First Day of School

Today was Rudy's first day at his new school. He was very excited because his days begins in the Village, which is a play area that has stores and buildings and cars and even a slide. It was his favorite part when we took the tour. At his school, all the classes move around all day - about every half hour they move to a different room with a different activity - art, snack, blocks, computers, etc. He also gets lunch at school (big yay from me since I no longer have to pack his lunch!) and today's lunch was macaroni and cheese - a favorite. He also had goldfish for snack - which was one of the first things he told me when I picked him up. By all evidence, he seems to have had a good first day- he was not overly excited to see me but came willingly when it was time to leave, he answered questions about his day and was excited to show Paul all his work, and he has been very chilled out since we got home.

Here are some pictures before school - the silly picture and the serious picture.

Boys' Day

Today was my first day of work. Paul took the day off since Rudy doesn't start school until Thursday so they had a boys' day.

Paul, ever the outdoors man, took Rudy to a local State Park where they looked at the lake (too cold to swim), played on the playground, and walked on a trail.

Some pictures:

End of the Summer

A few weeks ago I knew summer was almost over and started mentally preparing for it, and thinking about what I wanted to do before we went back to school.

Then I got laid off and it seemed like my summer might be extended (looking at the positive side of it) so I stopped thinking about it.

Last week I had an interview on Tuesday, was hired on Thursday and spent Friday and today running around filling out paperwork, getting fingerprinted (for the millionth time in the last 4 years!), and getting a physical. So Rudy and I haven't had a very relaxing end of summer - even less fun for him since I had to drag him everywhere with me!

But, here are a few things we did get to do at the end of August:

Mr. Serious at my doctor's appointment today. I would never consider taking him with me BUT it was very last minute and I knew it was going to be a brief employment check up - are you breathing? are you contagious? is there anything you wish to disclose? - so I took him with me. He did very well waiting in the waiting room but the key was this clipboard. It was given to me to fill out paperwork and Rudy was dying to have it and kept trying to take it away from me. Once I was done, I returned the paperwork and kept the clipboard for him to use. It kept him occupied for the next half hour.

Rudy's newest obsession is Handy Manny. He watched it one night and by the next morning he was Handy Manny. Here he is with his 'pencil' behind his ear.

On Saturday Paul and Rudy went to a workshop at the local wildlife refuge about Monarch butterflies. Here Rudy is holding a caterpillar.

Here he has his milkweed plant to take home and plant.

Here he is releasing a butterfly. According to Paul, Rudy had a great time and was very eager to participate - raising his hand and working his way to the front so he would be chosen.

On Friday I had to drive about an hour away to fill out paperwork for my new job, so we called Patti and Lucy to see if they would meet us at a local play area.

Here is Rudy dressed up as a race car driver and dancing on the stage.

Lucy and Rudy on the mini carousel. This was Lucy's favorite thing and she would run back it to it every few minutes. Patti got quite a workout pushing her since Lucy couldn't quite reach the pedals on her own.

So it may not have been all that I wanted to do, but we did have some fun as our official summer comes to an end.

Celebrating the Milestone

To celebrate the fact that Rudy has been home longer than he was in Guatemala, we went out today for a special lunch. We let Rudy pick, with a little prompting from us, knowing what he'd enjoy, and the result was The Rainforest Cafe. He had a great time watching the animals and was not quite as scared of them as the last time we went, although he still had his moments.

This morning when we talked to Rudy about why we were going out and what was so special about this week, he told us "I missed Lou (our dog)." Later he did actually tell us he missed us, too!

A picture of us together (I don't know why I look so tired _ I'm going to blame it on the guy who was taking our picture - I really wasn't sure for a minute whether he knew what he was doing so I think it's a reaction to him!).

Trying to decide whether to be afraid or intrigued by the gorillas.

Watching the gorilla. We were fortunate to be seated right next to the fish tank.

Taking it all in.

And just for comparison, here is a picture I took today of Paul and Rudy, and one that was taken when we picked Rudy up in Guatemala. He certainly has grown and changed.

Another Milestone

Today is the day that Rudy has now been home with us LONGER than he spent in Guatemala. I didn't think we'd ever get to this point, even a year or so ago when I started the ticker at the top, it seemed like a date that was so far away.
Some pictures from bike riding yesterday:

A Milestone

If you look at the top counter and the side counter, you will see that today, August 27, 2009, Rudy has been home the same number of days that he was in Guatemala. It's very hard to believe that this moment has come. It always seemed like he was gone from us for so long, and yet it's hard to believe it's been ONLY two years (actually a little less) since he came home. Yes, the anger and sadness of missing him all that time has passed, but I still feel it - the time we missed, the milestones we missed- it will always be a part of us. I am so thankful that we have remained in contact with Rudy's foster mother. She is a great resource for finding out some funny stories from when he was a baby.

So in honor of the date, here are some pictures from when we were in Guatemala picking Rudy up. He looks like such a baby in these pictures and yet he seemed like such a big kid (and certainly not a baby) when we brought him home.

I am going to have to take a picture of Rudy standing next to Paul and see where he comes to because he is MUCH taller now.

Fun Living at Uncle Bill and Aunt Renee's house

At the beginning of August, Paul and I went into Philadelphia for a night and Rudy stayed at Bill & Renee's. The next day he told me he had "fun living at Uncle Bill & Aunt Renee's house". Bill & Renee took him to their local Children's/ Discovery Museum. It's always fun to see what Rudy enjoys playing with and wondering what he'll do when he grows up.


Will he be a veterinarian?

or work with cars?

Will he sell ice cream (you see a lot of people with carts just like this in Antigua, Guatemala)?

Or create bubbles?

Be a mountain climber?

Or a news reporter?

Will he be a doctor?

Or maybe a surgeon?