Happy Halloween!

What a gorgeous fall day! Love it. I was so excited to take Simon trick-or-treating. He had a little practice on Friday night at the downtown businesses trick-or-treat night. But tonight, we met Simon's child care providers, Sarah and Karen, and their families to walk around our neighborhood. Sarah and Karen grew up in Vinton Woods and their parents still live here. Mark stayed home to hand out candy at our house. Here we are -- ready to go!

Simon knew just what to do from the very first house! He was very polite and said thank you each time, even when he tried to take extra candy. (Oh my!)

His friend Logan the giraffe fell down and Simon helped him to stand up and then held his hand the whole way up to the front door. Too cute!

Simon's last stop was at our house. He came in the front door, sat right down and had a piece of candy. Just one, as he will tell you.

And, a little video clip of Simon practicing being Superman, or Oooperman as he says. This was on Friday morning before taking him to day care. Enjoy!

Saturday Night Dance Party

Simon was in a dancing mood tonight! He played with his Fridge Farm for about 15 solid minutes: talking to it, clapping, marching and dancing. He kept playing the same song -- Oh Suzanna -- over and over. We were cracking up at him -- he would always check out his reflection in the sliding glass doors. Hope you enjoy this little video clip of our Saturday night dance party!

Fall Photo Update

Whew! Been awhile since I've had some time to update. This is a very photo-heavy post. Probably one that grandparents, aunts and uncles will appreciate. Trying to catch-up so here we go!

Mamaw and Papaw (Mark's parents) got Simon some cowboy boots for his birthday. The boots took a long time to arrive so Simon received them a few weeks after his birthday. It was so cute to see him try to walk in them for the first time. And they make him look so tall! But he LOVES them. He can even dance in his boots. : )

Papaw and his Mini Me

Check these out!

The same weekend that we picked-up Simon's boots, we took an overnight trip to a hotel so that Simon could go swimming. He really likes the water! It was just the change of scenery that our family needed. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant where some of the staff taught Simon to say, "Hola" -- "Coma esta?" -- "Bien." He will now randomly break out his Spanish.

We also got to visit our friends at the Manchester Church of the Brethren that morning. Day care has helped Simon to learn how to sit still and listen to stories because this time when I took him up front for the children's story, he actually sat and listened to (most of) the story! No running up and down the aisle like the last time.

That same afternoon, we went to the open house at Cooley Family Farm. For the last six months, we've been part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program and have been getting a basket of fruits and veggies each week. We love it! So fun to see what we'll get each week and I'm sad that the season is just about over. We will definitely be doing this again next year. Anyway, we went to the farm's open house so that we could see where the food is being grown. They had lots of fun activities for the kids.

Yes, Simon thought that he could ride in this little tiny wagon! So cute.


But then he discovered the larger tractors and wagons! He thought he was big stuff.

Simon got to go on two wagon rides. He did really well and stayed sitting the whole time!

Ahhh .... Ayla. Simon was so excited to see his favorite girl friend. : )

Simon has also been very interested in cooking lately. He loves to watch Mark cook and he received a very cute grill set for his birthday.

Such a serious chef!

We've been pretty good at not giving Simon too many sweets. But he just had to try an Oreo. (They were right by the check-out at the store and the package just jumped into my cart!)

Last weekend, we took a trip to Millennium Farms with our adoption group. Oh my was it crowded! Too many people. But we had fun anyway. I love the look on Simon's face in the next two photos.

Going to a pumpkin patch was one of the things that I used to dream about when I thought of having children. My dream came true last weekend! I actually got teary-eyed when we arrived at the farm.

They had lots of children's activities. Simon rode the 'train.' Boy, is he ever into trains right now! We have to spell the word or he gets too excited.

And, Simon got to go on his first pony ride. He kept saying, "I hold on."

"Say cheese!" We waited in line for over an hour to ride the wagon out to the pumpkin patch.

See the yellow blur in the left corner of the photo? That's the gourd that Simon threw away ... I think that he was tired of waiting for the wagon to the pumpkin patch. I was ready to throw a few things too, after waiting so long!

Simon hasn't really been interested in watching TV. Until this past week. For the first six + months he's been home with us, he preferred to play vs. watching TV. But then he discovered Mickey Mouse and now he asks to watch it all the time. I took this photo of him sitting and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse because he actually sat still for 10 whole minutes -- a record! I got to put away the groceries without my little helper. I don't see us using the TV as a babysitter for him but it's nice to know that he can sit still!

Superman stopped by to visit on Friday night! He was on his way to Boo at the Zoo.

