I can't believe it has been seven months already! (I know, I am a week late posting this!)
Gambo has grown so much in how comfortable he is in our family, and he is more attached today than ever!
I also love seeing him gain new skills too, like talking! He knows so many words now and is attempting most things we ask him to say. His favorite words and phrases are: Mama, Dada, milk, walk, guitar ("tar" as he calls it), up, nigh nigh (night night), powder, knock knock (naah naah), and all done. He has more, but I'll just list those ones for now.
Well, it has been a busy month. There were many "firsts" so I will just post them throughout. I have to start out with one of the best days of the month, the day we celebrated Uganda Day! "Uganda Day" is what we are choosing to call the day that we celebrate Gambo joining this family and the amazing country he came from.
October 9th is Uganda's Independence Day, so it is a perfect time to bring out all our Ugandan things, dress up, have cake and remember his great country. Several things we chose to do included:
Having Ugandan food,
Listening to Ugandan music, and dressing in the clothes we got in Uganda.
Looking at pictures from Uganda
Taking family photos
Getting an Uganda cake
And Gambo got a special gift that we had bought him in Uganda. We have a gift for him that he'll get every Uganda Day.
Next in the month we took a trip to San Diego! Which included Gambo's FIRST trip to the zoo…
He saw lots of animals, including giraffes (he loves them!)
and Elephants.
We managed a few other stops, like the Gaslamp district
and Seaport village
Next up was a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!
It was Gambo's First time seeing pumpkins
He wasn't quite sure he liked them (or at least didn't like sitting on them)
But we got a couple of good family photos.
He liked getting to see the animals
And ride in the wagon.
Then, of course, we had Gambo's First pumpkin carving!
He was most interested in eating the inside of the raw pumpkin!
And also in pulling the lids off and putting them back on.
He got to experience his First Halloween too, and went as the oh-so-cute shark!
And we were the fishermen who caught him.
We went to do "Trunk or Treat" at the church, where he could go down a row of cars that had people giving candy out of their trunks.
What an adorable little shark he was!
One of best highlights of his month was having Granny and Gandpa visit!
He got to give hugs and cuddles to his Granny
And his Grandpa took him on a walk.
This month he enjoyed his usual obsession with playing the guitar (Is 17-months old too young to start guitar lessons?)
He also loves practicing his cooking skills (he loves my Ugandan apron).
He even loves cheering on the Bears!
Even now, he sees football on TV and yells, "Fuubaaah!"
Another First for the month includes his first time in the church nursery!
We had been holding off taking him until he had been home 6 months, and now that we sense how attached he has become, we have started the process of getting used to other people taking care of him for short amounts of time. He's only been a few times now, but it has actually gone surprisingly well! We stayed with him the first few times, then left for a short amount of time, and now have let him go for the whole time once or twice.
The important thing is to pay attention to how he is afterward. Thankfully we haven't seen any lack in attachment or regressing, so we feel positive about moving forward. If we sense he is not truly ready, we'll pull back. But for now, it is all going really well!
Something I forgot to mention as a first for last month was his First time riding in the shopping cart:
Up until now, he has always ridden in the baby carrier attached to me when we are out. This was very important at the beginning as there were so many things to stimulate him. So many new sights and sounds. I wanted to be a safe place for him. But now he was ready for the shopping cart. He really liked it too!
We are so much in love with our growing boy and can't wait to see him grow more and more!
Next up for our family is getting Gambo's adoption finalized in the local court. We have a lot of paperwork to file and need to get a few questions answered first, but we are really looking forward to having his adoption recognized by the state and the US government.
Until then, Happy Fall!
Gambo has grown so much in how comfortable he is in our family, and he is more attached today than ever!
I also love seeing him gain new skills too, like talking! He knows so many words now and is attempting most things we ask him to say. His favorite words and phrases are: Mama, Dada, milk, walk, guitar ("tar" as he calls it), up, nigh nigh (night night), powder, knock knock (naah naah), and all done. He has more, but I'll just list those ones for now.
Well, it has been a busy month. There were many "firsts" so I will just post them throughout. I have to start out with one of the best days of the month, the day we celebrated Uganda Day! "Uganda Day" is what we are choosing to call the day that we celebrate Gambo joining this family and the amazing country he came from.
October 9th is Uganda's Independence Day, so it is a perfect time to bring out all our Ugandan things, dress up, have cake and remember his great country. Several things we chose to do included:
Having Ugandan food,
(This is what they call a "rolex")
Listening to Ugandan music, and dressing in the clothes we got in Uganda.
Looking at pictures from Uganda
Taking family photos
Getting an Uganda cake
And Gambo got a special gift that we had bought him in Uganda. We have a gift for him that he'll get every Uganda Day.
Next in the month we took a trip to San Diego! Which included Gambo's FIRST trip to the zoo…
He saw lots of animals, including giraffes (he loves them!)
and Elephants.
(It's behind my shoulder)
We managed a few other stops, like the Gaslamp district
and Seaport village
Next up was a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!
It was Gambo's First time seeing pumpkins
He wasn't quite sure he liked them (or at least didn't like sitting on them)
But we got a couple of good family photos.
He liked getting to see the animals
And ride in the wagon.
Then, of course, we had Gambo's First pumpkin carving!
(That's a moon and an owl)
He was most interested in eating the inside of the raw pumpkin!
And also in pulling the lids off and putting them back on.
He got to experience his First Halloween too, and went as the oh-so-cute shark!
And we were the fishermen who caught him.
We went to do "Trunk or Treat" at the church, where he could go down a row of cars that had people giving candy out of their trunks.
What an adorable little shark he was!
One of best highlights of his month was having Granny and Gandpa visit!
He got to give hugs and cuddles to his Granny
And his Grandpa took him on a walk.
This month he enjoyed his usual obsession with playing the guitar (Is 17-months old too young to start guitar lessons?)
He also loves practicing his cooking skills (he loves my Ugandan apron).
He even loves cheering on the Bears!
Even now, he sees football on TV and yells, "Fuubaaah!"
Another First for the month includes his first time in the church nursery!
We had been holding off taking him until he had been home 6 months, and now that we sense how attached he has become, we have started the process of getting used to other people taking care of him for short amounts of time. He's only been a few times now, but it has actually gone surprisingly well! We stayed with him the first few times, then left for a short amount of time, and now have let him go for the whole time once or twice.
The important thing is to pay attention to how he is afterward. Thankfully we haven't seen any lack in attachment or regressing, so we feel positive about moving forward. If we sense he is not truly ready, we'll pull back. But for now, it is all going really well!
Something I forgot to mention as a first for last month was his First time riding in the shopping cart:
Up until now, he has always ridden in the baby carrier attached to me when we are out. This was very important at the beginning as there were so many things to stimulate him. So many new sights and sounds. I wanted to be a safe place for him. But now he was ready for the shopping cart. He really liked it too!
We are so much in love with our growing boy and can't wait to see him grow more and more!
Next up for our family is getting Gambo's adoption finalized in the local court. We have a lot of paperwork to file and need to get a few questions answered first, but we are really looking forward to having his adoption recognized by the state and the US government.
Until then, Happy Fall!
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