It's been a busy January. I'm exhausted, and it's not over yet. Thankfully, it's also been really, really great!
I started back to work (albeit not quite two full days a week yet between snow and other factors) at the beginning of the month. It's been great, actually and Cooper LOVES his time with Grandma and Grandpa. The first day there, with my mother's help, he sculpted his family out of play-doh. He knows exactly which face is who and he made specific choices telling my mom exactly what to do on each face. Note the blue face in the bottom row with the angry face. That's Chloe. Have I mentioned that their relationship is a work in progress? I'm fairly certain that if Chloe had done the sculpting Cooper would have been the one with the angry face.
Then came Chloe's birthday. She thoroughly enjoyed being the star of the show for a bit. She cried tears of joy when we all sang happy birthday to her. She actually couldn't blow out her candles because she was crying, but trying not to cry or let us see she was crying. I think she just felt special in that moment- during a time when she's feeling less special because of all the attention Cooper is getting. I nearly lost it myself.
The best part about giving Chloe a gift- her reaction. She never lets us down!
Cooper fell asleep on the couch right smack in the middle of the party in full Buzz Lightyear regalia and all. Classic.
This past Sunday, we had the privilege of dedicating Cooper- standing up in front of our family and friends and committing to being intentional about weaving faith in to the fabric of our family and being an example to him of what a life devoted to Christ looks like. What an awesome responsibility and a great privilege. I managed not to cry- this is impressive if you know me at all.
OK, this next picture is classic Scot: I'M trying to get a nice family picture, HE is tickling someone so that it's next to impossible to get one good shot. The kids? They do fine. Scot? Not so much! :) (Thankfully we did get one shot- see above- if you can ignore the fact that Cooper's shirt is pulled up from the tickling incident!)
Here is another classic Scot: giving everyone in the room a HEART ATTACK by throwing Cooper up in the air. Cooper thinks it is hysterical (good thing HIS heart is fixed!)....I find it slightly less hysterical. (In case you are wondering, this is between services at church, not in the middle of service. Scot's not THAT bad!)
That same afternoon, we had a real treat. Jess (left in the picture below) was an intern at New Day, and was the one who posted the blog post about Cooper seeing us for the first time. We got a chance to "meet" Jess via Skype while she was at New Day, and found out her home is not far from us. I had the pleasure of meeting Jess in person while we waited to travel to China. She gave me pictures, and school work, and also shared story after story about him so I could get to know him a bit before I even met him.
Well, this past weekend, Anneli, another New Day intern whose blog I have followed for a long time was visiting Jess. When we were matched with Cooper, she e-mailed me to tell me what a great, sweet, well-behaved little boy Cooper is.....and also that he peed on her when she took him on a field trip! :)
When I told them we were dedicating Cooper, they wanted to come. However, we decided that we would have more time if they came over for dinner that afternoon instead. So, they did.
It was so great. They brought a bunch of foods from Chinatown in Boston that Cooper was used to eating at preschool in China (none of which he would eat- but Sawyer is enjoying them!). They also brought a puzzle they found that was a favorite in preschool there and a panda t-shirt for Cooper. We played, and Cooper danced, and they got to see a sneak peek of Cooper's birthday video. Basically, we just enjoyed their stories about China, their lives, and the New Day kids. We talked about which New Day kids we just HAD to see matched soon and the kids we'd take home in an instant if we could (all of them!). What a blessing their visit was- both for Cooper and for us! We hope to be able to do it again sometime.
The biggest blessing of all, Jess was here to translate a rockin' episode of Xi Yang Yang (The Pleasant Sheep and the Big Bad Wolf). We had been in the dark far too long. It was a good episode too....the wolf stole all the grass and the sheep staged an uprising to get it back. Good stuff.
Just to prove that Cooper is fitting right in around here, this is what Cooper was wearing when Jess and Anneli arrived. And he would not take it off. Nope- we was a prince-uh (aka princess) and he was NOT going to give up the dress.
Phew- that's a lot going on...but it's not over yet. Cooper's first birthday home is Tuesday. We're celebrating with a party here on Saturday that he CAN. NOT. WAIT. for. He's been counting the days, and we can't wait to celebrate with him either.
Then, we look forward to a nice, quiet February. I plan to stay in my pajamas all month.
