Spring – Finally!

Mother’s Day was a beautiful day here in Boothbay. As you can see the skies were clear blue, and the temp reasonable for this time of year (60’s). Despite KJ’s being the on-call vet for the weekend, we managed a good chunk of family time and had lots of fun both at the park and here at home.



Aitugan absolutely loves swinging. I’m not sure how much of it would be needed to get her to proclaim ‘all done’, but I know I’ve not gotten there yet, and it is not for lack of effort.

To say that she is fearless seems an understatement. She is still awaiting her first ‘aha’ fall or accident to help her judge when to say when – though I’m in no great hurry for that accident either.

Until then She will just continue to go through her days blissfully unaware and roundly joyful, and let’s face it, who wouldn’t want that for their child.



As they have since the day we met her, all good things begin with adeen, dvah, tree – one, two, three in Russian. She loves it. The anticipation of the ‘tree’ makes her simply giddy.



The swing sits high enough (or maybe it is just that her legs are short enough) that it is possible to lie beneath her and allow her to zoom past. Fascinating for both a child and photographer.



Pure Joy!!



Take note Uncle Scott, this is how you hang on to monkey bars. Did I mention that our little monkey is strong?



Running to the top of the slide.



We began to go through Tougy’s closet the other day looking at a number of things given to her that, until now, have been too large and decided that even though the day didn’t quite warrant it, we would try out her Wellies. She loved them, though found them challenging to climb in.



Oh Midou our gentle giant. We love you old man.



With a look that seems to echo the words on the bottle, Aitugan is fiercely independent.



Though it is not easy to see, Tougy had had fun trying to eat the blue marker while attempting to sign mom’s card and as a result wore markings on both her face and her outfit the rest of the day.



At four times her current weight, Daouda can be extremely gentle where food is involved.



Daouda and his ever present tongue.



The post could not be complete without a photo of Mom on her first Mother’s Day. We love you Mom!!!

So now we move back in time away from Mother’s day and towards the end of the last post.



Here we have Acting-Sheriff Tougy standing tall at the OK Corral. So maybe she is just in the driveway in front of the shop but doesn’t she look imposing and purposeful?



A smattering of Daffodils in the back yard that came as bulbs courtesy of Nonna, and were lovingly planted by KJ just before heading to Kaz to meet Aitugan last fall. A resplendent reminder of life, growth, and beauty.



Over the weekend of 3-4 May, the three of us went down to Boston to visit friends.

We began at the New England Aquarium on Saturday with my grade school friend Tess, her husband David and son Graham. It did not take too long to realize that a cold and rainy Saturday in May was not the time to visit an aquarium in Boston.

Boy, living in Maine, your tolerance for crowds and lines diminishes inversely to your tolerance for bugs, cold, and taxes.

All that to say we promptly retreated to the comfort of a house and spent the remainder of the day attempting to tire out our wildly active girl. She loved Graham’s trampoline and bounced with all the spring she could pump out of her thighs.

As Graham is several years older, Tougy’s arrival gave him the opportunity to go into the basement and pull out some of his favorite toys from the past that he thought Tougy might enjoy.

It was very kind of him and we are sad not to have taken a good photo of the two of them playing together. Next time!



Graham’s indoor swing was also a huge hit and it was her first chance to use a big kids swing, i.e. not a bucket swing.

She did a great job of staying focused and held on right up until the point where she let go and fell off. How else do you learn!

We just smiled and reassured her that everything was fine – which thankfully it was.



Sunday had us visiting a friend from college (Kerri) and her husband Mark and 3 kids William, Molly, and Adelyn.

Here Tougy, Addy, and I share a moment.



Next Addy takes a break on big brother William as Molly looks on in the back.

Tougy had such a great time playing with Molly and Will. She loves being around older kids and Will and Molly were so interested in playing with her and showing her new things. It was a great day.



Adelyn looking sweet.



Molly posing for the camera. She loved having her picture taken.



Tougy making a face I can’t really describe. Certainly not one we had seen before.



Banging on anything is fun, but something that reciprocates with this much noise is pure joy.



Tougy loves to give hugs and will literally drop upon her unsuspecting subjects be they human, canine, or stuffed animal.



Daouda – what more can I say.



Showing just a hint of her true expressive self.



Tougy showing she is not all smiles, laughs and hugs, though really, when this is as bad as it gets, who are we kidding, we are very lucky (so far).



Aitugan has become fascinated with sitting of late. She lines up her approach turns around, shuffles backwards and drops.

One of her favorite targets seems to be the boys. They have been incredibly understanding, for she often lands upon their legs and they have yet to object.



Ah the eating of rocks – that time honored fascination.

This/these too will pass – I hope!



She loves the action of putting things ‘in’ and taking things ‘out’ and does her best to vocalize the words along with us.



No words needed.



A parting shot with her and her puppy. She likes to give her stuffed animals hugs and kisses, though this is fairly new. Until a month or so ago she had very little interest in them. Now she likes to carry them around and has also taken an interest in babies, whether real or toy.

There are so many more incredible things that we are discovering each passing day, but who are we kidding, you have your own lives.

Know that we appreciate your interest in our daughter and are grateful to the greater community we have come to know through this adoption process.

Take Care.