Milestones

It's been showing signs of loose-ness for several days.

On a whim, I asked Reni to stop on the steps for a quick pic with all his baby teeth still in his mouth.

He didn't want to cooperate.

But then I think he realized, I wasn't going to let him off the hook so he gave me a few quick grins, before scampering up the stairs with his after-school snack.

It must have only taken one bite because less than two minutes later he hollered, "My tooth came out!!!"

And then he tasted the blood...

And then he saw the blood.

 

And all my hopes of a smiling photo were dashed...

First baby tooth gone.

30 on the 30th

Today our little guy turns 30 months (2 and a half years) old!   I thought I might share a few of his milestones and just sweet stuff that makes him our "Reni Boy."

1.) He has learned that when he has done something he shouldn't, he's supposed to apologize.  He can just read it in your look or body language and will quickly say (sometimes not always in a contrite tone), "I sorry, I sorry!"

2.) Sometimes I think he spills just so he can request a 'nackin' to clean up a mess.

3.) He has the SWEETEST little boy voice, but when he's upset with his sister, he can scream like a girl!

4.) If he wants to stall (bedtime or naptime, usually), he'll request, "Four minutes, four minutes" and hold up as many fingers.

5.) He has difficult saying the s-t consonant combination.  Words like story, sticker, stop, stuck, etc. all come out as dory, dicker, dop, duck, etc.  Takes a little bit of interpretation to understand out of context, but again, cute for his age.

6.)  He soaks up his big sister's example like a sponge.  When Ellie gets excited about something, Reni expresses equal joy.  With our upcoming trip to Albania (which includes flying on an airplane), the kids are naturally excited.  Last weekend, though, Nathan had to fly to a conference in Tucson.  When it came time for him to pack, Reni misunderstood and thought it was time for us to leave for Albania.  He started dancing round our room, pointing his index fingers in the air singing loudly, "Packing suitcases, woo-oo!  Packing suitcases, woo-oo!"

7.) This little boy is crazy obsessed with cars.  Others are starting to point out to me that it is beyond what is generally typical for boys they have known.  He carries his cars EVERYWHERE he goes.  He likes to line them up at imaginary starting lines and have 'races'.  His favorite place to do this is the kitchen floor.  I suspect because the hardwood planks are the perfect 'lane' width!  For a long time he carried them around in a fabric bag until the handle broke.  Now he's using a Little Tyk*s golf caddy to take them with him around the house.  The only problem is if he fills the caddy to the top, some tend to spill out when he tilts it to move.

(this video is several weeks old -- and I apologize for the focus issues at the beginning!)


8.) For a while Reni has been expressing his opinion quite strongly.  You will regularly hear him saying, "I wanna pick!"  It doesn't matter if it's between two IDENTICAL objects!  Whether it's what cup he drinks out of, which kind of granola bar he snacks on, or what shirt he wears, he seems to feel the need to express his personhood HIMSELF. This can be very frustrating at times if I don't remember to head things off at the pass, prepared to give him 2 choices or lift him up to select something from the cupboard. I think though that it's a good sign of development.

9.) While Reni might be missing his lower legs, he has found a variety of ways to get where he wants to go (vertically speaking) and compensate for what he lacks in stature.  We have a few little plastic step stools that we bought for him to reach the train table in his room and water table on the porch.  Those are still not tall enough to reach some areas (like his high chair tray) so he's gone on the prowl to find an alternative perch.  The perfect object seems to be his plastic toy bins turned upside down.  I've learned to keep one or two empty of toys at all times (because otherwise he just dumps and leaves the contents strewn all over the floor to move the box where he needs it).  This means that things like the TV screen, the top of our bed, and the couch are now within reach. And once he can reach something with his hands, he can pull that entire body up with his amazing upper body strength.

10) Crazy as it seems to us, you can reason with this child and he understands (or seems to).  Here's just one example:  We decided over a week ago that under no circumstances was he taking a drink to bed with him anymore.  Explaining that sippy drinks can give him ear infections, he was no longer going to have that comfort item in bed with him.  It's been so easy, we've wondered why we didn't try this sooner!

11.)  While he's been doing this for several months, he hasn't ceased to come up to us and just say, "I love you!"  Of course, this garners him much positive attention in return!


12.) Finally, he has picked up on prayer and frequently asks if he can give thanks for our food.  And if we're out in public and folks around us don't bow their heads with us (like students in the university cafeteria), they will likely get a verbal scolding from Reni with a scowl and wagging finger!

Go Team!

