Count Down to Gotcha Day: 5 months home!!!!!

It doesn't seem possible, but as of October 23 we have been home with Konnor for 5 months. It doesn't seem like it has been that long since we made the trip to China that would forever change our lives, but we also can't remember him ever not being with us. We had our 6 month post placement visit on October 23 as well. Yes it was a couple weeks early, but with Konnor's upcoming surgery we wanted to get it done and not have that hanging over our heads. Sooooo much has happened in the last month and I know I have been bad about updating, but I promise I will continue to update so just stick with us.

The last month has been CRAZY busy. Let's start with our trips and go from there. The weekend of September 21 we headed to Chicago. We attended a reunion with Konnor's Nana and he had a blast. Let me just tell you that this little guy has moves : ) He absolutely loves dancing and spent a good 45 minutes straight tearing up the dance floor. He dances to any and all music. It doesn't matter if it is a commercial, on the radio or coming from one of his toys. If there is music involved then this little guy is moving to the beat. Just in the last 2 weeks he has started to add hand movements in with his hip swings so it is even more entertaining to watch. We were also able to visit with Mark's Aunt and Uncle as well while we were in Chicago. It was nice catching up with them and just getting away for a few days. Oh, and Konnor had his first ever trip to the Disney store and IKEA. Yay!!!! Although I have to say that I was completely dissapointed in the Disney store. It just isn't the same as it was when I was growing up.

On September 29 we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with some other adoptive families in the area. This is the 2nd most important holiday in China and one of the two holidays we are planning on celebrating each year. This year we joined two other families for dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, visited a local Chinese market and then took our moon cakes (which are totally gross by the way) out to the lake to look at the moon. It was great getting to visit with the others families and celebrate our children's heritage.

Then just 2 weeks later on October 4th we boarded a plane (Konnor's first flight since our trip home from China) and headed to the east coast. We were worried about how he would do on the plane, but he didn't make a peep on the way there and only cried on and off for about 20 minutes on the way home. We spent 1 1/2 days in Boston were we were able to see Gillette Stadium and get Konnor his first ever Patriots jersey!!!!!! Mama was in her happy place being in her favorite football teams home town, and it doesn't hurt that Konnor looks awfully stinkin cute in his jersey : ) We also spent 3 days in New Hampshire attending Konnor's Aunt Cassandra and Uncle Mike's wedding. It was so beautiful! We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone and are grateful we were there to celebrate this special day with such an amazing couple.

October 20 we were able to go to a co-worker of mine's dairy farm and Konnor got to meet the cows, baby calfs and baby bulls. It was really neat and Konnor loved it when the calfs nibbled on his fingers.

Oh, do you remember last post I commented on how great it was to see age appropriate toddler fits from Konnor as it meant that he was developmentally catching up??? Yeah, well, I'm over that now : ) Now we just have toddler fits. Truthfully his fits are not that bad and I have found that most of his fits are related to him not being able to communicate what he wants. We have instituted a new policy in our home......whenever we start seeing the frustration that usually leads up to a fit we ask Konnor to "show Mama/Papa what you want." This is like a miracle phrase and by golly George he sure does take our hand and lead us right to what he wants. If he is pointing to something he will shake his head "no" at you until you pick up the right thing that he wants. He so desperately wants to talk. He makes you walk around holding him and he will point out everything and you have to name it for him. Very soon baby boy and you will have everything you need to talk. Speaking of.....Konnor's lip repair is scheduled for October 31 so please keep our little monkey man in your thoughts and prayers this upcoming week. We are hoping to only be in the hospital overnight and will try to update with how he is doing as soon as we are able.

Konnor is now officially 18 months old. Here are some of his favorites at 18 months old:

Foods:
1) cottage cheese
2) yogurt
3) pancakes
4) cooked carrots
5) peas
6) scrambled eggs with cheese

He would be perfectly happy if he never had to eat anything other than these 6 things. He still doesn't eat much meat, but we are finding if it is very thinly sliced meat then we can sneak a few bites in.

Song's---this child is music obsessed so we must take a moment to document his current favorites. You may scrunch your eyebrows together and go "HUH??" when you see this b/c he has very broad taste in music.

1) Pontoon by Little Big Town
2) I Dreamed a Dream by Susan Boyle (it must be her original audition or he won't listen to it--yes he is that picky : )
3) Heaven by Gotthard
4) Meant to Be by Steven Curtis Chapman
5) Children of God by Third Day
6) Beat It by Michael Jackson
7) 45 by Gaslight Anthem

In other news, Konnor is up 6 lbs and 2.25 inches since he came home. Yay!!!!! He is now totally in 12-18 months clothes. When I look back at our pictures from China I just can't believe how big he has gotten. He now climbs the stairs all by himself and is in constant motion. Unfortunately he has also figured out that if he stands on something it makes him taller and he can reach the things in the middle of the table that he is not supposed to have. Needless to say he tries to stand on EVERYTHING now. Many of his toys have to be used with supervision only or he pulls it over to the table and tries to stand on it. He is still jibber jabbering non stop and I can't wait to hear what he is actually saying.

Overall our little family is doing great. We continue to be amazed by how well Konnor is adjusting and can't wait to see what antic he will come up with next. You have all been so patient for an update so here are a bunch of pictures of our crazy little monkey man to make up for the long wait. Thanks for checking in with us.

Ashley