

Our Little Chef

Nicolas came out of his playroom wearing his chef's hat the other morning...He then asked if I wanted him to make me pizza...I said yes, of course! (in case you're wondering, it's a basket and attached to the handle of the basket is a piece of bread and some cheese - all stuffed food toys from I.K.E.A).

Son, you are the cutest and most creative Little Moose! 

Every Day is Happy Mommy's Day

I love that Nicolas brings me flowers from the yard... dandelions and clover flowers...last week, i was reading on the front porch and I heard two snaps and when I looked up he was clambering up the stairs with these two flowers in his hands...he brought them to me and said "Happy Mommy's Day". Yes, Nicolas, it is a happy mommy's day (but next time please bring me the dandelions or clover flowers and leave the other flowers in the garden).

One year since THE CALL

 Today marks one year since that fateful day when we finally received THE CALL the one that we'd been waiting for. That day, one year ago, started out as a really bad day. I was tired of waiting, depressed and frustrated. All of that changed that afternoon after I got a message from our resource person and called her back to find out "what was wrong now". The joke was on me, because there was nothing wrong. In fact, everything was perfect. We finally had the call that we'd been waiting for...more importantly, we finally had a SON.

This morning when Nicolas climbed into bed with me, I told him that today was a very special day. He asked if there were going to be Easter Eggs. I told him that there wouldn't be any Easter Eggs today, but that one year ago, we heard his name for the first time, and we saw his picture for the first time, and we read all about him. He doesn't understand everything yet about his adoption, but it's important for us to talk to him openly about it.

Since it was a perfectly warm and sunny day with a slight breeze we decided to spend it outside. We broke out the sprinkler and we ran through again and again! We made a picnic and ate under the oak tree in the front yard and after lunch, we had our nap wrapped in home made quilts under the oak tree. After our nap, we played in the sprinkler again and a perfect day wouldn't be complete without playing in the dirt. Daddy made hamburgers on the BBQ for supper.

Nicolas, we are so very happy that you are in our life. We know that we would not be complete without you. This past year has been incredibly emotional and life changing, and we wouldn't change a thing. You are very fortunate to have so many people in your life who love and care about and for you. We hope that you will grow up knowing how loved and special you are. 

Watching Daddy leave for work

Every morning we look out the window to watch and wave as Daddy leaves for work. Sometimes Mommy holds Nicolas, sometimes he watches from his high chair. On this particular morning, Oscar and Nicolas both wanted to say good bye in the window.

We named our son!

We officially named our son on April 16, 2012. We had a meeting to begin the paperwork for the legal process of the adoption. While we were at the meeting we were told that we needed to take extra care to make sure that all the names in the document were spelled correctly. Eric asked if we needed to add Nicolas' middle name now, or if it was done at a later date. We had to name him now. We chose to keep Nicolas' given name, and his family name was obvious, so we didn't really name him before this week when we chose his middle name. We had many conversations about what his middle name or names could be, but we had not officially decided until that meeting. We decided to name him Nicolas Xavier Seguin.

We left the meeting with goofy smiles on our faces and feeling all shaky. We just named our son!

Rocking my baby

Every once in a while mommy's and daddy's have difficult days with our Little Ones and when those days happen, I try to remember this blog post that I read back in 2009, before I was a mommy...
http://asoftplace.net/2009/01/rocking-my-baby/

It talks about how quickly the Little One's grow up and to cherish the special moments with our Little Ones...I am so glad that I'm still able to rock my baby every night...

Nicolas, you are growing so quickly! Every night I check on you before I go to sleep and it seems like some nights you're bigger than you were the night before! You're growing and changing so quickly! You're such a wonderful boy...Mommy and Daddy love you very much, you're growing into quite the character and it's amazing to watch you learn and grow. Love you Little Moose

Mother's Day

Nicolas, my son, you are a very special little boy.
 I love you so much and I am so very happy that you are my son.

Earlier tonight you woke up crying, which you normally don't do. I came to get you and I rocked you back to sleep, and as I did, I thought of the two other mother's who have taken care of you. I am so very grateful for them. I owe them a debt that I will never be able to repay. Each of us have helped you to become the wonderful little boy that you are today, and today I have the great joy of experiencing my very first Mother's Day.

