Saturday, September 17, 2005

Saturday Photos

We started out today with some lunch a Noodles. Here's DW and Ashton Beau playing after lunch.






When we got home, Ashton Beau decided to cruise over to the car to check the tire pressure. He loves touching the tires, rims, and wheel wells.

I think you need your tires rotated m'am?






Of course, playing with the tires and wheels wells gets you this....



Which leads to....



and....


And later......

Ashton Beau passed on the dinosaur for this Halloween. He decided to duel Snoopy as the Red Baron - Manfred von Richtofen - instead. Here he is trying on his flying kit today.



Always attack from above with the sun at your back. Get close....




First Post-Placement Report

Those of you familar with adopting from Russia know that after parents and children return home, licensed social workers come to visit you once every so often to observe your family, write up reports, and submit them to the Russian Ministry of Education.

Our furst post-placement visit was this past Tuesday. It went well and our social worker was pleased with what she saw. She asked about Ashton Beau, how he was adjsuting to life with us, what he liked to play with, how he is developing, what kinds of therapies he's attending (e.g., physical, occupational, speech).

The Russian Ministry of Education requests photos with each post-placement report. So we culled through the litrally thousands of photos we've taken in the last 3.5 months.

Before showing you some of the photos, allow me to remind those of you reading this who are adoptive parents of children from Russia, one of the few things you can do to help ensure continued and expiditious adoption of more children from Russia in the future is to timely submit proper post-placement reports. Please do what you have to to show officials in Russia what a fine home your child has and to reasure them that by helping more adoptive parents - instead of putting picyune obstacles in their way - they will be doing something good for the children of Russia's orphanages and the families who love them.

Here are some of the highlights that will go with the report.

Family photo with Nungesser, DW, and Ashton Beau.



Ashton Beau practicing his walking technique with DW.



Ashton Beau wearing his U. of Florida Gators jersey from his cousin Jonathan. Thanks Johnny!



Ashton Beau playing with the drawers on the bench in our front foyer.



Ashton Beau looking up the stairs at me from the foyer.



Ashton Beau going for a ride in his new bicycle trailer.



Ashton Beau trying on a dinosaur Halloween costume.

Labor Day Weekend

This past Labor Day weekend my parent hosted a family get together at their home so extended family could come and see my brother and his wife who were visiting from Brazil. It was also the first opportunity for many to meet Ashton Beau live in-person. He was a popular attraction and had a great time as did just about everybody else.

Ashton Beau really liked the door stop outside my mother's office.












One of Ashton Beau's highlights was when my brother and DW played with him on one of those inflatable exercise balls.









And Ashton Beau's current number one favorite activity, holding onto hands and walking around. In this case, with my father in my parent's back-yard.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Ashton Beau: Bath and Bathroom

A few photos of Ashton Beau and with Nungesser and DW after one of his baths.







And some of Ashton Beau with a newly discovered toy (игрушка).