The Poop Game

Erlan's favorite game is the poop game. He has figured out that poop is a magic word. It gives him special powers that allow him to escape whatever he is doing at the time and results in lots of attention from Mommy and Daddy. Here's how its played: Erlan yells, "Poop!" He points to his bottom and tops it off with a pained expression.

The result: Mommy drops whatever she is doing, runs to Erlan, picks him up and takes him to the bathroom.

As soon as Erlan is picked up, he breaks out his biggest smile and a happy giggle.

We played this game 25 times before noon. Any pooping? Nope. But what do you do? Poop is a magic word. Who wants to take chances with that one?

Baby makes 15!

We welcomed a new arrival in my family in July. My nephew (Mikey) and his wife had a beautiful baby girl, Mikayla. It's hard to believe that my nephew Mikey, the one that I changed and held and loved as a baby, now has his own baby!

Mikayla is the 15th kiddo to join Erlan's motley crew of cousins (with 8 living in our same small town). Besides being jealous when I tried to hold Mikayla, Erlan liked her very much. He was very interested in the baby. He really wanted to hold her, but I had to put my foot down on that one.





Erlan is, in general, the happiest child that I know. He occasionally tries to fake cry (in response to being told "NO"), but these attempts are always subverted by his desire to smile. It's not that he smiles all of the time, but he does seem very content with his life (and he is very easy with his smile).


Erlan has been taking swim lessons for the past 3 weeks. He can kick successfully using the kickboard. He can blow bubbles part of the time. He finally started putting his head underwater to pick up the dive sticks (instead of using his toes to grip the sticks and bring them up to his hands). The instructors let the little kids jump off the diving board. Erlan, after figuring out what was going on, was more than happy to jump into the arms of his instructor. He jumped a second time and was cuing up for a 3rd jump when Daddy intervened so the instructor could get out and prepare for her next class. The instructors also took the little ones down the big slide. Erlan LOVED the slide. I don't know how he's going to take it when we go to the pool, and he has to watch his cousins go down the slide and he doesn't get to go (he's way too short).


Speaking of short, Erlan has grown 3.5 inches since we first met him. Amazing what a few vitamins, better nutrition, and a lot of love will do! The first picture is from our first visit with Erlan.


Erlan's Auntie Del came to visit him again. I didn't know if Erlan would remember Adele since he hadn't seen her for a month. The delight on Erlan's face made it very clear that he remembered Adele. He absolutely beamed when she looked in the car at him. Erlan led Adele around and showed her all of his tricks. His latest one is singing the first part of the last verse of the alphabet song: "Now I know my ABCs.." Adele taught him to put a WOO! at the end of it, so Erlan sings "Now I know WOO!"

Erlan's English is coming along. He understands almost everything we say to him. He has finally started calling Ben "Daddy" instead of "Mama." I'm now "Mom" or "Mommy." He has some simple phrases, like "More milk." He can also do the sign for that... I've learned that he likes signing... it's as if it makes the spoken words more fun. This doesn't mean he consistently signs, but he does enjoy learning them. Erlan still babbles ALOT. He gives such a serious expression, points, sometimes claps as he tells you whatever it is that he's saying. When he finally finds all of his words, the boy will be a talker. His lack of words certainly do not limit his communication ability... he can communicate his needs very clearly whenever he chooses.

In the meantime, we are starting to think about adopting again. We both have siblings, and we want Erlan to enjoy that same sort of bond that only comes from being in the same family. Anything we do will take at least a year, which should give Erlan plenty of time as an only child.

Erlan goes to the Lake

We spent the long July 4th weekend at the Lake. If you're from MO, you know which Lake I mean. If you're not from MO, the Lake is the Lake of the Ozarks. Erlan loved it! We arrived on Friday evening about 20 minutes before it was dark. As we walked down the stairs, Erlan spotted the water and the boats. He was DELIGHTED! He ran across the deck, climbed on the first rung of the railing, and yelled "Boats! Boats" He pointed excitedly and gave me the biggest grin.

A short time later the fireworks started going off. This time Erlan ran to the railing and yelled "Lellow! Lellow!" (I'm not sure why he was yelling yellow... I think it's his new favorite word, replacing "hot") Erlan loved the big boomers. Everytime one went off, he'd smile and yell "KABOOM!" The kid was pretty darn happy.




