A Busy Week

For those of you who check our blog regularly, let me apologize for the long absence. With company and computer problems, I was unable to post anything, which is too bad because lots has happened in the week since I last posted. On Saturday evening the motherboard on my computer went out. Thankfully it was under warranty and we didn't lose anything on the hard drive. You may want to grab yourself something to drink and sit back and relax because this will be a little bit longer post.

I am just amazed at how much more comfortable Levi has become in our home and family. As a result, he is blossoming! Last week he started doing the motions for "so big" and for waving. He doesn't quite get how to do them in response to the words yet, but that is starting to come. On Monday of this week, there were two birds on the windowsill outside our diningroom and as the second one flew away, I said "bye-bye birdie" to which he did wave. He also waved good-bye to his grandpa when we were leaving their house the same day. Although it doesn't happen all the time yet, I know it is just a matter of time. He does seem to catch on to things quickly.



As you can see from the picture, while my parents, in-laws, brother-in-law and nephew were visiting this weekend for the play Rachel was in and Levi's dedication, Levi was finally able to get the ball into the hole of this toy. Prior to this, he would put it to the hole but not know how to release it (kind of like the Cheerios earlier). The toy makes some funny noises as it passes through the body of the toy so it is fun for him to do it over and over again.






Levi got to meet his uncle Cory and his cousin Alec this weekend for the first time. He and Alec hit it off great and we would love to Alec come and play with Levi anytime. They stayed until Wednesday morning so the two boys got to play together several times.






Last weekend Rachel was in the Easter play that our church did. It was called "The Carpenter". It is set in the 1950's in the small new England community of New Salem. As the play begins, Jeff Masters, an unknown carpenter, has just arrived in town. He immediately begins to cause a stir, arousing speculation among the townspeople as to his background. He begins to make an impact into the lives of his neighbors as he helps them by doing various good deeds and acts of kindness, even getting involved in the life of one of the town's most "unfortunates". Rachel played the daughter of the family the carpenter was boarding with. Her character was unable to walk at first but through the encouragement of the carpenter and the necessity to lay aside her own needs, she is able to walk again.







On Sunday Levi and 8 other children were dedicated to the Lord during the church service. During worship time, I had him in the carrier and when he saw me raising my hands in worship he did the same. It was the sweetest thing. Rachel and Levi and I all wore our traditional Vietnamese outfits for the occasion. When it came time to go on stage, Levi had had enough of the hat as you can see from the pictures. Everyone thought he looked adorable though and our pastor and several others thought that they needed to get themselves an outfit as comfortable as ours. The words our pastor prayed over Levi were very special and I believe prophetic.

On Monday Levi's Certificate of Citizenship arrived. Hooray! That means he is officially a citizen of the United States. Now we can begin the process of re-adoption (I believe) and getting his name legally changed.

On Tuesday, I was playing with Levi and decided to try playing pat-a-cake with him again. Up to this point, he would keep his hands closed in a fist when we did it. But that day, he opened his hands and giggled when we did it. Then, when it was time for lunch, he started clapping his hands. It was so cute because he would bring the one hand over to hit the other.

On Wednesday, he took his first step completely unassisted by anyone or anything. He is also starting to stand for longer and longer periods of time. I know it is just a matter of time before he will be walking completely on his own. I just hope he doesn't do it for the first time at the babysitter's house after I go back to school.