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: