November 2018- National Adoption Month

Wow... it's been a very long time since I've updated this blog!  It's hard to believe that Andrew just turned three today.  It is his second birthday home with us, and we have so much to celebrate.

Andrew continues to be a bundle of energy and continues to move, move, move!  This fall, he started daycare at Cradles to Crayons, and he loves school and his teachers but would still rather be home with Mama. (Mama would still rather be home with him, too, despite how much I love my students.)  He is working on potty training-- kind of.  He's not too interested in it yet, but we plan to give it a good try over Christmas break.  Wish us luck!  He also could care less about counting, the ABCs, and learning his colors, but he's having fun, and he'll learn those things eventually.   We're in no hurry. He's quite the comedian, the climber, the cook, the caretaker of his "baby," and the talker!!  Now that he's in daycare, he's even talking to people besides us, so they actually believe us when we say that he talks.  lol  He's talking in 5 + word sentences and is very verbal.  We give Gabriel credit for that!  We are continually saying that we need to write down the things that he says.  He's started to watch a little bit of TV-- mostly just Daniel Tiger, and his favorite character is baby Margaret.  The other day, Daniel Tiger asked his baby sister what a horse says, so I then asked Andrew, "What does a horse say?"  He replied, "Beep! Beep!  I'm coming through!"  lol  What a hoot! 

He placed  pants on his head and exclaimed, "I'm Superman!"

Fun with Mama at the park

Mama, Baba, and Andrew at the apple orchard/ pumpkin patch.

Photo taken by Gabriel

Pudding is more fun to play with than to eat.

He's a climber!

Andrew likes to prepare real and fake food alike.

Helping Baba make apple crisp

When I asked him what he would like for his birthday, he adamantly said, "Paint!  And brushes to paint with!  And cars!"  Pretty simple request!  We did get him paint, brushes, special, thick paint paper, a small set of Hot Wheel Cars, a small Mickey Mouse doll (which he discovered  in our office early and LOVES), a soft teddy bear, a moving car puzzle, and some outfits and pjs.  We wrapped the gifts, and he thoroughly enjoyed unwrapping them.  Gabriel was interested too and quickly grabbed the toys out of Andrew's hands to check them out himself.  lol  Clothes are extra, non-gifts when you're three.  On Thanksgiving, he'll also get a doctor's outfit and props, which he will absolutely love, and some other small gifts from my parents.  

As far as development goes, he's growing and eating more than ever now, which is great to see, because he had very little appetite for quite awhile after coming home from China.  It's even hard for me to hold him for very long now due to his weight, so we'll soon reach the stage when I can't take him to the grocery store because I won't be able to lift him into the cart, yet he can't be trusted just walking beside me, even if I'm holding his hand.  (He's a grabber, especially at the checkout lane.)  His favorite thing to do is to stuff toys into bags and buckets, to push heavy objects (even some furniture, like the ottoman, when we let him), and to dump stuff out (like Legos) and then run off and try to leave the mess behind him.  He's slowly learning that he has to pick up after himself and pick up one thing before moving onto the next thing.  He picks up very well at school but not so much at home.  He'll eventually learn that we are as stubborn as he is!  :)

My favorite thing about him is his sweet goodnight kisses and how he cares for his "Baby" doll.  Most of the time, he holds her like a baby, makes "eye contact" with her, and talks very sweetly to her.  He even feeds her and gives her pretend drinks.  And he is a boy, so occasionally, he will throw her, but MOST of the time he is affectionate to her like a real baby.  lol

Gabriel loves his brother Andrew, and sometimes they play together nicely.  We count those times as true blessings!!  (They don't happen often these days.)

Gabriel, age 6, is in Kindergarten this year and is doing very well.  He's a great reader, and his teacher thinks he'll be one of the top readers in his class even by the end of the year.  He sometimes is frustrated learning his sight words, but he remembers them pretty well once he's mastered a list.  Tonight, he even read part of "Hop on Pop," a Dr. Seuss book.  He has many friends and likes to be a leader, even when on the playground at the park with new friends he meets.  He loves playing with playdough, with cars, and likes to watch TV (though we set limits on this).

Gabriel and cousin Gwendolyn

In this month, we adoptive parents celebrate the gift of our children through adoption.   However, we also think about their birth parents, pray for their birth parents, and  give thanks that they chose life for the ones they birthed.  We acknowledge that adoption is not all joy but also in very real ways involves the pain of loss of the birthparent and grief for both the child and perhaps the birth parent as well. We talk to our children about adoption not just in this month but all months so that they know where they came from and how love both gave them life in the beginning and continues to give them life where they are today.  We love both of our boys so much.  Our hearts are full.  <3