Mama, YOU CRAZY!

That's one of Rory's favorite things to say right now. We've had a great week! Grandma and Grandpa Vaughn came on Tuesday and left this afternoon. Rory took to them immediately and actually snuck into their bed on Wednesday morning. We had so much fun with them! Rory caught his first fish (actually, three!) and we played candyland and chutes and ladders until we about fell over. It was so great to see Rory loving every minute with them. I'll attach some pics tomorrow and upload some new videos, too.

Unfortunately, Rory and I were both sick the last two days of Grandma and Grandpa's visit. He hung in there like a trooper though! He's getting over it now and should be back to his old self in no time. He's really amazing us everday with all his new things that he says and does:

• Rory discovered Papa's mic and amp today upstairs... he loves the sound of his own voice!
• When we were outside playing tonight after Grandma and Grandpa left, he saw an airplane and said Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa. He was a really big boy when they left... a little sad, but just briefly...
• When Rory plays candyland, he's learned to 'stack the deck' when no one is looking... he was cheating a lot in the beginning and really a sore loser, but he's gotten better very quickly. He thinks it's hilarious when someone gets the big slide in chutes and ladders (except when it's him, of course)!
• When we went fishing with Grandpa, he thought the fish were so cool, but wouldn't go anywhere near them or the worms. We tried to get him to touch them, but he wouldn't. You could kind of tell that he wanted to, though!
• The other night, I was putting Rory to bed and he was almost asleep and he said "mama, listen...." So, I'm listening for some noise that I assumed he was hearing but in a real quiet, hushed, tired voice he whispered the lyrics of his new favorite song "Baby, you can drive my car, Baby, you can drive my car... and baby, I love you"!

Post Drought

Sorry about the lack of posts lately.... we've been keeping busy and getting out a lot! We have had some people visiting and we've gone a few new places. So far, Rory is doing great with each venture! I actually took him to school to meet a few people after the kids were dismissed. He seemed to really like it and I think he somewhat understands that mama is a teacher now that he has seen my classroom. I go back to work on April 27th- less than 2 weeks- ugh! But, the good point is that Brandon and Rory will get to have some serious boy time and I'll be back home for the summer in just a few short weeks.

Easter was fantastic! We went to Marie and George's and had an Easter egg hunt. We were thinking it would be good to do a dry run the night before so we hid eggs around the house (it was raining). There were 18 eggs and the sum total of candy in the eggs was one roll of smarties, some mike and ikes, two twizzlers, and one lollypop. That way, he could eat it all when he found them. So, he hid in his room while we stashed eggs everywhere... he really took to it! Once we explained to him that the eggs were hidden, he tore though the place. Then, when we opened the eggs. We could tell from his eyes that he was like "THIS IS SO COOL!". At Marie and George's he practically bulldozed everyone looking for the eggs! But he got a major stash of serete (candy) and money- he puts the money in one coin at a time so he was in his room for at least 20 minutes when we got home... the money was a much bigger score for him than the candy. He loves change!

We are really looking forward to Brandon's parents coming next week- he's talked to them on the phone and knows their pics so we are hoping he warms to them really quickly.

On another note, I've accomplished a personal goal:

I completed the sunday crossword!!! WOO HOO!

Some new pics

Two posts in one day! Enjoy!!!

Don't I look handsome in my new helmet?

After coloring this picture of a black cat, Rory decided to 'give' it to Giggy and thought this was the best place for it!!!

Going to get the mail with Aunt Mary.

Family photo at Mary and Don's:)

Playing in Uncle Don's garage- it's a fun place with lots of cool stuff!

Eating chocolate robin's eggs = BLUE TONGUE!

Our BIG outing!

Today, we went to the mall. We were dying to get out somewhere besides the grocery store. We thought that Rory would love the indoor playground- especially on a cold day like today. We thought the stores would interest him, too. Not surprisingly, we were dead wrong on both counts.

