An incredible 6 months it has been...

Hello again everyone (that is, everyone who's still following along after this long silence...). Sorry for the lag in postings. I apologize and I have no good excuse. Except that life happens at a little pace these days with Special K on board. Days melt into weeks...weeks melt into months.

And so here we are - "T" + SIX MONTHS to the Day since "Gotcha".

After re-reading the entire record of our experiences, I feel much regret in not posting. I know that many of the people who've followed us on this site are relying on us to keep them/you up to speed on Kyle's life with us. In addition, I am hoping that we will be able to look back on this record with Kyle when he's a bit older, and show him what has transpired from the beginning.

Since we can't go back let's move ahead, hopefully with many more frequent posts...
In the time we were gone from this blog, so much has happened.

First, again is the Six-Month Milestone. In some ways, it seems like it's been so long since we were handed this beautiful little boy on Christmas Eve. But in most other ways, it's been like the flash bulb, capturing an unforgettable instant in time. It's been much longer than an instant for certain. But my memory of walking through the end of the secured hallway in Philadelphia Int'l. Airport and through the gate to see the tears on Grandmom's face, who was there with Pop-Pop, Aunt Mary and Aunt Rita is so crystal clear, I can almost recall every word that was said.

Since the end of March, our family has done so many wonderful things together, capturing more of all of the important "firsts" in photographs. Another regret I have is that we can only share a few of these with you on this blog. Luckily, Kyle has the benefit of access to the entire library of his experiences. It's my hope that he'll like most all of them; say "what were you thinking with that shot, Dad?" to a few; and ask me to delete NONE of them.

The best thing for all of us since the last post has been the change of season. As of our last post, spring had not sprung, and life was mostly lived indoors. But, Spring has come & gone, and Summer's just kicked off and Kyle's made the most of it!

Once the weather broke, we got into a solid routine of long walks with Murphy after dinner, savoring every moment of extra light thanks to the early start-up of daylight savings time. We still do this every chance we get.

Kyle loves to ride in his little red wagon - THANKS AUNT MARY!!! He rides around strapped into the forward-facing seat like a crown prince. And he enjoys seeing everyone in the neighborhood. He is sure to keep track of Murphy as well.

Kyle continues to make excellent progress. He has been walking on his own now for a few weeks, with all the confidence he can muster. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that we don't have to carry him from place to place. However, it's not so wonderful when Lisa asks "have you seen Kyle?" as she rouses me from my nap (Relax, I'm kidding...) Self transportation is a wonderful thing. It's great for him and better for us (to see...).

Kyle continues to make excellent progress at Goddard School. He seems to be one of the favorite among the teachers there. They always tell us how happy he is. He enjoys all of the activities and likes to learn new things. He really enjoys his art projects, and playing with his classmates inside and out. He made two projects recently that had big impacts: a Mother's Day Poster and Father's Day Poster. In the first he used his hand prints to decorate the page, and in the second, he used his footprints! Of course they're both hanging up one the pantry door - we're so proud of him. In fact, like most parents, we hang up nearly everything he brings home.

Kyle continues to make up for lost time. He is quite vocal now. He says several words, tries to say dozens more, and even uses sign language to say "Please", "Thank you", and "More". All of this progress in essentially the last 3 weeks or so.

He's already has two haircuts (and he needs a third!).

We've used our weekends well so far, and Kyle's had his share of great experiences.

Our family went to a local Harleysville town carnival. Kyle tried to go on a few of the kiddie rides but didn't like to ride by himself. Dad and Mom both rode with him on a train ride and he was ok with that. Later that night, we hung around for fireworks. Amazingly, Kyle enjoyed the show. He was not scared in the least by the noise, and liked seeing the lights in the sky. We live approximately 4 minutes away from the community center where the carnival was held (3 if we make the traffic light) but the little guy was fast asleep by the time we pulled into our driveway!

We've been to the Philly Zoo once and to the Elmwood Park Zoo (in nearby Norristown) twice!

Kyle & Mom at the Philly Zoo:



Kyle (brushing a goat in the Children's Zoo) & Dad at the Philly Zoo:




At Easter, Dad and Grandma Wedder took Kyle to an Easter Egg hunt at Peddler's Village and we scored a grand total of ONE egg. He seemed more interested in the hay that was used to hide the eggs. Hopefully, he'll "get it" next year.

Here is a picture:



We frequently go to playgrounds, where Kyle loves the slides but hates the swings!

On Friday nights, we sometimes go out to Barnes & Noble bookstore where they have a Thomas the Tank Engine play track set up (this sounds a lot more exciting that it is, except for Kyle). He enjoys playing there and Mom & Dad get a chance to have half-caf, double shot soy wet-top mochachinos (or hot chocolates...).

Kyle along with Mom, Dad & Grandma Wedder also went to the NJ Discovery Museum. He had a lot of fun with all of the exhibits, especially the slide:





A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. It's a family amusement park and water park combined. Kyle really had a blast. They had a lot of rides geared especially for kids his age. We rode some of these rides, but Kyle didn't ride any of them alone.

We all even rode the Log Flume together (Kyle's the one in the red shirt).





We also spent a few hours in the DW water park. For some background, Kyle like his bath and he like to splash around in the tub. Lisa usually rinses the shampoo from his hair using a handheld shower head - to say that he really does not like it is an gross understatement. He begins to melt down, but as soon as we wipe the excess water from his face - he's fine.

You can imagine our surprise when we got him to the water park and he showed real JOY for having water splashed all over him, including over his head!

Here is the proof (but for the photos, I would not have believed this myself).

He even rode a water slide with Dad.










Finally, we all went to the Manayunk Arts Festival yesterday. It was a perfect summer afternoon. Kyle again had a blast riding amongst the crowd in his stroller, and enjoying hot dogs, fries, smoothies and Lemonade!

We have a lot more photos and more story to catch upon.

Again, thanks for following and keep checking back.

Good night,
C