Saturday was a rare day with no appointments.  Just a day at home to work on projects with football on in the background.  Reni humored me and let me snap a few pics of him in a hat sporting his daddy's favorite team.  Of course, I couldn't resist that cuteness and just kept snapping pics.  I seriously am loving this two-year-old stage.  If you think his face is cute, you should hear the words that come out of his mouth!  I guess that means time for video...

Yeah, I still can't believe he's ours either.

Warning! Cute Boy Alert!

It's been a while since I've documented some of our little man's milestones and I periodically need to do this here as part of my journaling (since this is as good as it gets for me)!

As you know, kids at this age can really change rapidly.  Where we see this in Reni right now is in his verbal skills.  He's regularly communicating in sentences.  It's no longer a matter of stringing together 3 or 4 words.

Case in point:  Last night I watched Reni scoot a stool over to the media bookcase (which is 5 shelves high) and hoist himself up on the second shelf.

Me: What are you doing?
Reni:  I trying to get the i-Pow (his interchangeable word for i-Pad or i-Pod).

The "i-Pow" was on the top shelf.  I didn't even know he could see it, let alone realize he thought he might actually be able to scale that piece of furniture.

He also regularly asks these questions:  "What's that?", "Why?" and "What's that mean?".

Yes, he's 2 years and 2 months ... going on 20.

He's still super crazy about those things with 4 wheels.  Most recently he told me excitedly that we had a firetruck in the backyard (it was just the contractor's red pick up truck).

Our little guy has gotten quite attached to a fleecy blanket and doggie snuggle toy.  This is a new thing for me since Ellie never had a comfort item, and neither did my sisters or I growing up.  We frequently hear, "I want Puppy!" or "I want blankie!" over and over until said item is securely under his arm.  Right now, it's kinda cute.

I think we have two oldest children in our family.  Reni has taken on Ellie's bossy-older-sibling tone and turns it back on her.  He will furrow his brow, raise his right index finger and sternly say, "Elisona! No!"  It cracks. us. up.  He'll also do the same thing to visiting children who might be unknowingly breaking one of our house rules.  Yep.  Two Boss Hog's in this family.

When something exciting is about it happen, he'll suck in air and say, "ohhhh!" just like his sister.

 Speaking of "no", apparently, as he's gotten older, he's also outgrown his previous opinions because he'll say, "I want a snack."  To which I run through a litany of (traditionally favorite) options, to which he will say "no" after each suggestion.  His tastes are starting to change.  Or he could just be TWO!

Next week he gets new legs!  Can't wait to post video of him in those for you!  The prosthetist at Shriners was VERY complimentary of Reni's performance in the rough fit and optimistic that he going to be as ambulatory as any above-the-knee-double-amputee he's treated!

Reni boy, we love you!  What a gift you are to our family!

...the rest is history

click to enlarge

One year ago today the top left picture (Reni in the orange sweater) appeared in my inbox.  Ever since then, he had our hearts.  This little boy has brought us more joy than we could have ever imagined! Thanks be to God for this amazing gift.

Manly Accessories

Yes, we have a lot of duct tape.  We keep it in a low cupboard in our office, the leftovers from the previous autumn's cardboard box maze construction "kit".  Reni has found it and seems to continually delight in pulling the rolls out and seeing how many he can stack on each arm.  Today I just happened to have the camera nearby to document it.

I got my blog photo, but had to include these because we've never seen him hold his mouth this way before. On the right, I see my cousin Chad about 30+ years ago.  It really changes his look, I think.  It's kinda cute.  But then again, even when this kid's angry, he's still pretty cute.

This was a beautiful, happy accident.  This is how we'll remember these months of his life:  toy car in hand, gazing out the window at the traffic outside.  He LOVES the automobile.

There are cries only a father hears...

Last Friday, in Asbury University’s chapel, I had the privilege of sharing some of what I have been learning about the Father’s heart of God. I was thankful for the opportunity, but in preparation, I realized that there was so much that I was learning that had to be ‘cut’ because it couldn’t be contained in 30 minutes. I also realized that my learning is just beginning and will continue over time. Thus “Fatherhood Fridays” was born! My goal is to give Cydil a break one day a week and put my thoughts into writing. Sometimes they will be well thought out and sometimes more raw and stream of conscious, but always I will try to give an honest reflection of our journey.

I think one of the hardest parts of writing this weekly will be deciding which topic to cover next. I already have a ‘OneNote’ notebook of 9 ideas for future posts, but last night as I was getting up to change Reni’s diaper and coax him back to sleep at 2AM, a brand new truth hit me – There are some cries only a father hears.

