What we learned today...

Today Katie took a "personal day" from school. ;) We are all pretty stressed out from waiting for Kristen to come home and I didn't mind the company.

Daniel got a haircut on the deck - finally warm enough and sunny so we wcould make the mess outside. He looks like a totally different little boy - his head is so much smaller! Pictures are coming later. I did pretty well except for the sideburns...those are pretty tricky with a moving target. Katie got her bangs cut...I was not going to attempt her thick, long hair.

The science experiment for the day was making popsicles in our new mold. Katie wanted to use Squirt, which seemed fine to me. Being Katie, she wanted to add blue food coloring. Because I am such a cool mom, I agreed. She had the molds partly filled but I thought they needed more Squirt. I opened the freezer this afternoon to discover that apparently carbonated liquids expand more than water does when it freezes. So, not only was there sticky pop all over the freezer, it was blue as well! It was actually less of a pain to clean up than I thought, although we will probably be finding blue ice in the freezer for a while.

During Daniel's nap, Katie challenged me to Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine on her new Sonic game. I managed to " beat the pants off her" in that game but when we tried the real Sonic game, she "beat the pants off me." She told me that she was ready to be a good sport even if I won.

Forrest finishes his classes today and we are all glad of that! Katie gave him the PS2 game Kingdom Hearts 2 and she is so anxious to play it with her dad! They will have lots of fun with it, I am sure.

B-ball!

Here is Daniel's belated present from his great-grandparents! He has shown a LOVE for balls since he was in Korea and now that he is 2, he thinks he is big stuff! He has a great throwing and shooting arm! This is pretty much all he played with today! "B-ball" is the love of his life!

He is also sporting his first Detroit Tigers shirt. It is a "Pudge" Rodriquez shirt - Uncle Micah's favorite player. Daddy is teaching Daniel to watch the Tigers already. Daniel's favorite thing about baseball is the bat - he thinks it is a great thing to use to whap Katie.

I am going to be banned from Meijer!

Well, we took a family trip to Meijer yesterday. Fun times! We made it half-way through the store before Katie found a bottle of V-8 that she wanted to get. Yes, I know -- a 7 year old that likes V-8. Odd. Anyway, it was a plastic bottle, but we found out that even plastic bottles have a weak point. The lid is hard plastic and will break. Yep, the V-8 ended up all over the aisle and my jeans and shoes. The worst part is what it looked like in a puddle on the floor!

We managed to report the spill and move on. We successfully made it to the checkout when Daniel decided to throw the (plastic again) bottle of kimchi on the ground. Now, for the uninitiated, kimchi is a Korean specialty - pickled cabbage with red pepper paste. VERY smelly and again, very lovely looking splattered all over the floor. At least this missed me!

Katie had to explain what happened to the cashier - I just wanted to get out of there!

The good news is that we didn't think Meijer carried kimchi...at least we found it, even if it didn't make it home with us!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

My little guy is two today!!!! Oh man - where has my baby gone? Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum and had a great time - they were celebrating the New Year which was cool - we got to eat Asian food, hear Asian music, etc. There were a lot of adoptive families there and we even saw our SW! Daniel loved it - especially the BALLS!



Today we had presents and cake and Super Bowl junk food. True to his junk food loving nature, Daniel loved getting chips and Little Smokies for his birthday! Then it was cupcake time!!!!



Last year, Daniel hated getting any frosting at all on him. This year...well, let's just say it was pretty much the opposite. ;)



I am so in love with my boy! He is talking away and I love getting to spend time with just him right now. He loves trains, balls, ducks, and Elmo. He is really getting into reading books - which I love! His laugh and smile fill our hearts and make our family so much more full! I am so thankful for his birth-mother that chose to give him life. He is a gift like no other.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Big boy cups!

Daniel is now using regular cups! He is so good at drinking from them. He has actually been able to do it for about a year, but now has the motor skills to hold it without spilling it. He can say "water" now and it comes out so cute! He gets the biggest smile on his face when he drinks - he knows he is a big boy!

Last night we were at Toys R Us and they have a big display of cold drinks near the checkouts. I was letting him walk last night - a whole other adventure - and he went right up to them and said, "Pop!" and signed please. I had a coupon that I needed to get to $25 with and was close, so I let him get a water in a bottle. He was so happy with that bottle, you would have thought I got him the best treat ever! He drank it so well - he doesn't put his whole mouth over it, but does it right!

Tonight I was putting Daniel to bed and he said, "Mommy, rock." He was just trying to stall, but it was still so cute! Then he tried to get me brush his teeth again and get him another drink. Oh boy, he is a fast learner!

Kat (not meow)

Katie has been experimenting with her name this year at school. First, she wanted to Katherine. When I went to the Halloween party, all her classmates were calling her Katherine - which was funny to me. It is so formal - which she most definitely is not!

Last night I was supervising the homework process and she was writing Kat on her papers. She said that was her new name at school. Then, after Kat she wrote"(not meow)." Apparently her teacher said if her name was Kat, she would have to call her Meow. So now she is writing Kat (not Meow) on all her papers.

We are really seeing Katie's creativity blossom this year. She has her own comic strip - Wormo - and each installment is something to look forward to. She is being challenged and encouraged at school to develop her writing and drawing and we are just loving seeing what she comes up with.

Katie is also eagerly looking forward to our new daughter, Kristen, coming home from Korea. The other night she drew a special picture for Kristen. I have been so touched by her love for her new sister!

Daniel is talking!

It has been so exciting to listen to Daniel really take off with talking the past few weeks. Mommy, Daddy, bubble, and truck are so clear now! He is trying to say lots of things and making lots of new sounds. Katie is of course thrilled with him trying to copy her now, we will see how long that lasts!

Even though he has just started saying more things, he knows just how to get things! He uses traditional sign language for some things and has his own "signs" for many things as well. His funniest one is for drink. He takes his index finger and wiggles it against his head. It is kind of close to the sign for drink...

I am loving getting to "hear" more of what is going on inside his head!

KLW - She can do it!

I am so proud of my girl! She has learned how to ride her two-wheel bike! Mommy accidentally ran over one of her training wheels driving into the garage. Plus, her two friends are riding their bikes without training wheels. It took a few tearful tries, but she got it in just a few weeks!

Quote of the day - "Dad, is it good manners to have good manners?"