Happy First Birthday!

Today we are celebrating Kidus' first birthday.   It's kind of a weird feeling.  For Anna and Grant I felt like it was a celebration for me too... I had survived the c-section recoveries, the breastfeeding (not my favorite thing), the sleepless nights and the post-pregnancy hormones.  I celebrated all the amazing changes that come with the first year of a child's development.  I celebrated the memories made that year.

With this first birthday celebration we are celebrating different things.  We celebrate Kidus' birth mom who made a very courageous choice when she couldn't care for him.  Although we don't know who she is, she will always be honored by us and we will teach Kidus to honor her as well.  We celebrate the ups and downs of passing through the adoption journey to get to this point.  We celebrate Kidus' Ethiopian heritage and the gifts of that culture. We celebrate that he is HOME!

Even though he has only been with us a brief time, we have already learned much about him.

We have learned that...

He learns quickly.  He has gone from not sitting well to now crawling and pulling up.

He loves refried beans, chicken curry and veggie lasagna...not baby food.

He thinks it's hilarious when you pretend to drink out of his bottle.

He gives great slobbery kisses.

He loves to splash and play in water.

He likes to snuggle on my left shoulder.

Jeremy and my legs are his favorite things to "pull up on."

He loves to play Peak-a-Boo with Anna.

He loves to give "High Fives's" to Grant.

He is an explorer.

He sleeps amazingly well (we are spoiled).

He wakes up in the morning happy.

His smiles are huge and beautiful and so easy to come by.

He pulls his hair and his right ear when he is tired.

We had no idea how much love we would have for this child in such a short period of time.

Happy Birthday Kidus!  We love you and so thankful that you are part of our family!