19 Month Update

Yep, I'm a cutie pie!

It's photo day! 19 months old and so cute. 
Visit his page to see all three shots.

Package #6 and Tony's Arrival Anniversary

We are officially back from vacation...and back to reality! Vacation posts will follow, but likely bit by bit. Tony took hundreds and hundreds of pictures, so there is a lot to go through. He also took them mostly in RAW format, so there's work to be done. Bottom line -- we had a great time and details will come soon.

Tomorrow afternoon Tony and I will be meeting with our social worker to update our home study (which means I better get the post-vacation housework done tonight!). The home study is a pretty comprehensive document, detailing things like our individual histories/families, our current financial status, our expectations as parents, how we plan to manage the upcoming changes, our medical history and current medical condition, and more. Last year when we met with our social worker she actually brought a referral with her -- a first for her, and a total shock for us. It's been just over a year and our study has expired, so she's checking in to make sure things are still okie dokie.

Package #6

I thought this would be a good time to put together another package for Oliver, in hopes that our social worker can bring it into the office for us. For this package we have included:

1. Another "Wee Sing" CD. The updates keep suggesting that he likes music and noise, so hopefully these are fun for him.
2. A Baby Einstein Lullaby Classics CD. Something soothing.
3. A Hellophone toy with a short message we recorded. What 19-month old doesn't like cell phones?!
4. A lovey (a.k.a. a super soft small blanket). My friend Sieglinde recommended a particular Etsy seller and I am absolutely love her work. The back side is a soft fuzzy material, the edges are soft satin. The whole thing is machine washable. My hope is that Oliver carries it around and/or sleeps with it, and that it absorbs the smells of his current home. When we get to bring him to our home, hopefully this will offer him some comfort.

In other adoption-related news, Saturday is Tony's 35th arrival anniversary. At not quite 4 months old, an escort flew with him from Korea to Minnesota, bringing him to his loving family. I know that growing up, Tony's family celebrated both his and his brother's arrivals, but as the boys got older I think they got less interested. I, however, love any excuse to celebrate! Therefore, we are heading over to King's, the local Korean restaurant. 

I hope that in 2014 we are celebrating two arrival anniversaries!

18 Month Update - At Last!

This weekend Tony and I made the trek south for a long-overdue family visit. Having not been 'home' since March/April 2012 (and Tony not visiting since December 2011), I was pretty eager to get back and see everyone. Since my last visit, some things changed quite a bit (my nephew has grown by leaps and bounds; there's now a family dog in the picture; the guest bedroom has a comfy new mattress) and some things remained the same (my mom still makes the best sausage gravy in the entire world; drivers know how to yield to faster traffic in the left lane; my niece is still a girlie girl and is cute a bug). It was a wonderful visit. Over too quickly, but wonderful.

Monday mornings are usually tough, especially following a weekend away and a late night, but the email stalking finally paid off! We were sent PDF pictures of Oliver (we assume the hard copies are following by mail, similar to what they did for his first birthday), along with an 18 month update.

He is doing really well, and looking very healthy (the cut on his chin is just a little boy boo boo). Check out all of those teeth and that big grin!

According to the update, he "is a good eater with a hearty appetite" but refuses to give up the bottle. He likes to interact with others and play outside. He is "highly mobile and energetic....doesn't want to sit still" but yet he "has good concentration skills and engages in self play." While I don't know from personal experience, it sounds fairly typical for a toddler. 

I can't wait to meet him! We received 4 pictures today, so click over to his page for more.

No Update, But Encouragement

Tony and I are in the midst of our Home Study Update, which boils down to re-filling out paper work, completing physicals, having our backgrounds re-checked by the State of Minnesota, and reviewing our situation with our social worker. Last week I mailed in the bulk of our paper work and today I received an email from our social worker confirming that we are on track. Not one to miss an opportunity, I casually mentioned that we were mildly concerned that we haven't heard anything about our little guy and that we hoped he was doing okay [those who know me well probably know that I have been itching to email her every single day for the past week+, but had until now refrained].

Here is her response:

I wouldn't worry about not getting an update last month. Some families get more updates than others, and I would say that you are on the "more updates" end. - It is common that some families only get updates every other month, or sometimes even less. It really varies by the child's social worker. So I wouldn't be concerned, especially while you are enjoying a beautiful vacation ;) - If you don't receive one in January remind me, and we will request one.

If something were wrong with Oliver, I doubt she would have responded in this way. So, I feel a sense of encouragement that we are, indeed, just experiencing a delay. I am grateful that we have been on the "more updates" end and hope this is just a glitch. I'm still anxiously waiting for the email (the one with pictures of a super-cute 18 month old), but waiting with a tiny bit less worry. For those of you out there who are also worrying, perhaps your mind will be put at ease too.