6 Month Gotcha! And Pictures

6 months!! Can you believe it?? I'm not kidding when I say that I sat down at the table Saturday morning and spent a good 30 minutes staring into oblivion while mulling over the fact that November 4th was Naveen's 6 month Gotcha Day.

6 months!! Where'd the time go?

So much has happened and things are just so crazy busy that I don't get a chance to blog much anymore. I have great intentions of being a super consistent blogger, but the fact that I have commitment issues, plus the fact that feeling pressured to write everyday stresses me out, means that I end up constructing a ton of blog posts in my head, but rarely type them out onto the computer.

So, here's a quick bullet list of what's been going on, followed by pictures!

• Naveen had surgery on October 12 to repair his right kidney. Knock on wood, we think it worked! We go back next Tuesday to his see both his urologist and nephrologist for a follow-up.
• Naveen's completely regressed in almost all areas since the surgery. He's no longer potty-trained (hello expensive pullups!), is still sleeping in our bed, while Sim occupies the couch, has practically zero appetite, and is very clingy
• Prior to the surgery, though, he was coming around and starting to feel more comfortable around Sim and our family
• Still turns his head away from strangers who try to talk to him when we're out in public. He subscribes to the philosophy that if he can't see you, then you don't exist!
• Has become a master at manipulating the iPad and our Roku.
• Thinks he's the same age as Nandi and Eli and LOVES to rough house
• Has calmed down loads and is no longer pulling books off the shelf, flooding the kitchen, or emptying tubes of toothpaste in his hair
• LOVES to help me fold laundry, empty the dishwasher, and put clothes into the dryer (can I clone him??)
• Loves Barney. Way too much.
• Is speaking in 4-5 word sentences, although his articulation is still iffy.
• REFUSES to say his name. Won't say Naveen or Aashish. Seriously, what's with that?
• LOVES shoes. The boy is a shoe-a-holic. I think he spent way too many years wearing pink Hello Kitty ones in the orphanage. He's a little fashion horse, too.
• Doesn't play with toys and prefers real things... like brooms and cups and rubberbands.
• Can put my hair into a ponytail! And loves to brush my hair.
• Cries for at least 30 minutes first thing every morning. Okay, cries is an understatement. This boy SCREAMS and kicks and flails first thing every morning. But after that, he calms down and is good as gold for the rest of the day.
• Loves to dance. Prefers rap music (blech) and is very opinionated about what he wants to listen to in the car. But I'm also opinionated about what I want to listen to in the car, so he's learning to get over it.
• Is pretty much the biggest blessing in the world and I'm serious when I say that not a day goes by when I don't think how lucky I am to be his mommy. I just feel unbelievably blessed.

In other news...

• I've met with the school twice about N & E. Both are in tutoring, but the school refused to do learning disability testing on either one of them.
• Report cards came out last week and one is failing math and the other is failing reading
• We did private learning disability testing, plus some psychological testing for one child and will get the results on Thursday
• Contemplating on having reading testing done on the other child. ($750 smackeroos!!)
• Hospital bills, birthdays, Christmas coming up, and lots of testing... I think Dave Ramsey is going to kick us to the curb.
• I am one room away from having the house CLEAN and organized. AND.. it's stayed this way for a week. That is certainly cause to celebrate.
• We're two chapters away from finishing the 3rd Percy Jackson books with Noah. He doesn't want to finish the series right because he says they're not interesting. Say what??
• Noah's skin is breaking out again and he's having more meltdowns. I worry about him.

I know there's a lot more, but I can't think off the top of my head right now. Noah's crying in the other room, so I need to post these pictures and get off here. Hopefully I won't take so long to post next time...