Day 3

Woo hoo success. J willingly climbed on the bus today Ms. Stacy said he had a great day. Both of us agree having R and J in class together will be beneficial to all (including me ;-) )

Day 2

Today J knew what was coming. He immediately began to cry when the bus pulled up. The aide on the bus had to take him from my arms and quickly strap him into his seat. Even though I knew he would get used to it, I felt so bad for him that I cried.

Day 1 (the first day of school 09/10)

School started on Monday August 10th. Not only were the kids excited, but so was I. NO MORE FIGHTING- YAY. E was was so proud to be going to first grade. She had gotten the teacher she wanted and had a few friends in the class. R was low key as usual, but was thrilled to be riding the bus again and I was happy he had Ms. Stacy as a teacher. J... yeah, he really had no clue what he was in for (but I knew Ms. Stacy would take care of him). The first day he got right on the bus, but apparantly cried a few times at school. Now for the best part...

Lollipop Mama

Strangely enough, these are the most important words we hear from J all day, because they mean he is telling us he has to go "poo poo on potty". He is now fully trained YEA. About 3 weeks ago, I decided that unless he had success, he was not going to wear undies (regardless of how many time he begged for them). We quit and less than a week later, he began to initiate the training. He was pee pee trained in a couple of days, but the poopy took a bit longer. He would go if we could grab him in time, but would not tell us he had to go. We finally decided a little bribery was in order, so out came the lollipops. Now when he needs to go poopy, he tells us "lollipop" and off we go to do his business, quickly followed by many cheers and a lollipop.

Undies

or as J says it unDEES. J loves undies. He will point to and comment whenever he sees them whether they are in a laundry basket, on a person or hiding under his sisters dress (which he promptly searches for).

Hoping to stimulate some interest potty training we put J in Thomas undies. Although he loves trains and is absolutely fascinated with undies the potty business was a no go.

His breakthrough toy

As is always the case just after Christmas, we try to get rid of some of the old/no longer used toys to make room. While Daddy and I were recently going through the toys, we came accross this shape sorter. Although expecting an argument, I told Daddy we must keep this one. Without hesitation he not only agreed, but commented (with tears in his eyes) that it was J's breakthrough toy. Strangely enough, he was right.

About 2 months before J turned 2, he hadn't yet begun to talk and was still struggling with attachment. He found this toy and it quickly became a favorite. Hundreds of times throughout the day he would point to the shapes asking us to label them. In no time he had them all memorized, from the trapezoid to the hexagon. Shortly after, he began to open up and not only turned a corner with his speech, but also with his attachment. Before that point we were very worried about his development, but he with that toy and his desire to master it he showed us how incredibly bright he is.

The park

Often Daddy will give me a break and take the kids to the park. They really enjoy the park and I think Daddy gets a kick out of watching them play. Just the other day, he took the kids as well as my new camera and snapped a few pictures for me.

At least he has learned the important things

Although J is still a little behind verbally (not putting words together yet, but he does have a fairly decent vocabulary), today I realized he has learned what really matters. While watching M*A*S*H and having our afternoon snack, J looked at the TV and said "esh". Just to be clear, I asked him what we were watching and he repeated "esh". Even more impressive is the fact that it was the middle of the show, he didn't even have to hear the opening/ending music to identify it. I'm so proud.

Reason #100 Why I still love my Ergo

Sadly it became too painful to wear J around the park, but Daddy figured out a way that everyone could have a seat. J was so comfortable he even fell asleep.

Goofy's Kitchen

A trip to Disneyland wouldn't be the same without breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. Although it is a little pricey, the food is fairly good and the kids love seeing the characters.

Disneyland

Last week we went to Disneyland. It was the first time we have ever gone "during" the school year and believe me, it was a great time to go. No crowds at all. The kids had a blast, in fact our only disappointment was sending Nanny home on a plane the day after we got there because Papa was sick. Not surprisingly, R loved Autopia. He has been on it many times before and never seems to get bored with it. E made sure that we went on Autopia first thing each morning, but only after we went on her favorite- Buzz Lightyear. J seemed a little nervous on the first couple of rides, but lit up as soon as we did the Teacups and then the Carousel. He thought he was such a big boy riding his own horse.

Without another adult there, we had to forgo the "big kid" rides, but I didn't mind at all. In fact it was a nice change to have the focus just on the kids. Probably the best surprise was the new Toy Story ride. This quickly became a favorite, unfortunately everyone else at the park thought so too. Each time we rode it, we had to wait about 45 minutes- although it was well worth it. Enjoy the pictures.

R and J riding their bikes

While videotaping E learning to ride her bike with no training wheels, I got some pictures of the boys.

What a little goofball.

Still my favorite baby purchase...

the Ergo. Although J is about 28 lbs. (about 1/4 of my weight), I still love to carry him in it. Usually he is content to be in it, unless he feels he is missing out on something (ie. sitting in the toy cars at Toys R Us). We did go through a period when we were struggling with attachment/his independence that he refused to be worn, but fortunately we have moved past that. Because he is getting so big, my hips start to go numb after awhile, but it's well worth it to feel him snuggled so close to me.

For the first time in over 5 years...

we do not have a crib in our house. Although J is almost 28 months, he was very comfortable in his crib. We tried taking him out shortly before he was 2, but he wanted no part of it. Unfortunately a little over a week ago, he discovered he could climb out- obviously that meant the end of it. We had a rough couple of days getting him comfortable in his new bed (which is just a mattress on the floor for now) and making him stay in his room, but he finally gets the idea and is sleeping soundly again. The pictures below make me a little sad, nonetheless, I am excited to move on to the next step.

We're almost there

Those outside the adoption world really don't get the attachment thing, but it is very real and sometimes very painful. Before my oldest came home, like many others I mistakenly believed all I had to do was love my little 4 month old baby when he/she came home and that would be that. 3 kids later, and I know that isn't always enough. E and R showed their difficulties right from the beginning, but J (being the little booger he is) really threw us for a loop. He had a fairly lengthy honeymoon period. Even our social worker believed "3rd times a charm". He seemed to grieve initially and then slowly moved on. It all felt so right. At 18 months (14 months after coming home) we realized things weren't quite as we had thought. In hindsight, things started going downhill at 12 months, but they were so minor and went so slowly we didn't realize it until later. When we realized he was struggling, we visited with our social worker who confirmed what I was thinking- anxious attachment. 9 months after diagnosis and a lot of hard work, J is finally getting there. I can't say he is absolutely in love yet (there is a difference between loving us and being in love with us), but he is close.

Today Daddy set up the "jumpy thing" and J was very nervous about it. Instead of having a breakdown and crying like he has done in the past, he came to me and let me snuggle him. We sat this way for about 10 minutes until he decided it was okay to ignore it and go play. It felt so good to have him melt into my arms this way knowing that he could trust me to keep him safe.