Four Years

We were in New Mexico for Jonas's Adoption Day this year, on an awesome Spring Break road trip. We still celebrated, hanging his Kyrgyzstan flag and sign on the tent and giving him his yurt present (he got some other gifts back at home). Jonas is still the light of our lives, bringing joy to everyone he encounters. Though he can have a bit of a temper at times, he recovers quickly and is as sweet as can be. Here's the recap on his year...

Stats:
-45 inches tall (2.5 inches taller)
-41 pounds (4 pounds heavier)
-Size 10 shoes
-5T shirts and pants
-Sleeps from 8pm-6:30am (with a Pull-up still)












Activities:
-Kindergarten with Mrs. Lang and Enrichment with Mrs. McCall at Cottonwood Creek Elementary
-Taekwondo (currently a yellow belt decided) at ATA Infinite Martial Arts (after moving away from Evolve martial arts class)
-Skyline Soccer
-Healthy Kids Running Series
-Swimming lessons
-REECA Heritage Camp
-Camping, fishing, skiing, biking, swimming, etc.








Other Items of Note:
-Moved from Wash Park to The Hills at Cherry Creek
-Lost 2 bottom teeth naturally, had 2 extra top adult teeth removed in a surgery
-Flew on a plane alone with Johanna to Michigan for a week during the summer
-First girlfriend named Bradli (1st grader he met on the bus)-they got "married"
-Served as a page boy in Aunt Morgan and Uncle Brian's wedding in California
-Moved from his toddler bed into a full-size bed
-Learned to ride a 2-wheel pedal bike




























Favorites:
Jonas still loves anything related to police, especially the SWAT team. He's also obsessed with Star Wars and Legos and army stuff. Playing the Nintendo Switch is a favorite as well, as well as playing with Johanna for hours on end. He loves pickles (he even had a pickle birthday cake!) and watermelon, Calvin and Hobbes, dressing "fancy," wrestling, giving cuddles, and riding his bike. He plays with Nirvaan, Tyler, Eric, and Lewis and talks a lot about Chance, Hudson, Maddox, and more buddies at school. He talks nonstop, usually about Star Wars or Zelda, and he gives lots of cuddles and hugs. He still says the sweetest things, and his kindergarten teacher described him as one of the most empathetic kids she's ever met in her entire teaching career! We love our sweet boy so much!

Follow me on Instagram at @aubreekeys for almost daily pictures of Jonas and Johanna!

Three Years

We spent the weekend at a yurt (the dwelling of Jonas's ancestors in Kyrgyzstan), celebrating Jonas's 3rd Adoption Day. Here's the yearly update on our darling boy:

Stats:
-42.5 inches tall (3 inches taller)
-37 pounds (2 pounds heavier)
-4T shirts and pants
-size 9 shoes
-still should wear a Pull-up most nights!
-sleeps from 8pm to 7am (no more naps unless we're driving)
-still receives speech services at school-currently struggles with plural words ("dogses" vs. "dogs") and saying "them" instead of "they"


Activities he's done in the past year:
-DU gymnastics
-Skyline soccer
-YMCA T-ball
-Evolve martial arts
-Stephen Knight preschool (Ms. Hilary and now Ms. Bev's morning class)
-REECA Heritage Camp
-camping, skiing, hiking, swimming, etc.

Places he's visited:
-China (Beijing, Nanchang, Guangzhou, Hong Kong)
-Michigan (Holland and Traverse City)
-Chesterfield, Missouri
-Various places in Colorado (Fruita, Aspen, Twin Lakes, Granby, Winter Park, Walden, etc.)


Favorite things:
-the color green (still)
-putting things together (Legos, circuit set, etc.)
-movies (especially Big Hero 6 and Peter Pan)
-shows (especially PJ Masks)
-Hot Wheels cars
-police, pirates, robots, superheroes, Star Wars, and army stuff
-bike rides, going to the park, swimming, fishing
-dressing up handsomely (he loves wearing button up shirts and a tie)
-cuddling and expressing affection (saying how much he loves us)
-candy, yogurt, pickles, fruit
-wrestling (his sister, friends after school, and mostly Zack)
-Calvin and Hobbes
-playing pretend, especially PJ Masks or "ninjas"

Jonas is so charming and such a sweetheart. With his cute glasses and endearing personality, he makes friends immediately wherever we go. 95% of the time he is easygoing, up for anything, and fun-loving. He also says the most hilarious and cutest things. He loves playing with Johanna; having a sibling has been the best thing ever for him. We wonder if he might become some sort of engineer, as he spends hours playing with his circuit set and loves figuring out how things work. Life with Jonas is always full of adventure, laughs, and love. It's been another great year with our little boy!

Two Years

It's Jonas's second Adoption Day! He is still the light of our lives and as sweet as can be. Now he even has a little sister (five days younger) from China! He and Johanna have a lot of fun together. Instagram is where I post our daily adventures, but here are the yearly stats and things I want to remember...

Stats:
-almost 35 pounds
-39.5 inches tall
-3T/4T shirts, 3T pants
-size 8 shoes
-still wears a Pull-up at night
-still eats most everything
-wears glasses full-time (also had to patch his right eye for 2 hours a day for a few months to strengthen his left eye)
-takes an hour-long nap about every other day
-goes to sleep around 8pm, wakes up at 7am

Activities he's done in the past year:
-DU gymnastics class
-Skyline soccer
-YMCA T-ball
-Denver rec swim lessons
-private speech therapy (still struggles with articulation of s-words like "school" and "stop" and including verbs "Mama, you so beautiful!")
-Stephen Knight Center for Early Education preschool (Mr. Bryan Kottke's morning class)
-camping, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, hiking, etc.
-summited Mt. Bierstadt, a 14er!

