10 Months

I can't believe it. Our little toddler tornado has been home for nearly a year.

Where does time go?

He is doing great! I have to admit that while Will has always been beyond lively, Jack has taken lively to a whole new level. He is the definition of energy.

This child gets into everything. He climbs everything. He has little to no time to rest....naps usually last an hour if we're lucky. There are some days that the energy level catches up with him and we'll enjoy three hours of calm!

He is done sucking his thumbs. Much to his dismay. He wears socks on his hands every night and every naptime. Unfortunately, with the taking away of his thumbs he has resumed the rocking that we thought was long gone. The other night he was rocking so viciously that I thought someone was sitting in the recliner in the living room, rocking. We're not sure how to get this to stop...and are hoping that with time he'll outgrow it. I have been spending about an hour each day rocking with him in hopes of him deciding that it's more fun to rock with someone than to rock all by himself.

He still doesn't really talk. Oh, he says a few little words, but nothing like I thought he would be by now.
-Gook, Mom (look)
-Hi
-Bye
-I lo oo (I love you)
-DADDDDYYYYY!!!
-Addie
-Wi (Will)
-All du (all done)
-Mmmm-mmmm
-Wow
-Whoa
-Eeeeeekkkkk
-Uh-oh
-da ba ba be me bo (the Bible tells me so....the last line to Jesus loves me)
-yeah
-des (yes)
-dat (da..Russian for yes)
-Guck (yuck...said frequently at meal time...especially when fruit is served)
-Youch (ouch)
-Woof, woof
-Meow
-Moo
-Oink (though it sounds like he's gargling)
-Mo (no)
-Ah ga ga ga ga (which means toilet, or drink, or outside, or upstairs, or sleep, or.....)

I really don't think he sees the need to talk. All he has to do is grunt and point and his siblings rush to his aid. Why exert the extra energy?

He still sleeps in our bedroom, though I'm beyond ready for him to move on. Our problem right now is a lack of a place to move him on to. He'll sleep in Will's room and until we can get Will to sleep all night it's not really an option. (As a sidenote though, Will is doing much better. We removed all pictures, toys, etc. from his bedroom and installed a baby monitor with a camera so we can see what he does all night. The first couple nights he was still up and playing (with blankets as there were no toys) but then figured out that we do, in fact, keep a pretty close eye on the happenings in his room. His sleep habits have changed!!! Rather than coming downstairs and biting every one's heads off cause he was up all night playing with legos, he comes down with a smile. It makes a much happier little boy...and in turn makes a much happier mommy.) Anyway, we have high hopes that Jack can move on out of our bedroom sometime in the next few months. He will not be pleased with that, but too bad for him. Thankfully, he isn't in our bed...just on a mattress at the end of our bed...

He still loves animals...and they love him as well. I'll have to say for as big as our dogs are, they are super gentle with our children. If you want one....Gena is due to have her babies this week. :)

He can pout with the best of them. And stomp his feet. And lie on the floor screaming and kicking and... And scowl.

It's amazing how even a two year old can get his feelings across without being able to talk. :)

He's growing. When we took him to the doctor in October, he'd grown 1.5 inches since his August appointment. I don't know what is the 'normal' rate of growth for a child, but that's a little more than either of our other two ever did. He's currently the same height that Addie was when she was almost four. :)

He still greatly dislikes fruit. All fruit. He loves fresh and cooked veggies, bread, any kind of meat. He doesn't really care for potatoes, unless they are in the french fry form. He's a trooper when it comes to food, often eating more than I do. No wonder he's growing.

He finally is starting to like people other than just us. A couple weeks ago he allowed Grandpa to hold him and over the weekend wanted Grandpa anytime he came within arms reach. He loves Grandma...though he's always thrilled to see me if I leave him with her for a couple hours. It's nice to have him start liking other folks, but I have to admit that it was really nice to not worry about him parent shopping as his big sister did. That, my friends, is not fun. Something about having your child prefer other adults over you, the mom, just doesn't settle too well.

Overall, it's been a great 10 months. Will is finally starting to act like the little boy we had before the imposter arrived. Addie is getting over her frustration that he won't cooperate as well as she had hoped when she thought we were bringing home a baby. I'm getting used to trying to keep up with him....though it still exhausts me. Jason is getting used to having an exhausted wife. :)

We're thrilled to have him here in our lives.

Who doesn't lounge on full trash bags to eat cookies?

We're so thankful that Russia and his family allowed us to bring him into our home. We're so thankful for the blessing of adoption.