Snow and Shopping

We officially call him Jesse now.  We try not to use his Chinese name anymore.  He seems to respond well when we call him by Jesse.  We are so blessed to have such an affectionate, rambunctious, humorous little guy.  He understands us completely and is saying several new English words each day.  He has found many ways to communicate to us when needed, he is quite an industrious thinker and catches on very quickly.

Due to our scary and overwhelming experiences while outside of our hotel room in China, we have been hesitant to leave our house with Jesse, as we were not sure how he would react.  We have spent this past week setting boundaries, clarifying parental authority, explaining the concept of listening and obeying, and reinsuring ourselves that he does understand what we say. So, today, Jesse got a taste of life outside of our house.  He made a short trip to Kroger with mom and dad.  He did great, and was curious with all of the foods and products on the shelves.  He wanted to run with his shopping cart and pick out many items not on our list.  He waited patiently in the check out line and held our hands in the parking lot.  Our first trip in public was a success.

He has also had the opportunity to play outside in the snow.  He enjoyed the snowball making and throwing catching snowflakes on his tongue, and making snow angels.  I am sure soon he will be able to go sledding also.

He enjoys playing with cars, playing on the iPad, building and knocking down blocks or anything else.  He will truly miss daddy and his tickle/zerbert wars when he goes back to work on Monday.  He has discovered that he loves bath time with toys in the tub.  He taught us a form of ring around the rosy, and will play duck duck goose with all of us.  He enjoys playing a bean bag toss game, and using the bean bags in many creative ways.

Jesse has gained a bit of wait since being in the States, must be all the 'beans'