I just can not believe that it has been 5 weeks!!! Ben has just blossomed and totally fits in and it feels as though he has been with us forever!! (Not in a bad way either :-) )
Ben is now going to a sitter's house during the day while I am at work, and loves his new friend Mrs. Nicole. Nicole has been a friend of ours for years and when she moved to Va Beach it just fit perfectly for us and her to watch him, while I was at work. We are looking into school's but think that he is doing just fine right now. The only delay that he is really showing is his social skills, but geez he has only been here for 5 weeks and is really picking up words really well so for 5 weeks I think he is doing great. right now he is saying around 15 English words and a lot of blabber!!! :) He is so funny, he will get on the phone with my mom and just talk and talk and talk.
He really is all boy!! He will fall and jump right back up and keep going. It is amazing!! I didn't think he was going to make it to his bed time Sunday night though, he fell so many times bonking this and bonking that. But we can't keep him down!! He is VERY active, and soooooo UNLIKE what he was in the orphanage. You know after I saw him for the first time I was kind of wondering how he was going to fit with us, with Curtis being the sports nut and all of his Uncle's VERY into sports, because at the time, I totally pictured him standing at the wall with a book. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with that, and we would definitely mesh but I just wasn't sure. But now, he is the rough and tumble boy just like my nephew is and will be able to hold his own!!! :)
Well that is the update for now, we are in to April and Kelly's birthday is this month, she woke up excited, too bad it is at the end of April. :) So I will have to hear the countdown every morning!!
Love and hugs to all,
Amy
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
whew!!!
Wow what a week and a half it has been!!! We have been home with our little man for 11 days and I think he has a bump or a bruise or a scrap for each of those days!! :) He is so cute, toddling around and running after Kelly and Holly in the house, but the bad part is, is that his feet go too fast for the rest of his body and he ends up tipping over!! :) He is amazing and brings us to tears each day with laughter. :)
He is still VERY strong willed, and he and I will battle it out of picking up toys!!! Toys!!!! Can you believe that!! I will say ok, it's time to clean up, and he will start with every intention of picking up with Mommy, or Kelly and then he will just stop and watch us.....I tell him to keep going and he will look at us, and either kick or throw a toy our way.....oooooooohhhhh boy!!! then I make Kelly stop picking up so that Ben will continue to help, he needs to know that if he makes the mess that Kelly or Mommy is not going to pick up the entire thing that he needs to get in on the cleaning as well, so we will battle it out for a few minutes with him throwing a tantrum, arching his back, throwing himself on the floor, I then sit on the floor and tell him to pick up the toy and put it in the toy box....unbelievably I do think he understands because after a few minutes of a tantrum, he will then get up, put the toy in the box and all is good, we praise him for completing the job, he smiles and everyone is happy again. :)
In my mind I can't believe that he understands what I am saying but so often he will actually respond to something I have asked or said to him, and I am just amazed!! He is now saying DaDa, Momma, ball, car, meow (every time he sees the cat) and ball. So that is progress in a week and a half I must say. :)
Well Curtis went into work today for a bit, and I am going to try and take him to the grocery store by myself, since we have NO food in the house!! wish me luck, I have done this before with a toddler but it has been a few years and I can only remember Kelly wanting to hold everything before I put it in the cart, so say a prayer for me that we get in and out of the store with no tears, tantrums and without a huge grocery bill!!! :)
Lots of love!
