we made it through September... somehow.

Did I really miss the entire month of September blogging?
Why, yes, indeed I did. Why?  Well, J started a great new full time job, Eli started UPK and full day child care, I began teaching full time again.  LOTS of new for all three of us.  Big adjustments here for our little family and MUCH less time at home together.  We're making it, but I think it's safe to say September 2013 was our most challenging month ever as a family. 

We made it to October and 10/3/13 was our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF OUR "FOREVER FAMILY" DAY.  How did that happen so quickly??!!  Today 10/8/13 marks one year since we arrived home with sweet Eli.  We've been watching the videos we have of our airport arrival.  That day last year seems like a lifetime ago.  We've all changed and grown so much in a year!! WOW!

E had his annual physical exam this week. He grew 2 inches and gained 2 pounds.  He has gained so much muscle and strength too!  Not to mention his language acquisition!!!

We're all adapting to this new normal of ours.  It's the toughest thing I've done as a mom so far. I've had to give up what feels like most of my Eli time and entrust him to teachers and child care providers. They are great and he's doing well, though we had a few very challenging weeks in Sept.  I'm shocked by all the new words and phrases he keeps on bringing home and have sadly realized that I'm no longer his main teacher.

some new school phrases off the top of my head:
okey dokey
germy wormies
forever and a day
scissors are not a toy, they're a tool

he continues to make us laugh with his numerous little ESL turns of phrase too, like:
"a little lip" (a little bit)
"PD"  (tv)
"my wanna crack out" (I wanna rock out!) (when his favorite song comes on and he turns the volume WAAAY up!)
"element" (elephant -used to be animal and pronunciation continues to morph)
"that a good sound" (that sounds good - as in that's a good idea)