Happy Birthday Myles!

Isn't it unbelievable how quickly a year goes by?? Looking at this picture, I find it difficult to imagine that one year ago this little boy was a newborn baby! Those two hour feedings, sleepless nights, projectile poops and first smiles seem like just yesterday. Yet Myles is no longer a baby, and we've progressed to a picky eater, temper tantrums, weird poops, first steps and first words! Yes folks, he's now a toddler.

We celebrated Myles' birthday twice this year, to accomodate our trip to Florida (which happened the week of Myles' actual birthdate). The first party, was on the fourth of March with our family and a few friends. We visited, played, ate cake and skated our hearts out.






Cousin Venrick was probably the most enthusiastic of the skaters, as you can see from the photos below. We are so proud of him. Having just arrived in Canada in November, we are amazed at how quickly he has absorbed so much Canadiana. I know, there is more to Canada than hockey . . . but in our house, it's close to number 1! Joel found out that Venrick didn't have a hockey stick, so he went down to the depths of the Klassen sports store and sent him home sporting a shiny new stick. But not before he gave him a few lessons on how to use it. For me, watching Venrick and Joel was a reminder of the winter before Naomi arrived. It was the first year we had a rink and I remember Joel barking out drills as I skated around windshield washer containers. It was also a prelude of days to come -- Joel and the kids doing drills!


Myles' first foray into chocolate birthday cake was a little slow to start. But the end result looked like this! When it came time to open birthday presents he had lots of help!

March 8th we started the long drive to Kissimee Florida. Our three day journey meant that the kids got to watch a LOT of television and play tons of video games. I have no idea what folks did before the evolution of DVD players, but we are sure thankful that we had one! Overall the kids did really well with the long drive.

When we arrived in Kissimmee, they were eager for some time in the pool, and that was pretty much where they spent the next 7 days. Naomi quickly gained confidence in the water and was soon bobbing around like a fish. Lilah was a little more timid and preferred her daddy's arms. She has always been a little more cautious about things, and swimming is no different. So she and Myles spent more time in the shallow waters of the hot tub for most of the week, but we did see lots of progress as the week went on.

On the 15th, Joel's parents drove up from their campsite in Punta Gorda to help us celebrate Myles' first birthday. We enjoyed a relaxing day with them around the pool and in the condo, then headed out to an all you can eat seafood buffet for dinner. We headed back to the condo for cake, where Myles had lots of help devouring it.

You will notice our friends Leevi and Simon in the photos helping to teach Myles the finer art of cake eating. In fact, they and their parents (Janet and Darryn) shared our condo for the week.

By Wednesday night Janet and I had decided that communal living really has it's benefits, and we had voted Joel off the island at least twice! Darryn had so much fun that he spent the latter part of the night sleeping beside the toilet -- or perhaps he was sick with fear of being voted off as well! Needless to say, we had a very enjoyable vacation and are looking forward to a return visit next year.

We returned home to bitter cold temperatures, but within a few days the Florida weather followed us home and SPRING arrived. It is so refreshing to be able to enjoy the outdoors! All three kids have been speeding up and down the driveway, either by bike, trike or pushing a walker. The kids have also rediscovered driveway chalk and are decorating all over the place! Myles of course, had to learn the hard way that chalk is not for eating - note the little blob of yellow on his chin!

And so I end this post with a new toddler in the house. Since our trip to Florida, Myles has learned all the typical toddler behaviours. It's startling how that happens overnight! Yesterday, Myles was heading down the laneway pushing his walker. At the end of the lane there is a rope that we've taught the girls not to cross on their bikes. The wise toddler in our home got to the rope and I tried to turn him around to head back to the house. Unfortunately he didn't seem to like that message. My actions were met with some serious squawking and a huff as he swung his walker back around and headed for the line. In the end - and after three attempts to teach him the rules, I ended up resorting to picking him up and carrying him to the house. Again met with squawking, but the score still stands with mom leading the game! Probably not for long though! Then again, I'm used to that!

I Really Like This Poem

You cannot change the truth,
These are your children,
but they came from somewhere else.
And they are the children of those places
and of those people as well.

Help them to know about their past
and about their present.
Help them to know that they are from extended families,
That they have only one parent or set of parents,
but they have more mothers and fathers.

They have grandmothers, godmothers,
birth mothers, mother countries, mother earth.

They have grandfathers, godfathers,
birth fathers, and fatherlands.