Amy
He is still VERY strong willed, and he and I will battle it out of picking up toys!!! Toys!!!! Can you believe that!! I will say ok, it's time to clean up, and he will start with every intention of picking up with Mommy, or Kelly and then he will just stop and watch us.....I tell him to keep going and he will look at us, and either kick or throw a toy our way.....oooooooohhhhh boy!!! then I make Kelly stop picking up so that Ben will continue to help, he needs to know that if he makes the mess that Kelly or Mommy is not going to pick up the entire thing that he needs to get in on the cleaning as well, so we will battle it out for a few minutes with him throwing a tantrum, arching his back, throwing himself on the floor, I then sit on the floor and tell him to pick up the toy and put it in the toy box....unbelievably I do think he understands because after a few minutes of a tantrum, he will then get up, put the toy in the box and all is good, we praise him for completing the job, he smiles and everyone is happy again. :)
In my mind I can't believe that he understands what I am saying but so often he will actually respond to something I have asked or said to him, and I am just amazed!! He is now saying DaDa, Momma, ball, car, meow (every time he sees the cat) and ball. So that is progress in a week and a half I must say. :)
Well Curtis went into work today for a bit, and I am going to try and take him to the grocery store by myself, since we have NO food in the house!! wish me luck, I have done this before with a toddler but it has been a few years and I can only remember Kelly wanting to hold everything before I put it in the cart, so say a prayer for me that we get in and out of the store with no tears, tantrums and without a huge grocery bill!!! :)
Lots of love!
Amy
Thursday, February 26, 2009
ALLLLL BOY!!!
Well all I have to say right now is WOW!!! What strides this little man has made in just the 5 days that he has been home. We have overcome the fear of the carseat and actually sit in it without screaming his head off!! He will even go in the stroller without yelling and causing a scene!! :) We are learning that Daddy is really not such a bad guy but if mommy is anywhere near Ben has to be able to see me. If I am out of eyesight and he can't hear me, then he is Daddy's best friend!! All giggles and grins!!
Yesterday we went to the doctor's and the doc says that he is in really good health, the only thing that she would say is delayed on him, are his social skills. I am thinking REALLY??? WOW, you don't say...since he doesn't speak the language and all....hee hee!! He is 10th percentile for height, and 97 percential for his head, so my little man has a big ole head!! His weight is below the charts but he is working on this daily, and eats enough for 2 or 3 people. hee hee!! At the doctors he had blood taken, and we were all prepared for a fight and he said nothing!!! Then he had four shots!!! whew!!! Then last night on the way into church the little guy is trying his best to catch up with Kelly, and refuses to take my hand and trips and falls!!! OH MY GOSH the goose egg he has on his forehead!! I was thinking wow little guy you have had a rough day. Well it didn't end there. We have a bed for him, and we put the mesh railing up and everything, well he fell out of the bed twice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good grief!!! First night in his own bed, he would have slept wonderfully if he hadn't fallen out of the bed, so now we have two mesh railings, to keep him in. :) He is too funny!!! So yesterday was a rough day for him, he is ALL BOY and keeps on going, running laps around the house through the living rooms, and kitchen in our big circle, it is amazing to watch him go and I wake up every morning wondering what major accomplishment can we get from him today.
We can't imagine our lives without him now and feel that he is the perfect little boy for our family!!! :)
Lots of hugs,
Amy
Monday, February 23, 2009
Forever family
HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow what an adventure we have been on!! I can't believe we have this wonderful little boy home with us, finally, and he is adjusting very well. Let me tell you a little bit about the past few days for us.
Friday evening February 20, we started packing up in Moscow to bring our little guy home. :) He was so sweet, and would bring me different things that he would find to put in the suitcases. It was so cute. That night was a pretty rough night, I think with all of the commotion of packing and things, it got Ben a little worked up and he did NOT sleep well at all, and neither did Mom. I think I fell asleep for about 2 hours. So I am up on the computer and patting Ben's back whenever he woke up which was about every hour on the hour. Poor baby, all kinds of new stuff going on....So we get up Saturday, and get some breakfast, get the suitcases downstairs and head to the airport!!!!! YAY!! We stand in line after line, to get to our gate, and we finally make it to the gate. Since we are traveling to the US, you have to go through another security point, my gosh, how many times do they need to look through my luggage!! So we get there and sit down, and what do you know there are no bathrooms!!! And Ben has just filled his diaper!!! So out I go with a diaper, wipes and baby in hand. Get back to the check point and the lady that just let me out, is now checking me all over again, before I come in. I was like Oh my gosh, I was only changing the baby. But I guess some people will do anything to sneak things in..