The next day we took him swimming, which was quite the commitment for me since the water was cold when jumping in. I prefer water to be tepid if I'm going to go swimming. Erlan floated with me and Ben. He let us push him back and forth between us. By the time we took our last swim on Sunday, Erlan was kicking his feet and trying to blow bubbles. He also went down our neighbor's slide. (Don't worry, Ben was waiting at the bottom.)

On our trip back home, we were loaded down with 4 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog, and all of our luggage. Erlan was in the 3rd row seat in my SUV. We stopped at Sonic for some ice cream on the way home. Erlan did not know that we had ice cream. He could not see the ice cream from his back-row seat..... that is, he could not see the ice cream until he saw Aunt Amy pass a bite of her ice cream to Daddy. Erlan let out a howl. He was not happy. He got his own little cup of ice cream and all was right in the world again. Shortly thereafter, he was sound asleep.

The final post from Monterey...

I wrote this post in MRY... it has taken me this long to upload pictures...

All good times must end, and my boys left Monterey on Thursday. I had to stay behind to finish working. I was in tears as I watched them drive away at 5:00 am Thursday morning. I miss my boys terribly, but I am thankful that they could stay with me as long as they did.


Erlan finished his stay in Monterey in a grand style. Our friends Adele & Vince had us over for dinner. Vince barbeques the MOST DELICIOUS ribs ever. Erlan had a great time with his Auntie "Del" and Uncle Vince. Who wouldn't have a great time when your whims are being indulged? He showed Adele the gate, and she taught him the word. He then enjoyed showing the rest of us the gate and telling us his new word. Later he and Adele got into a pillow fight. He laughed so hard everytime he was whacked with a pillow.

On our last night in Monterey, we went to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner and to see the sea lions one last time. (If you come to Monterey, go to the Coast Guard Pier to see the sea lions. It is an amazing sight.) We ate dinner at a restaraunt overlooking the boat docks. Erlan fell in love with the sail boats. He squealed with absolute delight everytime one pulled into his view. I would love to have shown him one up close (the docks are locked so meddlesome tourists don't meander around). I get queasy just looking at at the ocean, so Ben is going to have to take Erlan on all of his boating adventures.

Erlan had such a good time at the Wharf. Ok, there are very few times when Erlan does not have a good time. He is such a laid-back kid. I marvel at his personality and how he reacts to the changes in his life and the new experiences that he has. He takes everything in stride.

Erlan does listen to me when I talk to him on the phone. He knows my voice, and Ben reports that he smiles and stops what he is doing to listen to me.

By now, my boys are sound asleep in MO being loved and missed by me in CA.

Erlan goes to the Aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a must-see when you visit Monterey. Since this is Erlan’s first trip to the area, we visited the Aquarium today with our friend Adele. Erlan’s favorite exhibits: the Splash Zone and the simulated wave. The Splash Zone is one of the kid-friendly areas in the Aquarium. They have lots of play areas for the kiddos (and the daddies)! Erlan must have gone through the tunnel 50 times. He also enjoyed playing in the water. He wasn’t too sure about the penguins though.


His very favorite thing was the simulated wave that crashes within the Aquarium. There is a walkway that you can stand in while the wave crashes overhead. There is also a large glass aquarium you can stand in front of and watch it crash. This exhibit startled Erlan each time the wave crashed. Given the horrified look on his face the first time he saw the wave, you would think that he didn’t like this exhibit. Erlan, however, enjoys being startled, and he LOVED this exhibit. Loved it. He dragged us back to this exhibit so that he could enjoy the wave again and again.

Erlan didn’t know what to make of the divers who were cleaning one of the large tanks. The divers were terrific, interacted with the crowd, and posed for pictures. To be honest, Erlan wasn’t all that interested in the fish. We would say, “Erlan look!” There were so many new things in front of him, he really didn’t know where to look.

He did enjoy watching and waving to the kayakers in the Bay. We tried to get him to look through the telescope; however, he wanted to kiss it. I wonder what he thought Ben was doing when he spent so much time looking through the telescope.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice lunch with Adele in Pacific Grove. I had a piece of olallieberry pie. Yummy! I love olallieberries, and you just can’t get them in the Midwest.

