Guess what? Today I typed "mommy didagreatjob" all by myself on the computer. Mommy was surprised that I remembered how to spell "great" without any help. She was busy making lunch while I was sounding out the words.

We are having a fun, busy summer. We usually go to a park for a picnic lunch with our play group on Mondays. This week we were at the Lake George splash pad. Then Tuesdays and Thursdays are bam bam ball. We go to the library after bam bam ball on Tuesdays, just Mommy and me. (I want to bring Eliana but Mommy says she has to stay home with Daddy and take a nap.) At the library I always check what there is to hunt for that day so I can get a prize. Today I found the stuffed rat by the award winners and got a deck of star-shaped cards. I also got a library card holder for reading enough books for the summer reading program, even though I still mostly get read to. I can read Go Dog Go and Ten Apples Up on Top mostly by myself, but they get kind of long. I want to win a prize like a basketball handheld game or a real soccer ball. Mommy says I have to wait and see if they pick my name. Meanwhile I can keep on reading!

Lately I've been busy growing. Next week I'll get to visit the doctor and see just how big I've gotten. But I feel myself growing bigger and stronger every day. I now roll over from front to back all the time. I still haven't got from back to front, though. I am sitting up really well. I much prefer playing sitting up than laying down. Mommy keeps trying to feed me that cereal stuff. I really don't care for it. What I really like is when she gives me cold water from a cup! Today she gave me some before I was done eating and then tried to give me more cereal. That was not nice at all! I cried and cried with real tears and everything - that's a big deal for me because I never cry anymore. It just broke my heart to have my water taken away.

Last Thursday I got to see my Uncle Adam and meet my Aunt Jennie. They were visiting from Colorado. Then on Friday we went to a parade. My favorite part was the color guard. I was really very tired at the parade, but I only took a short nap because I didn't want to miss a single waving flag. Saturday I spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa Lanz while Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding. We all had a good time. I was passed around to all the aunts and uncles who were there visiting, and Mommy and Daddy had fun at their party. It was a great weekend!

Bam Bam ball has officially started! I got my jersey today and we played a real game (as real as it gets when you're three). Guess what color my team is? My favorite "clelor" - GREEN! And we're called the lizards. I also got new, fast tennis shoes! I want to wear them all the time, but so far I've only gotten to wear them to church and bam bam ball. Today we had our team picture taken. I really liked the photographer because she listened to my stories. I showed her the "bonk" on my knee where "there is blood and new skin is growing." It was nice to talk to her because the game was getting kind of long. I was having more fun hunting for rocks than chasing after the ball with all the rest of the kids. Mommy thinks the games might be shorter once all the kids learn how to play better.

A watched pot never boils... I've rolled over twice now when no one's been looking, so they can't be sure if it's been on purpose. I've rolled front to back, but still not back to front - despite how close I've been for so long.

The other thing I'm into lately is dropping things. Just give me a toy and it will end up on the floor in no time. Either there or in my mouth - or both! You can find plenty of slobbery toys on the floor at my house.

I should mention Father's Day since it was a very busy day for me. After church we came back home to get Belle and go to the lake where we said happy Father's Day to Grandpa Lanz and goodbye to the Schmidts before they returned to Colorado. Daddy got to waterski quick. Then we packed up to go to Grandpa Ron's. He was by himself since Grandma is up north visiting relatives. We had dinner there and went for a pontoon ride. It was my first time out on a boat. I fell right to sleep. Mommy had been trying to get me down for a nap all evening and I wasn't interested. But they bundled me up, took me out on that rocking boat, and I slept the whole time!

I forgot to mention one sad note. Our counselor, Cindy, is no longer going to be able to help out with our adoption process. She had a bad reaction to recent chemotherapy treatments and has been out of work for a few weeks now. Sadly, there is no more chemo they can do and she is not expected to be able to return to work. She is in our prayers. We are thankful for all she has done for our family and the many other families we know who have adopted through Catholic Charities.