We get on the plane and Ben starts to arch his back and throw a fit...uhoh!!! I get him calmed down, and while you are reading this, please remember that he is still not going to Curtis!! So we are good on the plane, we are with a group of adoptive parents, so we were all kind of talking and stuff like that. Ben is laughing and having a good ole time, up and down, in the seat, on the floor, standing in the seat...you name it he was in that position!! I get him to take an hour nap, and all of the other parents walking by say gosh I wish my child would take a nap too!! Thanks for jinxing me people!!!!!! Ben wakes up in the worst mood I have ever seen and proceeds to cry.....and cry.....and cry.......we give him snacks, we feed him food, we give him juice, we do everything possible, we play, I get every toy out that I have in my bags, nothing is working. he proceeds to cry and throw a few tantrums, and cry, and throw more tantrums, and then finally about 9 hours into the flight he is done fighting it and falls asleep...Yes so there was a total of about 7 hours in flight that were crying and me trying to calm him down. If Curtis would come near him, he would throw another fit!!!!!!! We get off the plane, and go to our gate in Atlanta, call the kids, and check our flight....still on time....we for some reason do not have assigned seats on our flight so I go up and ask the gentleman at the desk if he is working on the Norfolk flight yet and he says not yet give me 10 minutes, I am like ok....so I go and change Ben, I come back and Curtis goes up to the counter and asks him about our seats and he says, oh yeah (OH YEAH???) Ya'lls gate has been changed, you are now leaving from C38. We were in D1 and had just walked from E!!! So all of a sudden he makes an announcement, and there are honestly about 30-35 people that were sitting there and waiting. We make it to the next terminal with 0, yes 0 minutes to spare, I am literally dripping sweat, we ran all the way there, we check in and Oh my gosh, they have me in 21A Ben in 21D both are window seats, ummmmmmm what the heck did they do that for!!! Then they put Curtis all the way up in 11C!!! Crazy!!! We worked it out and got all of our seats together but come on!!! :)
We finally land in Norfolk and reach a lobby full of friends and family that have come to welcome Ben home!! Ben was so tired, and couldn't care any less who was there and who was not. :)
We are home now and things are going wonderufl!! I will post more later in the week, I am honestly having trouble keeping my eyes open at the moment, darn jet lag!!!!!!!1
Love to all,
Amy
Friday evening February 20, we started packing up in Moscow to bring our little guy home. :) He was so sweet, and would bring me different things that he would find to put in the suitcases. It was so cute. That night was a pretty rough night, I think with all of the commotion of packing and things, it got Ben a little worked up and he did NOT sleep well at all, and neither did Mom. I think I fell asleep for about 2 hours. So I am up on the computer and patting Ben's back whenever he woke up which was about every hour on the hour. Poor baby, all kinds of new stuff going on....So we get up Saturday, and get some breakfast, get the suitcases downstairs and head to the airport!!!!! YAY!! We stand in line after line, to get to our gate, and we finally make it to the gate. Since we are traveling to the US, you have to go through another security point, my gosh, how many times do they need to look through my luggage!! So we get there and sit down, and what do you know there are no bathrooms!!! And Ben has just filled his diaper!!! So out I go with a diaper, wipes and baby in hand. Get back to the check point and the lady that just let me out, is now checking me all over again, before I come in. I was like Oh my gosh, I was only changing the baby. But I guess some people will do anything to sneak things in..
