I can honestly say that if every child adjusted this quickly and easily we'd be diving back into the paperwork. Maybe. I'd have to run that past Jason, of course.
But seriously. He has become a part of our family so effortlessly that I can scarcely believe that a short six months ago he wasn't even here in our family. Oh, he was a part of our family. Don't get me wrong. We just didn't have the privelege of being able to squeeze his chubby little tummy whenever we so desired. We were at the mercy of another country.
Now? We squeeze him all the time. All of us. Including Will. Well, when he isn't screeching at him for stealing his toys or pushing him down when he ventures into Will's territory.
Addie has decided that she is a big girl now. Big enough to lug Jack around all over our property. I don't agree. She weighs a mere 10 pounds more than he does and frankly? I don't think she's quite that tough. But I can't get her to agree with me. Jack tolerates it, and I simply don't watch. Unless she tries to go down the steps or something.
He's finally no longer sleeping in our bed with us. Not that it was terrible, just a little cramped. If a person didn't mind sleeping with feet jammed into the outside of the tummy, it really wouldn't be too bad at all, actually. Me? I kind of like my space, so that feet in tummy thing wasn't really my idea of fun. I wouldn't say that I'm getting that much more sleep than I was when he was in bed with us though. He's now sleeping on a mattress on the floor right beside our bed and every time he cries I get up to pat his back. Some nights I get to sleep the whole night through....other nights I'm up every hour. Similar to what I hear about new babies. :)
He rises nearly every morning about 6:00 and trots out of our bedroom with both thumbs in his mouth. I find him perched on the window seat in the dining room looking out the window. Sometimes crying. Sometimes grinning at who knows what.
He still eats like a trooper, but is becoming the typical American child. The kind of child who realizes that there are better options than sweet potatoes and bananas out there. The kind of child who cries and cries trying to get his mommy to realize just how much he doesn't like the food in his bowl. Perhaps his mommy should be a little kinder and prepare the poor child some of his very favorite foods for every meal, but she just doesn't have it in her. At this house, the cook (that would be me) cooks three meals a day. Take them or leave them. But if you choose to leave them you'll be one hungry person til the next meal rolls around. Even the nearly two year old has had to learn that the hard way. Now we may have lots of gagging and crying, but he eats anyway. Sorry if that sounds mean. Not really though. Cooking simply isn't one of my favorite things to do (in fact, I have been known to forget that it is even meal time....like tonight when one of the children mentioned how hungry she was and I looked at the clock only to realize that it was 5:59 and supper needed to be on the table in exactly one minute. And supper wasn't even started.) and I don't think it hurts a child to learn to eat what is set before them. Call me old school, I guess.
Back to Jack.
On top of sleeping in his own 'bed', he is also feeding himself. Like the sleeping alone thing, he wasn't too cracked on this change in plans. He really enjoyed having two free hands during meal time. He liked having Mommy serve him. He kind of preferred to be a little lazy. The first few meals he actually would grunt around and finally hand me the spoon. He caught on that if he was going to get any food he would have to feed himself. He does a super job. It pretty much all hits his mouth.
Still no coherent talking out of him, but the babble is constant. He tries to talk. Oh my, does he try. Unfortunately, it comes out all sounding the same. He gets frustrated. I laugh. He gets more frustrated. I stop laughing and try harder. He resorts to hand motions and sometimes grabbing me by the hand to drag me to show me what he means. He gets his point across and all are happy. Frankly? I love the fact that he can't really talk yet. It keeps him in the 'baby' stage a little longer and it means that there are only two talking non-stop rather than three. :)
He's gotten smart enough to figure out how to open the door and sneak outside. It's happened several times. I'm slowly learning that the door must be locked if I plan to keep him inside. He would live out there. Unfortunately, he's taken a real liking to the middle of the road, so he simply can't be outside unless I am out there with him. I'd love to send him out with the other two, but they get busy and tend to forget that he's out there. It's just not worth it. Plus. When he doesn't head for the road he heads for the water. That isn't much safer, in my opinion. Even if it is only eight inches deep.
The 'honeymoon' phase appears to be over with him. Many children who are brought home from an orphanage go through a phase that they are good as gold. They listen immediately. They try to do everything just as mom and dad expect.
No more. We are seeing his true colors. While he is still the fun-loving, giggling boy that we've always known, he now sprinkles in his version of a temper tantrum. We say no, he starts flapping his hands like a little bird. We say to stop, he glares. We say anything that he doesn't exactly like, the whining starts. The whining starts, he gets sent to bed. He lies in bed screeching and hollering and finally emerges happy as a lark. Which will last several hours and then we start all over again!!
He's still most definitely a momma's boy. Most definitely. He adores his daddy. When he hears Jason's pick-up rounding the corner right up the road he squeals and races to the door. If Jason is in the house he's hanging all over him. But at the end of the day, when he's tired, only mommy will do the trick. We try to let others hold him (Grandma, Uncle Ivan, etc.) but IF he goes to them at all, it only lasts a few seconds. We are so thankful. There's nothing quite like having a little child know who mommy is and choosing mommy over all others.
And, oh yes, we have completed his first post placement report. And he's growing. Rapidly. Last week when we took him to the doctor he had grown a full two inches since we had him there in February. He'd only gained one pound but that's understandable since he's getting so much taller. He's actually hit the fifth percentile....which is more than either of the other two can say. :)
What a blessing he has been to our little family. How thankful we are that we stepped out in faith, not knowing exactly how this was all going to work. What an awesome God we serve.
Only the God that we serve could have possibly orchestrated our little family. Three children from across the world. Three children.
Some days I could just sit and stare at them for the whole day. Other days I wonder what we got ourselves into. But every day, I thank God that He chose us to be the family for each of these little souls.
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