David Reni and I have had a strong bond from the beginning. I think a lot of it had to do with the last two weeks in Albania post-orphanage when it was just us two guys (see archives August 4-22, 2010). When we were reunited with Cydil and Ellie about 6 months ago, Reni took a while to accept comfort from anyone but me. Honestly it was exhausting! I was the only one able to get him to sleep (or back to sleep multiple times a night). Cydil tried, but usually his crying only intensified. When handed off to me, however, he would relax and almost magically fall back to sleep. I know that stage was difficult for Cydil, and I am glad that Reni loves on and clings to his mommy now without reservation!

Currently Reni is experiencing his 5th round of double-ear infections and is waking throughout the night even more than usual (tubes are coming March 7!). In fact, he hasn’t slept through the night one time since coming home in August. Normally he is up three times a night. It has become our ‘new norm’ and is part of the reason I am getting my money’s worth out of my new Keurig coffee maker! Sometimes we can let him cry a little and he will go back to sleep, but because we live in a student center and often have guests staying in the room right below Reni, I need to respond quickly to his cries. I am the one normally responding because somehow, Cydil usually sleeps through it even with the monitor in our room. Nearly every morning Cydil asks, “How was he last night?” and I give my report. Ellie is also in a sleepless stage right now and last night she climbed into bed with Cydil and I. It is easier for everyone to sleep if I just move to her room, so after tucking her in beside her sleeping mommy, I climbed into Ellie’s very pink but comfortable bed.

The problem with this arrangement is that the monitor remains in our room where Cydil is sleeping peacefully, so I have to be extra vigilant to respond to the crying though walls and doors. That brings us to 2AM.

I heard Reni crying, but was hopeful that maybe it would wake Cydil this time and she would tend to him. You see, I was comfortable, warm, and tired. I was already put out of my own bed, and I thought I DESERVED a little more uninterrupted sleep! Then I heard it.

“Daddy!”

Can’t you call for Mommy?

“Daddy! Drink!”

Drink?! That will mean another full diaper and another time awake!

“D-a-a-a-d” followed by tears.

It was about this time that I realized that I was the only one hearing his cries and if his needs were to be met, it would be by me. My love for Reni compelled me out of bed and into his room where I changed his diaper and went to the kitchen to give him a little more to drink. He was already back asleep by the time I got back with the bottle, so I gently closed his door and climbed back into a very pink bed. But before I went back to sleep myself, I realized. Reni didn’t need a drink. He just needed daddy!

God, thank you for hearing my cries when no one else does, and for hearing the cries of spiritual and physical orphans! Help me to hear their cries as well and give me your heart to love them. Thank you for not caring for us grudgingly as I often care for Reni and Ellie. Thanks for giving up your place of comfort to come to us here on earth. Thank you for giving us exactly what we needed – a daddy!

Nathan wishes he had the luxury of naptime each afternoon. Sweet dreams, buddy.

18 months

Our boy turned 18 months old today! Folks tell us he's talking more than the last time they saw him (most having seen him not that long ago)! He LOVES to make animal noises. New words include, "please", "cracker", "balloon", "cookie", "drink", "thank you", "Bible", and "Buh" (for Buzz Lightyear). His favorite book is a board book about trucks. And his favorite trucks and tractors have beds or scoops -- which he can load with more cars or trucks -- or hitches which he can connect together like a line of train cars. His throwing arm is getting stronger. He's definitely all BOY! His ears are still giving us trouble which means his sleep is not so great (correlated to the ears). An appointment has been made with an ENT! I'm very tired (because of a few particularly rough nights), so I may amend this post later with a more thorough list of our big boy's accomplishments as I'm sure to remember a few more (yeah, we're more than a little bit proud of him)!

Lights... Camera...

Like any child his age, Reni is extremely curious with the contents of any bag within his reach. This morning his dad left two camera bags on the floor by the door. Nathan thought it wouldn't hurt anything to show him one of the cameras and went so far to hook everything up and give Reni the full effect.

(below) peek-a-boo! I see you there, too, mom!

Then, just so you know that we do say "no", here's Reni's face when we put it all away...

A few quick milestones and updates on our boy:

Animal noises -- he loves 'em. He started out with just 'moo' and 'roar!' and now he does 'neigh' and 'woof' and 'meow'. He's particularly proud of this skill.

He will now initiate "peek a boo" on his own. He's learned to say "off!" and frequently asks for his clothes to be removed. This morning he was frustrated and saying "on! on!" to try to put on some of Ellie's slippers. He was extremely disappointed that they didn't stay on, poor guy.