3 months ago:
Shannon, Ella, and Daniel have been amazing with him. What a lucky boy he is to have such wonderful big siblings. And he knows he has them wrapped around his finger:) He is treated like little prince around here a lot! We're trying not to let it go to his head. They are constantly asking (begging?) for hugs. He can be a little stingy with his hugs to them, which I think is mostly a power thing. He likes to make his own decisions about things. But at bedtime (around 6:45) he LOVES to give them all kisses and hugs before his bedtime stories. It's pretty sweet.
I would describe his personality as laid-back yet also assertive and determined. He's not overly dramatic, doesn't really have a temper or have meltdowns. He gets cranky or does things he knows he shouldn't do when he's tired. He also wakes up grump, especially after nap. But usually perks right up after a short period of time.
He likes to be silly and make his siblings laugh by making funny faces or noises. He also appreciates slapstick, so Daniel loves to entertain him using physical humor:)
Sam repeats pretty much everything we say. He talks A LOT. Especially repeating our names MANY times throughout the day. I'm not worried about his language skills! He is putting two words together, such as "Chloe outside" and "change diaper" and "Daniel, stop." He makes known what he wants and we rarely have trouble understanding what he is trying to convey.
He also says "I love you" which sounds like "I ba loo." :) He also has wonderful manners and says "thank you" whenever anyone does something for him.
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| First day of preschool Nov. 18th For the first month or so he cried when I dropped him at his room. But now he walks right in and gives me a kiss goodbye! He just recently got comfortable going to the nursery at church now. |
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| Christmas |
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| Ski trip to NC during winter break |
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| Playing at Wills Park with cousins Jan. 2014 |
He loves all of his cousins as well. He gets right in the middle of the action and enjoys a good party! He's not shy and is quite independent. We noticed that even in China when he would wander away from us in the hotel lobby. He seems to have a lot of self-confidence and feels secure. He knows how to give and receive love and affection. It is obvious to me that he was loved by his caregivers in China. And that has made all the difference.
Sam's favorite things to do:
- play with trains (especially his battery powered Thomas)
- play with cars on the ramp
- play with play-doh
- go places in the car
- play outside
- play with siblings/ cousins
- go down slides
- say "no"
- eat carbs and sweets and drink milk
- summon us to come by saying "qualay" (at least that's what it sounds like; I don't know the actual Chinese word)
Things that aren't his favorite:
- watching TV
- saying "yes"
- eating vegetables
- swinging on swings
- sitting still
- sleeping in
- when his siblings tell him he can't do something (oh wait, that doesn't happen)
And as far as his medical needs go, it's pretty much a non-issue at this point. His heart surgery was done well in China and the pediatric cardiologist cleared him to do anything a typical toddler would do. We go back in year for an annual check up.
So that's about it for our 3-month check in... soccer will be starting back up soon and the girls will be on the same team again. They are looking forward to that. We are looking to get Daniel into swimming since he loves the water and has a lot of energy that needs to be released. With the frigid winter we've had here, I'm soooo ready for Spring already. I'm very much looking forward to our summer family vacation where we will go to a beach house with my brother's family and my parents. It will be so fun to watch all the cousins play together at the beach! (Yes, I know we have many months to wait, I just need to think warm thoughts now:))
In case you missed it, here is the link to the adoption video
https://vimeo.com/83900205
We couldn't imagine our life without him. So glad God called us to adopt. And so glad we able to say "yes!"
Is our life busy? yes, but not too busy
Is everything in order and neat? No way!
Is our house messy? yes, but whenever we clean it, just gets messy again, so...
Do I feel overwhelmed? No, strangely I don't. Sure, I have my moments when it's been a long day and Fred is out of town, but if I stop and put things in perspective, it's easy to count my blessings and take it all in stride. The older kids are good helpers and have been great about pitching in around the house. I've learned to embrace the mess, not worry about having everything "just right." Once I let go of that, I found I enjoyed my life more.
As long as the kids are happy and don't feel stressed and our life doesn't feel like chaos, then I think we're doing pretty good. Everyone helps out, we emphasize treating each other kindly, we make sure the kids do their school work and practice instruments and have time to play and relax as well. I guess we have a "big" family now? I don't know what the magic number is. But with the amount of food that goes down in this house, I'd say we're a big family.
It's fun, it's messy, it's a bit crazy. We don't do everything perfectly, we we do our best and learn from our mistakes. We are thankful for all we have.
Until next time...
