Our Terrific Two Year Old Toddler

Although he's been with us for less than a year, he's gone and grown up on us already.  Our little tiny guy has shead his babyness and plunged head-first into his toddler years.  We adore him so much and feel so blessed that he is a part of our family. 

Since Bek wasn't home with us on his first birthday, I thought it might be kind of fun to do a "Then and Now" to see how different things are now:

 Then:

• Residence: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Primary Caretaker: Several Sweet Nannies in his Transition Home
• Teeth Count: 1
• Words: Dada, Mama, Nana (+ some Amharic baby babble)
• Gross Motor: Crawling, pulling up and cruising along couch
• Favorite Food: Formula (the only thing he was "eating")
• Who Sang to Him: His mommy and daddy, nannies, and three other sweet families and their Ethiopian babes
• Celebratory Food: Zebra cakes (he couldn't eat them), Coffee, Popcorn
• How we Celebrated: Coffee Ceremony at the Orphanage, Happy Birthday Song, hanging out in the "Rainbow Room

Now:

• Residence: Missouri, USA
• Primary Caretaker: His Mommy and Daddy
• Teeth Count: 14
• Words: Many, many words and phrases.  Current favorites: Daddy's Truck, There You Go Mama, Here it is, Where's Bubba?, I Love You, EE-A (Melia), Hopie's Car; names all his friends and teachers at school and makes amazing connections.  Earlier this week, he asked me "Daddy's Truck at Papa's House?!"
• Gross Motor: Runs, Gallops, Jumps with Both Feet off the Floor, "Dances", Stands on One Foot, Walks up Steps One Foot at a Time, Karate Kicks in the Air (one of the many useful tricks his big brother has taught him! HA!)
• Favorite Food: Soy Milk, Fruit, Marshmallows, Fruit Snacks, Chicken Nuggets, Green Beans, Corn, Rice, Sweets, Cereal, Chips and Salsa, Lasagna, Pizza...really, he eats EVERYTHING!
• Who Sang to Him: His mommy and daddy, friends at school, all 30 family members at his birthday party
• Celebratory Food: Mini cake, Brunch (eaten Ethiopian Style), mini-African-shaped fruit pizzas, Coffee, Popcorn
• How we Celebrated: Donuts at school, went out to eat as a family of five on his birthday night, threw a big birthday bash at our house, and let him shove his own little cake in his mouth

We really had a great time celebrating our little Bek and the joy that he is to our family.  But, I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking! ;)

 

 

 

 
 

 

 















Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy.  We love you SO much!

P.S. Pray for us...potty training has begun...