One Year Ago

It was one year ago today that we met our son for the first time. It was an amazing, whirlwind experience. We were led through a series of halls and passed who we thought was Jack. Our hearts leaped! We went into a playroom and started talking with the doctor and facilitator when they brought in this little boy and placed him on top of the pool of balls. It was hard to pay attention to the adults when this adorable little one who was wearing little girl clothes that were too big for him was now in the room. He was full of life, curiosity and spunk and we fell in love with him immediately.
It's amazing how time flies and how blessed we are and how far we've all come. Jack now has a forever family and a hope. God is incredibly awesome and faithful. Here he is one year later!

New Wheels

My parents and sister came over for dinner last night and my mom brought over a yard sale find for Jack. It was this adorable little tricycle for THREE bucks! It is the Roadmaster! It's metal and a little rusty but who cares! He immediately wanted to see what it did and so we brought it to the back porch. He knew exactly what to do on it! Amazing! David and my dad took him to the front driveway so he would have some more room and I think he did really well.
My mom also noted how our home has now become Jack's. What I mean is, she noticed that Jack has taken ownership. He opens the backdoor as if it were his. (I should buy stock in windex.) He walks through the house as if it were his. He entertains people when they come over as if he were the host. For about the last month he's been role playing a ton as well. He makes his toys and animals play drums, or drink out of a cup, or he pretends with things like little plastic food. If I remember right, all these things are awesome signs of attachment. We are sooo happy things are progressing as they are. God has been extremely gracious towards us.

One of his molars has finally shown itself. I wonder when the next ones will show and I wish they'd hurry up. Seems like he's not getting as much sleep as he needs. He wakes up early from his naps and gets up early in the mornings. As Jack would say.. nah nice!

Life with a two year old is tough, especially an extremely busy one like Jack, but I'm loving it more every day! He cracks me up with his antics, his funny faces and crazy things he tries, something I wasn't sure would ever happen at the beginning of this transition. Thank you, Jesus!

Marker time

Tried the coloring thing again. Put a smock on Jack this time. He did better than the last time with not putting the marker in his mouth until about 5 minutes into the 'session'. Then his curiosity took over and he had to see what happens when you push down on the marker end and how the colors tasted. So, we'll wait a little while and try again soon.

Sand and Sun

David took a vacation day today and we decided to take Jack to the beach. He hasn't been since way back in April. It was cool to see how he changed. In April he was fearful, didn't know how to play in the sand, wouldn't really get in the water and just wasn't very comfortable. Today he was a completely different child! He actually ran into the water, played well with his bucket and shovel and just had a great time!!! We all did! Not that he has slowed down much... It's been amazing to see Jack's transformation over the last 5 months. We are so grateful that God has been our strength, support and guide!

When he got sand on the top of his feet he would say 'uh no' - several times

Dentist time!

Jack has been teething and his gums have been bleeding again, not as bad as when we were in Moscow, but we still didn't like it. Most parents we've talked to said their child didn't bleed and all the research I've done said there could be some bleeding but it seemed Jack was an extreme (go figure). Some dentists suggest children have an office visit when their first tooth comes in but most advise a visit at the age of 2. So, between the bleeding and turning 2, we though it was time for Jack to go.

When chose a Pediatric Dentist since I figured they might be able to handle Jack's temperament a little better. Good choice! The office was friendly, understanding, and did really well keeping him occupied, though they couldn't get him to sit still. Jack was his typical curious self in that he tried to touch everything, wasn't afraid of anything, and didn't want to sit for any long length of time. The doctor was great, and here's a picture of her and Jack. When it was time, Jack sat in my lap facing me, my knees were butted up to the dentist's knees and Jack was lowered back into her lap with the top of his head up against her. That's how she examined his teeth, but Jack didn't like being constrained. His gums bled pretty easily and the doctor said it was just a touch of gingivitis. She said that we were brushing his teeth well but needed to get higher to reach more of his gums. She said the bleeding should stop once we do this and gave us some great examples of how. Whew! Once Jack was back sitting up again he was his giggly self and the office loved him. All in all, it went well and there wasn't really any trauma!
After the dentist I took Jack to a nearby park for some fun. It was very bright so he kept squinting. These pictures are an example of Jack's usual personality... busy, no fear, touchy, fun, did I say busy. Our hands are full... and we love it!

BUSY

NO FEAR

Curious
Loves music but won't stand still for long! Too many other fun things to do!

Silly Silly

Got some cute photos of my little speed monkey. He got a Mr. Potato Head for his birthday but insists on wearing the glasses (or wathez) himself. He was also helping me with laundry and decided to put David's shirt on. He's being creative with the many rainy days here, we're doing a lot of indoor playing...

