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Teshale, March 2010, in his beloved "machina" sweater

Thought a compilation of Facebook postings might be a good way to paint a picture of our life together so far:

Jan. 27: Leaving 11:30 a.m. today for airport . Arriving Addis Ababa tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., guest house around 9 - 10 p.m., then up at 5 a.m. (9 p.m. SYR time) to go to birth family visit, back to Addis on Saturday sometime (6 hour trip). So won't get to meet Teshale until Sat. afternoon. A million things to do before we go!

Feb. 10: Home with Teshale after an unexpected layover in DC (but thankful we got out ahead of this storm). Traveled 14,000 miles round trip to adopt a child with the Lauser temper. God has a sense of humor. To hear him giggle with delight and call "Mommy, mommy, mommy" every time he discovers something new makes it all worthwhile.

Feb. 11: Luxury is being able to rinse your toothbrush under the tap water. And taking a hot shower without getting electric shocks.

Feb. 12: Have to take the little guy in for bloodwork today. They've already told me we'll have to help restrain him. Argh. How do we bond and also hold him down while they poke him with needles?

Feb. 13: Olympics? I have my own Olympics going on right now! Chasing a three and a half year old who alternates between being one and being four. Wish I could convince him to go outside and burn off some of his energy.

Feb. 14: What was I thinking, buying a blinking toothbrush for Teshale? This morning he gets up at 4:00 to use the potty and then wants to brush his teeth!

Feb. 15: So the pediatrician says "take him to the zoo. You can't lose a kid there." Hah! Can't wait to time this kid on the track.

Feb. 17: Argh. He won't go out because it's too cold and can't take him to an indoor kiddie gym because of his Hep A status. Argh. Argh. Damn snow, go away.

Feb. 21: Teshale peed in the woods yesterday. I'm so proud!

Feb. 23: Oh my. One minute it's world war III and the next it's smiles and kisses. Right now he's salting pringles.

Feb. 24: Yesterday was monster child day -- today we spent an hour and a half building a snowman and then walking around the neighborhood looking for machinas (cars in Italian, which is what they are called in Ethiopia). Never know which kid is going to show up on any given day.

Feb. 25: T-Man (Teshale) really enjoyed playing the synthesizer today with Daddy (while Mommy got some respite by snow-blowing the driveway -- Sean was going to do it, but I begged him to let me!)

Feb. 28: Went out for a run while the kids were bobsledding in the backyard. First run since before going to Ethiopia (other than running after a kid). Felt great.

Mar. 3: The health dept. finally decided Teshale's Hep A status was caused by the vaccine he received five days prior to being tested. So he's officially allowed to play with other kids! Yay!

Mar. 8: Well, taking the kid to story time at the library was not exactly a rousing success. Never having seen a library before, and having the video tapes strategically placed across from the doorway to the story room, this child was only interested in pulling video tapes off of shelves. Had to carry him out kicking and flailing. *sigh*

Mar. 10: WOW WOW WOW! Took T-Man to his third doctor appt. He screamed (SCREAMED) through the last two -- just even at having the doctor listen to his heart. Today he chatted with the doctor and only whimpered once when he got his four shots. She's amazed at his progress and at how well he's understanding English. The kid's arm hurts right now -- I feel so bad.

Mar. 12: Visited school today. T-man loved the classrooms without any kids. Not so keen on the ones with kids in them. He finally got brave enough to peek over a bookshelf at kids doing circle time, then bolted for the door. We'll try again next week.

Mar. 13: As I stood in Teshale's village looking at everyone looking at me, I could see the desperate poverty particularly in the people's shoes. No shoes, wrong-sized shoes, shoes with the leather worn through, exposing toes to the sunlight. All I could think was, "These people need so much, and all I'm doing is taking one of their kids away?"

Mar. 15: Apparently a word that sounds like "Enny" means "look" in Sidamic. My child has figured out to shorten "mommy" to "ma." You may know what's coming here....so when he wants to show me something, it comes out (pun intended) "enny-ma".

Mar. 17: T-Man is jamming with the band and really rocking the drum kit!

Mar. 18: T-Man made his debut at the track today. Dropped me at half a mile (I needed something in the tank for my race!) and ran at least another half with Daddy. And the kid has wheels!

Mar. 20: "How's Teshale's English?" people ask me. Well, yesterday, I said out loud to myself, "Let's see, what are we going to feed you for lunch?" "Cookie!" he responded, without missing a beat!

Mar. 24: T-Man discovered the front-loading washer this morning. Apparently it's more fascinating than a Pixar movie. I think he's going to watch the entire cycle.

Mar. 26: So my kid likes to add "eenie" to the end of words. Kwas (his word for ball) becomes kwas-eenie. Hot becomes "hot-eenie." And, yup, Mom becomes...."mom-meanie." I probably deserve it; I made him pick up his toys before watching Curious George today.

Mar. 27: Just licked my thumb to try to get some leftover breakfast off my kid's forehead. Does that mean I'm a real mom?

Apr. 3: Yesterday was T-Man's first day ever in his life wearing shorts. He thought it was a little funny, but squealed with delight today when I gave him another pair to wear. However, my little GQ guy wasn't happy until the plain t-shirt was traded in for one with a soccer ball on it.

Apr. 4: My little boy has outgrown the shoes we brought him home from Ethiopia in. They were the first shoes he ever owned. He seems to be fine with ditching them for the new pair, but I'm feeling very sentimental. I think I will have to save them for him.

Apr. 7: Yesterday a kind lady let me go ahead of her in the grocery line because she "didn't have a child (who was endlessly repeating the word "cookie" while rummaging through the cart of stuffed animals) and she wasn't holding ice cream." I don't know whether to be embarrased or feel like I've found a new strategy...

Apr. 8: Waiting for a call back from the pediatrician about the loose tooth and scraped up gum from the latest face plant. Why does he always land on the same tooth? Do they make mouth guards for 3-year-olds?

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