Waiting for Kyle

It is 5:35 p.m. and it is that time of day where sometimes each minute passes so slowly. I feel like I can't make it too many more minutes with the kids. So as each minute slowly ticks we are blaring some music. Isaac is wearing a Bob the Builder hat and Bob the Builder apron dancing on one side of me. Eli is naked and wearing a green safari hat dancing on the other side of me. Prema is waiting for me to check how well she scrubbed the kitchen floor.

TOO TOO BUSY

And yet again a lot of time has passed since I have update this blog. I will try and post a quick update here in hopes to spur some more writing in the NEAR future.

let's see...

Isaac is now 4 years old. He is blowing us away with his interest in so many many things, an outstanding memory, his ability to hold in depth conversations, and his AMAZING insights into life. It is so much fun to listen to him explain how he "sees" life.
Some examples are: He thinks all adopted kids are Deaf because he knows Prema and another girl Tiana are both Deaf and adopted. Last night in a conversation about the use of the word "pastor" he thinks that Fr. Mike will soon not be the pastor at our church because his hair is turning grey. He once listed all of his favorite baseball teams which coincidentally were the names of every team he could remember at the time.

Every morning Isaac asks if the Rays baseball team won. He has to be first and always win or he will will have a meltdown. Everything is a competition. He LOVED his first experience of VBS. He didn't enjoy his first trip to Disney World because he got scared at just about everything since he hates all of the evil/ scary characters and events.

Eli is now 2 years old. The poor dude has been sick A LOT so most of the time his moodiness has been worse. He loves to sing and dance and whenever he is in a good mood you will find him performing for anyone who will watch. You will often hear him using either a grumbly/ deep/ rough voice with facial expressions to match or a very sweet soft spoken voice as he cuddles up to someone. He still loves to copy just about anything Isaac is doing. It has also been fun to watch him attempt to sign with Prema. He will move his lips and wave his hands in the air whenever he is trying to "hold a conversation" with her.

Prema is doing pretty well. She is now in summer school 4 days a week and on the Fridays she is attending a Deaf summer camp. She absolutely LOVED her first trip to Disney World. We have been excited to see her Jump rope for the first time. She has now acquired all the large motor skills she needs to function in school so she will no longer be receiving PT.

Isaac Loves Spirit FM

Isaac loves our local Catholic Christian radio station . Every morning we listen to the "Big Big House Morning Show" with Carlos and Abby, especially to hear the Veggie Tale song of the day. We also listen every Saturday Morning to "Kid's Kingdom" to listen to all the kids Christian songs including many Veggie Tale songs. The week of Isaac's birthday we went to the radio station twice. Once to meet Carlos and Abby and the other time to have Isaac talk to Fr. Mike on Kid's Kingdom on the air. Fr. Mike calls into the station live every Saturday morning for a few minutes to discuss the weekend Bible readings and encourage vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Fr. Mike arranged for Isaac to be in the studio when he called in so he could talk with Isaac on air. Both trips to the studio were great experiences. You can listen on-line to Spirit FM so my family also got to hear Isaac when he was on the radio. The video clip is from his time with Ms. Elle and her daughter that do Kid's Kingdom every Saturday. They announce kids' birthdays on the air so during this visit they announced Isaac's, Eli's and Prema's birthday.

Prema Spraying/ Humming Out Her Candles

Prema's 10th Birthday

On March 21 Prema turned 10 (legally). This year was an exciting milestone for her birthday party. She now has 2 friends that she plays with somewhat regularly. So this year she had a kid only birthday party. Her two friends (both deaf) came over to celebrate for a few hours. They painted, had a scavenger hunt, played dress up, and ate. Prema loved the party. The next day Kyle and I took Prema out to dinner alone to an Indian restaurant. It was her first trip to an Indian restaurant since she came home 2.5 years ago. She loved it!!! She got to have chai (tea), eat fish curry with her hands and watch Indian movies. Any time she puts on the new shirt she wore that night she wants to go back there and eat again. For dessert that same evening we brought the rest of the cake from her party to Grandma and Grandpa Cullum's house where we all sang "Happy Birthday" and she opened some more presents.

"Why?"

Eli just began speaking a ton within the last 2 months. He is now speaking in 2-3 word sentences most of the time and is willing to try just about any word he hears immediately. One habit he has picked up quickly is asking "Why?" when I tell him to do something he doesn't want to do. Just now he knocked down all the blocks I just picked up for him in exchange for him picking up the kitchen toys. Immediately after I was done he went and knocked the blocks all over again. So yes he will be picking them up himself this time. But instead of yelling I just said "Eli go to your room". His response, "Why?".

Happy 4th Birthday Isaac

Today April 1st Isaac turns 4 years old. His birthdays are both a celebration and time of sorrow for me. I am excited to celebrate his birth, for he has brought us an immense amount of joy. I get sad thinking of our little boy growing up and feeling like time is moving too fast and I've missed or have forgotten little things along the way.

This year Isaac has planned his birthday party again. We are basically celebrating all week long. He is an avid fan of Spirit FM the local Catholic/ Christian radio station. On Monday we went to the radio station and met the morning show team Carlos and Abby. Today he is eating breakfast at Bob Evans with Grandpa Cullum and Dad (Kyle). Later we will go to Heritage Village (historical place) and attend the preschooler class. Then tonight we will go to the library for a play "ABC Adventures". Saturday evening we are having the party at our house. Fr. Mike is trying to work it out so Isaac can go to the radio station again on Saturday morning and talk on the "Kids Kingdom" show when Fr. MIke calls into talk at 10:00.
you can listen on line

Happy Birthday Isaac! We love being your mom and dad. Thank you for all the laughter and joy you bring to us.

I'll post pictures later.