Observations after 97 days....

As we near the 100 day mark from returning home with Nicholas, things seem to be going pretty well. His language seems to improve each day and he is understanding more concepts too....but that is not always a good thing! Since getting his first Bee sting a couple of weeks ago, Nicholas now says, "hurt" whenever ANYTHING flies near him....although this would be correct for bees, wasps and hornets....it would not be correct for butterflies, dragonflies, ladybugs and commercial aircraft....all of which he will say "hurt" when he sees them....

His vocabulary is improving all the time. He is now starting to repeat nearly everything we say, so we now have to really watch our flippin' language. He likes to repeat new words that sound funny to him...For example...we went to Hobby Lobby (www.hobbylobby.com) to get a large cork board for his room. The whole car ride over to the store he kept yelling, CORK!" which sounded more like, "QUARK!" and he would laugh and laugh. This behavior continued once inside the store, only it was louder and a few octaves higher...very close to glass shattering levels......speaking of the last time we were at Hobby Lobby......

Lisa and I were in some sort of clearance aisle with Nicholas securely (yeah right) in a shopping cart. We did not see how this happened, but when we looked down we saw that he was holding some sort of decorative plastic soap dispenser...we quickly snatched the illegally obtained item from his clutches...but it was too late!! Apparently he had pressed the pump an estimated 14 times causing large deposits of ancient soap to appear all over his shirt, pants, hands and arms. He then must have thought...."Hey this stuff smells great...it must TASTE even better!!" Life lesson learned...soap does not taste good......Lisa quickly used part of her blouse to scrape off Nicholas' out stretched tongue...we then headed straight for the restroom to clean up the soap...on the way there we were stopped by a friend of ours....Lori D.....she had not yet met Nicholas...we explained the "soap incident" to her and told her what she had to look forward to with her own child...

Other words he likes to say and then laugh and laugh...

Squash
Slow
Bonk
Cheese

He also likes to add the word "it" to the end of these and many other words....so imagine our small boy yelling and then laughing.... SQUASH IT..........SLOW IT.......BONK IT.......CHEESE IT.......BITE IT........CHEW IT....etc...


Another word he seemed to know without us telling him is 'tunnel.' He saw a picture of a tunnel in my photo album from my trip to Mexico. I got to walk inside a giant pyramid and took many pictures of the tunnels. Upon seeing the picture for the first time he said..."tuh-nuu-lay." This quickly became 'tunnel.' He now knows you go through a tunnel....so whenever he sees ANYTHING that resembles a tunnel he will say...."tunnel....through."

Nicholas continues to love all water related things....baths, swimming pools, washing his hands, sprinklers, lakes, streams, water towers, fire hydrants...we think he is saying the Ukraine word for Fire Hydrant since everytime he sees one he says...."Dyloooshka."

We have had some very humid weather here lately so the wild mushrooms are all over the place...including in our back yard....

A few days ago Lisa noticed our very own large mushroom and decided to take Nicholas out to see it. As Lisa and Nicholas got closer to the fungus, he stopped a few feet away from it and then continued on to get a closer look at this strange new thing.....as Lisa was trying to get him to say "mushroom," she noticed he was quickly moving his feet up and down and seemed to be stressing a little. Upon further investigation Lisa discovered he had stopped on top of an Ant bed and his feet were now teaming with Ants! She brushed them off and brought him back in the house. He only had one bite on his foot. Now when he says 'mushroom' and points outside, we ask him if he wants to go outside and see it....he will they reply...."no...hurt."

Lisa and I continue to feel amazingly blessed to have such a wonderful son......stay tuned for more stories and pictures!

Take Care....

R/L/N