I don’t know where my head was but I forgot to mention the most important thing:

We are finally in the “NO” world. Vanie finally learned to say the word “NO” and repeats in nonstop now. It doesn’t matter if he likes something or not, he first says “no” and then proceeds to trying it out. The Bulgarian word for “no” is “ne” but for some reason Vanie says “no”. His version is more like “Noooo,nooo,noo,no” as if he is singing it. Not sure how he picked up the English version of the word since we don’t use it as often as the Bulgarian word. Want it or not… that’s all we hear all day long!

Also, his new thing is to “hide” from us. His version of hiding is to put his hands in front of his closed eyes and thinks he is hidden and we can’t find him once his eyes are closed. It’s hilarious and so sweet at the same time.

Oh and in the picture below, our good friends Jeni & Stilian gave Vanie a bike as a present this week. you can only imagine it was a big hit. What else can a boy ask for... (notice how there is only one shoe in the middle of the pic? - well, that's the standard at home lately, we can only find one of the shoes of a pair... still searching for the missing ones (and in some cases oh so dear ones).

18 Mo's old and 5 Mo's home

Yes, it's been 5 months since we got home and almost 6 months since we became a family. What can I say, Vanie is not a baby any more, he is a little boy growing by the minute. He is the sunshine of our lives – regardless of how long we are gone for work or what types of problems we have to deal with, they all stop when we get home and get to hug this little ball of energy and joy and happiness.

Here are a few updates:

• There is no such thing as walking, it’s all about running, all the time and anywhere – this kid can’t gain a pound from all the running he does on a daily basis


• Our 18 month checkup is next Friday so we will have an updated on height and weight but I already know that he has not gained much on weight BUT should have gained about 1.5-2 centimeters every months since his last checkup ( I have been cheating over the months and have been measuring him)


• We have all top teeth out up to the 1^st year molars and are missing 2 front bottom teeth (there is a lot of drooling growing on and a lot of shirt changing)


• Still baby talk only but very vocal, trying to say at least the 1^st 2-3 letters of each word he knows.


• Knows the pronounce the sounds of the duck, dog, cat, caw (in Bulgarian, that is – we have to make sure everyone knows that even the animals speak differently in Bulgarian than in English)


• The new thing is to right everything and say the word “Dee” which is Giddyup” in Bulgarian. Apparently, he even tried to ride our dog last week while Zorro was relaxing on the sofa.


• What else, what else, what else… I am sure there is tons but I can’t think of if right now…. Oh yes, the new thing is to call his dad with a French accent (accent on the last syllabus) – it is very sweet and very funny at the same time.

enjoy some of the pictures of our little boy growing up and still making us the happiest people on earth.

Topanga Days

We have been waiting for this day for years now… every Memorial Day we go to the yearly Topanga Days Music Festival, we have been doing so for the last 4-5 years and every year we say “next time we will be here with a baby, next year”… well this year and this concert were very special for us b/c we finally have a baby (well, as much as 18 months sill count for a baby) with us. It was Vanie’s 1st Topanga Concert with all the hippies and every happy soul you can think of. The day was great and so was the concert and we are just happy that we finally checked off this one item off our lists.

1st trip to the Zoo

Aaah, it was so much fun going to the zoo for the 1at time. We decided do a test zoo visit earlier this month as we weren't sure how well Vanie will take it - so we went to the Santa Ana Zoo. It's a fairly small and inexpensive zoo. The trip was a hit and the biggest surprise was an elephant ride. Vanie got on the elephant with Jason but I think Jason was more excited than Vanie ( you can judge for yourself by your pictures). Of course, Vanie thought he was on a horse and apparently kept saying “dee” to the elephant while on here which is the Bulgarian word for “giddyup”. He is bing on pretending to ride a horse. Next trip will be the big San Diego Zoo.

Here are a few pix for our trip:

17 Mo's old and 4 Mo's home

Time flies when you are having fun. Our little boy is not so little any more - he is growing and becoming smarter and prettier (at least, that's what we think :-) by the day. He just turned 17 months last week the pictures to show that he is not the little baby we brought home 4 months ago (not to mention all the stuff he knows and does now, including tricks he tries to play on us).
He is doing great with his grandma at home. They have a really good schedule of eating, sleeping and going to the park every day.
We can’t wait for the hot Californian summer so we can start going to the beach with him (right now we only go to the dog beach and Vanie is totally bundled up b/c of the still windy and somewhat chilly ocean mornings).
We will have his 18 month checkup before Memorial Day and will know more about his growth. One thing I know - he eats and sleeps well but also uses up A LOT of energy walking and running around a lot all day long (we never really use a stroller when we go to the mall, park or just anywhere) so I don’t think it’s even possible for him to gain a lot of weight.
Enjoy the most recent shots.

Corona Del Mar Botanical Garden

Not much to say here except - enjoying another beautiful day in So Cal and a few nice pictures...

1st Post Placement Visit 4/24/10

Yes, it’s been that long. Well, it hasn’t been 6 months yet but the report and visit have to be completed
Almost a month earlier so that everything is flies on time with Russia. We had to fill out the 5 report (which is nothing compared to any pre-adoption paperwork) and our assigned social worker visited us on a Saturday which worked out great and we didn’t have to take time off from work. Surprisingly, Vanie was very shy around her and was either trying to cling on one of us or to hide behind the laptop or coffee table. He tried to play peek-a-boo with her after he realized that she is not there to hurt take him. But I have to say he was so shy, he didn’t really even want to show her how he dances. Other than that, all went well.

Easter

We had our first Easter with Vanie and it was so much fun. For those of you who don’t know, the Bulgarian Orthodox Easter is usually 2 weeks after the Catholic Easter and we tend to celebrate the Bulgarian holiday. This year, both Easters were on the same Sunday and it worked out perfectly. I have to figure out what we’ll do in the upcoming years but my guess is that we will celebrate both holidays with Vanie ( a lot of Bulgarian families do that for their kids). Our neighbors organized the usual Easter egg hunt for all the local kids and Vanie participated. He didn’t know what to do first but it didn’t take him long to go after all the hidden egg and flying balloons. He loved it and we enjoyed it as well.





We also had Easter lunch with close friends on that Sunday which was great. Vanie met our fiend’s dog, Ben for the 1st time. At first, Vanie was somewhat scared of him but it didn’t take long to become friends with him and “steal” all his toys.



Our little guy always has time to stop and smell the flowers :-) !!!