After the tummy flu, SP brought us home a cold! Waking up first thing, to do 5 nebulizer treatments in the morning is tiring! LOL! But I guess 5 out of the 11 children here isn't bad! And poor SP, coughing-and coughing. She had her neb too.
Homeschool is proceeding. The 3 boys are learning so much so fast. Communication lags, but they are feeding themselves and eating snacks with us. We still have to feed them to get enough calories in them. They are so satisfied with so little food it is frightening. But they will finish their food if we feed them.
Jakie stopped walking on the side of his left foot! Yeah! And he is fascinated with the vacuum, so if we want him to stand and bear weight in the playpen, (then he can hold on to the edge) he will walk around it on his own hanging on. Then he goes around and around the playpen just to see the vacuum! That is huge. That is the first thing we've seen pull him out of his world of fear. Machines! He loves machines! We are having fun with this!
Jakie was blessed with normal sized tonsils and adenoids! No more surgery!
The other boys are equally fascinated with the vacuum. No fear of it at all!
I remember when each boy saw our big 120 pound white fluffy dog Snow. They all climbed right over him with no fear of what he is! They ignore him totally. Well except our little monkey Julius- he licks tongues with Snow- Julius licks everything!
Jacob still hates strangers and new places. He still cries a very sad cry in new places. He has bonded, but is still not sure about us! Trust is hard for him and who can blame him?
Noah still, will not take a step on his own. We are looking for a used stander. Insurance won't pay for one. He is too tall for the baby toy walkers. (the Melissa and Doug Alligator walker is Mosie's favorite!) Is there such a place that sells used adaptive equipment?
If the kids are small we can use toddler furniture and adapt it. But Noah is growing bigger. He is learning so many physical skills now that help him get around and climb and sit. But we still catch him often, laying flat on his back, head and neck arched rocking. Poor baby- old habits die hard. He'll even crawl into any of his sibs beds to do this.
We decided to leave his tonsils/adenoids in, they are large but they don't interfere like some of the other boys, no snoring, no feeding issues, no infections. No more surgery for Noah!
Noah is always curious and would visit a stranger if they asked. He hasn't really "bonded" yet. He's still searching. But I think he'll figure it out! He still loves everybody here, he's so happy!
This little guy, Pauly is getting his 2nd set of tubes put in his ears. The first set fell out very quickly-I think we should have received a refund! He gets frequent ear infections. He's going to see the Endocrinologist for his Thyroid because they can't stabilize his meds.
Two years home now, I can't remember life without him. :o) He's my baby. He is very bonded to us in his funny little quirky/autistic ways. He's my teddy bear!
He still has many autistic behaviors that aren't going away. He does have better eye contact, and he responds to his name. He laughs to let me know he loves me. But otherwise he just kinda zones out and hammers! His favorite thing is "hammering". If he doesn't have his little hammer he'll use a large lego or something similar! Tap-tap-tap is the sound we hear when we know he's busy! He plays a mean xylophone too! LOL!!
Julius, my thinker! Always into something! He re-arranges our house daily, throws valuable knick-knacks in the garbage. He puts toys in dresser drawers. Busy- busy- busy boy! He put his socks in my shoes!! During his multiple time outs he sits next to his big brother Samson. He is fascinated with Samson. They are best buddies. Julius will always pat a head, smooth someones hair with his hand and hug them! Unless............you ask him to! LOL!!
Two years home now- he is definitely an Archer! LOL! He is very bonded to us.
He feels empathy for people. When we've had our visitor here these past weeks,(since mid March) and our visitor cries..........Julius cries too. (I wrote a little about our visitor on my other blog) Julius used to be a feisty little fighter, but no more! :o) (Throwing things at Noah, Jacob and Moses.)
He's having some difficulties with understanding language- sentences- he loves signs. He definitely has Apraxia. That frustrates him, so he only wants to use his signs saying "dat-dat-dat-dat"
We aren't going to take his tonsils/adenoids out either. He is a candidate, but again, they aren't bothering him. So no more surgery!
But we still have not figured out his hyperthyroid- I'm getting concerned. We waited the 3 months the Endo suggested, so Monday we'll find out more. I definitely think its a concern, he has all of the signs.
Last but not least! This Mosie boy is growing fast and furious. In his little playpen bed he stands so tall I thought he was standing on a toy!!
He still needs his Orchiopexy, probably in June. He is horrible after surgeries, he needs so much hands on care. I am already worried. But at least he'll be "bigger" for the surgery.
When he's big enough to share a bottom bunk bed with a brother. We'll move a boy into a toddler bed in his spot. Not sure who yet!
His personality has changed so much. He used to have to make continual noise/chatter. But now he has times of quiet and times of "talk" that are more appropriate. He still LOVES LOVE!! He lives for LOVE! He won't accept affection from strangers. He likes his familiar family people! He knows us all, he LOVES us all! He is completely bonded.
Tom says over and over that saving Moses was worth everything. Loving Moses is worth the stress and struggles of bringing them all home. To save Moses' life was overwhelming. He could have so easily died. Like so many of the children did there.
This past week I shredded hundreds of papers and documents from these two International Adoptions. We of course kept the important things. I had 2 file boxes stuffed with notes and e-mails and copies of documents in triplicate- just in case!!
We are done. No more International Adoptions. Shredding each document was freeing. We did it. The adoptions are complete. The boys are here. No waiting no worries. Our boys are ours!
At our ages we have to have a Will and Guardians for the boys. It is alot for anyone to take on when/if Tom and/or I die. Adding more children would be foolish at our ages- who would care for them, we can't live forever! The Guardians we have can't take more than what we planned. We want the boys kept together.
If you've been a long time reader you know we wished hoped and prayed for a little girl. More than anything in the world Tom dreamed of his little Bulgarian girl. His one last trip to Bulgaria. We tried, we begged, we had no shame in pleading. We asked about the girls that weren't chosen. The Lord shut that door. We no longer qualify to adopt from the country we love.
But don't be sad for us! God is good. A while back I posted about "Syndromes"
http://theroaddownhome.blogspot.com/2013/04/syndromes.html
We are actively learning about a new Syndrome from our visitor. God has truly blessed us beyond our hopes and dreams.
I can't say now but when the time comes, I can share how when God closed the door to Bulgaria, He opened another door we never could have imagined. And He is so good to us even though we do not deserve it! His Will is always much better than ours! We Praise Him with humbled hearts. Thank You Lord!
we Praise God!!