Waiting for the Enchanted Train Ride with our friends Anna the turtle and the other Superman Harrison. Simon and I had a date night at Boo at the Zoo.

Superman Simon rescued me from the giant blue frog.

Tonight, we carved the pumpkins that we picked-out at the pumpkin patch last weekend.

Simon tried very hard not to get his hands all messy. He kept saying, "eewwwww."

Unfortunately, the inside of this pumpkin was kind of rotten and gross!

But we got the job done and this was the end result. Fun!

Inspector Simon ... he loves to investigate new things!

So, that's what we've been up to at the Ailor house! I don't know what's happened to the fall. I'm having a hard time believing that November is just a week away! Work has been incredibly busy with the change to the new college. It's been a challenge to figure out how to balance work and being a mom. I'm not keeping up with friends as well as I'd like to and our house is definitely not as clean as it used to be! But I'm slowly getting things figured out and learning that a little dust around the edges is ok. Simon is doing great -- he's a happy, bright and joy-filled little boy! That's what makes me smile and keeps me going each and every day.

My little bubby has been home 6 months!!!!

In some ways it feels like the time has just flown by this year, but it also seems like Simon has always been with us. He fit himself right into our family so easily that there was hardly a ripple. I admit that I was concerned about adopting a child who would be coming home at 18 months, because I thought the adjustment would be much more difficult. Simon proved me wrong on that one. I still remember the night we got home and (thanks to Sean who showed Simon where the toybox is) Simon was ready to play. He came into our house like he owned it and it was exactly where he was supposed to be.
Over the last six months we have been able to really see him grow and change. In the beginning he could only say Ababa (daddy) and Ema (mommy) and Kebebe, no we can't get him to stop talking, and we love it. He has, what I can best describe as, a HUGE personality. He hasn't physically grown that much, but he seems so much bigger just because of his personality growth. We can't wait to see how it develops more in the years to come. He is going to be a little heartbreaker.
Anyway, here are a couple of photos....the first is from his 1st portrait session here at the studio about a week after he came home and the next was his most recent photos. See the difference?

Can you guess what we're doing?

Any ideas?

No?

Ok. We'll tell you.

Mark and I are at the computer because we're filling out our application to start our second adoption!

Hooray!! We're going back to Ethiopia to add to our family.

More details to come ...

Learning to Drive

Simon has figured out how to hold his feet up off the ground as he 'drives' down the slight slope in our driveway. He loves going fast! He's also learned to head for the grass if he's going too fast or wants to stop himself. It's a lot of fun!

Six Months Ago Today ...

... we were taken into a large playroom in an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and saw this tiny, scared and curious face in person for the first time. It doesn't seem possible that it's been six months already and yet it feels like he's been with us forever. Just look at those eyes. Now we know them so well ... we can tell if he's about to cry or break into a smile or do something mischievious.


He hardly looks like the same boy in this photo ... Simon's personality has blossomed so much! There are days when it feels like he's grown inches overnight but we think it's mostly how his personality has flourished. He has actually grown almost 5 inches this year, since we received his referral on January 4th. Hard to imagine!

And here are a few recent photos of Simon to prove just how spunky he is! Now I know just how courageous and resilient he is. Simon is tough and he is strong. He has a sense of humor, something that I didn't expect in a two year old. He 'gets' what is funny and loves to make others laugh. He loves to play games like "get you" and "where'd it go?" We can even have small conversations with him, mostly about trains, buses and animals. His child care provider, Sarah, tells us that Simon is very bright. She said that when she asks the children to show her a sign (as in sign language), Simon is the first one to answer correctly. He is trying very hard to count but gets his numbers mixed up. And just this week, he has been starting to sing songs for us that he learns at day care. It makes me cry it's so cute!

Speaking of cuteness ... back to the photos. Here is Simon getting ready to go out in disguise.

And from a trip to a local pumpkin patch ... Simon loves to wear hats and his 'dudes' aka sunglasses. Notice the Target sticker on his forehead ... he loves stickers and he usually will wear them on his forehead. That reminds me of something else that makes me smile about Simon ... if he tells you he's going bye-bye and you ask him where he's going, he'll always tell you "to Target." Just in the last week, he'll tell you that he's going there to get cake. : )

Simon is really into trains. He loves all things trains: books, toys, driving over railroad tracks, hearing trains in the distance, train pajamas, and the list goes on. A new favorite activity is lining up his cars, trucks, etc. to make trains. I like this photo because he chose the smallest little truck to head the train.

My heart feels like it's going to burst at least 3 times a day ... I love my son so very, very much! Simon Kebebe is pure joy and I feel blessed and humbled that I get to be his Mommy.