April 30, 2007 was the day our adoption became official. We met with the judge and court personnel, (we were prepared expertly by our team in Uralsk), who told us that yes, this little boy, Joshua Roman, is now your son. We've chosen to celebrate today with a special dinner and will tell Joshua the story of how we became a family.
Truly, we became a family on February 6 of last year when we saw his photo, and then the deal was sealed again when we met him on April 13 in Uralsk. Those are the days it became official in our hearts - and those are the days we will celebrate most. We actually had our first dinner out with Joshua on April 14 to celebrate our first meeting of him and Dave's birthday. You may say "one year and you hadn't been out to dinner?" - yes, it's true. (But it was well worth the wait). Anyway, I digress. We couldn't let this day go by without offering some reflections on the year it's been with a little snapshot into the charming boy Joshua is. When people ask, how is Joshua, we generally say "he's amazing." But what really does that mean? Let's talk:
He's very smart, and says so many words - we've lost count! He's particularly fond of making animal sounds, and calling our neighbors' dog "Asia." (that's her name) Top words/phrases include gar, uck, helcopter, oh-my, I don't know, I know, No, Yes, gog-gog, and meow (for OJ our cat), Da (what's that?) which also doubles as our babysitter's name, Dara.
He's quite adept at kicking balls - left and right-footed and running at the same time. Do you see soccer camp in our future?
He loves to read/be read to - after his morning bottle, during breakfast, throughout the day, but especially when Papa comes home from work, and they read "Curious George and the Rocket". He also enjoys "The Big Red Barn" and "I'm Thankful Each Day."
Elmo and the Noodle Brothers are a big hit. TiVo enables us to watch "Elmo's World" during afternoon snack!
Nature-loving boy that he is, we look at the "tweet-tweets" several times a day in the yard, while inside and out, call the squirrels (snapping sound), and play with ants, "pidas" and dig in the dirt and mulch (with and without his trucks/shovels). Generally, he carries a piece of mulch in each hand while we're outside.
He appreciates the restorative qualities of sleep. That's all I'll say, as I don't want to jinx it. He loves to be tickled when he's waking up and rolling around in his crib. Plus he adores his blanket, or euwee, as he calls it, and sleeps with it all the time, and is also a travel companion. (Oma hand-knitted euwee, and it went to Kaz with us!)
He loves music class, and loves to sing along to several songs, and dance/run around. But most of his singing is done throughout the day, I'm particularly fond of him humming and singing along to "Hallelujah" as a lullaby when I rock him before bed at night.
Joshua loves to play with other children!! And he loves the visits from his family that he generally talks about for days after, mentioning names and asking for them all.
We could go on and on about how amazing Joshua is. He is a joy and blessing. Thanks to all of our family and friends for helping us and loving Joshua with us this last year. It's been amazing.
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