Some firsts, seconds, thirds and more

Well this month brought our fourth ear infection, third round of cough medicine, second round of pink eye and our first birthday, shots, and completed post placement report. We have been really busy. Berik , at the present is healthy which is great!! His first shots were not a hit with him and he was rather peeved at mommy , thanks to daddy who was out of town at the time. He weighs 27.5 lbs and is 32 inches tall, with a 5 1/2 x-wide shoe and 12 teeth. Oh my! He will eat you up if you are silly enough to put your fingers near them. The Dr. says he is the 93% for his height and weight, so basically he is the size of your average two year old. We finally made it to the Stride Rite store to get his first pair of walking shoes and the lady measured his foot and showed us the "only" pair in his big size and put them on his feet faster than you could say Boo. Don't think that has happened again. He curls those toes, arches his foot and basically makes this part of getting dressed the part you wish someone else had. Once you get them on, then watch out!! He thinks he can run and he really almost can but it usually results in a meeting with the floor. When he is not walking/running in them, Mr. Beaver is busy trying to eat them. He is getting our money's worth out of these shoes, that's for sure!
My brother and his family came from Dallas and celebrated Easter with us at our parents house. My mother who is recovering from back surgery was in good spirits and we all had a really good time. Berik made out like a bandit as usual and had alot of Easter goodies from daycare and as "responsible" parents we "helped" him eat those candies he couldn't quite master.. lol!
He is obiviously an outdoor kind of guy and when not outside spends alot of time looking out all the windows and screen door. He loves to swing, water plants with daddy, ring the wind chime and eat dirt, or sticks or leafs etc.. you get the drift. He definately requires 100% attention outside. We took him to the fair/BBQ cookoff and he got to sport ,a giant foam cowboy hat, which I am sure he would have ripped to shreds or eaten if given the chance. We visited my brother and his family in Dallas this past weekend and it was absolutely GREAT!! We left here around bedtime and 4 hrs later we were putting him in the pack and play and he slept the rest of the night! He did really well sleeping and napping and we were very pleased! We went to the Arboretum, which was spectacular and Berik had a great time playing in the bullfrog sprinklers. He absolutely loves anything to do with the water and bathtime is alot of fun. He has finally learned to stick the foam animals on the tub wall instead of in his mouth, which is a huge milestone for us. His other accomplishments since the beginning of March, would have to be.... he can lock and unlock the gate to the utility room, he will share and feed you cheerios, he will give you kisses,(nice slobbery ones) and he can get on and off his ride/walk toys. We think he is doing great but do have a person coming by the house next week just to assess him and make sure he is on target.


Last but not least, Berik's FIRST BIRTHDAY was a big hit!! I made a monkey cake in honor of Berik, who is quite the monkey, a regular vanilla sheet cake for those who didn't like chocolate and a pint size cake for Berik complete with chocolate frosting. Berik looked stunned as all 27 of us gathered round to sing happy birthday. We helped him blow out his "1" candle and then showed him how to get that frosting and the rest was all him. After licking his fingers several times he figured out he could just put his face in it and you can see how that turned out ! All and all we had a really good time and thanks for all the gifts that I told you all were not necessary but you brought anyway. We are using them of course, just as fast as we can.

Finally, we had completed our first post placement report and we will get it apostilled this coming week and then send it on. It was really nice to have our social worker, Beverley, visit with us and see Berik. Only 17 more to go! We were so busy we never made the hair cut visit and still haven't had his pictures taken but look foward to that this month. We are busy, busy, busy, bonding with Berik so forgive us if these posts are far and few between.