Kittens cause giggles!

It's been a busy week, with Alyssa and Jaren's ceremony this Sunday and everything leading up to it (including a Twilight-themed 'bachelorette' party!) and then mom's mastectomy yesterday (hi mom!). And Brennan turns eight months old tomorrow! He's now six months corrected. He can sit for several minutes on his own, and even reach out for things, wiggle, and play without tipping over. He can move around a little bit on the floor by pushing himself on his back and rolling. He'll be crawling soon now that he knows he can get places on his own! I've been showing him what to do by moving his arms and legs, and when he wants to get somewhere he copies those motions but it doesn't get him anywhere yet! I wish I had asked his occupational therapist for tips on helping him learn to crawl, but I know he'll get there soon.
Maizie better watch out when he does learn to crawl, because apparently Brennan LOVES cats - and dogs too! He loves watching her and tries grabbing her whenever she gets close. On Sunday, after Alyssa's wedding, we went to visit Joel and Laura's new tiny kitten. Brennan thought he was hysterical! He just started laughing the best laugh I have ever heard. If Maizie didn't hate other animals so much, we'd have to get a boxful of kittens.
In diabetes news: I got my pump yesterday! It's lime green! Unfortunately I won't be able to start it until the end of June, after vacation. But before then I've got a workbook, manual, and video to go through! There's so much to learn! Luckily, I'm so 'mart. Yeah? No.
I am still trying to (im)patiently figure out what God would like me to do about the orphans. I know one thing - we will not commit to any child until after Brennan turns one. That's clear. We can work on our homestudy in the meantime though! I still feel like Anna is the one for us. Every time I see her picture, I think, there's my girl! But am I just making it up, or is it really God telling me this? And more importantly, how am I going to get Ken to agree to this? Although I think we're making progress :). And (hopefully!) Anna may have a family by September! I guess I'll just have to be *patient*.
Cute things Brennan is doing: 1. Giving kisses 2. Rubbing his eyes when he's tired 3. Lunging for things he wants 4. Making tons of cute noises 5. Rolling around all over his crib 6. Giving me HUGE smiles every morning!

143,000,000 Million Orphans

...have been keeping me from my blog. At night I am looking at their pictures, researching adoption and down syndrome, reading blogs. I've found several great blogs and I've been spending hours reading their stories from the beginning. One family in MN brought home THREE little orphans with DS this year! They're pretty cute. The MINUTE I can convince Ken, we're getting one! There's a few kids who have stolen my heart, and some of them have already found families - YAY! In Eastern Europe, special needs orphans get put into mental institutions when they are about 4-5. Most of them die within the year. It makes me so sad to think of little children dying without anyone there who loves them.

On to happier things...My darling boy gives kisses! It is the most darling thing I have ever seen. He grabs your chin and puts his big open mouth on your cheek! Grandpa Meyer was the first to get kisses. He doesn't give them very often though, true to form, doling out this new skill at his leisure. Another new skill is rolling over onto his tummy! He has ONLY done this in his crib so far - I think he uses the crib sides for leverage. This has led to drama at naptime - when he's supposed to be sleeping, I hear angry screaming and run up the stairs to rescue him and roll him back over!

A few days ago I was trying to teach Brennan to bang on things. He doesn't really do much with toys except eat them, so I am trying to expand his horizons! I gave him a wooden spoon and we banged on the table together. When I let go of his arm, he started swinging his arm away, but couldn't quite get the spoon to hit anything! I was glad to see him try though. It's pretty neat to watch him learn. I'm making him do more on his own - go after toys, explore toys, etc. since he's quite old enough to do more than lay there and chew a toy, even if that is his favorite! He surprises me with his skills! It shouldn't, because of COURSE he is a smart boy!

Brennan is also such a happy boy! Today my grandma and I went to city-wide garage sales, pretty much all day. At the end of the day, Brennan was hungry, tired, and probably bored. But when I peeked through the car window at him, he still gave me his darling smile! What a cutie. He has such joy in him! I hope it never fades. :-)