He's been getting up earlier, talking at 6:30 and 7 am, although there will be a morning here and there where he'll sleep until 8:00. He's been kind to us on the weekends. :) Not really looking forward to the time change since it jumps back! He's still teething, we're assuming. He's gnawing on ice, drooling and sticking his fingers in the back of his mouth. We've noticed the bloody drool has returned too. It's time for a dentist appointment anyway so we set one up just to make sure things are going as they ought. That's all for now! TFL!

6 Months Post Placement Visit

I can't believe it but last night we had our first 'post placement' visit. Russia requires reports at 6 months, 12, 24 and 36 months. This was our first and it went well. We have the best social worker! Now all we have to do is get the report, have it apostilled and sent off to the agency. It will all get sent to Russia after that. Jack is doing so well, we couldn't wait to share it with them. He's basically night and day from when we first picked him up from the orphanage. I feel so blessed to have him in our lives. It's still tough at times but God knew what He was doing when He paired Jack up with us. Yay God!

Thanks to Robin E. for giving us this Elmo chair. It's hard to get a good pic of Jack sitting in it because he jumps around so much, but he loves his chair!

Jack turns TWO!

Well, actually not until the middle of this week but we celebrated with family and friends this past Saturday. We are blessed to have so many of both our families in the area. (We missed you Stephen, Joanna, Bella, Luca, Ava and Lila!) Everyone joined in on the fun and we had a wonderful time. Jack loved having his good friends, aunts, uncles, both sets of grandparents and even his great uncle's family over to his house for fun games and gifts. Everyone indulged me with wearing party hats, playing a game and eating corndogs. Thanks!

Nonno and Nonna (Italian for grandpa and grandma -Michele's parents), and
Traci and Rob, all showing off their party hatsDinner Time! Corn Dogs are fun!CAKE!
Jack doesn't have any one particular interest but he's very interested in cars and likes to make the animals sounds, so I put the 2 thoughts together. I decided to go ahead and do an individual cake for Jack since he didn't get to dig into one when he turned One. He didn't 'dig' into the cake but just delicately put his finger into the icing and licked it. Even after showing him and inserting his hand, he kind of looked confused! PRESENTS!

Thanks again to everyone for making this birthday very special, for Jack and for us!

Swing Set and more potty notes

In honor of Jack's upcoming birthday, we've been looking for a used swing/activity set. We found one tonight and picked it up and I can't wait to see the look on Jack's face when he sees it in his own backyard! (image from seller) Turns out to be the exact same one he played on with his cousins up north. Didn't do that on purpose but at least I know it will work for him!
On another note, today was a momentous occasion when Jack did #2 in the potty this afternoon after his nap. Then, right before his nightly bath, he went #1!!! Woohoo! Our little boy is growing up! *sniff*

Walking home from the grocery store, he wanted to push the stroller... "feese"

Fun faces

At the party Jack was making a new face that made everyone laugh. In trying to capture that picture I came up with a few others. Enjoy!
This one's my favorite!!! He smiles for pictures now!

Week of firsts

There have been so many new things this week. (For Jack and for me). I know I'm not remembering them all but here are the ones I can think of now:

• Makes new funny faces (none of which we have had the opportunity to get on camera!)
• First play date (thanks Robin and Eli for playing with us and for the cool toys!)
• First noticeable cold (congested cough, but didn't act too sick - he's much better now)
• First 4 months together (the 28th marked 4 months since Gotcha day)
• Walking through stores (we normally walk to the store's front doors and get right into a cart since Jack likes to 'touch' everything - the last few stores we went to we actually walked around for a while before Jack went into the cart. He has done fairly well!)
• Learned the applicable meaning of Walk, No, Come, Oh no, Fast, Help, and many more. He's also gotten better at multiple word phrases like "there he is". He's also ending the words better, like Ro'b' and such.
• Took off his shorts on his own (I think this has something to do with the new potty routine. He's never really been interested in pulling off any clothes, other than his shoes and socks, but this time he wanted to look at his diaper.)
• First time swimming in a pool (thanks Rob and Traci for letting us play in your pool!)
• First time getting poo all over crib (Jack fell asleep in his car seat with his dress clothes on. He woke up while we were undressing him and we decided he could just sleep in his crib without shorts... unfortunately he wouldn't go back to sleep, talking and singing and saying things like ka ka. Finally, he made enough noise that David went in there only to find poo on the side wall of the crib and on the sheets. Lucky us. The funny thing is that it was this week that I had some sort of premonition this would happen...)

• For me, it was a first creating edible characters for a cake. See my personal blog for pictures. This was also connected to another first - first time I set my oven on fire... not to worry, the fire trucks weren't needed, all is well. :)

Potty?

