We became a FAMILY 5/10/10!!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
"Vintage" Coming Home from the Airport Pictures
I just came across a set of pictures my family had given us; I had been too busy when we came home from China to check them out, but here are a few of them now. Some posted out of sequence, but you get the general idea. Please ignore how I look...we had not had the luxury of a shower in a long time and had major flight delays that made coming home even more challenging. Also, this was Kai's first "car seat experience", until then he had ridden on our laps when traveling in China.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
We've been a family for SIX MONTHS!!!!
Yippee!! We are meeting with our social worker this weekend to complete our 6 month post-adoption homestudy.
Also, I am so proud of him this week. Despite having a pretty nasty chest cold, he has made a HUGE gain this week. Now I know this many not seem like a big deal to many people, but those who have adopted a child with a complicated history, will know the common challenges of bedtime. Well, after his lip and nose revision surgery in September, all of Kai's positive associations with sleeping went out the window. The hospital experience, pain, and insomnia kicked up all the negative experiences and surgeries he had in the orphanage. Even though I rocked him to sleep every night after surgery, he experienced so much anxiety and fear at bedtime. Bedtime has been a nightmare (yes, pun intended). The terror he felt at the prospects of going into his crib while awake were enough to break your heart. Well, after months of standing and rocking him for an 1-2 plus hours every night, we are starting to see a break through. Last week he showed an interest in playing around in his crib for a few minutes while I was rocking him to sleep. Three nights this week, Kai insisted on going into his crib and only needed to check and make sure I was still with him a few times; he fell asleep all by himself...no anxiety, no resistance. I am so happy for him to have reached this important milestone. We will continue to take baby steps and see how things go.
The last set of pictures show Kai at his friend's 2nd birthday party. The real kicker is that when Kai had first been introduced to Elmo from Sesame Street, he was terrified. Look at him now with the 4 foot Elmo balloon. He moved that sucker around from room to room that night. I consider myself fortunate that he didn't try and steal it from the birthday girl when it was time to go home. :)
Also, I am so proud of him this week. Despite having a pretty nasty chest cold, he has made a HUGE gain this week. Now I know this many not seem like a big deal to many people, but those who have adopted a child with a complicated history, will know the common challenges of bedtime. Well, after his lip and nose revision surgery in September, all of Kai's positive associations with sleeping went out the window. The hospital experience, pain, and insomnia kicked up all the negative experiences and surgeries he had in the orphanage. Even though I rocked him to sleep every night after surgery, he experienced so much anxiety and fear at bedtime. Bedtime has been a nightmare (yes, pun intended). The terror he felt at the prospects of going into his crib while awake were enough to break your heart. Well, after months of standing and rocking him for an 1-2 plus hours every night, we are starting to see a break through. Last week he showed an interest in playing around in his crib for a few minutes while I was rocking him to sleep. Three nights this week, Kai insisted on going into his crib and only needed to check and make sure I was still with him a few times; he fell asleep all by himself...no anxiety, no resistance. I am so happy for him to have reached this important milestone. We will continue to take baby steps and see how things go.
The last set of pictures show Kai at his friend's 2nd birthday party. The real kicker is that when Kai had first been introduced to Elmo from Sesame Street, he was terrified. Look at him now with the 4 foot Elmo balloon. He moved that sucker around from room to room that night. I consider myself fortunate that he didn't try and steal it from the birthday girl when it was time to go home. :)
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