They have family by birth and by adoption.
They have family by choice and by chance.

Childhood is short;
They are our children to raise;
they are our children to love;
and then they are citizens of the world.
What we do to them creates the world that we live in.

Give them life.
Give them their truth.
Give them love.
Give them all they came with,
Give them all that they grow with.

Your children do not belong to you,
But they belong with you.
You cannot keep them from what is theirs,
but you can keep loving them.
You do not own your children,
but they are your own.

Taken from Joyce Maguire Pavoa's book "Family of Adoption"

Winter Wonderland!

Well we have gone from having a giant puddle in our backyard to having a rink. The snow is piled high on our deck and at the end of our driveway. Yes, winter has finally arrived in full force and the Klassen family is loving it!

Naomi and Lilah are rapidly getting the hang of skating. Myles is having fun tooting around in his stroller or on the sled. It is so much fun watching them romp around in the snow. A few days ago after our driveway was plowed, the girls decided to use the mound of snow at the end of the drive for tobogganning. What a blast that was (don't mind the booger noses)!

Naomi's class went to the Outdoor Education Center in Port Hope last Thursday (the coldest day this year). She came home raving about her day (despite the frigid temps) and telling us that she tried something new. We were excited for her and tried to figure out what the new thing was that she was describing. Somehow, out of "orange things on my feet with brown around them", we figured out snowshoeing!

Myles is getting more adept at getting around. He's pretty much mastered going up and down the stairs - desperate to follow his sisters wherever they go. He always gets a big grin on his face when he's working on learning a new skill. He is also getting pretty quick at his version of crawling/scooting. We aren't sure if he's refusing the "on all fours" version because he doesn't want to hurt his knees, or if it's because he always needs a free hand for his matchbox cars. His latest verbalization is "vrmm vrmmm" and he can most often be found pushing a hotwheels car around while doing it. It makes me smile to realize how boyish he is, despite the fact that no one has really shown him how.

Myles is also getting very good at calling Lilah's name. He wants to be involved in whatever the girls are doing and they don't cooperate, he yells "LALA". Watching the two of them together is like watching a game of Simon Says. If Lilah is on a Dora chair, Myles climbs on it too. If Lilah bounces on the chair, so does Myles. If Lilah claps her hands . . . you guessed it, so does Myles!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Year of the Pig!

We celebrated Chinese New Year with friends this past weekend at the Families with Children from China event in Toronto.

It was great to see old friends and to share some Chinese traditions! Pictured here are the hóng (red) sisters, Naomi, Jasmine, Vanessa and Sydney. The three eldest all are four years old and attend Mandarin together on Saturday mornings.

The girls also loved the lion dance and were thrilled to be able to be a part of the parade. Watching the unique friendships that these girls have developed is certainly a lot of fun!

Even Myles is mastering the use of chopsticks! His favorite food was the soup (creamed corn, chicken and egg), which ironically was also Lilah's favorite food in China when she was a baby of the same age. Even Naomi (who is normally not an adventurous eater) tried it, and ended up devouring two bowls. As usual, Myles loved the crowd and spent the evening grinning from ear to ear. Folks are always commenting that he's the smiliest little man - and that he is.

Lilah was excited to be able to share CNY with her Gram. She was enthralled with the young singers and dancers that performed during dinner.

Chinese New Year is one of my favorite festivals. It is a time for renewal, a time for thanksgiving and a time to look forward to the future. Three years ago, we began the tradition of celebrating in Toronto with our friends. That year we celebrated our family with the adoption of Naomi. It is hard to believe what an amazing little gal she has become in those three short years. She is a gal who would make any mother proud, but my heart swells to know that I get to be her mom. In fact, I couldn't be more proud of each of my children. I've added a quotation to the header of our blog that really brings home the way that I feel. I am definately holding the evening sky in my hands!

Can it be true??

We hear that winter is finally on it's way! HOORAY, though we can only cross our fingers that it is really going to stay a while. With forecasters predicting sub-zero weather for the next week, we finally put down the tarp for the rink and started the flooding process. As you can see, the kids were pretty flooded too . . . but everyone had fun and we're looking forward to some ice skating soon.

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy 2007 to all our faithful followers! We hope you enjoyed as happy a season as we did. I must admit that this was by far the best Christmas ever for me. Despite the holiday rushing around, we managed to carve out more "family time" this year and created a few new holiday traditions. One of my favorites is the "staying at home and lounging in jammies till 3pm on Christmas day" tradition.