Well, Jack is almost two now. :( We're moving right along with language and comprehension, obeying, sitting still for more than 1 second, recognizing people like his cousins and other family, playing well on the playground and with others, and... sitting on the potty? :) He's not 'done' anything on there yet but we found that he totally understands you are supposed to sit there, so we've started to incorporate it in our routine. We tried this when we first got back from Russia as this was a part of his daily routine there but Jack was too freaked out to sit and so we let it go. He says Potty all the time, but hasn't connected it with the act of going potty and that's cool. At least he's not fighting it, or afraid. Now if we could only get the timing just right....
We're having a bunch of great times together and things are going well. He loves to imitate us and it's hysterical to see the things he comes up with. Though, it's often hard to watch him shake his hands in the air holding a fork packed with food on it, just because we're talking with our hands... I wash the floor quite often needless to say. :) Ahh, the joy.

Whirlwind Weekend Trip

I have been trying to plan a trip to visit my brother and his family in Pennsylvania. They were expecting their 4th child the end of July and it worked out for us to go this past weekend, though it could only be a quick trip since David's vacation time hasn't come around yet. We left early, early on Saturday and got back late, late on Monday. Turns out, as we were in the air on Saturday, Stephen and Joanna were on their way to the hospital. Little Lila Elise decided to come early so when we arrived we couldn't find anyone to pick us up. I called the number I had in my cell phone and Stephen answered saying "oh you didn't get my message". Needless to say, things didn't go as planned, but we still had a really nice time with the family. Joanna's sister picked us up and drove us to Stephen's house where Joanna's parents were taking care of the kids. They left a little before lunch and we became parents of 4! Well, their oldest was a huge help since she was very informed and very anxious to help us with her little brother and sister.

Jack and Ava pushing Luca around in the car Jack was very fond of - Jack actually pushed Luca on his own once, he's one tough kid!

Stephen came home during their afternoon nap and when everyone was awake we all took a ride to the hospital to meet the new baby! 4 car seats in a mini van, David in the front seat and Stephen driving - so where did I sit? Floating in between the 4 children! It was funny! The kids kept asking me why I was sitting there.

Looking out the hospital room window

going home from the hospital, Jack wanted to hold Bella's hand

Jack did great in the airports and on the plane too. I was worried he would have a bad memory of it but nope! We used his car seat which was such a huge lifesaver. Jack did so extremely well with his new cousins. They are 4, 3 and 2 so he fit right in. It was so cool to see him interact with them. 2 year olds aren't known for playing well with others and he was typical but not mean. By Monday he did seem to want to instigate their 2 year old who also coincidentally wanted the toy Jack would happen to have at the moment. All the kids seemed sad to see him go and that was so cute.

Jack loved the big swings at the park near their house. He did great!

Here's a thank you to Joanna and Stephen for letting us stay with you and for feeding us! We had a great time! A big thank you to David's brother and sister-in-law for watching our dog - again, and for giving him a much needed hair cut. I picked Chilly up on Tuesday and when seeing Chilly after his nap Jack said "uh-oh" and tried to pet his back. I really think he thought Chilly had a boo boo because his hair was almost gone! Too funny!

Home for 3 months

Today marks 3 months since landing back in the United States. It's been a wild ride and life is actually starting to feel somewhat normal. Jack has made considerable strides in the past 3 months, starting with his speech and language comprehension. He's settling down just a little bit and is a pleasant child most of the time. :) I can't believe how time has flown and yet how if feels so much longer than it has been.
As I mentioned in another post, it was great to experience a moment with him in the store where he wanted a hug from me when another woman was talking to him. Lately, after saying to hello to people, while still looking at them he points to me and says "mamma". Then he looks at me and smiles! I love it! I love him!

© 2009 - photo is not allowed to be copied or used in any way

Jack turns 22

... months, that is. The way time is flying, I don't think 22 years is too far away. :(
He's doing great! I've been getting lots of hugs lately, which is awesome! When we're at the store, and he's in the shopping cart, he says hello to everyone who is in the vicinity. Basically he's friends with everyone and when they turn away, or we ride off, he says 'bye' and waves. At first I wondered if he knew I was different than everyone else. Yesterday's trip gave me a huge relief. We were standing in line and I was near the register at the end of the cart with Jack in the seat facing the woman behind us. I was putting stuff on the counter when I turned around to check on him and how he was interacting with the older woman. He was leaning back toward me, smiling and wanting a big hug. Seems he was a little embarrassed by the woman, who was very nice, and wanted to prove something to her. She then said "he wants me to know who his mommy is". The woman had no idea how wonderful her words were. Can you believe my emotions at that moment! My eyes are watering as I'm writing this. How awesome! Jack is my little boy and (most of the time) I'm his mommy! Woohoo!