Her Family Found Her

I am so very happy to announce that the beautiful girl for whom I have been advocating for quite some time now has a family.  They were officially matched to her today by her government and will soon travel to meet her.  Life is good!

July 11, 2011

One year ago today in Yerevan, we were reunited with Rex after almost eight months of waiting for the bureaucratic process to unfold.

While we were full of joy that morning, I also remember being shocked and heart-broken over how much Rex had deteriorated in the interim.  He was angry, frustrated, shutting down.  He had the skills of an infant.  But his spirit was still alive and we hoped that our love, care, and belief in our son would make it sparkle again.  One year later, Rex is a curious, joyful, determined, energetic, resilient, hard-working, loving boy whose laughter is infectious to everyone who has the privilege of hearing it.  

Here are a few before & after photos:

Our son is a blessing, a gift to be treasured, a story of survival and hope, and a beautiful example of how adoption can change a life.  And while it may seem like a drop in a bucket, that one life is worth everything.

Emilia - Thirty-Three Weeks Home

As of Saturday, Emilia has been home with us for thirty-three weeks.  It seems that with every week that goes by, she is a happier, more relaxed little girl.

The best thing that's happened lately is that Emilia is working on attaching to us even more.  She smiles every time she sees me and seeks out physical contact.  If I sit down anywhere, Emilia is right there, climbing into my lap and getting hugs and kisses.  She also gives a lot of very slobbery spontaneous kisses to Craig and me now.

Cuddling on the couch

Developmentally, I don't see a lot of obvious forward motion at the moment, but I am sure Emilia is learning because she is constantly on the move and exploring.  Sometimes she stands by her high chair now and says, "eeeeee" so maybe we can claim that she speaks 4.5 words now.  She is very vocal, especially when she is complaining or chewing us out. She also pays great attention when we pronounce sounds and words for her and she imitates silly sounds all the time.  She will be evaluated for speech therapy in about a month and then hopefully can start receiving services in September.  We are also trying to cut down on Emilia's whining when she doesn't get what she wants (like daddy's cell phone to carry around) and are finally seeing a bit of an improvement in that department.

Speaking of September, Craig and I have toured a preschool for Emilia and have decided to sign her up for two full days a week.  This way she can have contact with peers who will hopefully propel her speech, play, and self-help skills into the right direction while still being at home with me for the majority of her time.  We are planning on Emilia starting there the second or third week of September.  This means that I will have two days a week with no kids here at home... I won't know what to do with myself at all.

Good help is hard to find... or not?

Emilia has transitioned from the pack and play into a toddler bed which has gone better than expected.  She still needs a rail to keep her contained at night, but I am happy that she sleeps soundly now on a mattress with a pillow and even a blanket.  When she first came home, she would have preferred to sleep on the tiles or hardwood floor if we'd let her.

The sweetness that this little girl has brought to our lives is tremendous.  We just couldn't imagine our days now without her laughter, her smiles, or her hugs.

Our Funny Girl

Rex - Forty-Seven Weeks Home

Today marks forty-seven weeks home and forty-nine weeks out of the orphanage for Rex.  It's hard to believe but at this time one year ago, we were scrambling to get ready for three weeks in Armenia and for being first-time parents.

I had to cut the feet off his pajamas
because he was just getting too tall.
It's okay for summer, right?

The last two weeks have been a bit challenging with Rex as he has been sensory-seeking, so he's been doing a lot of great things like jumping, spinning in his saucer, and swinging as well as not so appropriate ones, like chewing anything in sight, scratching his nails along walls, and banging different objects onto various surfaces.  Here's what happened with Rex and a maraca a few nights ago:

We've had one or two long days with a lot of intense tantrums, but the good news is that even in the most severe moments, Rex no longer hits himself or bangs his head.  The bad news is that he has now started to pinch us instead.  I know it's a phase as he is trying to replace one behavior with a more appropriate one which I still think this is.  I believe that some day, he will truly know how to express and handle his emotions in an acceptable manner.

Elina, Connor and Rex watching TV

While we are experiencing a little regression, there has been a good bit of forward motion developmentally, too.  Rex learned to clap in imitation and he is now able to touch a teddy bear when we ask.  This is quite a sensory feat for him as he definitely doesn't prefer stuffed animal texture.  We're moving on to trying to get him to hug the bear now.  Rex also loves to sit and look at books with me.  He does a great job turning the pages and lately points to things on them, so I can tell him what they are.  It's been great to see him generalize the signs he knows (for example, he has applied the sign for light to flashlights, room lights, campfires, sunshine, light-up toys, candles, street lights, and reflecting prisms) and use them in a variety of settings, even away from home, with a number of different people.  In his last OT session, he asked Ms. Kristen to swing and to sing by using his signs and also told her when he was finished.

Time for a catnap

What has been a most wonderful new achievement is that Rex is giving us hugs.  We can ask for one, but there have also been spontaneous hugs for Craig and me.  And these are real hugs with his arms around our necks, holding tight.  I still get teary-eyed every time this happens.  No matter what else, I know this little boy loves us with a fierceness all his own.

Stay tuned for more Together Forever Month posts over the next few weeks.

By Popular Demand

By popular demand here and via email, I am sharing the recipe for the blueberry lemon cobbler.  I am not very exacting when it comes to baking (I really want to be like my Oma who used to just pour the ingredients straight from the bag into the bowl), so I always make extra topping because we like it across the entire cobbler, not just dots here and there, and if  have extra blueberries, I throw them in as well:

Blueberry Lemon Cobbler

Enjoy!

Blueberry Bonanza

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Marie and I headed to Indiana to pick blueberries.  After a few hours of work, I came home with about fourteen pounds of antioxidant bounty.

I made four jars of blueberry freezer jam.  This is the first summer that I own a freezer and I am loving it.  Freezer jam is so much faster and easier than traditional jam.

I also cooked some lavender-blueberry jam the old-fashioned way.  I grow the lavender myself and when I found the recipe, I decided to try it.  It turned out well, like a berry jam with a floral note.  I canned several six-ounce jars of this concoction to be used as part of teachers' gifts at Christmas.

And, of course, I froze some blueberries to be used in pancakes and sweet breads throughout the winter.

As every year, the piece de resistance was a family favorite: blueberry lemon cobbler.  This thing was gone in less than 24 hours.  Rex loved it, Craig and I have always been crazy about it.  We even scooped some fruit only out for Emilia and crumbled dairy-free lemon cookies on top, so she could enjoy the treat with us.  Delicious.

Now that I have stocked up on berries, I am waiting for peaches.