August 21, 2008

Funny little quirks...

Hi everyone,

Renee has been begging me to post this for a few weeks, and I finally have some time to post it now. A little background... From having Henok with us the last 7 months, it's easy to see that he is a normal kid, and he is all boy. He makes all the funny noises that young boys make, including all the one's that irritate you intensely. His favorite is to bark like our Basset Hound, Buford. This really drives his Mother insane as it makes Buford start barking, which is just crazy loud.

From being aroundhim and interacting with Henok during this time, I noticed that when we are out in public, and we both go to the restroom at the same time, Henok will always wait for someone to open the door for him after he has finished washing his hands. On several occasions, I have witnessed him trying very intently to use his foot to open the door to get out of a restroom if no one else if around to open the door. Obviously, he doesn't want to touch the door handle because he noticed a lot of people not washing their hands.

So, last month we were on vacation in Galveston and we drove into Houston to visit with some relatives. We went to dinner at a Cajun seafood restaurant named Papadeaux's. After we were seated and our orders placed, Henok and I get up to go to the restroom.

We enter the restroom, and there is one other man just finishing up and walking over to wash his hands. I finished up before Henok and washed my hands and was able to make it out the door without having to touch the door knob. (It was an actual round door knob, instead of the half moon handle you normally see.) I made sure that he saw me not touching the door knob as I slipped out. I waited there just on the other side of the restroom door to see how he would handle it. About 30 seconds go by and I hear a faint "Dad..." come from the restroom. A few seconds later, I hear a more desperate "DAD!!"

Let me tell you, this place was very loud from people talking, and I could hear him pretty clearly... lol By this point, I'm starting to laugh at the situation and decide I better open the door for him. Then, all of a sudden, there is a loud kicking sound on the round metal door knob. I lost it and started laughing . I said in a stern voice, "Son, please hurry up!". I hear 2 more kicks to the door knob and then he says, frantically, "Dad, can you open the door?"

Laughingly, I said, "Son, just turn the door knob and open the door." And he replies, "No. I can't." hahaha So, being the good father I am, I opened the door and find him in this half roundhouse kicking position fixing to kick the door knob again. He stopped as I opened the door and we both began to laugh as we head back to our table.

Well, that's about it, but I though it was funny and wanted to share it with everyone. Henok is doing very well now. He started school last week and is LOVING IT! I think he's just happy to be out of the house after being there all summer.

Take care and I'll update again soon. Maybe some pictures or video....

In His Service,

Matthew

August 5, 2008

Business as usual

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to make a quick update to let everyone know that we are doing fine and nothing major to report. Henok is doing really good, and is learning alot. His English is very good, but still needs some work.

We are waiting to hear back from the school we want Henok to attend to find out if we are eligible for a scholarship of some sort. We really want him to go there but the money is an issue. Please pray that we will get enough to enroll him this year.

Well, guess that's it for now. I will try to get some new pictures updated here soon. Henok is growing like crazy and up to 83lbs. Until then, take care and God Bless.

In His Service,

Matthew