Yep no time to chat, just swamped with life as we know it, preparing for baby (x2) this time. OH BOY here we go again! I don't think it has really sunk in and probably won't until I am standing there holding our 2 little ones in my arms with Blaze pulling on my pant leg for some attention too. But, that's all stuff for the other blog...
Blaze is growing like a weed. He will be 18 months already on the 26th of this month. He seems to get taller by the day and we notice it even more when he is opening all the doors, drawers and cupboards or getting things off the counter that used to be way out of his reach.
He is learning to climb and no chair or couch is too tough for our little man. Tonight we found him in the spare room, up on Gerry's Grampie's 100 year old chair standing tall all proud of himself then minutes later out on the couch in the living room peaking over the back at us while we cooked supper. Little stinker. When we try to chase after him to get what ever he has in his hands that he shouldn't, he runs off making a game out of it and if we get too close well then whatever is in his hand gets thrown to the floor. That's my BOY! Every time, I just look at Gerry and say with a chuckle...'You wanted a boy!'
I swear he gets cuter by the day (Blaze that is, but yes my husband is aging gracefully and I fall more in love with him everyday). We have been trying to style his hair some, so he is not a total 'Justin Beiber look-a-like', although he is Canadian and a cute kid. But I digress, So, in trying cool hair styles that also means I have to be diligent in keeping it cut so I can make him a little fo-hawk now and then. He does have nice wavy light brown hair so he will be blessed when he is older I am sure with easy to style hair. His BIG brown eyes are a killer, never hesitating to get a look and a smile from the ladies. Still a lady killer!!!
He is talking more and really trying to carry on a conversation. Too bad the words are quite far from the English language (or any other language we have heard of). His favorite words are Mommy (Mum for short), Daddy (and Dad), Papa (which still sounds like 'BaPa'), Gamma (which often sounds like Mama), and Dog (with a very long drawn out 'G' (sounds more like Daaawgggg). But by far his favorite of all is, "Hi!' He says it all day long even if he has just seen you 2 minutes early and you walk back into the room, he greets you with a high-pitched little 'Hi!' that truly melts your heart. He will say it at the darnest moments to anyone and everyone that is in earshot. We are trying to expand his vocabulary some, but he is pretty content on jabbering away in his own language and thinking we know exactly what he is saying.
He likes walking backwards then sitting on whatever he bumps into to, including Neyla. He still loves music and when we tell him to dance he wiggles his hips and shimmy's his shoulders, it is so cute. His latest pastime is spinning in circles and falling to the ground with a giggle.
He loves to explore. Getting into everything that is not tied down or one of his many toys. Every animal is pretty much a dog. Everyone on the phone is either Dad or Papa. He will wave 'bye' to the phone and either blow kisses or give the phone a big wet kiss to whomever is on the other end. Too bad they can't hear either.
He, like most toddlers loves to imitate, which makes for some fun meals out at restaurants when he decides to mimic the laughing couple next to us or the coughing old guy at the table across. We can't help but smile and laugh with him. Mommy's new thing she taught him since he DID say Dada first is me saying, "Who loves Blaze???" And his answer, "Mommy!" of course. Teeheehee just had to do it!
He is such a good natured child. I thank God each and every day and find myself saying, 'If the twins are even 1/2 as good as him...' He almost never cries. No exaggeration. People laugh when he gets upset cause it lasts all of 1-2 minutes and he reverts back to his happy-go-lucky self. And when I say 'upset' its maybe some whining, a few tears or a mad face, really nothing to ever complain about. We notice it even more when someone comments by saying, 'is he always this good?' or 'that's as upset as he gets?'. And my parents tell us over and over again that they can't get over what a good child he is.
He LOVES people. No matter where we go he ends up being the center of attention. We found a new park just around the corner from our house that is huge and he loves to go from swing to slide (the bigger the better) to monkey bars to stairs. He is our little dare devil and truly has NO fear but remains cautious. I am foreseeing a future with some pretty big boo boo's like his Daddy had when he was little.
Since Blaze is now following us into the bathroom and tries looking between our legs while we are on the toilet (those with toddlers, totally know what I am talking about) we thought it was a great time to introduce the potty.We bought Blaze the Fisher Price Cheer for Me Potty Chair and we are slowly getting him used to the idea. If he uses it properly it plays a song and says rewarding phrases. So NO singing from the potty just yet, this may take a while. Every night before bath-time the diaper comes off and he sits on the potty (well more like on all 4's up in the air and backs on to it). He sits quietly for just a few seconds, but hey its a start. We aren't pushing it, but how nice would it be to have him potty trained before the twins arrived...Ya right...wishful thinking I know!
