Jacob: Baby Bear seems to be changing by the day. It seemed like we would never be able to shake Jacob's most deeply ingrained orphan behavior: rocking. But since the New Year I am so excited to see him finally making major strides with self-soothing. Jacob no longer rocks when he wakes. He consistently calls to me from his bed in the morning and after nap time. I need to find some wood to knock on before I say it, but, since the New Year Jacob has not woken once in the night to rock himself. He has stopped bumping his head rhythmically in his car seat and rocking in his high chair. We rarely see rocking anywhere anymore.
Jacob is not just increasing his vocabulary, he is eagerly searching for opportunities to communicate. The light bulb of speech has come on. Jacob has also finally gained control of drooling. We now notice him wiping his own chin or smacking his lips and swallowing as we have taught him. But the majority of the time now his chin is dry all on his own.
And I am finally noticing some physical indications that Jacob is ready for potty training. Oh Hallelujah! We have tried more than once over the past months to introduce the potty. And each time it has become immediately clear that he is just not ready. Catching up developmentally in so many areas means that some times we just need to give new developments time. Jacob may finally be ready.
Ty: Seven months home. We are on the second half of our first year together. Oh it feels good. Last month I said it felt like we had finally turned a corner. I was right. Ty is still working hard to trust and rely on us. Many times he cannot describe feelings and he often does not recognize his behaviors. We still have so much work to do. But months 4 and 5 were hard. And this just feels so much better than that.
Ty continues to be a master student. He is eagerly reading everything he can. He wants so badly to complete his homework independently. And he is close. I am so glad that academics have been so smooth for him. We are still working on classroom behavior. But both his teacher and I have noticed consistent improvement. Everyone still loves his goofy, active personality.
This month we are working hard on practicing "still and quiet." This is not a concept that comes naturally to Ty. And we are still a wildly active family. But we are practicing facing front in the car and using an inside voice or even sitting silently while riding, sitting reverently in church and whispering when appropriate, and playing differently inside the house than we do outside. Ty is doing well with this practice, but it will be a long work in progress.
Ty continues to be a master student. He is eagerly reading everything he can. He wants so badly to complete his homework independently. And he is close. I am so glad that academics have been so smooth for him. We are still working on classroom behavior. But both his teacher and I have noticed consistent improvement. Everyone still loves his goofy, active personality.
This month we are working hard on practicing "still and quiet." This is not a concept that comes naturally to Ty. And we are still a wildly active family. But we are practicing facing front in the car and using an inside voice or even sitting silently while riding, sitting reverently in church and whispering when appropriate, and playing differently inside the house than we do outside. Ty is doing well with this practice, but it will be a long work in progress.
Our Teenager: We are approaching the end of our paper chase. We hope to send everything to Ukraine in the next 2 weeks. We are only waiting on one document from immigration. Once the documents are submitted we should have about 4 weeks before travel. So, conceivably, we could be going to Ukraine in the next 6 weeks!
So many exiting things going on over here!
So many exiting things going on over here!
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