Tears At Dinner

Last night as we were eating dinner, Rex, for the first time, attempted to load his own fork.  He didn't have a perfect success rate, but he was able to get several bites into his mouth without any assistance.  After weeks of working with him on this skill, watching his efforts and triumph brought tears to Craig's and my eyes.

This morning, when our Ms. Rie arrived I told her not to let Rex be lazy, but insist that he try to eat his pancakes with very little help. And here's what happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU96GbMY2qQ

Our baby boy is growing up and we're so proud.

IAC 219 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 219 which was held on April 25, 2012:

1) Greek dossier from June 2008 referred a female child, aged 2 years and 8 months

2) U.S. dossier from December 2008 referred a female child, aged 1 year and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

3) German dossier from April 2009 referred a female child, aged 2 years and 1 months

4) Dutch dossier from May 2009 referred a male child, aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status

5) Italian dossier from June 2009 referred a female child, aged 3 years and 7 months

6) Dutch dossier from July 2009 referred twins, male and female, aged 4 years

7) Italian dossier from July 2009 referred a female child, aged 5 years and 2 months

8) Italian dossier from August 2009 referred sisters, aged 5 years and 10 months and 3 years

9) Italian dossier from April 2011 referred a male child, aged 8 years and 10 months with features in health status

10) Italian dossier from June 2011 referred a brother and sister, aged 6 years and 3 months and 8 years and 7 months

11) US dossier from September 2011 referred brothers, aged 4 years and 3 months and 7 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

12) US dossier from April 2012 referred a waiting child (#1479) with a profile on the MOJ site

13) US dossier from April 2012 referred two waiting children (#829 & #830) with profiles on the MOJ site

14) US dossier from April 2012 referred two waiting children (#436 & #1335) with profiles on the MOJ site

15) US dossier from April 2012 referred two waiting children (#1064 & #1680) with profiles on the MOJ site

16) US dossier from April 2012 referred two waiting children (#1695 & #1759) with profiles on the MOJ site

17) US dossier from April 2012 referred a waiting child (#1392) with a profile on the MOJ site

Rex Restored

Right around this time last year, we received our final update on Rex.  It included some photos and video and a few sentences about how he was doing.  I can’t tell you how very low I was feeling then.  I was reaching my tearful breaking point and just going through the motions of what daily life entailed.  It had been over six months since our first trip to Armenia.  I knew my son needed me, but I could not be there for him.

Meanwhile in Yerevan, a sad and lonely little boy was about to give up as well.  Rex did not know that we were coming back for him.  He did not understand that a better life was just a few months ahead.  He was a child with little hope.  Seeing him in these photos breaks my heart.

But the magnificent resilience of the human spirit!  

In less than one year as our cherished son, Rex has found his joy for life again.  He lives his days to the fullest and revels even in the simple pleasures, like the free balloon we get every week on our grocery trip.  He loves and is beloved.  His gusto for exploration, communication, adventure, mischief, learning, and connection to others is restored.  He is curious and happy.  He is blossoming into the child he was always meant to be.

 My heart sings with pride and joy over being Rex's mother.  I, too, am restored.

First Family Road Trip

Earlier this month, Craig had to take a business trip to Pennsylvania to audit a manufacturing plant.  He asked us to go along because it was the only way that he and I could spend our twelfth wedding anniversary together.  So, with a good bit of trepidation, I prepared for two 11 hour car rides with toddlers and two days and three nights in a cabin with the same toddlers.

The trip to PA was quite uneventful.  We had plenty of snacks, a box of toys, and a new CD with over 100 kids' songs, so yes, we were as ready as possible.  We took a lot of nice breaks at rest areas to let the kids run which worked well.  About two hours away from home, I realized that I didn't pack any shoes for the kids, so we made an emergency stop at a Walmart.  The kids did so well and really only started getting fussy during the last 90 minutes of the ride.

When we got to the campground where we had booked a cabin, I was not happy to see all the roads very muddy.  Apparently they'd had a lot of rain.  I could foresee a really messy next day, but it turned out to be so cold that I only took the kids out of the cabin for two 30 minute walks in the stroller.  I was glad I had decided to pack them some long pants and jackets, too.  We made it through the cooped up day with no major mishaps (okay, so Rex did dip a colander into the toilet bowl) and Craig and I were able to be together for our anniversary after he returned from the plant.

There's always a question of how the kids will do in an unfamiliar environment, but we had no problems worth mentioning.  Rex hated the stand in shower for his bath, but handled everything else well.  Look at this picture of my little ones cuddled up, asleep.  Love seeing the sibling comfort in a strange place.

Day two at the campground was sunny and warm, so the kids and I were able to take advantage of the playground and big bounce pillow.  We also took walks again.  The roads had dried up and it was pleasant to mosey along the creek under some big trees.  When Craig returned from work, we had our first family campfire.  This is when Rex blew us away by generalizing his sign for light.  We had smores, too.  Yum.

The 11 hour trip back to Ohio wasn't quite as easy as the way to PA because Rex refused to sleep.  By early afternoon he was in a crabby mood from sheer exhaustion, but he just wouldn't close his eyes.  So, I had to find all kinds of ways to entertain him.  The children's songs CD was a real life-saver, but it really is something I don't need to hear again until our trip to Missouri in July.  By the time we reached home, all of us had had more than enough road trip and were happy to be under our own roof again.  Nonetheless, it was our first family adventure of this kind and it was worth it.

Emilia - Twenty-Seven Weeks Home

Today marks twenty-seven weeks home for Emilia.  It’s hard to believe that half a year has passed since she joined our family.  It really feels like she has always been here.

