Break-through!

Bei started a new routine of wanting to paint when he gets up in the morning. It is a pretty relaxing way to wake up.

Good news! We have had a big break-through with Bei's naps. As some of you know, Bei's naps have been taken in the car since he had his open heart surgery. I had restrictions on how to lift him and I couldn't get him out of the car once he fell asleep without waking him up. So it became the norm for him to take his nap in the car, while I drove around til he fell asleep. I'm a big believer in kids need their naps, so do whatever it takes. Well anyway, he is now taking his naps in bed!!! Yeah me! He was sick in the beginning of February and every day he would take a nap around 2:00 on the couch. Ah...could it really be that easy to get him to take his naps again in the house? So I tried it, but I don't call it nap time, I call it "snuggle time". We lay in bed and read books and sure enough the kid is out in no time. I miss my own reading time that I had in the car sitting with him, but I sure am getting alot more done around the house now.

The other really fun thing about Bei is that his penchant for learning has gone up about five notches in the past month. He is even starting to read! Okay, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but let me explain. We received these books that are very simple books called Baby Happy, Baby Sad, another one is called No No, Yes Yes and there are several others. There is a bobble head baby that is the protagonist of the books. So we have been reading those to Bei and developing a story about each page of the book. For example, Baby sad because the little girl is taking away his toy and not sharing. Baby happy because the little girl is sharing her toys. Now Bei wants to read those books to me along with the story that we created for each page. He has a good memory and a really great imagination.

One of the things that I learned from Ava's mom (little girl adopted from China that we recently visited) was how to introduce Bei to the fact that he was from China. I had struggled with this issue and the solution that she used seemed perfect. She said that they talk about where everyone was born. Today, Bei said out of the blue, "Bei born China, daddy born Shell Lake, Momma born Chicago." It is like he thinks about these things during the day and just blurts them out. I had to get working on this because I was worried that Huckleberry was going to beat me to the punch....well he kind of did but Bei was oblivious to it. Huckleberry LOVES Bei, he is just crazy about the kid. Two weeks ago we took Huckleberry and Max swimming with us, and on the way home, Huckleberry asked me when I was going to tell Bei that he was Chinese? Hmmm...Bei is sitting right next to you, so I think he knows now. To be honest, I forget that he is Chinese and that I need to tell him because it is not a primary focus and not even on my radar screen. I am SOOOOOO crazy about that little boy and can't believe how much I love him. Dan keeps saying to me every night, "we are living a dream". It feels that way to me too!!