Wow! It's been a long time since I updated this. Really, there hasn't been any excitement lately. Dani usually visits every two - three weeks or we go to her parent's house. Matt hasn't seen Eliana since the baptism. He called one Sunday a month or so ago but it didn't work out for us to meet up. We haven't heard back from him since. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before his next visit because Ellie's starting to do so many fun things and she's not yet really nervous of strangers.

But the reason for this blog and the good news is that we have a court date! The first date we received didn't work with our lawyer who is also a friend and really wanted to be at the hearing. So we rescheduled and got a date only a week later than the first. It's not until July unfortunately, but it will be here before we know it! Then we will have all of this wrapped up and Eliana will legally be a McKeever! And then we can start getting some money back for the adoption expenses - bonus! Darren can get an adoption grant from ING and next year we can start taking the adoption tax credit. Thanks President Bush and fellow Americans for helping us pay for our adoption :)

This has been a week of firsts for me! On Sunday I grabbed my toes for the first time and found a fun new toy. I also took my first trip to Beaver Lake and met Judy, Mike and the triplets from Colorado. On Tuesday I spent my first night away from home. William and I stayed with Grandma Barb while Mommy and Daddy were in Duluth on their anniversary trip. I got to meet Sylvia, Grandma's cousin from Seattle. On Wednesday Grandma and her cousin went up north to visit more family members, so they brought me to Grandma Lanz's and I slept overnight there for the first time. Mommy and Daddy came home on Thursday. They brought me a t-shirt that says my nickname, "Peanut." Then on Friday I tasted my first rice cereal. Icky! Mommy kept spooning it into my mouth and I just kept spitting it out and making faces. Finally the cereal made me gag and spit up all over my tray! Mommy tried just plain milk on the spoon but I still thought it was icky. I'm not sure I like the idea of eating. I missed nursing while Mommy was gone, so I think I'd rather stick to that for a while. Hopefully I won't have to see that spoon again anytime soon.

These last few days have been lots of fun with friends! Thursday my friend Blake came over to play for a little while. Blake is a nice friend. We get along really well together.

Then Friday, my friend Abby and her little brother Logan came to play. They even slept over night! It was fun to have Abby sleep in my bottom bunk. We had a great time playing all evening. I play better with Abby than any of my other friends, that's why Mommy was so disappointed that they had to move last year. We have always liked to play the exact same things. Last night we were pretending the coffee table in the living room was bunk beds and putting blankets and pillows on it so we could sleep there. We also played play-doh together and rode bikes outside. There wasn't a minute we were bored. And we got totally tired out, so when Mommy read us stories, tucked us into my bunk bed, turned off the lights, and turned on the Lion King CD (also one of Abby's favorites) we went right to sleep!

Now I'm going to go play outside with my uncle Michael. As soon as Abby and Logan left, Michael came over. I love following him around and playing big-boy stuff. It's especially fun to have Michael come to my house because I get all of his attention with no neighborhood friends to distract him. We'll have a great time!

5 months has flown by! I'm growing so fast. My parents are enjoying this time because I'm so much fun to talk to and I'm still not mobile yet. Soon I'll be rolling around and getting into things. For now I'm content to play where they put me. I just complain a little and then someone will move me somewhere else or pick me up. Who needs to roll? I like to play on my tummy a lot. And when I'm on my back I still can't quite figure out how to get that arm out of the way. Mommy will help me over and then I'm so proud. One of these days I'll get it all by myself and then look out! I'll be moving everywhere!

Our scale says I'm over 13 lbs now, so I've doubled my birth weight. That's one of the milestones on the list for starting solid foods along with sitting up (see my last entry). So hopefully one of these days I'll get to taste some cereal. I'm really interested in everything people are putting in their mouths and would like to try some food myself. I'll be sure to have Mommy put some pictures on here when I get to taste my first food.

P.S. Daddy put together this great video of me and then it wouldn't work on the internet. Sorry if you've been watching for it. I don't know when we'll get another one, but we'll try again to put one up when we do.