Skip's Final Court Date!

We just found out today that Skip has his final court date scheduled for next Tuesday, April 20th. We're so excited to hear this because we weren't expecting it to happen so soon. Barring anything unforeseen, Skip will *officially* be ours next Tuesday. Of course he's been ours in our minds since we brought him home from the hospital, but this legalization of the adoption is a really important step.

We didn't do birth announcements when Skip was born because, well, we only found out on Day 4 and we wanted to wait until things were a bit more concrete. But we'll start working on sending out an adoption announcement and we want to make sure and take photos of the court hearing so that he can have those photos to look back on.

We're feeling very fortunate, all the way around. First of all, we somehow got Skip, who has an incredible personality and is a great baby. Second, we managed to avoid a lot of the emotional back-and-forth that is fairly typical of the foster-adopt process (and that we've seen many friends struggle with). Lastly, our adoption will have been completed in 9 and a half months, which has got to come close to a record for a county adoption!

Skip's 9-Month Checkup

Skip had his 9-month checkup on Monday. Unfortunately, for as long as we can recall he's had a runny nose, a cough, and congestion. People often ask us if he has a cold, but it doesn't feel like we can say yes because he's always been this way -- that's just Skip. So then recently people started suggesting maybe he has allergies and that's why he's always like this. But the doctor told us she doesn't think that's what it is since he was this way prior to starting solids (but couldn't he be allergic to the formula?). Poor Skip! Zadie never had to tell with any colds or sicknesses like this and it can't be fun, but he still continues to have an amazing personality. Hopefully the congestion will go away with the start of the warm weather.

Skip was 29 and 3/4 inches long in length (93rd percentile), which really surprised me. I don't think of him as taller/longer than other kids his age. He weighed 19 lbs and 13 oz (45th percentile). His head circumference was 17 and 1/4 whatevers (10th percentile). I'm a little concerned about the head circumference because of the whole flathead issue, but the doctor told Tori that his head is definitely growing and everything is fine.

Easter Egg Hunt

This past weekend was Easter and we had Grandma Linda, Tori's sister Katie, and her baby Gavin all staying with us. This was quite interesting since we only have a two-bedroom house, but the most interesting part of all was that every single night we had a different sleeping arrangement and every day we would spend forever plotting out where we'd put everyone. It was like a complex LSAT question or something.

Katie and Linda were kind enough to babysit for us on Saturday while we went to a baby shower and a birthday party (date time!). While we were away, they went to the store, secretly bought candy and plastic eggs, and then hid them in the front yard. I was really surprised how quickly Zadie spotted them through the window and of course she wanted to run out there right away.

Unfortunately Katie was still snoozing for the photos, but I did catch some photos of Zadie and Grandma Linda in their pajamas. Zadie was pretty cute -- she can really muster a lot of joy for candy!! Too bad for her we hardly let her eat any of it and soon thereafter she kind of forgot about it.

SophieIzzy

Zadie loves her some SophieIzzy. In her mind, they are one entity and she doesn't talk about them independent from each other. They are, simply, SophieIzzy. It used to be FofieIzzy, but her pronunciation has really improved.

Zadie giggles like a little maniac when she's around SophieIzzy and somehow I think they bring out her wild side. It's kind of like she's putting on a show for them. Unfortunately she only gets to see them three or four times a year, but she really does love them (correction: my sister has informed me they see each other six times a year!). And, we try to keep up via Skype, as well. It makes me SO happy to see them playing together and giggling.

It's hard to get a photo of the three girls together, but here's one where they're all kind of looking at the camera.

Giggling Skip

Giggling Skip from Kate Kuykendall on Vimeo.

Last week Skip had a fever four days in a row (first time in his life) and this video was taken during that time. Skip is so good-natured that he gets a giggling fit even when he's sick and feeling awful. Either that or he was just delirious!

Reunited with the Beach

Zadie loves her some beach! The past few posts have been about the Skipper, so this post will be devoted to the Zadie Zoo. This past weekend Zadie was reunited with the beach -- her favorite place on earth!

When we first got to the beach Zadie was loving playing in the waves and was completely filled with joy. But then later in the day (or was it the next day?), she got knocked down by a wave and kept on tumbling and couldn't get up on her feet. She cried but then went right back out in the water. But then the exact same thing happened within 30 seconds and then she was done with it. Hopefully the trauma won't last too long, but she just contented herself with playing in the sand and demolishing sand castles.

Best. Photo. Ever.

I love this photo my sister took of Skip. Last weekend we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday and had an amazing weekend. We stayed at a great spot right on the beach and Skip got to have some solid beach time in. It's funny because he went to the beach twice in the first week of his life (he was born in July, right in the heart of beach season), but all last summer he was really too young to interact with the beach. Last weekend he loved playing in the sand, but he wasn't a big fan of the freezing cold water. Hopefully the water will grow on him.

More photos to follow!