2 year photos

Aaden had his 2 year photo done the week before Christmas. Here are some of my favorite shots. I can't believe how grown up he looks. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Aaden had a great time yesterday and enjoyed opening his gifts this time unlike his birthday last week. This red car that Santa brought was his favorite and he spent most of the day in it. I hope everyone enjoyed their day yesterday. Here are some photos of Aaden's first Christmas at home:

It's the little things...

that many moms may never notice that strike me at times. Aaden is a child that is not easily scared or hurt. He's a brave little guy and rarely cries. One place he is always scared is the doctors, he hates anyone restraining him or poking around at him. Since I've never been a mom to a young child it seemed normal when he was scared at the doctor's that he would wiggle and squirm to get away from everyone and try to get out of the room. Two weeks ago when I brought him in for a sick doctor's visit (a cold and conjunctivitis) and then today for his 2 year doctor's visit, it was very different.

We hadn't been to the doctors for a few months now which was out of the ordinary compared to when he first came home. For the first time 2 weeks ago and again today, instead of trying to wiggle out of my arms when the doctor tried to look into his ears, listen to his heart, etc he clung to me for dear life. That may seem like a normal thing for most moms but Aaden had never clung to me for anything before. I didn't realize we were even missing that bonding experience. Yes, I hated that he was scared and I had to make him go through that for his own good. But I had tears in my eyes too because I was so touched. He finally trusts me enough to cling to me and turn into me when scared instead of trying to get away from everyone. He doesn't want to get away from me anymore, instead he wants me desperately. What an amazing feeling that I didn't even know existed. That is the best present I will receive for Christmas this year!

Happy Birthday, Aaden!

Aaden turned two today. He is growing up so quickly. I can't believe he's two already. We had a birthday party for him last Sunday and he loved seeing his family and playing with all his cousins. He thought it was great that everyone sang just to him and he seemed to love the cake too. The only thing he wanted nothing to do with was the presents! Grammy and Grandpa had given him a shopping cart earlier in the day and that's all he wanted. Trying to get him to stop pushing that thing around to open a gift proved to be impossible so his cousin were nice enough to help out :) Here are some pictures from Aaden's birthday party:

6 months to be thankful for

Six months ago, June 2nd, Michael and I walked into the Klintsy baby home and were united with Aaden. Our lives were changed forever and I will always be grateful that this little boy became our son that day. So for six months together, here are six things that I am thankful for:

-For his birth mother and father, who we will probably never get to meet, for creating such a beautiful, playful, creative little boy. I know in a difficult situation, they made a hard choice, and I will be forever grateful for their strength.

-For our family and friends, who got us through the hard times and shared in the good times that came along with the roller coaster ride of international adoption.

-For Aaden's health, there are so many question marks that come along with premature babies born so small and I am thankful Aaden has overcome the odds and his doctors found him in good health.

-For Aaden's smile, it brighten my day, everyday.

-For Aaden's laugh, it is never far away because he cracks himself up all the time :)

-For Aaden, how lucky we are that he was the child we were matched with. I couldn't imagine anyone else more perfect for us than him.

Here are some new photo's of our little man...

Aaden recently learned to pants himself!

All dressed up for Thanksgiving

Helping us pack

Loves to wear daddy's shoes

so sweet!

So you'll notice no glasses in these pictures. Someone's been refusing to wear them lately.

Future Gymnast?

Aaden cracks himself up with this one and mommy and daddy think he's funny too. He's been doing flips for a while but this morning for the first time we actually got it on video. This was totally self taught. I think we might have a gymnast here...

5 months together

Today marks 5 months since Michael and I walked into the Klintsy baby home in Russia to bring Aaden home. What big changes have the last month brought? The biggest one is "the whine". Yes, along with all the wonderful aspects of attachment going really well these last 2 months, Aaden has figured out how to whine. And how to fake tears when mommy leaves the room to really make her feel guilty. I left Aaden with our sitter for a quick appoinment I had and he screamed/cried horribly when I left. I almost didn't leave I felt so bad. I'm not even at the end of my street and I call because I'm honestly thinking of turning back around I feel so bad for my little guy. The sitter answers with no screaming in the background. How is he I ask? She said as soon I was out of eyesight he shut off the tears and began to play with her. Hmmm... is he that smart already? I think I have my work cut out for me. On the happy side, it's so nice that he now comes to me for everything and understands I'm his mom. When I do come back if I've been gone, he screams with excitement and comes running for me to pick him up and kiss him. That is priceless and melts my heart every time.

