Webb Sight: The Promotion

We’re just 6 days shy of March 13, which will be 2 months from Gotcha Day. After 8 weeks together, I can honestly say that I think we’re about 90% of “normal”. Not that we individually are “normal” (whatever normal is), but we seem to be comfortable with this family-of-4 thing.

Budding Artists

Abstract art

This guy loves to build.

Here's his newest creation: an amusement park

We’ve been working with Samuel to practice sounds and words. As funny as it seems, Samuel responds to Joey’s initiation better than anyone else’s. They ride in the back seat practicing the letter sounds. Such sweet entertainment! Much like carrying Samuel in the carrier in China, I’ve given the “Mama” (pointing to myself) a lot of attention. A. LOT. Friends in China would ask if Samuel could walk because they saw him in the carrier so often. Apparently, I’ve encouraged the word “Mama” to the point that I’ve caught him lying in bed on multiple occasions quietly pointing to himself, whispering “Mama”.

Son, you are not the Mama! There is only room for one Mama in this house!

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE...
As of May 6th, I’ve been promoted!!! Let the record show that I’ve been moved up from “nanny” to “Mama”! My obsessive verbal encouragement has worked! Until now, I’ve responded to crying, grunting, “honking”, and the possible Chinese word for “nanny”. Yesterday he called me Mama without encouragement, coaxing, or bribery. He needed a box of blocks opened, so he quietly walked out of his room and called to me. Yippee! He has said Mama approximately 1,803,539 times since then. I’ve counted!

Some new words for Samuel include:
No-No (the more stern version of “no”)
Wow
Yay
Oval (obviously a very important word for a 2 year old)
Up-a (the Samuel version of “up”)
* Because we’ve been teaching simple sign language, he has that on the mind. When he wants to be held, I remind him to say “up”. I’ve tried to encourage him to speak out loud by pointing to my mouth. Since then, he thinks the sign for up is…pointing to your mouth. Oops! How do you UN-teach something?

Even with limited speech, Samuel is perfecting his tattletale skills! He is quick to tell us when Joey’s actions need correction. With a stern look on his face, Samuel points to Joey with one hand - a very purposeful, unmistakable point. He then pats us on the arm/leg with the other if needed to get our attention. I know it won’t be funny for long, but for now we laugh at the cuteness. When it comes to affection, this kid has nailed it! To our surprise, he’s very affectionate towards us from the beginning. He doesn’t hand it out freely to others though. Every night before bed, he gives all 3 of us a kiss. If he remembers as I lay him down that we've forgotten the kiss, he slowly stands back up to offer a slobbery smooch. He’s great with hugs, complete with both arms outstretched and a firm squeeze. Those are given all throughout the day. I can especially count on one when he’s been corrected for something and needs affirmation that he’s still my littlest love. Keep ‘em comin’, baby boy!!!