We went to the Disney store... we thought he would like seeing things he would recognize like the 'machine' from CARS or Quincy from 'Little Einsteins'. He did love it and would find something he liked... like the Wall-e robot.... and wrap his arms around it, but we were steadfast in not buying one thing from the store. We just put it back on the shelf. He really liked all the clothes there, too. He always shared clothes with all the kids at the Creche, but now he knows that his clothes are HIS clothes, and that is a whole new idea to him. He loves clothes. How much do you wanna bet that it won't be the same at Christmas when he opens up a 'present' of socks??? We tried to coax Rory onto the playground, but he wasn't too interested, he just turned and ran back out. What did he love?? The floor at the mall. He loves anywhere where the tiles consist of alternating colors. At the mall, he hit the jackpot. At the Disney store, he loved the big Mickey on the ground right as you walk in. Also, big hits at the mall included: the 'penny rides' (that actually cost 75 cents). He loved the 'hot dog truck' and the jet ski. We had to coax him to get on the horse, but he ate it up once he was on. Brandon made a good point- maybe he thought the horse was going to take off. Totally possible! I didn't even think of that.

HOWEVER, by far, the biggest hits were #1)the penny donation container that you drop the pennies in and it spins until it drops in. I think we must have dropped $4.00 worth of pennies just on that. And #2, the pay telephone. He eyeballed that and made a b-line for it. He kept picking it up and listening to the dial tone. They have a 'phone' at the library. When you pick up the receiver, it's an INDIANA PACER reading a popular children's book. I think he was expecting that but was just as happy with it anyway. He was amazing at the mall. At the penny rides, we said "2 more rides" then "one more ride" then "okay we are finished". He went back to honk the horn on something and then said "I am finished". As long as we give him a 'countdown', he does so well.

Oh, AND, first ice-cream was today!!!! Maggie Moo's vanilla with sprinkles -- he loved it, but didn't really have a reaction. I think the sprinkles, for him, were the best part. I mean, isn't that true for everyone?????

Almost 4 weeks home!

I can't believe that we are nearing the 1 month mark. I look back and wonder what on earth happened? Wasn't it just February? Rory is doing well... as I write this, he is playing his new favorite song (Viva la Veda by Coldplay) with Papa on his new Rory-sized GEEtar that Aunt Malana brought for him. He is so easy to please, but so quick to take a downturn sometimes. Everything is so overwhelming for him, and we have to really hold back not to just cram his day full of new stuff. I don't have the feeling at all that we have to make up for the last four years. He will catch up as time goes by, I have no doubt.

Rory will finally get to meet some more family this weekend. We are going to Aunt Marie and Aunt Margaret's on Saturday. We are so excited for new people to meet him! Then, in a couple weeks Grandma and Grandpa are coming from Florida! We can't hardly wait for them to meet him.

Rory's new favorite place is the library or the playground. We went to the library yesterday and saw a mini-concert for preschoolers put on by this guy that sings about choo choo trains. There were probably about 40 kids there and they all sat in the front and listened, danced, and sang. Rory, however, was a tad bit overwhelmed. I sat in the front row and he sat directly in front of me. He didn't clap, sing, or dance BUT... I got the distinct feeling that he wanted to. He mostly watched all the other boys and girls and was taking it all in. We know that as we introduce him to more people and kids, he'll come out of his shell. But, it made me really think about what this all looks like through his eyes. The other part of it is that most of the kids there were white and were curious about this new boy and his white mama (I overheard a couple kids asking their parents about us). But they so badly wanted to talk to him and play with him and he just kind of 'shutdown'. I sense this letting up though, and who knows how he'll be in another month? Meanwhile, he loves the library and when we took a huge stack of books home he thought that they were his! I had to explain in creole/english that the library lady is nice and lets us read her books. But she loves them and we have to take them back to her to make her happy and she'll let us have more. As soon as he crasped this concept, his eyes got huge and he started kissing and petting the books and say "it is okay, ou mama loves books".

The other thing that stands out to me.... have you ever seen the movie SPLASH with Tom Hanks and Darryl Hannah? Ya know, the one from the eighties where she's a mermaid and it's totally cheesy? Well, you know the scene where he buys her the present from tiffany's and he gives her the trademark blue tiffany box and she just looks at it and loves the box, not realizing the real gift is inside? That is everyday for Rory. The the other day I snuck a bag of twizzlers into my purse and in the car I gave him one, papa, and (of course). He thought it was a toy and started flicking it around and twirling it and wrapping it around his fingers. He thought it was great! Then I took a bite of mine, and he was shocked that I would eat my toy! I said "No toy, serete (candy) bon gou (tastes good)!" He took a bite and thought it was the best thing ever! Ever since, he's been asking about the red candy and when it will make its appearance again. I don't think that I can break it to him that it's mama's favorite and I'm hoarding it for a really bad day.

By the way, thanks for reading our blog... it's so nice to hear that so many people are keeping up with our posts and enjoying the videos. Feel free to leave comments or questions...