Month Six: It All Clicks... Again

Tony is typing in BLACK

Cher is typing in BLUE

Over the past year I have done my fair share of complaining. I've complained about how hard things are, I've complained about not feeling like I'm getting my way , and I've complained about feeling abandoned by God. Looking at these pictures on this blog however, it's easy to see how lucky we've been, at least in regards to our children.

I will start by talking about Bridget. Bridget is such a good little girl. She is happy 97.43% of the time. 

She is so funny and kind. From the time she was a baby she always had so much personality. That personality has only grown. She is so spunky!

She loves everyone and enjoys making and playing with new friends. It is so easy for her to see the good in life, but she is overly dramatic sometimes when things don't go her way.  

The first weekend of June we left Cher's parents house and moved to Ohio. It was a bittersweet thing. Bridget still says that she really misses her Nana and Bumpa, but as a family, it was very good for us to get out and into our own place again. It was so kind of Cherish's parents to let us stay with them, and we are incredibly grateful for them, but it was time to go. 

Cher's parents have such a good relationship with Bridget. She loves them so much and they love her dearly. Cherish's mom puts forth such an effort to make her feel happy. She buys things nearly nonstop. Some of B's favorites were her yard toys. She even got a little pool for her to swim in when it started being warm enough . 

Luckily we were not in Maryland for too long, so Bridget did not have too much to leave behind that she was sad about. One thing she was involved with, as you know from our previous blog posts, was Tae-kwon-do . She really misses her teachers there and the fun she had. And we will really miss getting to watch her. 

We are living in Cherish's grandparents old house in Ohio. They passed away a little while ago and their house has been sitting here serving as a base camp for Cher's parents when they come to visit family in the area. They were gracious enough to allow us to live here and take care of the house. 

It is a nice house even though it is kind of small, but our family is small as well, so it works. I would have to say Bridget's favorite thing about the house is the backyard. Now when I say backyard, I'm actually referring to the abandoned car dealership behind the housing complex. It has fallen into disrepair and there are enormous potholes that fill with water when it rains. (It apparently rains a lot here during June and July)  

Aside from all the rain, Ohio has been quite nice. We were able to visit the Columbus zoo and it is pretty great. It is fun to see how brave Bridget is and how much she loves animals.  This snake picture is not from the zoo. Instead, it's from my parents' front yard. B has always been pretty brave when it comes to bugs and now snakes. Living with my parents has really developed her love of insects. She loved going on bug hunts and giving little bugs "homes" in her bug catchers.

The relationship that Bridget and Kai have is also evolving. 

As he becomes more of a person she becomes more of a sister. 

They fight and yell at each other already! I cannot wait to see what the future holds. LOL.  

Now, before I move on to talking about Kai, I want to give a quick shout out to my awesome wife. 

Cherish is amazing! She is such a good mother and wife. 

Even coming out of being very sick, she has resumed her full stride in taking care of all of us . 

On top of all that, she also ran another 5K just last month. 

In true Cherish fashion, it was no normal 5K... it was a color run!

She is such a champion and I'm so proud of and grateful for her. 

Our little Kai has really grown and changed over the past month. He is now a full 6 months old!

One thing that we have both found quite interesting is that he has shown a true love for music. 

He does not care for TV much and won't look at the screen for more than a few seconds, but as soon as a song comes on he's all eyes and ears. He loves to play piano with mommy, and his favorite part about this particular park are the musical jumping blocks. 

To say he has found his voice would be an understatement. He loves to yell and grunt and make noises. I'm not sure I would call it babbling yet, but there are definitely sounds . The most common sound/word is DA-DA. :) He definitely knows who his favorite parent is. ;) 

As I'm sure is no surprise, Kai still loves to eat.

 *Note here his chubby cheeks as proof. 

He will still eat most anything, but surprisingly he does not care for eggs very much. He will eat them, but in comparison to his sister who would devour nearly three every morning, he mostly dabbles. 

When Kai isn't eating, one of his favorite things to do is walk around. 

I don't mean be held while we walk around, though he does enjoy that as well. I actually mean that he likes to use his feet and legs to walk around on the ground. 

He is not able to balance at all, 

But because he has object impermanence, once we are holding him and his feet are on the ground I think that he thinks that he's actually walking by himself . 

If we speak suddenly or too loudly while walking with him, he looks up in surprise. It is so cute and funny.  

He loves to play- his favorite game is chase. He loves to run around the house chasing Bear or Bridget and he loves being chased himself. 

Like Bridget he has a very tell-tale sign for when he needs to go number 2. His face turns beet red, he holds his breath, and grunts. It may be TMI, but here is a video of proof.  

Kai is extremely fascinated with Bear  Bear too enjoys Kai, but more so from afar. 

Kai misses his Nana and Bumpa as well. He hasn't told me that, but I'm pretty sure it's true. They were able to develop such a sweet relationship during the 2 months that we were visiting with them. 

We really have been so blessed to be able to be so close to family. Cherish's family have been the ones who have benefited most from this, but in August we are planning on visiting my, Tony's, family for a few months. We are so excited for them to get the opportunity to form stronger non-Skype relationships with their grandchildren.