We get on the plane and Ben starts to arch his back and throw a fit...uhoh!!! I get him calmed down, and while you are reading this, please remember that he is still not going to Curtis!! So we are good on the plane, we are with a group of adoptive parents, so we were all kind of talking and stuff like that. Ben is laughing and having a good ole time, up and down, in the seat, on the floor, standing in the seat...you name it he was in that position!! I get him to take an hour nap, and all of the other parents walking by say gosh I wish my child would take a nap too!! Thanks for jinxing me people!!!!!! Ben wakes up in the worst mood I have ever seen and proceeds to cry.....and cry.....and cry.......we give him snacks, we feed him food, we give him juice, we do everything possible, we play, I get every toy out that I have in my bags, nothing is working. he proceeds to cry and throw a few tantrums, and cry, and throw more tantrums, and then finally about 9 hours into the flight he is done fighting it and falls asleep...Yes so there was a total of about 7 hours in flight that were crying and me trying to calm him down. If Curtis would come near him, he would throw another fit!!!!!!! We get off the plane, and go to our gate in Atlanta, call the kids, and check our flight....still on time....we for some reason do not have assigned seats on our flight so I go up and ask the gentleman at the desk if he is working on the Norfolk flight yet and he says not yet give me 10 minutes, I am like ok....so I go and change Ben, I come back and Curtis goes up to the counter and asks him about our seats and he says, oh yeah (OH YEAH???) Ya'lls gate has been changed, you are now leaving from C38. We were in D1 and had just walked from E!!! So all of a sudden he makes an announcement, and there are honestly about 30-35 people that were sitting there and waiting. We make it to the next terminal with 0, yes 0 minutes to spare, I am literally dripping sweat, we ran all the way there, we check in and Oh my gosh, they have me in 21A Ben in 21D both are window seats, ummmmmmm what the heck did they do that for!!! Then they put Curtis all the way up in 11C!!! Crazy!!! We worked it out and got all of our seats together but come on!!! :)
We finally land in Norfolk and reach a lobby full of friends and family that have come to welcome Ben home!! Ben was so tired, and couldn't care any less who was there and who was not. :)
We are home now and things are going wonderufl!! I will post more later in the week, I am honestly having trouble keeping my eyes open at the moment, darn jet lag!!!!!!!1
Love to all,
Amy
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Day 4 with Ben...
We are almost home!!! Tomorrow we go to the US Embassy and recieve Ben's passport with his US Visa inside, that means we can take him from Russia and they will accept him in the US!!! woohoo!! I am so ready to go home, life in a hotel is not fun, and when there is a toddler involved that is experiencing EVERYTHING for the first time it makes it so much harder! We are surviving though, however today we went to the zoo, and it was a gorgeous day!! Ben has officially decided that he HATES the stroller!!! YIKES I am in so much trouble, I am hoping Kelly will be able to work on that one for me since she loves to push the stroller!! We will just add that to her big sister duties haha!! When Ben decides that he does not like something, he isn't quiet about it in the least, he lets EVERYONE know, and when we kept him in the stroller because I thought, my gosh I can't carry him everywhere, and his little legs, when he walks it takes him FOREVER!! so everyone in the zoo knew that he did not like his stroller, then we decided to leave as he was more miserable then anything else, tired and what not, (but he did love the monkeys!!) and started screaming, and when I say screaming you would think that I had physically hurt this child!!! He screamed so much that all of the Babushka's (grandmother's) in the street were looking at me and giving me the dirtiest look, so I picked him up and walked the rest of the way back to the hotel. My gosh, this child has a set of lungs on him. :)
After his nap, we got up with our friends, and went to the Red Square, and it was such a gorgeous day for pictures, but it started getting really cold again. We went to the GUM department store and had dinner, then headed back to the hotel.
We are almost done, just can't wait to get him into our home so we can settle in with him there. It is going to be like starting all over again I believe!! I hope he goes to the girls right away, I think it would kill Holly and Kelly if he didn't. I honestly don't think that there will be much of a problem, but then again I thought he would be fine with Curtis.
He is still unsure about Curtis, he is letting Curtis feed him, and will actually take a toy and play with it after Curtis gives it to him, before he would either NOT take the toy or take it and throw it down. He will even let Curtis kiss him, so we are getting somewhere!! :) Keep praying, your prayers are working!! Well I better get off here and get some sleep. Hugs to all and we can't wait to see you all again.
Love,
Amy
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