Living, Laughing, Learning…Daily
Here come the teeth!
Yup–to celebrate 5 months of being on this earth, the Babe has cut her first tooth. She was so excited she had to wake up at 3:30 this morning to remind me about it. But that’s OK–you only get your first tooth once. We’ll see how I feel after a few months of this teething stuff!
We’ve been going to the library ALOT lately–funny, since we have less time to read or watch movies than ever before. But since it’s free, there’s no risk, I suppose. So we are regulars now. Also, I want to preview any adoption books before purchasing them, for the Babe and for myself.
What we are currently reading:
L is FINALLY reading “The Happiest Baby on the Block” by Harvey Karp, MD. He’s finding out that we did “everything right” (LOL). I thought he was on board with my suggestions because he had read the book. Turns out, no. But hey, he’s catching up now.
I’m currently reading “The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness” by Edward M. Hallowell,MD. It’s all about having a grounded, connected childhood–about giving your kids what’s really important–such as mealtime, traditions and time to just be a child. Now his oldest child is only 12, so who know if it really works, but it makes sense to me.
For the kiddos:
In my previous post, I already mentioned “Sam’s Sister” Love it, love it love it.
I’ve also checked out, “Let’s Talk about Adoption” by none other than the Mr. Rogers. It’s great. Very gentle, like the legend himself. Real pictures, real families, very general to apply to all situations. RIP, Mr. Rogers!
“You’re Not My Real Mother” by Molly Friedrich is another one I like. The main character is a little girl who was born in Vietnam, but I think it’s a phrase that all amoms will have to hear at some point in time or another.
“How I Was Adopted” by Joanna Cole is a good one too. It tells of a child who was adopted at birth, and picked up at the agency by his aparents. It might work very well for children who don’t know a whole lot about their hospital stay when they were born. The last page asks the reader if he/she knows the story of how he/she was adopted, therefore fitting any situation!
Next up for me:
“The Happiest Toddler on the Block” by Dr. Karp. We’ll see if he can get us through the next four years as well as he got us through the last 5 months. I’ll be sure to report.
The monkey had a lovely holiday. She was hopelessly spoiled by her adoring fans, and seemed to revel in it all!
I also got the chance to explain her adoption to some little cousins of mine (my cousin’s kids….1st cousins, once removed?) and was glad for their very honest, uncensored, questions. What made it more interesting to me is that my cousin herself is adopted, and she’s now a single mom of 3. So when I explained that Monkey’s bmom had one child already, and decided that it would be too much to have another baby, my cousin just quietly said, “it’s tough”.
My cousin and I aren’t very close–this was our first time seeing each other in about 8 years. So I don’t know if her decision to parent all 3 of her kids was due in part to the fact that she was placed for adoption herself (at the age of 2, I think). I don’t really know. I do remember when she was pregnant the second time, both my mom and grandma asked her if she’d consider adoption, but her boyfriend was in the picture at the time, and she really was thinking things would be OK.
Now he’s long gone, she’s working, scraping by with help from assorted agencies to feed and cloth and educate her kiddos. And I have to say, she’s a GREAT mom. Her kids listen well and are very polite.
I wonder if our bmom ever thought about parenting our little monkey, and what she thought it would be like. If she thought past the first year or two, to what it would be like when both kids were in school. If that held any appeal to her, if it made the choice easier or harder.
I also finally got a hold a of GREAT book about open adoption when there is a birth sibling called Sam’s Sister. I need to find out if bbro has heard the story yet–that could be a potential bday present for him. I read it to a group of 1st-4th graders at the school where I used to teach, and they seemed to “get” it. They had a few questions for me, and, of course, were instantly in love with the Babe.
How could you not be?