April 21, 2014

{1 Month}

Ours for 1 whole month.

1 month copy

And we’re doing great…for the most part.

Little man has had to learn how to deal with a sister who has special needs & is either all over him wanting to play, or pushing him away with no regard to how it could hurt him. He’s had to learn to eat new foods. To hear a different language. Smell different smells. Sleep in 4 different beds. He’s had to watch family come & go in the morning and wonder if they’ll come back later.

Considering all that…he’s doing FANTASTIC!!

He’s had his first dr. appt. And, while it took 3 different trips (the final one to the hospital, with the help from a pediatric nurse), we finally got enough blood to run numerous tests. (which all came back perfect!). We are playing catch up with his shots (redoing all) and he had 4 the first time. He weighs 30 lb. 5 oz, and is 36 1/2” tall.

We had our first post-placement with the SW on April 15 and all seems to be good there til September.

The good:
* Caiden sleeps 9-10 hours IN HIS BED every single night.
* His eating is getting much better. He’ll now eat spaghetti, pork, chicken, applesauce, oatmeal, squash, fried fish, etc. His favorites are still plain noodles, bread & yogurt. Thanks to his older sister, he’s also found a love for M&Ms & ice cream :)
* He is happy, active & loves to be outside. He is beginning to understand that just because everyone leaves in the mornings, we all come back. He still cries when we leave, but it doesn’t last long.
* He’s starting to talk more (English…he’s always babbled/talked in Mandarin). He repeats everything we say, and is starting to request items on his own. He can say mao (cat), up, down, help, Amanda, Kalia, Emilee, mama, baba, bear, etc.

Areas of concern:
* We’re watching Caiden closely for signs of attachment issues. We’ve had to pull back a lot & not allow friends/family to hold/hug/ kiss/comfort/feed/etc. due to him wanting to go to everyone & not understanding that we are his mama & baba. See this post. 
* We plan to have him tested through First Steps for delays. We do not notice anything of major concern right now, but want to take advantage of this wonderful program while we can. Caiden is delayed a bit (orphanage delays only as far as I can tell – which is completely normal & expected), but I wouldn’t say by too much. My completely unprofessional opinion, maybe 6-8 months. Puzzles are definitely a challenge for him. He has NO CLUE how they go together – even very simple ones. And his attention span is about 2 minutes. Reading a book – not gonna happen :)

All-in-all I feel he’s adjusted very well. Way better than I would have if I’d had to go through everything he’s been through this past month. It always amazes me how resilient they are.

He is the most loving little boy, but he is ALL BOY! This boy wakes up running & doesn’t stop until he goes to bed. Always playing, running, giggling, etc. He definitely wears me out but oh how I love this boy!

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