All about the Cook Boys!

After playing in the sprinkler today...they had SO much fun!! See all sprinkler pics HERE!

I know I've only "documented" the first two days, but I really just wanted to tell you guys about the boys and their personalities...will give you a little idea of how our days are going... :)

Charlie (aka Nuredin) is our shy one! He is very quiet and timid. Until he gets to know you, and then his little personality comes out! When he is happy, he laughs a lot. We have to be very careful about getting on to him...his spirit can be broken quite easily and we often struggle with how to discipline him (but even that doesn't need to happen often!). He is VERY smart...knows ABC's, counts, can label many (many...) animals, objects, etc...he is even reading some! Shocking, I know! He writes English words, too. He is picking up English very fast. Although, right now, he understands far more than he can say. He is able to even sometimes help us with telling Sam things when we can't get Sam to understand us. He is a GREAT big brother...almost to a fault...he will give things to Sam, when Sam is pitching a fit, allowing him to get his way! He is our human garbage disposal! This kid will eat ANYTHING you put in front of him!! Today he actually ate raw snow peas and mushrooms! Now what kid do you know that will do that?? He loves pizza, any kind of technology (would sit in front of the the TV all day if we let him!), cameras (he has changed settings on my camera to the point that I don't know how to get it back!), any toys that sing or make noise, soccer, basketball and riding in the car. He doesn't like it when his little brother gets in his way, having his ears cleaned, cleaning up, not getting enough to eat, and cold milk (they don't drink cold drinks in Ethiopia, so having cold milk has been a challenge for him). He gets a little overwhelmed in new situations. Meeting new people has been a struggle, so we are really trying to minimize that right now and hanging out at home a lot. He does great here at home, but can shut down on us if we are out. So, if you see us out, just act like he's been around forever and don't make too much of a big deal about him and I think he'll be fine. Pray for Charlie...He has had a hard day. I think we moved into some of the grieving today. I'm sure it has just hit him now that everything is different. We had a tearful afternoon (on his end and mine), but we were doing much better by dinner time!



Sam (aka Edaso) is a little firecracker! The fact that he has two names right now is fitting because he has dual personalities...He can be the sweetest, most compliant kid in the world and the next second that will totally change if he doesn't get his way! We are truly finding out what it means to have the terrible twos! They laughed at the orphanage when we told them we were Edaso's parents...now we know why! He sings ALL the time...a mixture of Ahmaric and English songs, which is too cute! He can count to 10 and knows most of his ABC's...or at least the tune to the song! He is picking up some English words...I'm trying to get him to tell me "help!" when he needs something, instead of crying...so I'll say, "Say help!" And he repeats, "Say help!" So cute! Today, he wanted down from the swing and I said, "What do you say?"...He responded, "What do you say?" Not quite catching on yet! He is the best little cleaner...when he gets done playing, a lot of time he will put up what he is playing with, loves to put things in the trash can and always cleans up after he is done eating...mostly by raking his crumbs off onto the floor! He loves playdough, cars and trucks, swinging, baseball bats, any toy that makes noise, climbing on anything he can get his little feet on, loves to be held and most importantly loves bread! If I can't get him to eat anything else, he will eat bread. We have had meals that have consisted entirely of bread. I'm happy to report that today we actually had NO bread! Y'all don't know what a feat that was!! He does not like dogs (found that out really fast today when the neighbor's retriever made her presence known!), not getting his way, having his hair brushed (it tickles!), taking a nap or if you try to do something for him! Very independent! This kid is a major manipulator, even at the young age of 2.5, but I've got his number and he isn't getting anything past me!!



More about the trip tomorrow...