Ahhh, Spring

We recently received Owen's Certificate of Citizenship, accompanied by a letter from the White House welcoming him as a citizen of this "great and blessed Nation" and telling him that "Americans are united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals ... Our country has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by principles that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens." Fairly apropos I thought.

As you know, he became a citizen as soon as the plane touched down in DC, but we still have to apply for certain things as well as undertake a re-adoption which, although legally redundant and basically simply filling out yet more forms and handing over more cash, will provide him a Maryland birth certificate which is important because schools, little leagues, scouts and the like often require a US version prior to membership.

And so, armed with the above mentioned certificate, his translated Kazakhstan birth certificate and adoption certificate, plus a completed SS-5 form, this week Owen and I headed for the local Social Security office to apply for his card. We received our deli-style number - 35 - and waited while 32 explained that no, she didn't have a doctor's report but she knew she still qualified for social security; 33 slept through her number being called several times before finally waking to shuffle to the desk and say she had lost her card for the third time; and 34 talked with a supervisor because her daughter had been involved in a social security scam for several months and she didn't want to help her anymore. I suppose none of these were very fine examples of the 'grand and enduring ideals' the President wrote about, but it was finally our turn and all went smoothly. We should have his number and card in about two weeks.

Much more fun was a visit from Nannie, Uncle Todd, Aunt Maria and cousin Hannah. We all enjoyed a beautiful day relaxing on the deck and Owen was fascinated by Hannah's singing and table drumming. He was not as fond of the flash on Nannie's camera and started making the "squinty face" in anticipation whenever he thought a picture was eminent! Smart kid!

Another visit to the doctor for more vaccinations and a weigh-in; Owen is now 20.4 lbs - he has yet to meet a food he doesn't like and now that he has five teeth he is getting to sample much more variety and texture. He's still working on crawling, his main stumbling block being that he much prefers to try to stand by planting his feet and straightening his knees! Recently we've been enjoying being outside - walking with Garrett and Jill; going to the playground with Kim, Casey and Emma; or just playing on a blanket in the yard. The other day I swear he said "oh, boy" (it seems that our language lessons for "B" while in Kokshetau - see the Feb. 26 post - worked out) and a woman at Target swore he said "hi" to her. Everyone who meets him comments on what a happy baby he is, and we agree! In fact, I often find myself thinking of a lyric from one of my old favorites, 'The Sound of Music', which goes ... "So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good" in an effort to explain how we got so lucky to get Owen!