Here are some recent pictures of Aaden including Halloween. He didn't really get the concept and spend most of the time "whining" because he wanted to run into the street and didn't understand why he had to hold our hands. But he had a great time at home watching all the kids come to our house dressed up.

Autumn in New England

It's been a beautiful fall weekend here and we've gotten outside a lot. Here's some pictures of Aaden getting to apple pick, pumpkin pick, and go to the petting zoo for the first time. It was so much fun!

4 months

Today marks 4 months since we gathered Aaden in our arms in Russia and became a family. It seems like forever ago and at the same time like yesterday. We spent so much time in Russia during those 3 trips that I feel like we were just there yesterday. At first I thought it was crazy they made you spend so much time there but now I am grateful we did. Russia will always be a special place for us because that's where we became a family with Aaden and I look forward to a day when Aaden is old enough to understand and we can take him back to his birth country and share the experience.

On the flip side, Aaden has changed so much that it seems like forever ago. He was still very baby like at 17 months old, just starting to walk and very wobbly, just starting solid foods and learning how to drink from a sippee cup, he didn't give kisses/hugs or wave hello, he didn't quite grasp what to do with toys yet so he just threw them and then ran around as long as he could exploring his new world until his little legs tired out, he couldn't fall asleep on his own - in short, he was the cutest most lovable little man ever but exhausted his mommy and daddy! Now he has gained 6 pounds, grown 1 inch, and has turned into a little boy of 21 months. He runs and loves to play chase instead of wobbles, is a champ at eating almost any foods, is generous with his kisses and loves to wave hello & goodbye, can sit and play with his toys instead of just throwing them (although he still does that too!), and can fall asleep on his own without any problems. It is amazing to me how much he has learned and absorbed in such a short amount of time. Oh yeah, and he can say a handful of words, do some sign language, and comprehend what we say to him on a typical 21 month old level. The cute, lovable baby we held in our arms in June has turned into a cute, lovable, energetic, and happy little boy.

Aaden - June 2008 & September 2008

Is anyone still there?

It was my intentions to keep this blog going after Aaden came home but motherhood keeps you busy. I imagined so but had no idea! So I will do my best to update here and there for those few still dangling on - I wouldn't blame you for giving up on the blog by now :)


Aaden has changed so much and is doing so much more. He says a select few words: "more" - usually meaning more food, "fishies" for his fishy crackers, and yesterday he learned to say "No!" and he thought that was fabulous. Mommy said no and he looked right back at me and said, "No, no, no, no" with a great big smile on his face. He was very proud of himself and so was I but I think I may be in trouble now. He can also do some sign language for more, all done, help, and open. He is basically understanding what we say - to the point any 21 month old would. I'm sure more words will follow soon. I am hoping he will say mama and dada next.



He learned to wave good-bye on my birthday a couple of weeks ago and that was the best birthday present ever. He now dances when he hears music. The funniest is when we are out in public. When we pass by loud music coming from a store he'll stop whatever he is doing and look at you like "Do you hear that too?" and then start wiggling around right there in his stroller. He thinks it's a blast.


Attachment is so much better now too (for better and worse). Now when he falls or bumps himself he comes to his mommy for kisses even if he isn't really hurt. At playgroup last week, he realized I was not in the room for the first time and cried for me - although I want him to be independent it's nice to know he misses me, the first week there he kicked and screamed at me when I tried to take him home and wanted nothing to do with me. Like his basic understanding of language around 1 month home, his attachment really started to show around 3 months home and just snowballed from there. On the not so fun side, he is much more comfortable acting out and not listening to his mom and dad now. That has become a challenge lately but we are working on it.


Overall, Aaden is still amazing us every day. He is such a sweet little boy and we are so lucky to be his parents. I'll leave you with some recent pictures:

A little late but

here is the video of trip #3. It's been hard enough keeping up with pictures since we've been home so getting this video together took forever. It's a bit long like the second one but how can you condense the most important trip of your life into a few minutes? I did the best I could! It's also very shaky at times but we were so excited and nervous we weren't thinking about how bad some of it would come out. So I apologize in advance ;)

New Pictures

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. The little guy is keeping me busy! Here are some new photos from the last few weeks:

My first boat ride

Hanging with Daddy

Spooning mashed potatoes all by myself!

