Adjusting and Reading

So here we are, six weeks with our Warrior, over three of those here in the US.  We've come so far, but yet we have so far to go.  We would like to thank those that have done so much for us since we've been home.  I'm blown away at the generosity that our homeschool and church families have shown us.  They've accepted us where we are, and they've accepted our Warrior where he is.  Thank you again.  Although he seems to be adjusting, I do have to remind myself that he is probably wondering to himself when is it going  to end and when will he go back.

Warrior is learning more English every day.  He's saying three and four word sentences.  He says his own name as we pronounce it in America.  While he is still very clingy to Kristie, I try to show him that Papa can do bedtime, mealtime, and other things, and that he doesn't have to be in the same room as her 12 hours a day.  We're also showing how the girls can help him with things as well.  He doesn't always needs his Momma to do everything for him.  Each night, I give him a long bath and let him play with his toys in the bathtub.  He enjoys this immensely.  Kristie and I usually take turns putting him to bed.  He sleeps from 7:30 to 7:30 most nights.

We're teaching him how it really is a requirement to lift the toilet seat up consistently, not just whenever you want to.  We're teaching him how our dog, Pepper, isn't really a mean, loud creature that wants to separate him from his Momma.  We're teaching him that is really is ok to eat a diet that doesn't consist of only hard-boiled eggs, cucumbers and yogurt.  There really are many wonderful things that we like to eat here in America.  Although he tests us constantly, he is slowly learning what is accepted and what's unacceptable in this house.

We have learned that if he does not get a midday nap, then he sleeps better at night and later into the morning.  He doesn't wake up at 4AM and feel the need to wake up the rest of us singing at the top of his lungs.  Kristie and I have learned that it's best to lay out his clothes and his pajamas, else he rummages through all the clothes and has a hard time making a decision on what to wear.

Sarah is now our middle child.  She has two older sisters and two brothers younger than she is.  Of all the kids, I think that she is having the hardest time adjusting to this new normal.  I ask that you pray for Sarah as she tries to find her place.  Next month, she hopes to audition for a part in our local community theater's December production of Annie!  Wish her luck as she gets ready for her audition...

Each day is a new and exciting challenge.  Frustrations still abound, but we are getting used to this strange little fella, and I think he's getting used to us.  We are waiting for our dates for Trip #2.  At this rate, it will probably be November when either Kristie or I go to Latvi@ to finalize the Latvi@n side of the adoption.

I've been trying to catch up on my reading here lately.

While I was in Latvi@, I read the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a good, but very difficult read.

More recently, I completed the gut-wrenching autobiography by Dave Pelzer called "A Child Called It" about one of the worst child-abuse cases ever reported in the US.  As hard as it was to read, I could not put this book down, and I read it in one night.

I'm currently reading "The Boy Who was Raised As A Dog", by Bruce D. Perry, M.D.  I hope that this book can help me understand the difficult upbringing that our Warrior has had.