Isaac is doing so very well. We have had a few issues with defiance, but he does it playfully. I don't know how the nannies disciplined the children at the orphanages, but I am guessing there was very little, if any. So, under the circumstances of bringing a 3 year old into our home who has never been disciplined, he is doing VERY WELL.
He loves to eat (large quantities very frequently) but he is picky with what he will eat. Show him a carrot and he will cry. He won't touch ice cream or anything cold. Right now it is pretty much chicken, plain noodles, bread and pizza that he will scarf down. He is a very typical toddler.
The first few days he slept all the time, we were relieved and happy that he was such a great sleeper. Well, apparently it was just jet lag because now at night he wakes up every 10 minutes and comes looking for us. Kevin has started sleeping in his bed with him. It is the only way to keep him in bed through the night. It is nice that he actually wants us to be near us, and I think by laying with him, it is helping the bonding process. I have briefly considered taking him into our bed, but I don't want to start that. It is too hard to kick them back out. So, for now, Kevin and I take turns laying with him while he snuggles up and sleeps.
He has a few bad habits, but we are choosing our battles as we try to bond and establish boundaries, authority and his roll in the family. He seems to love it here. I honestly don't think he even thinks about the orphanage anymore. The language is a barrier, but not something that is too difficult. It will be nice when we can explain things to him, and reason with him a little better. He repeats a lot of words after us now, but still mainly speaks in Amharic. I feel like Marlin in Finding Nemo when he says to the baby turtle "You're really cute, but I don't know what you are saying!"
We have found an excellent resource on the Focus on the Family website called
Handbook on Thriving as an Adoptive Family: Real-life solutions to common challenges. We read some of the articles online, and ordered ourselves a copy. It seems to be the perfect resource for those adopting older children.
We still do not have a timeline on our sweet daughter Kaylee's adoption, but hope to know something soon. Here are some pictures of our first week together.
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| First trip to the beach...EVER! |
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| Brothers and Sister |
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| Cousins on Daddy's side |
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| Cousins on Mama's side |
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