Pictures from our week

We had a great time in Chicago. On Friday, we went to Millenium Park and Belachew loved the fountains. At first he nicely skipped through the water like this...

But it didn't take long before he was doing this...
We met my friends Jeff and Karen, and their 4 year old twins from Ethiopia, Mari and Mesfin at the park. We let the kids play together for a while and then we went to dinner.

On Saturday, we walked around downtown Chicago before heading to Lake Michigan to meet friends.

Lake Michigan was Belachew's first beach experience and I think he enjoyed himself. He wasn't so sure about the water, but liked playing in the sand. He kept looking in the water for grandpa's boat, but alas, grandpa's boat was in Missouri.

We arrived home late on Saturday night and skipped church on Sunday morning. Belachew and I went to a local Ethiopian church in the afternoon, before heading to The Crossing.

This week, Belachew has enjoyed riding his tricycle and playing at the park with friends, a trip to the Children's Museum, his first haircut (check out the pictures below), a trip to the farmer's market with friends, and playing in the water with our neighbor (this little guy is one of Belachew's favorite friends). And it is only WEDNESDAY!

A little more about the haircut- I love Belachew's curls and have been learning how to style them. His hair is thick and has been getting a bit harder for me to style lately. He cries sometimes when I comb his hair. I think this is the first time his hair has been grown out, since his head was shaved in most of the pictures we saw from Ethiopia and his hair has been a bit uneven in places. Our Chicago friends told us that they have an Ethiopian barber, so I have been on a mission to find one in our city. I made a few calls but ended up with no leads. Yesterday, Paul was cutting his hair with clippers and I had the idea that if Belachew saw daddy doing it, maybe he would let me do cut his hair. Belachew took off his shirt, looked in the mirror, and let me cut his hair! I was a little nervous, but I think it turned out okay. He kept saying "again, please." He looks different- a little older maybe? But he still has his beautiful curls, his hair is more thinned out and even, and he looks cute as ever. After cutting his hair, I told Belachew that he looked conjo (handsome). He informed me that he was awesome. I stand corrected.

On Friday, we are going to meet Dagim, the newest Ethiopian to arrive in town. Then, over Labor Day weekend we are off to Wisconsin to see Geremu. Geremu was Belachew's best friend in Ethiopia at the care center. These boys were inseparable. We were sad to leave Geremu, but happy to hear from the care center staff that he was being adopted. We asked to leave a note in his file, so that his family could be in touch with us, if they wanted to. I did some searching on our adoption agency's forum when I returned home and we found Geremu's family! They are a great family and we look forward to visiting with them. Belachew talks about Geremu almost every day and smiles every time he sees his picture. We want to keep as many connections to Ethiopia as we can for Belachew, and I know that Geremu has been an important part of his life.