Six Month Anniversary

Tomorrow marks the SIX MONTH anniversary of Ethan coming into our lives -- into our forever family.


Ethan the week we came home


As cliched as it will sound, sometimes I find myself thinking, "Oh my goodness! Where has the time gone?!" At other times, it feels like Ethan has always been with us. I'm pretty sure there are times when he is thinking, "How did I ever get stuck in this crazy family?" Meanwhile, I know Aiden is wondering what happened to his world and what he did to deserve a little brother who follows him everywhere and copies everything he does. I can say with certainty, though, that Aiden would be absolutely lost without Ethan. As much as Aiden likes to boss Ethan around (dare I even say tries to bully him), Ethan has turned into Aiden's best buddy -- his partner in crime! I could do without the tatteling (Ethan can now CLEARLY say, "MOOOOM! Aiden hit me!), the monotony of the word mine, the fighting, and the whining over who gets Mommy time; however, I simply can't imagine it any other way now. And 'things' are improving. They fight less often, the *tantrums are fewer, and sharing, although usually a foreign concept still, is starting to improve. In short, they're brothers!


Ethan wasn't feeling well....

*As a caveat, overall the tantrums are fewer; however, Ethan is starting to assure us that he is comfortable with us and KNOWS he is HOME. He has taken to stomping his feet when he gets scolded, and in time-out, he will stare me down and hit the wall. He's started to stick out his tongue and blow "raspberries" at Aiden. Don't worry. EVERY time this happens, Aiden is sure to come running and tell me. Sigh!

Now, I do have pictures to post of Chinese New Year which entailed eating out not once but twice (UNHEARD OF!), the boys getting toys and "money" in red envelopes, and "shooting off fireworks" which amounted to snaps and pull-string confetti. I also have photos of our Changchun buddies visiting and Aiden's new hearing aid I should get on here, but I have been so remiss in posting / updating, that I figured I'd throw together a quick post with a few pictures (which for *us* is important because this is how I scrapbook. :-/ This is our memory book of sorts) before the 1/2 year anniversary got away from me. So, here goes.....



Some of our most recent pictures of our sweet, gentle, smart lil' guy from Chinese New Year's Eves Day. We are proud and blessed to get to call him son and brother.