2012 Bulgaria Adoptive Families Reunion

The Kids

We attended the annual Bulgaria Adoptive Families Reunion on 6/22, 6/23 and 6/24 at Winton Woods Campground in Cincinnati.  We had an amazing time connecting with other families with little ones from Bulgaria.  We have been in touch with many of these families through our blog and FaceBook for quite some time, so it was neat to meet in person.

Tired Boy!!

We left home on Friday morning and made stops at Red Robin, IKEA and Jungle Jim's International Market.  We arrived at the campground around 4:00pm and checked in to our Deluxe Cabin.  Those who know us well know that we are not campers, so we were thankful to stay in a cabin that had a real bed, a full bathroom, kitchen, television with cable, internet and air conditioning.  We forgot the pack-n-play at home, but Nikolas did just fine sleeping on the pull-out sofa bed.  I guess it's a sign he's almost ready for a big boy bed of his own. 

Alexander, Calvin and Nikolas
The Dobrich Boys

After we got settled we went outside to get acquainted with everyone.  Nikolas immediately connected with Alexander, who is the same age and also from Dobrich.  We know they were around each other in the orphanage, and I think they just might have remembered each other.  We spent the evening visiting with everyone and had a wonderful time.  Bathtime and bedtime were a little rough for Nikolas, but he eventually got to sleep and only woke up once in the middle of the night.

At the Splash Park

Saturday was a great day.  We had breakfast at the campground and visited with friends while Nikolas played with his new friends.  We took a break for lunch and a little nap before meeting up with friends and heading to the Splash Park on the other side of the campground.  Nikolas doesn't like getting sprayed from above, but he was okay with the small fountains.  They also put in some new playground equipment recently that was very nice.  He spent a lot of time playing with his friends in that area.  After some ice cream, we headed back to the cabin to get cleaned up for dinner.  We had a great potluck dinner followed by a campfire.  There was a lot of good food, Bulgarian music, and dancing.  Some of the local Bulgarians were able to join us for the evening.  Bedtime went so much better that night.


On Sunday morning we had breakfast with our friends and said our goodbyes and headed home.  We all had a wonderful time and have already reserved a cabin for next year!!

10 Month Update

This week marked ten weeks home for Nikolas. I don't have a lot to say about this month, so this update will be mostly pictures of our adorable little Bulgarian boy.  He is now weighing in at 27 pounds and is 37 inches tall.  He continues to be a good eater.  We've been pushing him to eat more independently, and his fork and spoon skills have improved so much over the past couple of weeks.  He's not the neatest eater, but he's definitely getting the food from his plate to his mouth.  His speech isn't progressing much.  He will mimic sounds (especially if they are on television), but he still refuses to repeat words.  He starts speech therapy on Tuesday, so hopefully his speech therapist will be able to pull some words out of him.  We have noticed that he seeks us out for comfort more often when he falls down.  He wants a kiss (usually on his forearm), and then he's on his way.  He's been going to Kids Club at the gym for a couple of months, and I'm finally starting to see him interacting with the other children.  The other day when I went to pick him up he was building a Lincoln Log house with a few other little ones, and he seemed to be enjoying himself.  He likes the ladies that work there and is comfortable staying with them while I go to my Aqua Fit class.  Here are some pictures:






    
For those of you who are attending the reunion, we look forward to seeing you all in a few weeks!!