Steven update

Holly posting! Wow, my first blog entry. We have been home with Steven for less than 3 months. Steven and Samuel's relationship has changed for the better. They are now more friends than opponents. At first, both played separately but in the same space (parallel play). They fought much of the time. Now they can work together to build lego towers.

Steven has his "official" birthday at the end of the month. He entered the orphanage 4 years ago this month. They assigned him a birthday that supposed he was turning 4. Medical staff and our dentist here disagree. He was probably 1 1/2 - 2 1/2. At the end of the year when we have the 1-year report done and go through the legal process to get a US birth certificate, we will also have his birth date adjusted. For now, we will keep this month's 8yr old "birthday" low-key.

School Time: The Nauss preschool is open every day and the boys practice coloring, cutting, pasting, painting, reviewing the alphabet, counting, sizes, colors, shapes, etc. We play racing, matching, bingo and flashcard games. We watch Clifford, Dora, LeapFrog, Barney and other preschool videos. Steven is a bright boy! He now knows in English: colors, shapes, sizes, genders, opposites, all uppercase letters and their sounds. He speaks 3-5 word sentences like, "Steven no like that." and "Sammy hit Steven!". He does not yet use pronouns (an indication of schol readiness) but it will come. On clear days we play outside or go to a playground nearby.

Food: At first, Steven ate whatever we put in front of him. Now he is showing preferences. He loves all fruit and most veggies. Meats? sometimes. For breakfast, eggs are the hands-down favorite. Most mornings I make the boys a hot meal of eggs (scrambled, fried, microwaved, omolet), french toast, pancakes, oatmeal or their favorite sauteed onions and carrots with eggs and leftover rice mixed in.

Hippothrapy: No, we are not counseling hippos! There is a therapeutic horseback riding facility opening in our area and all services provided to disabled children will be free!! We went to an open house (in the rain) and the boys were thrilled to visit a farm and see and feed animals. There are medical forms to fill out, but we hope to have the boys start working the horses by the summer.

AWANA, Church, Story Hour: We take the boys to Sunday School, Children's Church, midweek awana (they are in the Cubbies class), and the local library's story hour. I stay with them for all sessions. Adoption therapists recommed that one parent be with the newly-adopted child 24/7 for the first year or so to help with the bonding and attachment. In early January, I had two velcro-kids on my legs. Then they began to venture a few feet away. During story times Steven still prefers to be on my lap. I think it is because he does not understand the words being spoken. I thought Sam was ready to have me leave the room, but when I left for two minutes, he had a crying meltdown. Ahhh, adopted kiddos and their attachment/abandonment issues...

Let it Snow!

This morning we woke up to eight inches of freshly fallen snow - a storm that blanketed the Northeast from Alabama to Maine. I actually started up my snowblower, something I had not done at all in New Jersey. The kids were fascinated as they made snow angels. Holly and constructed our own snowman while Amy had a snowfight with the boys and a neighbor. Folks up north call this kind of snow "poor man's fertilizer". This particular storm began on Sunday March 1 with rain, ice and sleet, making travel quite hazardous. We didn't even try to go to church. The weather condition worsened throughout the day. Holly's parents lost power at their home on Smith Mountain Lake, only an hour away.

Time for hot chocolate! Go make a memory!