So far he has mastered a few signs (well Blaze's signs) from his Baby Signing Time videos. I try to sign as much as possible when I am home with him. He now consistently knows and does, 'All done/finished,' 'more,' 'please,' 'eat', 'hat' and 'airplane' He uses them appropriately too.
On a different note, we have been busy with telling 'our story.' We are approached via email quite often for requests to do media stuff. In the past we have gracefully declined many because of the hassle of negative feedback and the time it takes to invest our free time. A few weeks back we received back to back requests for a few different things. The first one being the largest Swiss publisher who writes for many Swiss and European magazines and is planning on marketing a magazine on reproduction solely being distributed digitally for the IPAD, Kindle, and numerous other electronic books and also in several languages. We thought about it quite hard and then said sure what the heck, we are thrilled about the twins and can't say enough how blessed we are to have Blaze, and as always sing the praises of our incredible clinic, Surrogacy India and amazing doctors Dr.Yash and Dr.Sudhir. Next thing we knew there was a photographer and journalist on our doorsteps for an entire weekend to capture us in our 'everyday' life. It was a very long, but productive weekend. Blaze truly had a blast, especially when the photographer got on the ground to get photos which in his eyes was to play with him. He loved looking into the screen on her camera and seeing Mommy and Daddy. The journalist had taken the time to read the entire blog (wow, I don't know anyone who has read the whole thing...I was impressed) and loved spending time with Blaze, who was our little shining star. I joked how we felt like we were being followed by the paparazzi and got a few strange looks from on-lookers at the local grocery store and restaurants. In the end we hope we did their story justice and help spread the word of India being an affordable and attainable way to have a family for those who can't the regular way.
The second request was from an author interested in writing a book on infertility and wanting to feature our story as part of her book. The funny thing was after chatting with her on the phone and getting to know her, I then took the time to research her. Low and behold she has written 2 New York Times best sellers here in the States. Now I felt like a bit of a dummy! She was truly wonderful to talk to and such a down-to-earth humble person who told me, 'us and our story are inspirational.' WOW....I was floored that a person of her notoriety thought that about us??? Kind of still blows me away when people say such kind and amazing things. We truly are just a simple family created through a less then conventional way, but still just simple. So, it will take a couple of years for the book to be completed, but if you see us all on Oprah in a few years you'll know that her third book was also a best seller...LOL. Seriously though, how awesome would it be to have the positive and wonderful side of surrogacy in India spread to thousands of people (NOT by us on Oprah) but through her words in a best selling book. I could only dream that it would be possible after so many years of strange looks and odd faces when we tell our story. Any how, I still feel strange being the topic of anyone's story or article we don't feel any different then any other American family.
Blaze continues to love swimming. He is doing so awesome in his Survival Class. The first couple of classes were full of tears, but Coach Bryce assured us it is quite normal for the first couple of classes while they adjust to Mommy and Daddy not being with them in the pool. He was right on the mark, by the 3rd class Blaze was a happy little camper back to enjoying class. He now floats for long periods on his back with his arms and legs out straight with just a little hand from the Coach under the back of his head, He jumps in from the side of the pool and comes up and hangs on to the side all by himself and goes hand to hand all the way along to the steps. He sits quietly on the steps with his 2 other classmates and waits for his turn with his one-on-one time with Coach Bryce. He is all smiles and picks up very fast. Papa and Grandma came this week and couldn't believe what progress he has made in such a short time. Sad thing is we don't know if we can afford to put all 3 kids in swim class which kinda stinks as it has been so GREAT for Blaze. At least we have our own pool so its not like they won't learn how to swim, just most likely not the same as Blaze has.
We got some heart-wrenching news the other day about one of Gerry's co-workers at the Fire Station. His son, just 2 1/2 years old was diagnosed with leukemia. I came home from work that night after finding out at the end of my shift and went in and grabbed Blaze from his crib and just hugged him for what seemed like hours not wanting to let him go. The tears flowed down my face at the thought of such a horrific thing happening to any child broke my heart. I can't even begin to fathom what their family is suffering. Life is much too short to take even one minute for granted. If you are reading this please add little Brody to your prayers he has a long and difficult fight ahead of him.
There really is SO much to tell and I could go on and on and on about our amazing little man, but who has the time to write or read it all. We are just the proudest parents in the world, and can't believe to this day that he is OUR precious little angel.
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