He was terrified of the whole thing! He wouldn't touch the pumpkins, he hated sitting on the hay bales, and he wanted nothing to do with the scarecrows! At the time, I felt really guilty taking these pictures of him bawling (he did cry an AWFUL lot those first days, in my defense), but knew that someday it would be worth it, and it is. New parents of adopted children, document EVERYTHING you can when your child first comes home!! It is so wonderful to see them progress and you don't want to have forgotten any of it!

Here he is again, terrified of the scarecrow! His nerves were really shot by this time, and after this picture was taken, we paid for our pumpkin and went home.

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Also notice too, in this one, he is standing and walking, though not with confidence just yet, and is willingly observing the pumpkins. What a kid!!

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Fast forward to this year: He's still really hard to get a posed picture of, but we tried. ;o)

See?? Saying "Smile!!" only elicits a blank stare. LOL Here, I had just told him to close his mouth - what a goofball!!

Yes, this is sweet, isn't it? A nanosecond later, he threw the pumpkin. ;op

Ah, life is always better when your favorite big brother is around! Nikolai was volunteering at the hospital this morning, so he missed the trip this year.


I'm open to caption ideas, but I think he was telling me that Erik left his designated spot and was on the loose.


"How much longer are we going to be taking pictures...? This is getting embarrassing."


That's my boy!! :o) I just love him to PIECES.