Missing in Action

I have received a couple of harrassing emails telling me that I need to update my blog. Apparently the picture of Adam's nasty toenail isn't all that fun to look at for months without end. So, I have a little bit of time left on my lunch hour and even though this isn't going to be a full recap of our last couple of months maybe I can get a slightly more pleasant picture on here to greet everybody.

First of all (and I know everybody is DYING to know this tidbit of information) Adam's toenail fell off about a month ago. I'll have to check the exact date when I get home since I of course took a picture of it and the picture has a date stamp. One afternoon he announced that his toenail was gone. I first asked to see his newly naked toe and then I asked him where there toenail was. He didn't know. Nice. It was at about that point that Phil told me that he woke up without it attached that very morning. Super nice. What bothered me, but didn't seem to bother either of them, is that a rogue toenail undoubtedly had taken up residence in the depths of Adam's bedding. My plans for the day were immediately altered to include changing sheets. As of today approximately 1/2 of Adam's nail on his big toe has been restored and all is well.

The second topic that everybody is undoubtedly interested in - Noah. He is definitely two and he is definitely comfortable in our home and family. If you didn't know us, you would never guess that Noah has only been in the United States and our family for 3 months. He understands everything we say, and his English is every bit as good as any other two year old that you might meet. He is smart enough to fake comprehension when we tell him certain things though, but he's not quite smart enough to realize that if he's going to pretend that he doesn't understand us he needs to be consistent. At church last week he had no interest in sitting down and was climbing all over the place. I kept telling him and telling him to sit down and he acted like I was speaking Chinese. When he does that I can't help but back off and wonder if he really just doesn't know what I am saying. After a few minutes I pulled out a bag of cheerios and he immediately wanted some. I told him that if he wanted some he needed to turn around, sit down, take his feet off of the bench, and be reverent. Before I had even finished the sentence he was sitting, with his feet down and his arms folded. It's amazing what he can understand with the right motivation.

The kid has a stubborn streak in him unlike anything I ever saw in Adam at that age. You would think that he actually enjoys time-out since he spends a good part of every day in the corner for being naughty. His favorite word seems to be "NO!", his favorite phrases are "I do it!" and "No want to" and spitting has become his favorite activity, thus the inordinate amount of time that he spends in time-out. I was in Walmart yesterday, and Noah was ready to go home but I wasn't finished with the shopping. He started whining and yelling (he doesn't really cry all that much, but he can whine and yell like none other) and there was no way that I was going to talk him out of his mood. When I finally got in the check out line he started grabbing everything that his little hand could reach. I was trying to contain him and quiet him down when these two college age girls in line behind us showed up and started telling me how cute he was. I just rolled my eyes because he was anaything but cute at that moment, and they just laughed. He knew that he had their attention and that just seemed to bolster his resolve to make my life in line at Walmart all the more miserable. They kept laughing at him and telling me how cute he was and my simple response was that this cute little guy was extremely close to getting "lost" in a corner of the store. Since there's no family resemblance I'm fairly certain that I would have been able to make my getaway without anybody noticing. Needless to say, we made it out of the store and into the car and Noah's mood improved dramatically.

I could tell a story like that one pretty much everyday. He is a really fun little guy and we already can't imagine life without him, but it's clear to us that as far as he is concerned, it's his way or no way. Needless to say, he and I have a difference of opinion on that matter and until one of us gives up I see a lot of frustration in both of our futures.

The pictures at the top clearly show why we have decided to keep him, in spite of his "behavioral difficulties". Those girls in Walmart were right - he is pretty darn cute!

I need to get back to work but now that I am back on a somewhat regular schedule I should be able to pay more attention to this. I know I've said that before, but I really feel it's true this time. :-)