The Magical Birthday Tour

Micah's birthday has been an event that has spanned several days and locations. Here's a glance back...Micah danced with his balloon and sang "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Micah, Happy Birthday to you."
Balloon up!
He got to open the rest of his presents. Mama and Baba got me my own computer!
A Sesame Street jacket with attitude from Aunt Brenda and Uncle Greg.
Looks like fun to me.
Learning to use the computer is harder than it looks.
And finally Mama made a real birthday cake.
Blowing out the candles (also harder than it looks).
The magical birthday tour draws to a close. It's amazing how our life has changed. I can barely remember life before Micah.

Birthday Boy

Guess who's three!!! Micah was able to celebrate his birthday with his preschool friends by sharing some Koala Cookies. These were his favorite from China, so Mama was excited to find a box of them at Cost Plus World Market.



The big fun started when Baba got home from work. Micah and Liberty met him joyfully as he came in the door.
Micah didn't know much about birthdays. But after watching Sheridan celebrate his, he knows that birthdays mean cake!
We spent the afternoon frosting and decorating cup cakes and he was excited to indulge.
After cake he opened a present that he got from Lao Lao and Lao Ye.
Oh my, what every boy needs, his own golf cart! (This one is remote controlled).
Micah was a little excited about his present.
OK, more than a little excited!
I love my new golf cart.
Mama finally got the battery situation figured out and broke out the remote control. Micah was a little concerned as the golf cart started to move on its own and headed for the bedroom.
But of course, being a boy, he got over that and was soon zooming the cart around the room.

First Day of School

We were up bright and early for Micah's first day of preschool We had done our homework in preparation for little guy's first separation from family. He has been attending Sunday School in the same classroom as where he will attend preschool. We went to Orientation and Meet the Teacher days last week to get comfortable with the concept of school. Today he was very excited to get ready for school and chose his Thomas Train shirt - "Full Steam Ahead" it says. That describes Micah to a T.

He wanted to take the golf cart to school. On the way to school we talked about how Mama would drop him off and pick him up after he had music (his teachers had shared his schedule so we knew what to tell him.) He was quite concerned that Mama wasn't going to go to school too. When I walked him to the door, he ran right into the building until he realized I wasn't coming too. Then he turned around and tried to run back to me. The teachers were leading (read nearly dragging) him back into the building. Mama rushed off before Micah could see the tears in her eyes.
I went around to the other entrance and found my ways to the Tissues and Tears room. That's where parents who are having a hard time letting go can hang out, sniffle a little and wait for their children. I wanted to be nearby in case he had a meltdown. His teacher stopped by about 15 minutes later and told me that once settled in, Micah was doing wonderfully. I peeked in his classroom window and saw him playing on the floor.

He joined right into his class. On another peek, I saw him sitting at the table eating his snack. I caught sight of him once as the class trekked down the hall to music and movement. I stayed out of his sight, but was able to see him enjoying the music and rhythm instruments.

At the end of the day, I walked back around to the main door to pick him up. Business as usual. He was excited to tell Mama about his day. He showed me his stamps and stickers and talked about music.

On the way home, he kept patting my leg and saying, "Mama." When I said, "what?" he replied, "Micah's Mama." I think he was happy to see that at the end of the day he went home with the same Mama who dropped him off. I wonder if he flashed back to that day not-so-long-ago in China when his foster mother dropped him off at the orphanage and he went home with his new Mama and Baba.

Here is my guy after his first day of preschool. I think he's going to be just fine.

Family

What a blessing to spend time with family. Our recent vacation gave Micah time to really get to know Mama's family. We wish we lived closer so that we could visit more often. But this Army life has lead us to Hotlanta for now. Here are some precious pictures of Micah and his family.

LaoLao and LaoYe were exceedingly patient with Micah's myriad requests for walks, wagon rides and playing outside. LaoYe made sure that Micah got ice cream almost every day.
Uncle Kurt is a sweet lovable guy and Micah had a blast hanging with him. "Hey, that picture would look good on my blog."
LaoLao was meant to be a grandmother. It's clear in her face that she loves our little guy. (I think he loves her back!)
LaoYe is a fun-loving grandfather. I think he was a little tired by the time we left.LaoLao and LaoYe watched Micah for an evening so that Mama and Baba could have a date. Mama and Baba got to have dinner by themselves for the first time since traveling to China. Don't they look relaxed and happy?

Only a grandmother could hug you after you picked all the ripe tomatoes off her plant (and one green one!) We've discovered that Micah loves cherry tomatoes. "Bob Tomato, eat 'em!"

Guard Duty

Micah has assigned his trucks to guard Baba's boots, while the melon chunks guard his coffee cake.

Mama's New Haircut

Before:










And after:

Six Months Together

Can you believe that it's been six months since we first me this sweet little guy?

Then. Here is Micah on our first shopping trip in Tianjin. He seemed a little concerned about these people who took him from the CWI. And now. That frightened little boy has blossomed into an active toddler who loves his Mama and Baba.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!!!

Hooray for family vacation. We spent the last couple of weeks visiting family and friends in Michigan. I will be trying to catch up on blogging all of the news from this trip. And there was lots of it. We had many first-time experiences and visits with friends, old and new.

We took an airplane to Grand Rapids. We were a little nervous since Micah hadn't flown since that long, painful flight home from China. Not to worry. We had been reading the Airplanes book we got from the library and talking about our plane ride to see Lao Lao and Lao Ye. Micah was excited for the trip and even sat, buckled into his own seat. He was pretty well behaved through the two hour trip there, except for sending his truck back into the lap of the gentleman sleeping behind him. Oops!

The trip back to Atlanta was fine also. The hardest part was leaving the grandparents who had been his constant playmates for the past 11 days.

Fun at the Lake

We spent several days of our vacation visiting our friends Nancy and Diana and their children, Dave and Dayna. We hung out at their house on Lake LeAnn. It has become a summer tradition and usually includes Lao Lao and Lao Ye too. Just last summer the major topic of debate was names for the child we hoped to adopt from China. What a difference a year makes!

Lake people: Happy, tired and sunburnt. As it should be.
Micah's first experience with a lake. At first, he would only float on the sea turtle and refused to get wet.
He loved to stand on shore and throw tennis balls to JackJack.
Jack was just happy to be hanging out in the water with the kids. Lao Lao and Lao Ye hung out on the boat.
Back on the sea turtle after his first dip in the water. By the end of our visit, Micah would "jump off the dock" into Mama's arms.
Drying off of the deck.

Future male model?
Mama went tubing with Micah and Dayna.
A nice gentle ride in the wake. Micah waved to the family on the speedboat, that is, until he fell asleep in the tube.
Mama also rode with Dave on the Dragon Tube.
The ride wasn't quite so gentle!
Lake food has no calories, so we ate well!
Hanging on the boat, playing Uno. Of course Micah is the center of attention.