I would have liked to post more often, but I am thankful I have been able to at least put up an update every month. (Warning: lots of pictures in this post!)
So, we have now marked THREE MONTHS HOME!
This is the first milestone to reach as we see how he changes after 3, 6, and 12+ months home.
So much has happened in the last month, and growth has been abundant! Mark and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary in June! We are so thankful that after 9 wonderful years of marriage as a family a two, we have now celebrated it as a family of THREE! We went cherry picking at a local orchard.
We found out that Gambo REALLY loves cherries!
He wanted to pick EVERY one.
Mark celebrated his first Father's Day too.
These two love each other so much!
We took our first out of state trip to Colorado to visit lots of family and friends. He met his granny and grandpa.
He also met lots of aunts, uncles and cousins.
I attended a baby shower for my sister-in-law because she and my brother are having TWINS!
Back at home, we tried to endure the 108 degree weather by swimming with friends.
"I Heard It Through The Grape Vine"... A nice blessing is that we bought a house with two grape vines out back. (Just wanted to get that song stuck in your head!)
So after watching the vines grow and the bunches of grapes ripen,
We picked our first grape harvest of the year.
Holding back how much we cut, we still managed to get over nine pounds of grapes.
I just made a batch of homemade grape freezer jelly today.
And we still have at least that much still on the vines.
Time For FIRSTS.....
This month Gambo got his FIRST tooth, debuting on top. (Yeah, our son is cool like that!)
(Okay, so it was two days before month 3, but close enough.) He has since grown one on the bottom, and has the 2nd top one coming any day now.
He took his FIRST steps! And now today was cruising for long stretches in the house (so much more control now!)
He also celebrated his FIRST Independence Day!
Fourth of July included barbecuing, swimming,
and swinging on the hammock.
We also kept him out WAY past his bedtime, so that he could see his FIRST fireworks.
1st Fourth of July!
Cuteness...
In addition to the grapes, we are getting closer to harvesting a HUGE tree of plums! A few were ripe, and we found out that Gambo LOVES plums too!
He loved to try out his (two) new teeth on them.
Gambo thought it would be a great idea to play with ALL of his toys tonight.
Then he started pulling even the bins down.
Ooops... he got caught!
And I have to post this pic of my cute little Ugandan drummer boy.
Oh, and he has also started a recent OBSESSION with the guitar. He loves to hear us play and try to play himself. He points at it every morning when we walk by it. We have literally spent 2 hours with him just playing guitar, piano, and drums. And that was just the morning jam session. He wants to play again in the afternoon. Ha! I think we have a musician in our family! (As a side note, I am getting a lot more practice at playing, since he wants to hear it everyday)
Home Study....
We just had our 3-month Post-Placement home study visit. Our Home Study agency will write a report on how we are doing, and how Gambo is developing. It was good to have the social worker over to show off our son, plus to be reminded of how far he has come.
We love the progress he has made, but we are still very careful to keep building that trust and bonding with him. It has really been paying off, because now we receive some of the most sweet hugs ever! I mean, he squeezes tightly... it's so adorable! He is settling into a schedule, and it has helped him relax more.
He also has increased his understanding amazingly! He knows so many more words we say, and he is even communicating very well using baby sign language. We've tried to teach him a few words here and there, and I can tell it has made our day, especially meal times, much easier and calmer.
Blessed...
If any of you are waiting for your little one to come home... please let me say what I always valued from others... THE WAIT IS SO WORTH IT! Our son is one of the most amazing gifts we can ever receive. He melts our hearts and makes us smile every day! He is such a wonderful fit for our family, and we can't imagine life without him!
So, we have now marked THREE MONTHS HOME!
So much has happened in the last month, and growth has been abundant! Mark and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary in June! We are so thankful that after 9 wonderful years of marriage as a family a two, we have now celebrated it as a family of THREE! We went cherry picking at a local orchard.
We found out that Gambo REALLY loves cherries!
He wanted to pick EVERY one.
Mark celebrated his first Father's Day too.
These two love each other so much!
We took our first out of state trip to Colorado to visit lots of family and friends. He met his granny and grandpa.
He also met lots of aunts, uncles and cousins.
Back at home, we tried to endure the 108 degree weather by swimming with friends.
So after watching the vines grow and the bunches of grapes ripen,
We picked our first grape harvest of the year.
Holding back how much we cut, we still managed to get over nine pounds of grapes.
And we still have at least that much still on the vines.
(We found out that Gambo really likes grapes too!)
Time For FIRSTS.....
This month Gambo got his FIRST tooth, debuting on top. (Yeah, our son is cool like that!)
(Okay, so it was two days before month 3, but close enough.) He has since grown one on the bottom, and has the 2nd top one coming any day now.
He took his FIRST steps! And now today was cruising for long stretches in the house (so much more control now!)
He also celebrated his FIRST Independence Day!
It is pretty sweet to see our little Ugandan in the United States now.
Fourth of July included barbecuing, swimming,
and swinging on the hammock.
We also kept him out WAY past his bedtime, so that he could see his FIRST fireworks.
Sleepy baby!
1st Fourth of July!
Cuteness...
In addition to the grapes, we are getting closer to harvesting a HUGE tree of plums! A few were ripe, and we found out that Gambo LOVES plums too!
He couldn't keep his mouth off of them.
He loved to try out his (two) new teeth on them.
Gambo thought it would be a great idea to play with ALL of his toys tonight.
Ooops... he got caught!
(Sorry for the naked baby, he had just been outside playing with the hose and got all wet.)
And I have to post this pic of my cute little Ugandan drummer boy.
He loves to drum!
Home Study....
We just had our 3-month Post-Placement home study visit. Our Home Study agency will write a report on how we are doing, and how Gambo is developing. It was good to have the social worker over to show off our son, plus to be reminded of how far he has come.
We love the progress he has made, but we are still very careful to keep building that trust and bonding with him. It has really been paying off, because now we receive some of the most sweet hugs ever! I mean, he squeezes tightly... it's so adorable! He is settling into a schedule, and it has helped him relax more.
He also has increased his understanding amazingly! He knows so many more words we say, and he is even communicating very well using baby sign language. We've tried to teach him a few words here and there, and I can tell it has made our day, especially meal times, much easier and calmer.
Blessed...
If any of you are waiting for your little one to come home... please let me say what I always valued from others... THE WAIT IS SO WORTH IT! Our son is one of the most amazing gifts we can ever receive. He melts our hearts and makes us smile every day! He is such a wonderful fit for our family, and we can't imagine life without him!
This was a great photo album. We are so thankful to see God's working in your family. Congratulations all over again!
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