Watching Barney on my new Elmo couch

Getting into Mommy's cabinets

Aaden got glasses last week and boy do we think he looks super cute in them! He's been a champ about keeping them on too which we were worried about. He has gained another pound which means he's gained 4 pounds since he's been home. The doctor is very excited about that and so are we. He is no longer scrawny and his pants stay up :)

He's learned to climb on couches, go up and down the stairs (with help), and dance to his favorite show Barney. He's even starting to understand some simple words like eat, ball, kitty, night-night, block, outside, toys, and some others. But he still does not know what mama and dada means. He learned kitty in no time so I guess we know who he likes best in the house!

The First Kiss

There are many benefits to international adoption but one of the harder parts of it is that your baby is older when you bring them home. In our case, we missed Aaden crawling, his first steps, his first smile, his first laugh, and so many other things.

When we first visited him in March. I tried to have the teddy bear I brought him give him a kiss. He looked at it kind of funny and then tried to bite it's nose off. I asked our translator what the word was for kiss in Russian so he would understand what I was doing and she just looked at me like she didn't want to be the bearer of bad news and then said quietly, "It doesn't matter, he doesn't know what kiss means. No one has taught him."

This is something I thought about constantly for those 2 months while we waited to go back for our court hearing. No one had ever kissed or hugged my little boy. So you can imagine that since we've had Aaden with us Michael and I have kissed and hugged him at every chance we get trying to make up for this. But I'm not sure he ever really got waht we were doing.

Well, this past week, I not only kissed Aaden, but I got a kiss back! His first kiss. It took 7 weeks of persistance but he finally understands what kiss means. I can now say kiss and he pushes his little face out and touches his lips to me and then smiles. He doesn't quite understand to pucker his lips yet but he is getting there. It melts my heart every time he does it. He's still a very active and not very cuddly little guy but I am learning to cherish these little "kiss" moments with him and they are worth everything.

Summer Fun

Aaden has been loving being outside this summer. Here are some of our favorite shots:

Doctors, Doctors, Doctors

We've been so busy this past week with doctors visits. Aaden has been cleared as a very healthy little guy but all they had to do was a bit overwhelming. 4 doctors visits, bloodwork galore, 7 vaccinations, & stool samples in less than a week made him a bit of a cranky boy and I don't blame him. He ended up with a rash and low grade fever for 3 days after the vaccinations. The doctor said it was a heat rash but it happened on the coolest 3 days and started the day after all his shots so I'm skeptic that it wasn't related. The good news is he gained a pound in 4 days! The doctor was very proud of him for that. He is still very little between being premature and in an orphanage setting but he is thriving now :)

Now we have 6 more appointments in the next couple of weeks. I guess this is the usual when children first come home from Russia but I didn't realize it until we got into it. He has to go to 4 specialists just because he hasn't had much medical care and he was in an orphanage setting. All his tests came back normal so we don't suspect anything but they want to make sure. Then we have Early Intervention and another peditrician appointment too. The poor little man is getting sick of being dragged around and poked and prodded all the time but we should be through most of it by the third week in July. Luckily his rash and fever finally went away yesterday and he has been feeling better.

Otherwise, Aaden is still doing great. He loves getting out of the house and actually cries to go out the front door at least once a day. Again, the reading I did said the opposite of this. I was prepared to have to stay home most of the summer while he adjusted but he just can't get enough of going for walks, going to the mall/shopping, and even restaurants. He loves to visits our friends and family too as long as it's not too much of a crowd. We are looking forward to visiting Grammy & Grampa at the Lake for the first time next week!

Happy 18 months, Aaden!

Today Aaden turned 18 months old. Our first milestone together. I'm sure he didn't get a birthday cake for his first birthday so we decided to give him his first piece of cake today. Boy did he love it ;)

Happy Days Again

We had a rough few days early in the weekend with Aaden. Everything you read says that the children will go through a grieving/loss period but it always says around the first few days with you. We thought we had passed that since Aaden had been so happy but I think he just had a delayed reaction. He was inconsolable on Friday and Saturday. He was a sad little guy and no matter what we did we couldn't get him to smile for more than a minute before he pouted or cried again. But he seems to have gotten through it just in time for Father's Day. He had a wonderful day with his Daddy. Here are some new photos from the last few days: