Well Maine is finally breaking into spring, and with it, Aitugan has found new freedom of movement and exploration. In addition to turning 1 since I last updated the blog, she has added a number of signs and words to her vocabulary. She continues to run everywhere and is fascinated with steps and uneven surfaces.

We have just come back from a weekend at the Cape shared with our dear friends the Robinson's and their daughter Aila whom we first met in Almaty before Christmas.

It was wonderful to watch these two girls play, share, and generally romp together with their new found capacities, and of course it was marvelous to share stories and observations with Jennifer and Marshall, and to revel in our coincidentally concurrent journey.



Going up stairs is the easy part. Coming back down safely is the hard part.



Aitugan first saw sand in Florida in February though at that point she wasn't walking and so her explorations at the time were limited.



She seemed to really enjoy the feeling of the sand on her hands and feet.



For Aila this was her first chance to walk in sand and feel the ocean at her feet, and she seemed to love it.



I don't know what it is about this photo that makes me think of my brother Jamie. She was just so pleased to be playing in the sand.



Testing the water's edge.



Tickling - a universal smile maker.



Let's not overlook the entertainment power of the raspberry.



What child doesn't enjoy riding on Dad's shoulders?



After a long afternoon of walks and sand, nothing beats a bottle.

Aitugan has come so far in the past month. As for signs, she now uses a number of them including more, eat, drink, milk, and all done. New ones on the horizon include up, down, bathtime, and thank you.

As for words, there is a hi/hello accompanied by putting anything to her ear. We have lots of dada, and mama, though not always at meaningful times. There is a distinctive doda she uses for the dogs that seems to approximate Daouda, the name of one of our dogs who pays the most attention to her.

I'm sure I'm missing some of her words, though for all of her vocalization, and she does talk a lot, it is mostly comprised of excited and or exasperated sounds.

Her comprehension is growing rapidly. She will hug nearly anything on command. We can direct her to toys and objects, and she will bring them to us. She understands sit, stand, up , down, playroom, Tougy's room, diaper, outside, and many more such words.

It is such an amazing process wherein we can begin to communicate, and I know it must be liberating for her as well.



Aila had fun playing hide and seek at the edge of the sofa.



Despite having gotten together with the Robinson's several times, both in Kaz and here in the States, this weekend was the first time the two girls were able to spend quality playtime together and they did so wonderfully. Toys were freely handed back and forth and overall there was a gentle cooperative tone. Very nice to see.



It seems every child has a photo from their first birthday with cake and icing smashed about their body. Unfortunately on Tougy's birthday(05 April), we had had such a long day, that by the time cake came around, she was fussy and tired and had no interest in eating.

Our rendezvous on the Cape provided the opportunity to try again, and this time the cup cakes and frosting that Kjersten made were a hit - especially with the adults.



Sunday morning in Osterville was beautiful and quiet, and just seemed to be screaming out for a long walk - and so we obliged.



Along the way we stopped off at the camp benches to allow the girls to demonstrate both their agility and balance.

For several weeks now Aitugan has made a habit of sticking out her tongue while concentrating. Hey it worked for Michael Jordan!



Interestingly we noticed that though Aitugan confidently walked along the red green and blue planks, the yellow ones gave her some pause and definitely were met with more caution.



Of course most often walks with toddlers really are carries. How we love our Ergo Carrier.

The photos below are from our quick trip to Chicago for Aitugan's true birthday. We flew out Saturday and back Sunday, so for those of you in Chicago who wish we would have told you we were in town, please understand that our time was limited.



One of Tougy's favorite games is to tickle our feet, and we of course always exaggerate our reactions to increase her joy.

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrz4N6W3RzX3PAp2i1YaxIaFxSxP02Mixwgs2p902n3QwpwnZYuyufiz7uKAg12iPlU8nSHmxS-0j4bhnGzhXKUFvx9ytSHu4OEYZzUhJCZYehSCu51NKm0zP1kXzAuY0nmOfGg/s1600-h/_D215414.jpg">

Tougy was joined by lots of family in Chicago. In addition to my father, stepmother and two sisters with whom we stayed, my brother, his wife, and their four children came over Saturday.

Here cousins Annie and Lauren join Tougy on the kitchen floor.



Cousin Lauren



Cousin Katy



My sisters (Tougy's Aunts) Cat and Emily made a wonderful cake.



Here Poppy (my father) helps Tougy blow the candles out on their joint birthday cake while Cousin Katy looks on. Poppy's birthday is the 4th, while Tougy's is the 5th - different years though.



As I mentioned earlier, cake came a little too late for Tougy.

The day began in her crib in Maine. We left here at 3am to drive a couple hours to Manchester NH for our 7 am flight to O'Hare, spent a napless day with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents in Chicago, then somewhere around 8pm, fell apart over cake.



A good night sleep later and Aitugan was a child renewed.

Tougy loves swinging in all its forms and will surely become Kjersten's willing roller coaster partner when the park gods decree her tall enough.

Until then, a good swing with her Mimi will more than suffice.



Having grabbed Tougy from her crib to head to the airport Saturday morning, we arrived to find we had forgotten shoes. Here Tougy proudly displays her new white party shoes purchased on the fly in Lake Forest. Hopefully they will still fit when we head to Arizona next month for Tanda's wedding.



She is getting so big and so independent. It has been incredible to watch the changes.



And lastly, finally a well deserved nap before heading back to the airport Sunday.

She was a great flier again, though it certainly works well to fly either early or late in the day. She slept the whole flight and car ride home, arriving back in her crib somewhere after midnight Sunday. Exhausting but so worthwhile.

So Uncle Erik (and Jessica) you're it. You are all that is left to meet in her extended family and we know we will see you at the cousin's reunion in New Hampshire over the 4th of July.

Before then we'll likely make trips to Boston (Tess and Kerry), Arizona (Tanda and Micah's wedding), and Chicago (Kazapalooza), so as Lyle (and Townes before him) sings - it won't be long til I'll be tying on my flyin' shoes. Take Care.

Aitugan's First "word"!!



For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Baby Sign Language, Aitugan has seen us make a number of signs to actions and things such as more, kiss, mommy, daddy, thank you, all done, eat, and drink.

Today was the first time that she actively used a sign in a meaningful context - the two hands coming together fingertips to fingertips representing more. Once again I must give credit to KJ for being so diligent and insisting that Aitugan understands more than we think. I think that the video shows she has been correct.

As it says in the video, today marks the passing of 3 months since we arrived home on Christmas day. Difficult to believe that it has been just that long. Perhaps we have miscounted! Ah of course - it's a leap year.



Well there is clearly no lack of appetite in our little one. Here she is laying into a bowl of KJ's homemade Sweet Potato/Squash goodness.

As you can see, we allow her a certain amount of liberty while she eats at home. With dogs as an environmentally friendly substitute to paper towels, everyone seems to benefit.



We thought it was time to introduce Tougy to her future sailing partner 'Violet Grayce'. Named after two of Tougy's Great Grandmothers, Violet Grayce is a 32 foot, 45 year-old mahogany on oak sloop built in Sweden.

As you can see, she is undergoing an extensive rebuild, and should be back in the water in 2009. Before then, we hope to have our 18 foot, 64 year-old Rhodes 18 'Kazmosis' back in the water this summer.











Easter Sunday was a beautiful day here in Midcoast Maine, though it was deceptively cold and windy. All the same, we thought it was a great time introduce Tougy to lighthouses and tide pools. She seemed fascinated by both.





Not even 34 degree weather can keep a child away from a tide pool. The allure is simply too great.





While Aitugan likes to say she is "So Big", she is in fact still quite a tiny (though mysteriously capable) thing. Hovering somewhere just the low side of 30 inches overall, her bow-legged stance and low-slung diaper give her legs a slightly comical and out of proportion appearance. It makes me think of the 18" Stonehenge from Spinal Tap. Maybe it is just me!





Take Care.

I know I posted this over a week ago and left it without any commentary - sorry!

Perhaps as many children do, Tougy likes to think that anything with buttons is like that thing that mom and dad hold up to their ears and talk in to. She is simply captivated by things with buttons to push, especially if they light up and or make noise when you push them.

We have found an old out of commissioned cell phone that we can keep charged and she seems to love it, and we enjoy that it won't actually call anyone accidentally.

Here she improvises with the TV remote.



The dogs have all been so wonderful with her, and with adapting to the presence of a life that has supplanted them to some degree.

Here Midou tolerantly has the inner workings of his ear investigated.



Midou looking the part of regal statesman.



Bokar keeps a watchful gaze on any activity that may result in free snacks.



Adorable Daouda...



his tongue is simply too big for his mouth.



Tougy joins Bokar for a quick nap on the office floor.



Stairs have long fascinated our little angel - though now her agility is approaching the point at which we are becoming truly scared.



This fascination I feel certain is universal. What child has never tested to see for just how long that magic thing on the bathroom wall can continue to make more.



