Charming!

His big eyes show so many expressions. Jim took this picture while I was at work and I see the anticipation on his face. He was looking forward to something they were about to do. The next set of pictures on the camera showed him in his pool, so I think that was the source of his excitement.
Next week, Jim starts teaching at a local college and Jake starts his school. We bought him a lunchbox yesterday and he put an apple in right away. I think he is going to love his school and playing with friends.

Payback for Vacation

Jake has made my transition back to work more difficult. On Monday morning he cried and on Tuesday morning he screamed. Then tonight, he told me that he cried during the day because he couldn't find me. :(

We recently returned from a vacation in the Finger Lakes area of NY. The resort had an indoor/outdoor water park which Jake loved. He is really, really fond of water. Watching him play brought us lots of joy. He also liked our walks outside around a little lake. This has been a wonderful summer of new experiences for us as a family. I am a bit sad to know that summer is nearly over and that will mean less time together. But, there are benefits to each season. Just yesterday while Jake was swinging in the backyard, he talked about the snow that covered his play area last winter. We will look forward to the cooler weather which is around the corner.

His Book and Life Experiences

Today I recieved the Blog book in the mail. It is so interesting to look back at our journey together. And, now it is in hard copy for him to read when he is older. I am very pleased with how it looks and how easy it was to complete.

As I look back through the pages, I am amazed at all of the living we have crammed into our eight months together. Here is a list of the more exciting experiences we have shared with Jake;

• airplane ride home from Ethiopia


• two trips to the ocean


• boat ride in the ocean with a storm that caused hail and rocky seas


• two trips to Vermont (with one attempt at skiing for him)


• two train rides (Philadelphia and the Strasburg Railroad)


• two trips to Dutch Wonderland


• Museum of Natural History in DC


• tent camping


• trip to the Finger Lakes in NY with a water park(our trip later this week)

One of my friends, Claudia, laughs as she watches the journey, and wonders how we will top these events. I didn't realize we were quite so busy. Through all of this, Jake has continued to love new things and learn from them. Also, he is more trusting of us and better behaved.