Fun with Friends

We were so excited to have some friends over for dinner tonight. If you want to see a few of the fun photos that our friend Jenny was able to take in the midst of the craziness of 4 boys running around, visit her blog here. You'll see a two great pictures of Simon and Ashenafi. They are 10 days apart in age but Ashenafi is nearly a head taller than Simon. We are hoping that maybe Simon's hair will curl like Ashenafi's! So fun to see these four guys -- Harry, Xander, Ashenafi and Simon -- together and we can't wait until Xander's sister Ayla is home to join them. We're kind of hoping that she may have a calming influence on these boys! Ha!

It was a great evening with some great friends and a great way to end the weekend.

Simon Goes to the Zoo

On Friday afternoon, Mark and I took Simon to the Indianapolis Zoo. We have had some hints from him that he enjoys animals and thought that this would be a fun family outing for us. The zoo was a good first outing for us because we went to the Indy Zoo on Sept. 22, 2008 -- the day we started our adoption process and Mark's birthday. Little did we know at that time that Simon Kebebe would be born three days later in Ethiopia.

Here are some photos of our day together. Check out Simon's stylin' ride -- thank you to Aunt Heidi and Uncle Thinh for passing on Brandon, Andrew and Mason's wagon. This wagon has many miles on it!

Simon watched this elephant for quite a while! He didn't have much to say to the elephant. What I don't have photos of that he really enjoyed were the dolphins and meerkats (sp?) The Indy Zoo has a really cool domed walk-out in the dolphin tank where you are surrounded by water. You can watch the dolphins swim all around you. Simon LOVED it! He was shrieking so loudly we thought the glass dome would shatter. Other zoo guests were laughing at him -- he was in his glory trying to find the dolphins swimming in the water and when he did, oh the screaming that commenced!

We have two photos of giraffes from the Indy Zoo hanging in Simon's room. Mark took the photos during our trip to the zoo in Sept. 2008. Simon talks to the photos all the time. He really liked looking at the giraffes and wasn't intimidated when Mark and he went to feed them.

Another favorite was watching the seals, sea lions and walruses swimming. Notice the cup of cheerios in hand. What would we do without them?

Now this was one activity Simon wasn't too keen on -- petting the dog sharks. It's a really cool exhibit where you can actually pet the sharks and the sharks seem to like it! Simon gave one shark a quick touch but that was enough for him.

And yes, once in a while, Mom gets to hold Simon too and here is proof. When it's just me and Simon, we are best buddies. But if Dad is around, well, Mom isn't even allowed to pull the wagon! It is all Dad, all the time. We spent the day together today and I got lots of kisses and hugs. He is such a joy!!

We ended our day in Indianapolis with a trip the Ethiopian restaurant, Abyssinia. Simon chowed down! The wife of the owner brought him his own plate of yellow lentils and injera. He amazed us again with his ability to tear off a piece of injera and used it to pick up his lentils. When it comes to Ethiopian food, the boy can eat! He chatted up the restaurant staff and made a good impression as a restaurant guest. In fact, his bib was clean -- the only food that he doesn't waste on his bib!


We had a really fun day together as a family and look forward to many more trips to our favorite spots in Indianapolis with Simon!

Playing with Video without Success

So I've been trying all week to post a video of Simon trying ice cream -- but just realized tonight that the file size is too large. So, trying again -- this time with a smaller clip. But once again, it doesn't seem to be working. Hmmm .... I'll keep researching and hopefully will be able to post some video of Simon soon.

In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite photos from the past week.

First time on the sliding board without Mom's help. I can imagine him thinking, "to slide or not to slide -- that is the question."

A classic photo ... trying on Dad's sneakers.

Finally, Mark has someone to play Tonka trucks with! And yes, Simon fits into the back of the truck without much effort.

The smile that melts my heart. And those eyes!


LOVE that smile!! Can't get enough of it.

A Week of Firsts

What a whirlwind week it has been! We love, love, LOVE having Simon Kebebe home with us! He is a true joy. He has personality to spare and keeps us laughing. We do have a few typical toddler meltdowns but overall, Simon has handled his huge transition really, really well. We are in love with our son! His smile and kisses melt our hearts. He's experienced many new things this past week so I wanted to share some of my favorite photos and moments of Simon's first week at home.

First visit to Ailor Photography with Dad

First "ride" on Dad's motorcycle.

First (of many) rides in the wagon around the neighborhood.


Just Simon looking cute!

First (but not the last) time "helping" Mom with the dishes.

Playing with the Sharp's picnic basket.

Simon loves to play under the kitchen table.

First time feeding the neighborhood ducks -- except he ate the bread we gave him to share with the ducks. Oh well!

First time eating American injera and loved it! He gave us a look as if to say, "finally! some food that I recognize!"

First visit to Happy Hollow Park -- he LOVED the swing!

Playing with Dad's pots and pans -- it's incredible the amount of noise he can make!

First nap in his carseat. Thankfully, he has learned to like going for rides in the car!

First visit with Purdue Pete. Simon was not a fan. Purdue Pete tried to give him 'knuckles' -- aka fist bump -- and Simon got scared. Hopefully, he will grow to love Purdue Pete!

All dressed-up in his Purdue gear to visit Senior Send-off with Mom.

Finally a few more photos!

Okay....so we finally had a few minutes to sit down and organize some photos. Sorry it isn't more inclusive, but it will have to do temporarily. We are having a lot of fun having Simon home, but he sure is "busy". Not a lot of free time to sit down at the computer. He is an amazing little guy who makes us laugh constantly. He has, what I would call, an "overabundance" of personality! Hopefully, I will get my video camera working soon and we can post some video of him dancing. Trust me...it will be worth the wait.

Home

We're home! More to come ...

Travel Call!!

We can hardly believe it ... just two weeks and one day after passing court and we got our travel call!!! We are going to Ethiopia and we leave on Sunday!! We just got an update and new photos of Simon today and now we're going to be meeting him in just a matter of days ... probably on Tuesday!! We are just pinching ourselves -- and kind of freaking out, too!

Our update said that Simon is "adored by the nannies and because of that, he may be a little bit spoiled." Uh-oh! We may be in for trouble!

Seriously, we cannot believe that this day has finally arrived and though it's not happening as we planned, we are more than ready to meet our beautiful son. Thank you for sharing the journey with us. We can't wait to introduce Simon to all of you!

As internet access and electricity allows, we will try to update from Ethiopia. No promises but we'll do our best. And you can look for photos of Simon right here when we return in mid-April.

Hooray!!! Mr. Simon K. Ailor is on his way HOME!