Gracyn Goes Home

I know it's been posts-aplenty today, but I want to take the time out to root for Tiffanie, who is currently in Taiwan right now picking up her 2 year-old daughter, Gracyn. Gracyn has been living with a foster family in Pingdong, my mother's hometown. Her new family has waited a long, long, long time for her case to exit the courts, so their rejoicing is doubly great.

If your'e a fan of Meeting Day stories like I am, hop on over to her blog and follow the action as their family of three goes one up.

Out of the Office

We just returned from a week away in the Adirondack Mountains with Craig's siblings, parents, and grandmother. For more than 50 years, his family has spent every summer there in a small cabin community by a lake. Continuing the tradition, William took his first dip in the water and wouldn't you know? He loved it.

Thanks to Aunties Kaity and Christine for taking some of the great photos above.

Walk the Walk

Over the last few weeks, William has started taking his first steps. I won't officially declare him walking as he still prefers to get around on all fours. But with every day, he is making progress. He took a record 8 steps earlier this morning.

Here's a little video of him right after lunchtime.

He has truly come a long way from the baby we met almost 6 months ago. Do you remember the little guy who used to slither about on his tummy and couldn't yet sit up? Looking at William now, I barely can.

Scuba Man Meets Mr. Mouth

Yes, yes, I know you're not supposed to let young children put inedible objects in their mouths. And if they do, you're supposed to swoop in with the intensity and precision of a SWAT team and extract said slimed item. I have the routine down pat as I do it at least three to four times daily.

However, on the day that William decided to nibble on the helmet of Andrew's Rescue Hero scuba diver, I couldn't resist delaying for a photo op. The helmet was too large to get lodged in his throat anyway.

Heh, heh, heh... just add a mangy hairdo and a 70's inspired suit and William could play the role of the Joker's baby in the next Batman sequel.

Happy 13 month-old birthday, you silly boy.

Twice Adopted

This morning, the four of us got all gussied up and headed to court. Ahh... litigious American society. Thankfully, our case was one of the few consisting of a happy nature. I'm delighted to report that as of today, William has been officially re-adopted in the United States.

William automatically became a U.S. citizen upon our adoption of him. However, he came home on an IR-4 visa, requiring that we re-adopt him in order to guarantee him an American birth certificate. The process will also make certain things like changing his name, getting a social security card, and even qualifying for college loans much easier.

The procedure lasted less than ten minutes. I was called up to the witness stand (what a creepy experience!) to answer some simple questions. I had to think extra hard when the friendly judge asked me for my age. Apparently, time and sleep deprivation have robbed me of brain cells.

William held up like a champ despite having missed his morning nap to be in court. He played the part of cute, compliant baby very well. Afterwards, the judge invited us up to the stand for a family picture with him. I'd show it to you but I don't know if Your Honor wants his picture on some random family's blog. Afterwards, we headed to Friendly's to chow down on some celebratory pancakes.

I must note that we owe a tremendous debt of thanks to our friend, Paul, a local attorney who was kind enough to take on our case pro-bono. He, along with his wife, Heather, are inching very close to receiving the referral of a daughter from Taiwan. We can't wait to find out who William's newest friend will be. Whoever she is, she will certainly have two top-notch parents. Thanks, Paul!

Bring Him Home

See the picture to the left? I think you all know who the cutie patootie lying on the floor is. The handsome fellow sitting behind him is Noah, William's roommate from St. Lucy's. While there five months ago, I recall seeing Noah and being taken with his serious face and bright, sincere eyes.

Noah is just weeks away from meeting his anxiously awaiting family. His parents, Tami and Bobby, are fundraising like crazy to meet the deadline. He has been waiting over 9 months for this day.

Please take a moment to check out their blog and read more about this beautiful boy. If you click on the link on the sidebar of our blog, you can make a contribution. Most importantly, you can make this family's dream a reality.

All the News That's Fit to Print

Long time, no blog. For those of you who are wondering, here's the latest news from Williamworld:

Now You See Us, Now You Don't: Over the past couple of weeks, we've been working on acclimating William to the church nursery. At the recommendation of our adoption pediatrician, we waited until he was 1 year old to start. Unlike leaving him in weekly daycare, the once-a-week nursery visits don't occur with enough regularity for him to get used to be left alone in an environment reminiscent of an orphanage.

We've kept him with us during the singing portion of the service, then have tried to leave him in the nursery for progressively longer 15 minute increments. We'd hang out with him for a while, then say a quick goodbye. Sometimes he would let us leave with no protest, sometimes he'd unleash the waterworks as he did with Craig the previous week.

I'm happy to report that last week was William's first successful week alone during the whole sermon time. He was so happy to see me that he did a semi-jump into my arms and squeezed me as tightly as his little arms could muster. Score one for bonding!

This Fish Has Gone to Heaven. About a year and a half ago, we purchased three goldfish for Andrew. He named one Franklin and the other two Franklin's Mom and Franklin's Dad. Two of them have since passed. Since they all looked alike to me, I couldn't tell who had survived. Several days ago, Fish #3 departed for the pearly gates via the commode (shhh... don't tell Andrew). William really loved looking at the lone fish swimming about in his tank. He'd get very excited at the "Yu" and would slap at the aquarium glass, scaring the poor fish. Swim free, #3, swim free.

Gimme Three Steps: I won't call it walking just yet. It was more like not realizing he was moving from the glider ottoman to his nightstand in three quick steps. Andrew and I gave William a hearty round of applause and he received it shamelessly, clapping for himself and cheering, "Yaaaaaay!" He's done this a few times over the last couple of days but overall, the m.o. still comes down to crawling along on all fours.

The Book Is Finished! Sadly, I don't mean my novel, though I have been making some slow progress on it lately. The photobook which we had sent off to be printed and bound for William's biological mom was shipped back to us. Overall, I am very pleased with how it turned out.

We ordered two copies, one to send to Taiwan and one to keep for ourselves. Gracyn's mom, Tiffanie, who is on her way to Taiwan in just a few weeks, has graciously offered to transport a copy to St. Lucy's for us. If you have a free moment, hop on over to her blog and cheer for her soon-to-expand family.


Bottle Boot Camp: I decided this morning that it was high time for William to learn how to hold his bottle and sippy cup by himself. I'm told that the caretakers at St. Lucy's would prop up the bottles for the babies who wouldn't/couldn't hold them by themselves. You'd think that a good eater like William would be the first to learn to hold his own, but alas, no.

William was none too pleased about the new policy. He couldn't get the hang of tipping the bottle upwards to get the milk flowing down into his mouth. Every once in a while, he'd get it right, but for the most part, it was I trying to prop his elbows up high while he gripped the bottle. There was a lot of crying and a lot of spilled milk. We definitely have our work cut out for us. It's Mommy vs. William in the battle of the bottle. Who will triumph and who will be left in tears?


The Early Bird Makes Nice (for Now): You know that feeling of being so tired it feels like you've been punched in the head a couple of times? So do we, thanks to our little early riser. For the past few months, William was in the habit of waking between 5:00 to 6:00 a.m.

This past week has seen a welcome shift in his wake time. He has arisen between 6:00 - 6:45 a.m. God be praised! What a difference an extra 30 - 45 minutes of sleep can make.

By the way, if you happen to know when Daylight Savings Time falls, please don't tell me. I don't want to know. Let me just savor the feeling of being able to get through the days without that fuzzy-headed feeling.