Emilia continues to make great progress with her eating.  I have stopped taking note of all the new solid foods she’s trying, but I was especially happy that she ate diced pear, feta, and cucumber (not at once).  She also enjoys fresh herbs from the garden mixed into her food and happily ventured into the cold food arena with some raspberry sorbetto.  Emilia has also learned to drink juice mixed with water.  I no longer have to thicken her drinks with fruit purees.  She’s even trying to hold her own cup.  And we’re practicing hand over hand finger-feeding and spoon-feeding, much to her dismay.  We have even been able to eat out as a family at a restaurant once and it was so pleasant and enjoyable.  The kids shared crepes… no more baby jar foods needed in my diaper bag.

She loves to swing HIGH.

As a sign of growth, Emilia graduated into a size 4 diaper this week.  We took size 3 to Bulgaria which worked okay, but then we went with size 2 for a while after we came home because her waist was just so tiny.  And now she’s comfortable in a size four.  My hope is that this will be the last size diaper she wears as I intend to start potty-training her when Rex goes to preschool in late August.

I am pushing Emilia now a little bit more than before to work on skills.  We are practicing her pincer grasp by putting items into containers, working on large inset puzzles and stacking, as well as pointing to body parts (she knows where her nose is and those of others, too) and other objects.  Another area of focus is verbal imitation.  Oh yes, she can do it (she imitates the most adorable OOO), but she is like Bartleby, the Scrivener, she’d prefer not to.  Emilia is overcoming more sensory issues, too.  She now walks barefoot on grass and concrete and asphalt, for example.

She can propel herself forward and backward 

on this worn-out little toy.

Keep moving and shaking, little sweet pea. You're doing great and we love you to pieces.

Rex - Forty-One Weeks Home

Today marks forty-one weeks home and forty-three weeks out of the orphanage for Rex.  I really can’t believe how quickly that one year mark since his adoption is approaching.  It seems so long ago.

Developmentally, Rex just keeps going forward.  He is learning so fast.  His newest sign is cracker which we use for any salty, crunchy snack like tortilla chips, pretzels, popcorn, or cheese puffs.  Since he likes these things, he learned the sign quite quickly.  We have been working on the sign for finished since Rex came home and just in the last week, he is suddenly using it.  He actually signed a clear finished in the car for me one day when I was giving him some Pirate’s Booty (possibly his favorite snack) which surprised me because I would not have imagined that he would be finished with Pirate’s Booty ever if allowed.  Rex has also learned to sign light for flashlights and the room lights and then he blew us away when, on a recent camping trip, he observed the campfire and suddenly, spontaneously signed light.  What a connection.  Rex’s therapists have started working with a shape sorter again and he seems more ready for it this time around.  He’s getting it.  He’s also now following the command “let’s go” and learning to catch and kick balls.  Rex can also bring me his shoes and is beginning to understand the concept of clean-up and helps a little.

 See their feet touching?  Love it!

We had an ophthalmology follow up last week and the doctor thinks, accurately so in my opinion, that Rex favors his right eye and may have better vision in it.  His left eye tends to wander toward his nose, so the doctor would like to see if we can strengthen and straighten it, getting it to be more active.  Since patching, the most effective method, is not an option for Rex (he rips, cries or fights it off), we are using drops twice a week to blur the vision in Rex’s right eye in hopes that the left will pick up the slack.  We shall see.  So far I am not noticing a difference, but keep your fingers crossed, everyone.

I don't know why

he always sits for a head shot

when he wears his Christmas pajamas. 

Auto-aggression at the moment seems to be waning… whew!  We have been trying a new method of block, but ignore for about a week.  When Rex was first home, this approach had been suggested to us, but we did not feel it was the right thing then because we wanted him to bond.  Now that Rex is fully attached to both of us, we are giving it a go.  If a tantrum involves any hitting or head banging, we block it with our hands, but we do not give Rex any other attention.  We don’t touch/hold him, we don’t speak outside of “calm down,” we reduce eye contact, and most importantly we try to stay completely detached with neutral faces and low voices.  Since starting this method, in the last week, we have only had four tantrums, the last of which only went on for a few minutes.  What’s interesting, too, is that after these outbreaks are over, Rex wants to be very close (lots of sitting and cuddling with us) and he behaves very well.

I have scheduled a developmental re-assessment for Rex for mid-July using the same two tests that were administered when he had his first visit to the International Adoption Clinic in mid-August of last year.  I am really excited and anxious to see how much progress Rex has made in the 11 months since then.  I am also getting ready to order some things for preschool: a lunchbox, a backpack, special blanket and pillow.  I can’t believe I am not going to have my baby here with me all day anymore.  Nap time is going to be the pits without having my little guy curled up to me when I fall asleep.  I have a feeling I’ll be a weepy mess for a while.

My little thinker.

I guess this is all the news on Rex.  He’s a superstar in our book, the hardest working kid on the block, and we love him so.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Gardening season.

Every January I start itching to get back out into my little suburban garden, but since planting is months away, I bide my time with ordering seeds. Here's what I got this year. I even put something special into the mix for Rex. Can you spot it?

Since we had a very mild winter, many things came right back in the spring and we were able to harvest parsley, oregano, chives, green onions and rosemary very early in the season and continue to do so.  Then it was finally time to put in the early crops.  And a few weeks ago I added tomatoes, cucumbers and squash.

I enjoyed these beautiful radishes in a salad made with chopped parsley, salt, pepper and sour cream.  It's a childhood favorite.

 We've had several salads made with the mixed lettuces I grew:

And here are the shallots I just harvested today.  Yum, so many ways to enjoy these...

It's been a great season so far for my little garden.  I love working in it on mild evenings.  It relaxes me.  And I so enjoy the fruits of my labor, too.