Tuesday, March 25, 2014

1000 Words

If a picture is worth 1000 words...

Soccer Star
Joey is our new soccer star!  This is his first season playing soccer and so far it's a success.  He makes sure to find time to dance and entertain while on the field.   Of course!  Follow the soccer ball?  Nahhh, sometimes he just gets too tired or so he claims.  It's hilarious!  When he is able to get control of the ball, he's quite proud.  When Joey gets a turn to be the goalie, you'd think he won the lottery.  And when he revs up for a grand kick, the form...it's unique!  


This is one happy soccer star!


 This goalie is all in the game!

Some serious concentration

Just look at that "form"

Two of Joey's biggest fans

These guys couldn't be more proud of Joey!

Celebrating Down Syndrome Day
During our adoption trip in China, we were grateful to be grouped with an amazing family who was there to adopt their second little one with Down Syndrome.  Joey has an even greater appreciation of how special God made each of us.  Friends with Down Syndrome are brilliant, creative, joyful, and a great gift to celebrate.  Our guys celebrated with silly socks!


These silly socks are for you, J and V!

Happy to be celebrating two special friends

Signals vs. Sign Language
As I mentioned in an earlier post..."how do you unteach something?"  By mistake, I taught Samuel that pointing to your mouth is the sign for "up".  While trying to encourage him to speak out loud when he wants me to pick him up, I accidentally taught him this handy dandy signal (not to be confused with legitimate sign language).  


"Mama, up-a"

Sometimes he's too cute for his own good!

What's new with Samuel?
Sit down for this.  He's letting me rock him at night.  Yep!  This is a big deal at our house.  While in China, Samuel would often fall asleep while I sat on the couch to feed him a bottle at bedtime.  Once we arrived home, I just slept in his room on the floor.  So, that's where he fell asleep and slept all night next to me.  Samuel wanted nothing to do with the rocking chair.  The idea was foreign to him.  And it seemed foreign to me that it was foreign to him.  Why wouldn't he want to be cuddled and rocked to sleep?  Well, while he was feeling yucky a week ago, I tried rocking him again.  To my surprise, he was ok with.  It wasn't just a short-lived concept while he was sick either.  And that was the beginning. Now that he's feeling better, he still lets me cuddle and rock him.  No more fighting stiff arms and legs.  No more giving in to his request to be placed in his bed.  What's really fun is looking down at him with just a glimmer of light shining in from the hall.  When I smile at him, one corner of his mouth slowly turns up.  My goal has been to rock him until just before he falls asleep.  When, I place him in his bed at night now, he barely has the energy to whisper "night night" before giving in to his heavy eyelids.  

We have a copycat too.  Unfortunately, not everything he copies would fall into the NECESSARY or even the APPROPRIATE category.  
Brushing teeth - necessary
Blowing on your arm to make a tooting sound - not necessary
Holding hands in the parking lot - necessary
Making gurgling sounds at the dinner table - not necessary
I guess that's what brothers are for though.  Some things are quite helpful.  As I'm putting on Samuel's PJs at night, he gently reminds me "teeth".  And while it may take me a few moments to figure out what he's saying, I finally get it.  He endures the brushing pretty well, complete with a slobbery spit at the end.  It's cute!  Anything Joey does, Samuel will gladly attempt.  That works in our favor often.  At 2 years old, our littlest guy wants to be 5.  He wants to be like Joey.  And truly, I want him to be like Joey...because Joey really does have a tender heart and a special love for all his friends.  