In the past, Mother's Day was a day that I dreaded. I usually spent the day either depressed, crying or some sad combination of the two. Before I even fall asleep tonight (this morning) I already know that this Mother's Day will be different, special and wonderful. I know that it will be a day filled with joy - because every day with you is!

The Performing Arts

We've known from Day 1 that Nicolas loved singing. The first time we saw him sing, was at our first meeting. Nicolas was in another room and Eric peeked into the room to check on him and saw him singing with a Karaoke microphone. We bought him his first microphone the next day. His singing and dancing continues to develop and brings us joy (and laughter) daily! Most recently, I was watching a show on tv that had both music and dancing, and noticed that Nicolas had stopped playing when he heard the music, and he started to dance to the music and mimic the dancers on the tv. As soon as any music starts playing....his hips start swaying-he can't help himself!



Last week, we had a play date with Nicolas' friend B who has also has been bitten by the music bug! The two had a blast playing and singing together; they both sing and often play "air instruments" (air guitar, cello, and violin to be exact). 

Singing his heart out

This morning we took Nicolas to his first play.We went to the Centaur Theatre in Old Montreal where we saw Bed Bugs by Leah Genuario performed by teens and young adults.

"The play is about a girl who likes to jump on her bed, but to the bedbugs being squished underfoot, she is the wicked witch who causes earthquakes, and other natural disasters. The microscopic citizens living under her bed are up in arms (and legs!) over the rhyme her mother says to her every night before bed: Good night, sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite. And if they do, you squeeze them tight, and then they won't bite tomorrow night. Crawling with laughs (Think A Bug¹s Life) this play is perfect for young audiences. In a fun way, it reminds us there are always two sides to every story and that conflict is best resolved peacefully."

Nicolas did great! He sat through the  whole show, and mommy only needed to break out the cookies in the last 10 minutes. He especially liked that he was able to "high-five" the bedbugs after the show.

clapping after the performance

 

the cast of Bed Bugs

 We're looking forward to enjoying more of the performing arts in our future!

Nicolas we're so lucky to have you in our lives. You make us so happy and you bring us so much joy everyday. We're so happy that you're finally here with us and we're excited to watch you grow up and become the best you that you can be! Love you Little Moose!

Early 2012

The lack of posting here is embarassing. I wish I would write more often about all of the fun/amazing/funny/smart/crazy stories that happen at our house everyday.

We just completed our third (and final) post placement report! We're so glad to have that part of the process behind us...we're one step closer to finalizing the adoption.

We've been pretty busy since the begining of the year. January and February were pretty quiet months for us. We spent most of the time at home as a family. Daddy went back to work at the beginning of March and that has been a pretty big adjustment for both Mommy and the Little Moose.

Nicolas and I have been attending a playgroup for children who were adopted internationally. I am so thankful for this group, the moderator and the other moms. They all help me to realize that I am not alone and that I'm not the only one who feels the way I do.

Nicolas is doing great (well asides from missing Daddy when he's at work). His vocabulary is growing every day. He's learned his alphabet, and he's now working on recognizing his letters. He's funny and loves to play. He is a kind boy who loves people. He told me again today that he loves me and Daddy and he loves his friends. We are so lucky to have such a loving little boy.

We are glad that the weather is getting nicer so that we can play outside! Tonight after supper we walked to the park and played soccer as a family. It was a nice end to the day!

On a more personal note, both of our families have been going through some difficult times and so that has kind of overshadowed our lives for the past few months. Eric's parents are moving across the country to be closer to his grandparents. It will be difficult for us to see them go. Nicolas loves his Baboo and Bapa very much (and we do too!).  On the bright side, we'll be visiting Beautiful British Columbia again soon!

I suppose that's all for now...here are some pictures from the past few months...

Until next time... :)

The "fun" clementine

On December 29th Nicolas was having his mid-morning snack (a clementine) and even though I was breaking the pieces in two (we know that he has some chewing issues so we're careful), he had one piece that wasn't quite broken apart, and he choked! He choked chewing a clementine!

