He's Walking!

Well, it's official...Micah is walking!  He just stood up Saturday night on his own and took off across the living room floor.  He has not stopped since. :)  He is so cute walking with those skinny little legs, and he can even change direction when he wants to.

He has also picked up two new words..."nigh, nigh" for night, night and "no."  I guess he is hearing that one a lot since he is into everything...cabinets, drawers, trash cans, the toilet.  He is also climbing anything he can get a foothold on.  He is a little handful.  Then he just looks at me with that grin that melts my heart and blows me a kiss.  What a little charmer. :)

Like he's always been...

Here are a couple of pictures from a friends birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese (my least favorite place in the whole world.)  :)  Micah did so well.  He seems to adjust so quickly to things.  He just clings and watches for a minute and then he is ready to go!  He had lots of fun riding the little rides.  I think he would have stayed for hours and hours.  He also ate 2 pieces of pizza and some birthday cake!  I haven't found much food that he doesn't like.

• The last 2 weeks I have seen so much that Micah is picking up.  I can't believe it is happening so quickly.  He is dancing now, just a little, when he hears music.  
• Now when he throws something down, he says, "uh oh!"  It's too cute.  
• When he gets our cell phones or his toy one, or a little camera or anything electronic looking, he holds it up to his ear and says, "hi!"  
• He has also started saying, "mama" this last week!  He says it when he sees me or if I am leaving the room. Of course that melts my heart!  He has said, "da,da" from the beginning, but now he says it when he sees David.  It's so cool.  
• He has gone to the nursery twice now on Sundays and has done very well...no crying at all! 
• Yesterday, he actually did the sign language sign for "more" when he wanted his snack!  I was so excited.  I taught some basic sign to all my kids before they could speak...words like please, more, done, etc.  Micah has been screaming at us when he wanted more food, so I started with him on the signs and was so shocked yesterday when he looked up at me, pointed to his snack on the desk across the room and did the sign for "more."  Of course I had to get up right away and get him some. :)
  
• I have a little climber on my hands.  Last week he climbed 14 stairs from our den to the upstairs.  He was so proud.  Then, I went in the girls room where they were playing on the floor and I found Micah on the 3rd rung of the bunk bed ladder.  We are going to have to watch him like a hawk!

I am amazed at how fast he is learning and soaking stuff in.  I am also amazed at how it feels like he's always been here with us.  I find that I have even already assimilated him into our family and it doesn't even feel like Micah was adopted.  Someone asked me recently if I loved Micah yet like I love my bio children.  You always wonder if you will, I guess, if you have ever considered adoption.  I can only answer from our experience and the miracle God worked in our hearts.  I told this person..."It is strange, but I loved Micah before I ever met him.  I know that God is the Father to the fatherless which means God himself was Micah's father and loved him like only a father can.  I cannot fully explain it, but I truly feel like since I was willing to open up my heart and take the step toward Micah, that God poured His love for Micah straight into my heart and let His love fill me and flow through me so that I felt this unexplainable love for a child I had never met.  I think He did this for me until I could hold Micah myself and get to know him and fall in love with him all over again in person."  And...I have!

Holidays and Family

At each holiday that falls during the year, I am reminded once again of how blessed I am to have family.  My family is very close in relationship, even though we live far apart.  We make every effort to get together whenever possible, and there is no place we would rather be than with family.  If we have any type of break in our schedules, we travel somewhere in the US to stay with another family member and visit for a while!  My kids are so lucky to have right now 4 great-grandma's, 2 great-grandpa's, 2 sets of grandparents, and many, many, many aunts, uncles and cousins!  I was fortunate enough to marry a man who comes from the same type of family.   

David's family, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, all used to get together every Sunday afternoon for lunch at his Ma-maw's and Pa-paws house.  After Pa-paw passed away it went to one Sunday a month.  Now, we still get together once a month, but on a Friday night.  I love that everyone just knows that it's important and if at all possible, everyone is there.

As our families grow...we get more children, get married, move away, etc., this gets harder and harder, but we keep it a priority.  I know not many families have this opportunity and I feel very blessed and thankful.  As I look at these pictures from our Easter get-together, I pray that I can instill this same love and devotion to family in my children that I grew up with myself!