These are the moments we all dream of as we fill out form upon form, repeatedly accost feckless notaries public, and wade through the mire that is adoption. Worth every effort!



You'd have to look hard to notice, but Tougy has new teeth in this photo. It was in fact a busy week for her mouth.

In the nearly 5 months that we had known her, Tougy has had but the two lower teeth she had when first we met. Now within the span of 6 days, four upper teeth all popped through. Of course this made for some crankiness and irritability, though I may have suspected it would be worse. She is such a trooper!





How can you not smile and laugh at this. No Tougy - we are laughing with you not at you. She is so adorably "healthy".

It is official - Aitugan Walks!!!



The walking first began on Superbowl Sunday, but really took shape this past week. She is now at the point where she can predictably walk across a room and, at least once now, she has stopped midway, bent down to pick up a toy, and then continued on.

So much has happened in her development just in the last week. Without warning we began to notice a new tooth emerging. It was not preceded by teething and discomfort, and it is not where we had thought we would see her next teeth.

We met her just prior to her 7th month birthday, and at the time she had two center lower teeth and in the 3-plus months that we have been with her, we have seen nothing further until this week when a lone second incisor on her right side poked through. Presumably her middle teeth are not far behind, but who knows.

Apart from the dental and ambulatory news, as of this week she has also taken control of her feeding. Like so many things it was a gradual progression wherein she first played with her sippy cup, then just held it and sucked air, but now she understands that she must hold it up inverted enough to get her milk, and she delights in showing us how independent she is becoming.

The rate at which all of these changes takes place really is astounding. Sure you hear from others that 'they grow up so fast' but man oh man does it happen quickly when you are there to witness each step along the way and to recognize both the subtle and not so subtle transformations.



A couple weekends ago we left Maine for a quick jaunt across New Hampshire and Mass to Rhode Island to attend a party for some Kaz adoptive friends of ours, and then went on to the Cape that evening to visit with my older brother and his family for the night before returning back to Maine Sunday.

It was terrific to see so many important people and to share time with our daughter in a number of different environments. She did astoundingly well with the adjustments and all of the people. We are very encouraged by the ease with which she adapts and handles new situations.



As well as feeding herself, Tougy delights in feeding us. Each time we take a bite from her she reels in delight.



There is still nothing quite so soothing as her left thumb - and I'm okay with that. It sure beats keeping track of a pacifier.



Since the day we met her, one of her most remarkable qualities has been her amazingly engaging and bright eyes. I can't look at them enough.



Clean up is sure a lot easier with a pair of willing dogs at the ready. They watch her every move and await the 'okay' from us before swooping in for the spoils.



The dogs attention and wants are not lost on Aitugan either, she both taunts and rewards them and has begun what seems to be a universal favorite past time of all infants - the throwing of food!



With a look somewhere between Derek Zoolander and Harry Callahan - Tougy enjoys makes faces.



Judging from the comments already received about this photo, joining your child in the crib is not something every parent does. I see it as sort of a cross between leading by example and the idea that if you cannot beat them, join them.

Both KJ and I (on separate occasions) have climbed in to help ease her into sleep. It is really quite a comfortable mattress.

Perhaps not every crib would welcome a parents weight, but having both designed and built the crib, I knew it would hold us all. That said, it is just a standard sized crib mattress and so the space can be an issue.



Here is our little Tougy enjoying her first solo bottle. A very satisfied little girl!



On a final note, congratulations to both Regina Ruopoli and Susan Serra. Over the course of the last week both of them - longtime readers of our blog - received word from their respective adoption agencies as to which region within Kazakhstan they would be traveling. We wish them the best.

Take Care.

Our little Aitugan turns 10 months old today. I know that before long we'll go from counting months to counting years but for now, we continue to marvel at the changes that present themselves on a daily basis.

Incredulously I revisit the seemingly distant memory of our first day in the baby house playroom with Aitugan and remember that it was just three months ago. Three months ago - how can that be true.

I continue to check in on the Kazak Adoption online forums - as we have for nearly a year now - though the topics and jargon ring out like the names of bands I knew in high school - relics and placeholders of a time long since past.

The I-600's - yeah I saw them back in the day. MFA - didn't they do that song from that John Hughes movie. Dossier sounds familiar, but I was never really into metal.

Our life as a family has moved forward at speeds I never knew existed. I know our passports might proclaim otherwise, but I feel I could convince a lie detector that we have been together all of our lives. How could it not be so? She is our daughter as surely as anything I know to be true.

Take Care.