All of a sudden, all my first aid training left my mind. I had no idea what I was supposed to do...I could remember what to do for an infant, and for an adult...I could even remember what to do for myself...but in my panic, I could not remember what to do! It was really a scary moment...I placed his diaphram on my knee and put him face down and pushed on his back...to try to get him to spit out the clementine. I know now that it wasn't the right thing to do...I could have made the clementine get lodged in place by pushing on his back...I should have done the heimlich maneuver for kids which is the same as for an adult by the way...but in my panic state, I wasn't able to think clearly.

I'm so thankful that the clementine came out! Nicolas was fine afterwards. He told the story over and over (he still tells the story sometimes when he's given a clementine)...here's his version (I can chuckle about it now that I know he's ok):

"Mommy...Alas choke teen" (Mommy, Nicolas choked on a clementine)
"Yes Nicolas, you did, you have to chew, chew using your molars (I then show him exaggerated chewing)
"Alas...(bends over and pretends to spit something on the ground)"
"Yes Nicolas the clementine came out and landed on the floor"
"Mommy...fun!"
"No Nicolas, that was not fun" 

The end

You lose some...you win some!

I'm so far behind in keeping the blog up to date, and I feel like a broken record...so it is what it is...I'd like to write more often...but Nicolas is keeping Mommy busy.

To date, we've had some eating issues with Nicolas. If the pieces are too big, he'll choose not to eat. He's choked (as in stopped breathing...i had to do the heimlich on him!) on a clementine. He refuses to eat certain foods. In short, eating has been an issue. We try not to make a big deal of how much or how little Nicolas eats, but that's harder than it may seem. Daddy is very patient and helps Nicolas to eat every meal. We're trying to find a balance between helping/encouraging enough and too much. The advice we've gotten from two different social workers and from some parenting books all seems to point to not putting too much pressure or paying too much attention to the little munchkin...but we're still left wondering how much pressure/attention is too much?

To add to the eating difficulties...we noticed that Nicolas has trouble chewing. He tends to mash his food  between his tongue and his palate. We've consulted with a nutritionist, a social worker and we've done some online research and we've started to work with Nicolas to practise chewing, biting and swallowing. There's a lot of open mouth chewing going on at our house these days!

Anyway, tonight we decided that since it was looking like it was going to be a difficult dinner that we would just let Nicolas eat what he wanted and not put any pressure. He decided not to eat much. (I think he'll be having a big breakfast tomorrow morning!) It's so hard to know that they didn't eat much and that they're probably hungry.

After supper I was cooking soup and Gram-Gram was helping to put some veggies away and Nicolas decided that he wanted to try to eat broccoli (raw). Broccoli (cooked) is one of his very favourite veggies...he tasted the raw broccoli, but he didn't like the texture. Then he wanted to try a carrot. I should explain we've been trying to get Nicolas to eat carrots since we got home from the Philippines...we've read that it could take up to 20 presentations of a food before a little one will accept it readily. I'm sure with carrots...it's more than double that...however this week, he started eating cooked carrots! So when he wanted to try to eat the raw carrot, I thought sure...you're going to eat a raw carrot...well he did! He bit the carrot and then he happily crunched away! Then he said "yum! Delicious!" (Daddy taught him that one!) I almost started to cry...my son eating a carrot!

Nicolas' first raw carrot

Happy New Year

"cheers"

We celebrated a quiet New Year's Eve. We stayed home (I think it's a first for us!). We had finger foods for supper and while we were eating...Nicolas initiated "Cheers!"- where does he get this from? We sometimes think he may have been raised in a bar (between the karoke and the cheers!). We looked back over the past year and found it hard to believe how much has happened in our lives this year.

We are so very grateful for Nicolas. We are settling into a happy little family life. We're still learning about him and him about us, but we're all doing well. We sometimes feel like someone pressed the fast-forward button on our lives and we're wondering when things will slow down! I have a feeling that they may never slow down again though! Gotta run...Nico's about to wake up from his nap!

Our wish for our family and our friends is peace, heath and happiness...enjoy the new year!