Update the updates....
Jun. 4th, 2009 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyburgI have a chatterbox who will snuggle (briefly) with me in the morning. And likes it!
Even daycare is telling how how far he's come between this week and last. HUGE. Yes, there's still the odd Chinese turn ('look at that!' is still in Chinese, for example) but just about everything else is in English. Now, he's still a wee kid and some of it is jibber jabber yet - but two weeks ago we couldn't have a conversation - now, it's constant.
*wipes brow* Whew. Only three months in, thank you very much.
I don't have to physically make connections - I can tell him, I can ask him, and then I can reinforce it physically if I need to...but the first reaction isn't needed anymore.
Last night was another up and down initially night as we put him down at 8, not quite asleep and had sleepy kid popping out of bed to see what would happen...which was, shooed gently back, tucked in and kissed nite-nite again. And again. And again once more with Jim there to make sure he stayed there.
Peaceful as you please. *thumbs up*
Now, I'm still concerned about the aggression...but I think I can expect that I would be, normal developmental stuff and all. And I'm still looking for things that make sense for him to fill time with us together doing. (We have a couple of hours at night between dinner and bath that might be used for other purposes. Right now, it's easily spent winding back up again if we're not really good at redirecting him into things like puzzles or reading books.)
When these routines fall into background noise instead of dominating my planning for the day, yeah. Comfort level. What a concept. Routines. Ditto.
Am I already thinking about the next one? I'd better be - he's a cakewalk in comparison to what I can expect out of the China program. First off, three weeks in country instead of four days - and she'll be coming out of an orphanage instead of a one-on-one foster family (Xander had the best kind of start for his outcome, no question). She'll need more attention, more time and I'm hoping - will be younger. At our age, it's unlikely she'll be an infant, probably closer to 2 than 1 - but we don't know.
Would I turn down an older child, knowing what I do now?
Older than two or three, all of it spent in institutional care? I'd really consider declining it - and that's my honest answer. Whatever the referral brings, it will be the only and last one I'll consider, that's pretty firm. And I want a daughter, and I want the baby experience. I don't have the special needs home, and that I know now very clearly. I am VERY grateful I have this daycare - they've got the talent and experience to really make all this work and can handle any age up to kindergarden. No way I could replace them - not a chance.
Right now, referrals are happening for LIDs the first three weeks into March of 2006. Our LID of the last week of February/first week of March 2007 is likely more than a year into the future. But...yanno. We still have the whole 'you're going to have a little sister' to work into the tapestry, and there's been no way to do it. Matter of fact, we have his adoption story to get into the tapestry - and now that we have some language, we are starting to do it.
*chuckles* We watch Escape to Chimp Eden off the TiVo after the kid goes to sleep. Yay primate care! Boy, can I feel for those guys...oh, wait.
Even daycare is telling how how far he's come between this week and last. HUGE. Yes, there's still the odd Chinese turn ('look at that!' is still in Chinese, for example) but just about everything else is in English. Now, he's still a wee kid and some of it is jibber jabber yet - but two weeks ago we couldn't have a conversation - now, it's constant.
*wipes brow* Whew. Only three months in, thank you very much.
I don't have to physically make connections - I can tell him, I can ask him, and then I can reinforce it physically if I need to...but the first reaction isn't needed anymore.
Last night was another up and down initially night as we put him down at 8, not quite asleep and had sleepy kid popping out of bed to see what would happen...which was, shooed gently back, tucked in and kissed nite-nite again. And again. And again once more with Jim there to make sure he stayed there.
Peaceful as you please. *thumbs up*
Now, I'm still concerned about the aggression...but I think I can expect that I would be, normal developmental stuff and all. And I'm still looking for things that make sense for him to fill time with us together doing. (We have a couple of hours at night between dinner and bath that might be used for other purposes. Right now, it's easily spent winding back up again if we're not really good at redirecting him into things like puzzles or reading books.)
When these routines fall into background noise instead of dominating my planning for the day, yeah. Comfort level. What a concept. Routines. Ditto.
Am I already thinking about the next one? I'd better be - he's a cakewalk in comparison to what I can expect out of the China program. First off, three weeks in country instead of four days - and she'll be coming out of an orphanage instead of a one-on-one foster family (Xander had the best kind of start for his outcome, no question). She'll need more attention, more time and I'm hoping - will be younger. At our age, it's unlikely she'll be an infant, probably closer to 2 than 1 - but we don't know.
Would I turn down an older child, knowing what I do now?
Older than two or three, all of it spent in institutional care? I'd really consider declining it - and that's my honest answer. Whatever the referral brings, it will be the only and last one I'll consider, that's pretty firm. And I want a daughter, and I want the baby experience. I don't have the special needs home, and that I know now very clearly. I am VERY grateful I have this daycare - they've got the talent and experience to really make all this work and can handle any age up to kindergarden. No way I could replace them - not a chance.
Right now, referrals are happening for LIDs the first three weeks into March of 2006. Our LID of the last week of February/first week of March 2007 is likely more than a year into the future. But...yanno. We still have the whole 'you're going to have a little sister' to work into the tapestry, and there's been no way to do it. Matter of fact, we have his adoption story to get into the tapestry - and now that we have some language, we are starting to do it.
*chuckles* We watch Escape to Chimp Eden off the TiVo after the kid goes to sleep. Yay primate care! Boy, can I feel for those guys...oh, wait.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-06-04 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-04 11:01 pm (UTC)Good luck with your journey to kid 2. Your son sounds like a real charmer already. Snuggly chatterboxes are my favorite.