We continue to catch little glimpses of Samuel's personality as the days go on.  He's quite the silly, opinionated, and cuddly little guy.  He's a little stubborn and bold too.  He understands the word "no", but he will flat out tell me "no" and lift his little arm to swing at me.  Yikes!  I must be on my toes!  He's testing those limits.  Since figuring out that Daddy and I respond to "Mama", he repeats it almost constantly.  I tend to respond with a "Yes, Samuel.  What do you need?" while Daddy simply says "I'm Dada, not Mama!"  We must get the facts straight for this little guy.  Sometimes, Samuel repeats "Mama" over and over and then just flashes a smile.  That has been good for me.  Sometimes I get caught up in being a referee.  I get distracted with trying to keep a certain someone from jumping off his headboard (yep, it happens here).  I get focused on breaking up fights.  Samuel's innocent beckoning and joyful smile is a great reminder for me to just take in the sights and sounds of motherhood.  God has used these unexpected, funny moments to remind me of the gifts surrounding me.  Even among the tooting sounds, the kick and punches, and the incessant need to say "Legos do not go in your nose", it's a privilege and honor to parent these little munchkins!  We are grateful for these blessings!



Thursday, March 13, 2014

Oops! Maybe Not...

I thought I was officially recognized as "Mama".  

I was wrong.  

I spoke too soon. 

Apparently there is room for two mamas in our house. 

It's a special title limited to only 2 individuals though. Unfortunately, one of those mamas is actually the dada. Could it be that Samuel's word "mama" simply means "you've repeated this word in my face almost hourly since we met. And the number of times I will repeat back to you each day will outnumber the stars in the sky". Maybe it's the word for "parent". Yeah, that's it. At least that's what I tell myself! It's what I tell Dada too! Ha! Gotta love these parenting moments (realizations).

____________

WE INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED 
BLOG POST TO BRING YOU THIS BREAKING NEWS:

Meet our newest family member Gracie Mei. Why stop at just one new family member in 2014? If one is good, 2 must be better. This little lady (85 lbs of loveliness) joined our family Sunday night. She had been fostered by a wonderful family while her previous family was sought. No one stepped forward to claim her.  Unfortunate for them - fortunate for us.  She is amazing with the boys. Molly doesn't even seem to mind her new friendship. Watch out, world.  Gracie is here to stay!


Did I mention that she's the gentle giant?

__________



Dancing machines 
Who would guess that we - 2 uncoordinated people - would be chosen to parent 2 dancing machines? Ok, maybe dancing doesn't automatically equate to coordination. In fact, it does not mean that at our house at all.  Ever.  Joey is all over the place when he dances. He probably burns a million calories in one dance "show". From flips to kicks to random arm swings. That's what you get at a Joey show. He even invites the audience to participate, which makes me even more thankful that he does not have access to a smart phone and YouTube! Samuel is...um, his moves are more like A Night at the Roxbury...


Sorry, haven't been able to capture 
shots of the head bob...yet.
These 2 run circles around each other.

Truly the greatest show on earth

There's a head bob and an occasional lip syncing, which are both hilarious by the way. Samuel's head nods so much at times, I'm afraid his head might come loose. He doesn't care whether he hears "Funky Jesus" or an oldie from Bon Jovi. They all necessitate a good head bob, even in public! And the look on his face - complete seriousness. Not a grin in sight. He's very serious in his head bob, fully concentrating.  It only adds to the humor! He can copy pretty much any move Joey makes, but the head bob... it is all Samuel! 


Hopscotch anyone?

 Soaking up the sunshine

By the way, today marks 2 months since Gotcha Day.  Just 2 short months ago we walked into the civil affairs office and walked out with our hearts and arms more full.  We've been together ever since.  This little guy just fits so well into our crazy family.  Since that day in the civil affairs office, God has given us many many opportunities to practice patience and more fully grasp our great need for Him.  Also, we are grateful for the joy, laughter, excitement, and unconditional love the Lord has poured out on us over these 2 months!  These 2 boys are more wonderful than we could've imagined!





Friday, March 7, 2014

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!!! 

Allow us to introduce Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

He had no problem devouring this yumminess!

Joey and I snuck away one night for a blue raspberry ICEE!
This blue-eyed cutie still has my heart!

Side note: Samuel throws food. A big shout out to Big Brother Joey for introducing this behavior. Hey, they can’t be perfect all the time!