Dress-up

Thank you, Debbie & Jim ... Simon loves to play dress up! We've never received quite so many injections and our hearts must be in good shape because Simon listens to them all the time. We *think* he realizes that we are people even though he is dressed as a vet ... oh well!

And thank you, Denise, for helping us to escape from Alcatraz. Never knew a hat could provide so much laughter!

Simon eats ice cream!

About a week ago, Simon actually tried ice cream and liked it! We couldn't believe it. He usually won't even touch the cold milk container if we put it in the shopping cart next to him so we really didn't think he would ever eat ice cream, or anything cold for that matter. But we were at a party in North Manchester and I think that the chocolate sauce is what first caught his eye. Simon is definitely taking after his Mommy in his love of chocolate!

So tonight we tried ice cream with him again and here's a little video of Simon eating ice cream ... watch for him to shiver when he gets cold. And I'm sorry if you get grossed out -- I think there's a part where he took too big of a bite and spits it back out. He learned that small bites, slow and steady is the way to go.

And I almost forgot! There's just a little bit of him singing his ABC's ... he just started doing that with Mark over the weekend. Yay!

The Tattoo

Mark has been talking about getting a tattoo for a long time. I don't remember exactly when he made the decision that he'd like to get a tattoo but I do remember that he wanted it to be one that connected to Ethiopia and our adoption. We talked about it and decided that this would be a good gift for his first Father's Day. So this past Friday night, Mark took his drawing to the tattoo artist -- Mark had actually photographed his wedding a number of years ago. One funny thing is that Mark had to repeatedly tell Matt which way Ethiopia went -- Matt kept turning it upside down! Matt had plenty of stories about strange tattoos, mis-spellings, etc. Mark was happy to set Matt straight so Ethiopia was upright!

The tattoo is the outline of Ethiopia with the colors of the Ethiopian flag inside. The three symbols spell "Kebebe" in Amharic. Amharic is the main language of Ethiopia and Kebebe is Simon's birth name and now his middle name. Mark says that it wasn't too painful ... that it feels like a rug burn or a bad sun burn. Simon doesn't know if he should try to scratch it off or give it kisses as he says "ouch." One day he'll understand how it is connected to him.

And no ... you won't be hearing about me getting a tattoo anytime soon! : )

Barnyard Rap

I might be more amused than Simon is by this video ... but I think that Mark does a great job with this story. I am also amazed that Simon sat still for nearly a whole minute! So gather the kids around for a bedtime story ...

Ladies and gentlemen, the Barnyard Rap:

Mark's First Father's Day

What fun to celebrate Mark's first Father's Day this weekend! We had an awesome weekend together as a family. Mark got to choose all of our activities on Saturday, which included some fingerpainting and playing at the water table with Simon. On Sunday, we traveled to North Manchester to go to church and then over to Ossian for a family gathering at Mark's brother's house. We were on the road a lot on Sunday and Simon took it all in stride. He also slept nearly the entire drive home! But it was truly a fun weekend.

Mark has taken to fatherhood like a duck to water. He is so great with Simon. And Simon LOVES his Daddy. They are the best of friends. Mark is so good at knowing when it's ok to just let the fun happen and when Simon needs some boundaries. He's the one who puts him to sleep each night and is much better at getting up at night with Simon than I am. I love listening to Simon and Mark's 'conversations' -- it's so cute how Simon responds to Mark when he talks to him. Mark is patient, gentle, Simon's primary wrestling partner and race track builder. He is much better at saying no and sticking with it than me. (I tend to be a push-over when it comes to Simon -- sometimes that's ok but not always!) Simon wants to be where his Daddy is and his whole face lights up when Mark enters a room. Mark is just a natural at being a Dad.

For Mark's first Father's Day, he requested a tattoo. He is still considering his options but it will be something connected to Simon and our trip to Ethiopia. But I still wanted to give him a gift to mark this special day. So Simon and I painted the ultimate gift for a Dad ... a coffee mug! We went to Mommy and Me day at our local pottery place and had fun! Thank goodness for the kind woman who worked there. She helped me to get Simon's hand prints onto the mug.

And a few of my favorite photos of Mark and Simon ... at Columbian Park Zoo ...

Simon 'helping' Daddy in the kitchen ....

And visiting the Ponsler's at their camp site ... love this photo by Sarah!

Happy Father's Day, Mark! We love you very much!

He Liked the Soup!

We're always trying to find ways to get some veggies into Simon. So Mark pureed the soup we had for dinner tonight and well, the pictures say it all. Simon LOVED it! And even asked for seconds. Wow!

Yes, he does make a mess! But isn't he so cute when he's messy? Love the goatee look!

And the cook was probably the happiest person at the dinner table!

Ethiopia meets Indiana

While we were still in Ethiopia picking up Simon , I had an idea for a photo. Him in his traditional Ethiopian outfit in the corn fields of Indiana. Seemed like a cool idea that would show who he is. Anyway, we finally got a chance to put him in his outfit and take some photos. Here is what they look like. I think they came out exactly how I envisioned them.