Places he's visited:
-various places in Colorado (Sand Dunes, Royal Gorge, etc.)
-Holland, Michigan
-Notre Dame, Indiana
-Moab, Utah
-China (Beijing, Nanchang, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong)

Favorite things:
-the color green
-cars, trucks, rockets, tools, pirates, dinosaurs, and sharks
-building forts
-watermelon (and all other fruit)
-movies (especially Aladdin and Peter Pan)
-ice cream, candy, suckers, and popsicles
-the Ghostbusters theme song
-swimming, riding his bike or scooter, playing outside
-going to Wash Park, Denver Zoo, Children's Museum, or Denver Botanic Gardens
-reading books
-dressing up as a policeman or knight
-friends (Caleb, Dylan, Isaiah, Lela) and running around with them after school

Jonas is Getting a Little Sister!

Jonas has been ours for 1 1/2 years as of today. He's amazing and hilarious and creative and the sweetest son ever. And now he's getting a little sister! That's right...we're adopting again...this time from China! Check out our new blog HERE, and if you'd like to help bring her home, please consider participating in our Puzzle Fundraiser. Just $10 will help "Bring Home Our Missing Piece!" Check it out HERE!

One Year

Today is Jonas's first Adoption Day! We've had an amazing year with our darling son. I wanted to document some things, so here goes...

Stats:
-30 pounds (gained 7 pounds)
-36.5 inches (grew 4 inches)
-2T/3T shirts and 2T pants (was 18 month size)
-size 6 shoes (was size 5)
-fully potty trained (but not at night)
-eats everything

Activities he's done in the past year:
-DU gymnastics class
-Music Together class
-JCC art class
-Progresh ski lessons
-Skyline soccer
-Denver Rec swim lessons
-Early Intervention tutoring for language
-Stephen Knight Center for Early Education preschool (Ms. Kathy Lange's morning class)

Places he likes to go regularly:
-Wash Park
-Denver Children's Museum
-Denver Zoo
-Denver Botanic Gardens

Places he's visited:
-Michigan (Holland and Traverse City)
-Chesterfield, Missouri
-Orlando, Florida
-Dallas/Fort Worth
-Berkeley/San Francisco
-various places in Colorado

Favorite things:
-fruit (especially grapes and clementines)
-movies (especially Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Despicable Me)
-riding his bike
-cars
-sharks
-the color green
-ice cream and suckers
-his friends TJ and Lela

I post picture of Jonas almost daily on Instagram, so go HERE if you want to keep up with our life as a family of three!

Visit Instagram for Your Jonas Pic Fix

Please visit aubreekeys on Instagram to see almost daily picture 

postings of our dear Jonas, who is doing great and growing like crazy!

Three Month Report and Signing Off

Jonas has been with us for three months; I can hardly believe it! He seems like such a little boy instead of a baby now. In the past month alone, he's started using two words together, he rode a camel and a llama, he caught his first fish, he started playing on a soccer team, he started gymnastics class, and he got his first haircut (today)! We love our son more than ever, and we can't imagine life without him.

After this post, I don't plan on updating the blog anymore (maybe once a year on St. Patrick's Day?). We're too busy enjoying life. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind and post if I feel the urge! I'll still take tons of pictures and put those on my Shutterfly site (www.aubreekeys.shutterfly.com), but I'd rather be hanging out with Jonas than sitting at my computer.

Here is the three month update:

Favorite Foods:
-pretty much the same as last month (mostly fruit)
-Pediasure (we give him one every day)
-pizza

English Words Jonas Knows (since last month):
-home
-doctor
-open
-upstairs
-owie
-star
-stuck
-movie
-bowl
-keys (a very important one!)
-boom
-truck
-duck
-cooking
-hot
-ear
-upside down (he says "up down"-it's adorable)
-work
-potty
-water
-teeth
-walk
-flower
-swimming
-moon
-napkin
-thirsty
-car
-two
-broken
-water
-hello
-pizza

Favorite Things to Do:
-go swimming
-point out airplanes (he hears them even from indoors and wants to go see them, and when he's outside he yells extremely loudly and points them out)
-gymnastics class (especially the trampoline)
-soccer practice (he's decent at dribbling and kicking!)
-music class
-go on rides (like at amusement parks or fairs)

Habits:
-nap is earlier now-around 11:30am-still just over an hour long
-has to be the one to turn the lamp on and off for reading books at night
-has to be the one to turn on the fan/heater downstairs before bed
-loves to help and do things himself
-falls asleep around 8pm, wakes up around 6:30am

Habits We Are Working on Breaking:
-whining when he wants something
-calling other ladies and men "Mama" and "Dada" (he's trying to figure out how they can be parents of other children but not him)
-sometimes having a meltdown when he doesn't get what he wants or has to wait
-having to immediately go upstairs when he wakes up

Our Favorite Things About Jonas:
-still gives spontaneous kisses and now asks for a hug "hu" at random times throughout the day
-turns everything into a "guitar"
-the cry of excitement that the whole neighborhood can hear when he hears/spots a plane
-the way he has become such an important part of our family in just three short months!

Thanks for reading along on our journey to Jonas. Please contact me if you have any questions about the adoption process (especially in Kyrgyzstan). Oh how life can change in just a few short months!