FINALIZATION
On October 8th, 2010, we and many of our family members went to court to finalize Nicholas' adoption. After 6 months of having Nicholas in our home, we were able to finalize the adoption in the local county court. It is a brief proceeding, which was good so Mommy didn't get too emotional and so Nicholas didn't get too antsy. More a formality than anything, it still gave us goosebumps to hear the judge say that Nicholas is now legally our son. We left with an official adoption decree and will be getting a US birth certificate via the mail giving Nicholas proof of identity under his new name and legally classifying us as parents. With those two documents we can apply for a social security number, a passport, and formal US citizenship.
PUMPKIN PATCH
The weekend after the finalization, we went to the pumpkin patch with the family that was still in town. Like any true one-year-old boy, his favorite part was the gravel in the play area. Who cares about the pumpkins or the animals or the bouncy house or the maze... rocks are awesome!
WARTBURG HOMECOMING
Later in October we took Nicholas to his first Wartburg Homecoming. It was our 10 year reunion so it was fun to see lots of familiar faces there. Nicholas wasn't a huge fan of all the stopping and talking that Mommy and Daddy did, but he loved it when he got to climb up the steps of Old Main. Personally, we think this photo means that he is very eager to go to Wartburg! Pulling on the door of the oldest building on campus...that's got to be a sign, right? :)
HALLOWEEN!
Nicholas was quite cooperative with all the hoopla that his parents put him through, but this year we realize we might have had more fun than he did. We chose a castle theme since we found an adorable dragon costume for him. He didn't like the hood and mittens very much, but the tail and wings were really what made the costume. The best was watching him walk while wearing it and knocking down everything in a 3' radius! Very cute...
Helping Daddy set up for Halloween. Since all the costumes were store-bought this year, we had to make our own decorations, including a draw bridge and foggy moat. Thank goodness Daddy is handy (and has lots of gadgets!)
This is the first picture we got of him actually smiling while wearing the costume. Of course he's laughing because he just tried to eat the bush. We were trick or treating through the zoo at the annual Night Eyes event and all he cared about was touching the plants, dirt, leaves, rocks, and the Christmas lights that were decorating the zoo. We think our Christmas tree may have to be decorated a bit differently this year!
The whole family ready to go trick-or-treating: Mom - fair maiden, Nicholas - dragon, and Dad - knight in shining armor.
The rest of the castle characters: Gizmo and Gadget - court jesters, Lisa - princess (and wonderful friend who offered to hand out the treats while we went around the neighborhood!).It's been a fun month. And now it's time for me to sign off as I hear our little dragon starting to roar after his nap. Hope you all had a great Halloween as well!
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