3 Months Home!

Friday marked 3 months home as a family.

It has been a roller coaster of a ride since then.

We knew it would be hard but until you are in it you don't know how hard it will be.

There have been some good moments too! We have laughed and snuggled and played!

Our wee dude's personality is showing itself to us more and more everyday. He is a pretty laid back little dude for the most part. He likes to go out for walks in the stroller. Loves to go for car rides and loves to play in the back yard. But you know...he is 2! So some days the 2's take over and you think "Where did you come from?". He is adventurous and not at all afraid to go new places with us.

When we first met him, he was a sick little guy. He had an upper-respiratory chest infection and a rampant scalp infection (we think it was ringworm our peds specialist thinks impetigo) either way, his head was sore. It wasn't until we shaved his head that we realized how bad it was. Poor little guy! We are glad we did it though because his head was almost cleared up by the time we started our long journey home. He also had a belly full of parasites. Some we treated in Ethiopia but the rest we had to treat at home. The Giardia was the worst simply because of the smell. It all seems to be gone.

His energy level runs at about a 10 so he keeps us busy! From the minute he wakes up until we put him to bed he is a playing machine. Now he is starting to play by himself more so that gives us a break for about 15 minutes or so. Hee! And can the child talk! Oh my! He can talk! All day long he is talking!

Ade loves to snuggle and will curl up on the couch with either of us to just hang out. Bath time is a favourite time in our house and going to bed has become a nice routine without much crying (on all of our parts). I think the biggest thing is he is more comfortable and knows we will be there for him if he needs us. He is now sleeping about 11 1/2 hours at night which is fantastic. Oooh, and finally he likes to brush his teeth...mom and dad do it first and then he does it for a bit and he is pretty good at it.

We are told by all he is pretty much a typical 2 year old. Our social worker, whom we love to bits, tells us the attachment is coming nicely! She says "He is primed to attach." and I believe her. He doesn't seek out other people for affection and always wants to come back to us. He is close to his Grandma and Grandpa (gmamama and bumbpa) and loves his Auntie and Uncles. He is a social little dude who loves to play with other kids. Living in a house with close to 60 other kids will probably do that. So we make sure to schedule lots of play dates. Truth be told though he loves it best when Yvan and I are both home together and it is the 3 of us. He seems to be truly happiest then.

He loves the dogs and cat. He probably loves them too much because they hide a lot still right now. Grissy seems to be the exception - he loves wee one yet fears him at the same time. The first couple of days home Ade would scream with fright whenever they came in the room...now he talks about them all the time...especially if we are out. He loves to come home and see them waiting at the door for us.

He is learning words daily! Apple being his favourite word! Apple represents all food so when he is hungry he will say "apple, apple, apple". Food was big trigger for him when we first arrived home. It was awful to watch such a wee babe getting so upset over food. We realized in short order he didn't see meals prepared so when he realized the fridge was where food came from he would stand there and cry all day. Some days he still gets upset if the food doesn't come fast enough but in general he is understanding more and more the food will be there.

When we first got home, he would have eaten anything we put in front of him except bread or crackers. Then all he would eat was bread and crackers. Now we seem to have a nice balance. I still wonder where the child who would eat red peppers and avocado went (ha ha ha) but for the most part he is eating a good selection of foods. He is now picky though so some days he won't eat at all. Well except Apples, he will always eat apples!

He has probably close to 40 words. Car, truck, kitty, puppy, bird, outside, boots, shoes, papa, mama, apple, banana, diaper, potty, bath, grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt, ball, teeth, eyes, ears, nose, hair, all done, me do, sit down, outside, walk etc...I don't think I will list all 40. His receptive skills are amazing...he understand so much more than he speaks. He is a smart little dude!

At 3 months home we are feeling more settled. Certainly better than when we first came home which is to be expected. There are still hard days (mostly mine) as we adjust to one another. Some days when the 2's rear their ugly head and the tantrums come out in full force you think "Really, I asked for this?"

Being a parent is hard work - harder than anyone can ever tell you but when you see your child making gains and growing each day it is rewarding and can make your heart swell.

First Days in Ethiopia







Home at Last!