HAPPY GOTCHA DAY O.T.!!!

"Gotcha Day" celebration today! ONE WHOLE YEAR! First Halloween. Otoniel is a fan of Scooby Doo!

First time on Santa's Lap!

First Christmas Morning... Otoniel was VERY excited!
First "New Year's Eve" Celebration and first time to drink the great tasting sparkling grape juice... He tried to like it! :)

I still can't believe as I'm typing this that an entire year has gone by! What a year it has been! Tomorrow will mark one year since Otoniel has been in the USA with us. His "Gotcha Day" was actually January 5th, but we celebrated today. It still seems unbelievable to me!

Since it has been awhile since I last posted, I must catch everyone up. We've witnessed several "firsts" with Otoniel. Here's a few... His first day of Kindergarten, his first influenza battle, his first Halloween, his first goal (he played fall soccer), his first eye doctor appointment (he now sports glasses), his first "Thanksgiving" where he proudly said he was thankful for "TURKEY!" his debut as an actor in his first Christmas program, and his first Christmas and New Year with us. He's such an energetic little blessing and we, I'm proud to say, have finally adjusted to our newest addition. I say, with confidence, that he's also adjusted to us as well. Now he's not only saying "I love you" after he's been told by Greg or myself, but he proudly says "I love you too" just out of the blue, usually followed by a very good super "squish me" hug.

One of my favorite things so far during this year has been watching him learn... not just colors and such, but just watching him learn to accept and be loved. He has tested boundaries so very much at times that I honestly considered pulling out all of my hair! :) Thank heavens I realized I would look pretty bad with Greg's hairstyle and became a little more patient. Greg and I have both stepped back more than once and told ourselves that we can't expect him to have it all down immediately. He's been through quite a transition and because of such, we HAVE to be patient. I'm not the most patient person in the world, but have improved. :) However, he is over ornery and will push things to the limit just to see how far he can get. That boy uses a very dangerous weapon on us regularly (not just us, but his teachers and relatives). That weapon is his adorable smile! That smile can totally make a heart do flip flops and make the recipient forget what in the world they were so upset about. Yes, folk, he totally knows how to work it!

We had one MAJOR issue when our Guatemalan friend, Mayra, came to visit us (she came to speak to our church about our June 2010 mission trip). He remembered her (she had helped us with the adoption process) and I honestly think he thought we were sending him back to Guatemala. He latched on to her and started acting up. He kept asking if he was going to "Guatemala." He even said he wanted to go. This crushed me! I thought he was loving his new home and family. Once Mayra left and he realized he was still going to be here, he calmed down. Within a day all was normal again and he settled back in to his normal "Huff" life. I really think we confused the heck out of him. This is one of the main reasons Greg will be the only one going to Guatemala for our mission trip. I just don't want to confuse O.T. more.

His English is wonderful! Unfortunately he no longer wants to speak Spanish. I'm not sure if this is a phase. When I ask him something in Spanish, he answers in English. I ask him to say it in Espanol and he says "I can't". Hopefully he will begin again and be proud to speak his first language. I think that if we all get better with it, he will want to speak it more. Right now Keeley is the only one who wants to speak it. Today she told the waiter in Spanish that she wanted eggs. It's so adorable to see this beautiful Chinese girl speak Spanish! :)

He gets along with Keeley and Keegan as any other boy would get along with their siblings. He plays with them, then fights with them, then plays with them, then fights with them. This is a normal day at our house. This is normal, I'm sure, at EVERY house when you have more than one child. They've bonded so well that it's hard to think they've only known each other a year!

It's amazing how fast one can "Americanize" a child. He now wants EVERYTHING he sees on TV, throws tantrums when things do not go his way (he's improved in this area since he realizes this only ends up bad for him), and expects something special every time we go to ANY store (grocery, department, clothing, office depot, etc...). He's good with handling the disappointment, however, when he asks "What did you get for me" when we walk in the door and give him a hug, a tickle claw, or tell him he has "all our love", even though it's not the newest Bakugan he was hoping for when we left.

He still loves to make people laugh, unfortunately a lot of times he wants to do this by stripping naked, showing us his "moon" or other versions of these kinds of games. While it's pretty dang funny at the time, I'm sure school would not appreciate this behavior at all. We try not to laugh at this as much as we used to (as we don't want to encourage him to continue), but folks... sometimes this is near impossible! All you have to do is say "BATH" and the kid is totally naked in 5 seconds flat... Just imagine this when you're in the middle of eating supper at the table and you mention that it's bath night. Yep... pretty funny. However, we try not to encourage eating dinner in the buff and make him redress himself(after the laughter dies down - the other kiddos are near tears each time he does this!) Never dull at our house, that's for sure!

He still has a picture of his foster family and I keep it near him just in case it brings him comfort. He used to look at it periodically, but hardly does so anymore. As those memories of the past (bad and good) start to fade, we are replacing them with new ones daily. The ones I'm hoping that will wipe out all of the difficult times he may or may not have had during his 4 years in Guatemala. He frequently looks, however, at the photos from our trip to Guatemala and loves to show people who come to visit.

O.T. (his new nickname - "OVER TIME" or just short for Otoniel) has blessed us in so many ways it would take an eternity to write them all down. It truly feels as if he's always been a part of our family and I think in God's eyes he has always been. The "labor pains" were tough, but he was so worth the wait!

Dearest O.T.:

You are the most incredible little 5 year old boy I know! You are a "Huff" through and through. You are one of the bravest, toughest, and most handsome boys in the world and we are so blessed to have you as our son! We thank God every night for the joy he has brought us, the joy of having you in our lives. God is so amazingly good to us - he brought us you! Happy Gotcha Day, our little O.T.! No mommy or daddy in the world could be more proud and love any 5 year old more than we love you!