Whew, I finally am awake enough and Ade is napping so I can actually write a blog post.
We have been home a week and half now and the time has flown by.
We are EXHAUSTED!!!
The toddler experience is busy, loud, overwhelming, fun, exhausting, emotional and so on.
We knew it wouldn't be easy bringing home a 2 year old but we were certainly not prepared for how hard it actually is.
For the most part he is a happy little guy...he loves to play, be held and pet the dogs and cat.
There are some food issues happening with our little dude. It is hard to watch him get so upset if the food isn't ready fast enough or when he stands at the fridge and cries because he wants to eat. He could eat himself sick and did the first few days...we seem to be managing it a bit better now....lots of distractions and snack times often through out the day. He seems to be starting to understand the food will come. This is probably the most difficult of all the things we are encountering because he doesn't understand us when we tell him the food will always be there.
Then comes all the fun stuff! PARASITES! Yup, they are in the house...well in his little belly anyways...so that has been fun! Um, no - so nasty! We are waiting on the proper meds to come in so we can treat him and hopefully be clear and free...or not!
The jet lag was brutal! It wiped us all out! You think you are feeling better and then you are falling asleep standing up. The wee one was up a few nights at 2a.m. and all "What? It's time to play!" Oh boy that was hard!
The other thing we are now encountering is the bedtime issue. He was so good in Ethiopia and even the first week home he was fantastic. Went to bed no problem...the last two nights have not been as easy. Once he is asleep he will sleep until 7:30 or 8 which is nice so now it is getting him back into the groove of falling asleep again with out tears.
So, overall we are exhausted, happy, overwhelmed, tired and basically getting used to our new life...it was quite the epiphany Yvan and I had when we got home. "Oh right, we have a child now and as such can not do all things like we used to."
Yup, life as we know it has changed!
No one said parenting a toddler was easy and they right....but each day gets a little better as we all adjust to one another.
P.S. Please excuse the spelling and grammatical errors - I have cat on me while I type who is needing lots of love right now.
12 comments:
I always love reading a blog once folks are home - all of sudden the waiting posts are over, and the business of family life begins! Hope that you continue to see progress each day as you adjust to each other, the new routines, and everything else :)
Yeah, yeah, yeah :)
It will get easier friend!! Once he knows that home is there to stay, food is always available (even when E came home at 7 months...food could not come fast enough or in big enough amounts), and him mom and dad are there forever.
The exhaustion will go one day.....you get used to a lack of slepp. I hope those parasites get lost soon. If you ever need to chat you know where to find me...I remember bawling in the middle of the day, saying how hard motherhood is.
He looks so happy though :)
Give yourself 6 weeks. That's the time it usually takes to get your wearings and get over all the WTF PARENTING?? thing. 6 weeks of slack. Let things go and just be. After that, give yourself 6 more weeks to find your groove, settle into your routines, and start to get the whole family gig down pat.
But it's great to read about all the newness and exhaustion and challenge and fun and love. Welcome to parenthood.
It's so great to read a parenting post like this. The wait is over and the fun begins! Parenting is hard but it will get easier once you settle into a routine. Just go with the flow and take one day at a time. So glad your boy is home with you forever!
No words of wisdom... but you are amazing and you will rock motherhood, I have no concerns there;)
BIG HUGS...
and remember to get the RIGHT DOSE of medications for those parasites... you will probably remember the story even though you were sleep deprived when I told you ;)
The first couple of weeks our little guy was home with us, hubby and I exchanged many "WTF were we thinking??!!" glances.
Such a HUGE adjustment for everyone - even the furry critters!
Just try to get as much sleep as you can, when you can.
Karen T.
and you thought I was kidding when I said that 'the other side' was all about sleep deprivation... :)
The exhaustion will be a faint memory one day... the parasites will be a not-so-faint memory but still just a memory. Heh.
It sounds like you are doing great!
I have no children, but having made several major transitions in the past few years, I think that it takes about 6 months to get through them and a year to feel really good about things.
Go easy on yourselves.
Right on, sounds exactly as things should be in the first few weeks home :). Ya, parenting is definitely always challenging, but it does get easier once you get to know each other and get routines down pat and fall into a groove. Hang in there and it will happen. Those first weeks are full of long and sometimes overwhelming days/nights (but also many moments of wow-this-is-actually-happening, and wow-my-long-awaited-angel-is-finally-home! - usually when said angel is sleeping!) :)
Welcome to the joys of parenting. It will get easier and you probably will not even realize it till you have to sit down and do your follow up reports and realize - WOW, have we come a long way! Good luck with mealtime.....it still drives me crazy some days.
I love reading about your parenting experience! The food, parasite, and sleeping issues are not fun. Call if you need to chat.
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