For over a month, Rai has seen Santa at the mall.
For over a month, Rai says "Clause!" and points in excitment.
For over a month, I ask Rai, do you want to see Santa?" and he replies "Yes!"
For over a month, we stand in line and watch children sit on Santa's lap.
For over a month, we get to the front of the line and then... Rai says "No!" and we go on our merry way to the playground nextdoor.
Until ONE DAY, Rai peered down at Santa from the food court above and was spotted by Santa, who smiled and waved. Rai giggled and waved back and then continued his "Clause!" pleas. So it shouldn't have surprised me that Rai would agree this time to sit on Santa's lap. In fact, he immediately smiled, and I had to waive down the photographer to take the picture before he changed his mind. (The picture below was taken after he got tired of smiling for nearly a minute.) But what DID surprise me was Rai immediately reaction to the picture: one hand extended as if to say "I know you're going to give me that coloring book now because you gave one to the other children. I know - I saw!"
I would have posted this picture earlier, but I didn't realize until I got home that they had given me a picture of the wrong child (and Rai is MUCH cuter!). :-)
Agency Holiday Party
Our local agency held their first annual holiday party, and it was such a wonderful experience to meet new families and visit with friends. Rai had just started coming down with something an hour before the party started, but he was still entertaining!
ECI Holiday Party
A few months after Rai arrived home, we took the recommendation of several people and asked ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) to do an assessment of Rai's development. With some language delays in Korea and a significant amount of physical therapy since Rai's early infancy, we knew there was a possibility that Rai might qualify for development services. Our EIS (Early Intervention Specialist) assessed Rai's physical development (gross and fine motor skills) as on par and even beyond his age in some areas, but he did have some speech and communication delays. Since then, Rai has blossomed from a combination of time, adjustment to English, preschool, and help from many people, including our EIS. She comes to the house once every other week, observes Rai's speech and communication development, and gives ideas for continuing his development.
This past Friday was the ECI Holiday Party, and since we anticipate that Rai will no longer need services after his re-evaluation on Wednesday, this have been the last time Rai will see his EIS. He certainly had a great time, and she enjoyed Rai telling her "Up! Up!" to be held while we stood in line to see Santa.
Amy!
For over a week, Rai identified several women (some blonde but not always) as Amy (as in Auntie Amy). Everyone from Cat Deely (pardon mispelling) from "So You Think You Can Dance" to the model on the New York & Co. advertisements sparked "Amy! Amy!" calls. Rai said "Amy?" while I was on the phone. So we took the hint and visited Auntie Amy after our agency holiday party. Rai had a great time playing with the dogs, helping Aaron rake the leaves, and hanging out with Auntie Amy in general. Here are a few pictures:
(Don't worry. Rai stayed out of the tree!)
Snuggling with Kobe
Our cats have done very well with Rai in the past seven months. Kobe, our bigger cat, has an interesting personality. Although he looks quite cuddling, he's usually pretty grumpy. (If you had to lose 25% of your weight in one year from a strict diet you couldn't break, you'd be grumpy, too! But Kobe has just always been grumpy.) We weren't sure how Kobe would react when we got Lucy, our smaller cat, but Kobe's maternal instincts kicked in (but yes, Kobe is a boy). He would sleep with Lucy and groom her to such an extent that people swore they were "Mommy and Baby." Now Kobe hasn't exactly taken on Rai as his own, but he's certainly very patient. Whether Rai is in the mood for giving Kobe kisses or just cuddling with him, Kobe has been incredibly patient with this toddler!
And last but not least... Aaron's Thanksgiving Sweater!
Aaron is certainly known for wearing favorite shirts, well just really one favorite shirt, in nearly every picture I take. (Just try to count how many times you've seen the pink, I mean RED, shirt in this blog.) On Thanksgiving evening, I had a moment of deja vu when I uploaded pictures and saw Aaron's sweater. "I could have sworn I already have this picture" I thought. Yes, Aaron wore the exact same sweater not only last Thanksgiving but EVERY THANKSGIVING SINCE 2006! When I told him about the pattern, his response was "It's a good sweater." Oh my...
Here they are:
Thanksgiving 2009
Thanksgiving 2008
Thanksgiving 2007
Thanksgiving 2006
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