We are having a great time in Monterey.

Erlan goes to Monterey

Erlan is on his first vacation. He and Daddy are tagging along with me while I work. Overall, Erlan was terrific on the flight. He did try all of the tricks that other kids used that drove me crazy when I traveled on business. He threw a fit for no reason. He kicked the back of the seat. Fortunately for everyone, he kept these activities to a minimum. :-)



On Monday, my friends at work had a party for him. Being a ham, Erlan soaked up all of the attention that was showered on him. Midway through the party, Erlan was giving high fives and shaking hands all around.



Erlan learned a few things at the party that will serve him well. First, he figured out that brownies are good stuff. He was reluctant to try the brownie at first, but, once he did, he gobbled down two. When Erlan spotted my co-worker Bruce trying to eat his chocolate cookie, Erlan quickly climbed off of my lap to ask for a bite.



He also learned about presents at the party. When he unwrapped his first gift, he seemed to be trying to figure out how the package was put together. He loved finding presents under the paper. He really enjoyed the gift bags that he could use to organize his new books.









He finally figured out that stuffed animals are ok. Notice the kiss that he is giving his new penguin. He spontaneously hugs the penguin when he sees it.

Erlan had a great time at the party. He did his best to work the crowd and charm everyone.

Today we took Erlan to the ocean. He loved it. He liked running into the waves and running from them. Keep in mind that the water in Monterey is always freezing. The locals wear wet suits when they go in the ocean. Only the tourists swim in the ocean in a swim suit. Erlan didn’t care about the water temperature. He didn’t care when his jeans were soaked and his shirt was soaked. He was ready to go back for more. Poor kiddo only had his jacket to wear on the ride home.

This was actually the second time Erlan was soaked today. Earlier in the day, he managed to soak himself with the hose while helping Daddy water the yard. He also likes to help Daddy use the leaf blower. The kid is a hard worker! By the time 8:00 rolls around, it is all Erlan can do to keep his eyes open. He was asleep almost as soon as he head hit the bed tonight.

And on a completely unrelated note: Erlan can now identify 20 different body parts! He can say four body parts: eyes, belly, neck, and back. The word “back” sounds a lot like “butt”, but he is saying (or thinks he is saying) “back”!

Hey, where's my blog?!?

It has been a little over a month since we arrived back in the US. It has been a crazy month with me starting back to work and my Dad going to the hospital. (My dad (Lewis) is recovering nicely from his triple bypass. Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and good wishes!)




Erlan has been amazing throughout the start of his journey as an American citizen. It has been fun to watch his personality emerge over the past month. His true self continues to come out, and our love for him continues to deepen.


Erlan loves his cousins. Six of the boys came over to see us the first day we were back. Midway through their visit, Erlan gave each of them a hug and a kiss. It was as if he knew that these were going to be important people in his life.

His cousins were very excited about meeting him. Despite all of the videos and pictures that they saw while we were in Kaz, they were expecting a younger kid. The funniest one was Kolton (age 5) who said, "How did such a big baby come out of Aunt Karla?"

It is fun to watch Erlan play with the kids. He copies everything. The bigger boys have realized this. So far, they have only used their powers for good. For example, they have shown him that you do not need to use the ladder on the slide; instead, you can walk up the slide itself! It took Erlan a couple of weeks to master this trick, but he finally did it.


When the big boys got onto the trampoline, there was no stopping Erlan. He crawled up into it. Despite requests from their mothers, the big boys cut Erlan no slack. They were going to continue to jump and Erlan needed to keep up. He had the best time. He couldn't stop smiling no matter how many times that he fell.

Erlan is also a water kid. He likes the kiddie pool that I got him, and he LOVES the sprinkler. The sprinkler is a hose that has little lines that coming off of it. The little lines are supposed to wiggle around and get water everywhere while the kids run through it. Erlan discovered that he could grab the line and spray the other kids. This was fun, but the MOST fun was when Grandma showed up. Erlan's eyes lit up, and he turned the hose on her. It didn't help Grandma's case that her daughters and granddaughters were laughing at the activity. Grandma was clever, though, and took a circuitous route to the back deck. She escaped Erlan's attempts to hose her down.