Perhaps part of my enjoyment of the season also was in watching our kids explore and discover all the magic of the season. Naomi really "got" the whole Santa thing this year and was SO excited. We put the kids to bed on Christmas eve and at 11pm I went up to make sure that they were tucked in before the adults retired. Naomi sat bolt upright, looked at me and shouted "WHO ARE YOU!".

I replied, "It's just mommy".

"Oh, but I can't see Rudolf", Naomi said.

"Honey, he's not coming inside. He will land on the roof."

"Make sure he eats all his carrots!" she replied, rolling over and falling back to sleep. I left the room chuckling like the big guy himself!

The nicest gifts that we will ever have is the joy that our kids give us. I love to sit back and watch each of them. It is a wonder to me that all these little miracles are here today, despite all the odds that we had to overcome for each of them to be here. Now that our family is complete, it's nice to be able to acknowledge that the sadness that I used to feel at this time of year has been replaced with such happiness. OK enough with the sappy stuff.

Christmas Eve we celebrated with Papa Tom - who probably had thought his days of spending the eve of Christmas assembling and wrapping had ended. We rudely reminded him otherwise. Aside from enjoying our visit with him, I was so glad to have an elf to help put all the toys together!

Boxing Day we headed to the Clarke Retreat (aka Roxy, Auntie Heather and Uncle John's home), where we relaxed, enjoyed family time and celebrated the holidays. Being a competitive family, there is always some sort of challenge going on in the Klassen extended family -- and this Christmas gathering did not disappoint. I'd like to congratulate my Taboo team on their fantastic win against Queen Taylor's "Jock" team.

December is a busy month for us. Not only is it Christmas, but it is also both Joel and Naomi's birthdays! Joel and I celebrated his birthday on the 23rd by getting a sitter and heading to Peterborough for a night of fine dining at an amazing Thai/Malaysian restaurant. The food was WONDERFUL and we really enjoyed a meal to ourselves. It was a new restaurant for us, and one that we look forward to frequenting again. Naomi took the opportunity to remind Joel of how old he was by singing to him, "It's Raining. It's Pouring. The OLD man is snoring!". We all thought that was hilarious.

Naomi's 4rth birthday was celebrated Safari style with a party on the 29th. She was delighted to be able to dress up like. . . a cheetah - who'd have guessed. Thanks to my two friends Andrea and Foxy, even the cake was in cheetah theme (you should have seen Naomi's eyes lit up at the sight of it). I can't believe that Naomi is already 4 years old. To say that time flies is certainly an understatement. Every day we are amazed at all the things that she has picked up along the way. Most of it is good, and some of it is downright priceless. Like the day that we were driving home and she commented that we were driving on Hardwood Road. If you live here, you would know that we live off of Harwood Road and so Joel corrected her. Immediately she looked at him and said, "Daddy, is the road hard?". "Yes Naomi, it's hard." "Well Daddy then it's HARDwood Road". And that was that -- call the township there is a typo in the name of the road!

We rang in the New Year with many of our Cobourg friends this year. A while ago we got the idea to rent the Harwood Hall (which is 5 minutes north of us) and to invite all our friends to have a family oriented New Year's Eve celebration. It was a terrific time of eating, dancing and fireworks, and the bonus -- we raised $200 for the Children's Bridge Foundation in the process. You can see more details of this charity at http://www.childrensbridgefoundation.com if you are interested in learning more.

January 6th gave us opportunity to celebrate with Gram and the rest of the family. Naomi, Lilah and Myles always look forward to a visit from their cousins, and this time were especially pleased that Venrick and Maui were here for the first time too.

Myles was happy to see his older (though smaller) cousin's Maui and Lauren. He has become a crawling, chattering little man. We've had to "proof" the house in the last month as he started scooting on Christmas Eve and is getting very good at finding the stairs (particularily if the girls are beyond them). Myles loves his sisters and loves lots of action. Which begs the question - where did the past 10 months go???

So here we are in January 2007. Like I said earlier, where is the time going?? Joel & I are headed to Jamaica (without kids) at the end of this month. I can hardly imagine what it will be like without the kids, but I think both of us are looking forward to some time together.

And with that update, I will sign off for now. Hope I have apeased the folks who have been begging for an update recently - and 'm also letting the Wentworth's know that it's their turn now! ;P

Wishing you and yours all the best for 2007!