Quick Update and Weekend Plans!

Daniel's been doing great at the new daycare!! He went right in the first two mornings and even had a little girl who stood by him when I left the first day. He did not nap on day one, but laid quietly. Day two he napped like a champ! He even blew his teacher a kiss when I picked him up. Both days he was very happy to see me when I picked him up and boy was he tired. He almost fell asleep eating his dinner on day one! This morning was a tad different. The weather here has changed due to the storm coming in and I can't help but think that is part of it. When we walked in there were 4 other children fussing - all boys. The last two mornings there had not been a single fuss when I walked in. Daniel looked at them gave me a hug then said "Home, Mama, Home". I wanted to take him home, but the teacher came right over and picked him up and of course he did the usual "Mama, Mama" and point at me, but then she took him to some toys and even though he was still crying I was able to leave. I'll be the silver blur on the road driving a thousand miles an hour this afternoon to pick him up. Today is also the day I get to check Daniel's artwork folder! Since I dropped him off Tuesday morning I have been wanting to check this folder. The teacher told me to check it every Thursday before we leave as it will have the work from the week. Can I check it anytime I want - you betcha, but since they sometimes hang things for the week she said my best bet was to wait until his last day there each week. I am just anxious to have my first artwork (outside of what we do at home)!! I can't wait to plaster more on our refrigerator!

In other news - we are going to the beach this weekend!! Now, we know there is a storm coming, but we are going anyway. Troy has been working down in Hampton so Daniel and I are driving up tomorrow morning after Chat and Play at the library and spending a couple of nights. We hope to be able to at least walk on the beach with Daniel and we also plan to go to the aquarium there and maybe a few other places. This will be Daniel's first trip away from home overnight since we've returned from Russia. I can't wait - we all need to relax and enjoy each other this weekend.

Hopefully some fun pictures Monday!!

First PPR and Our 100th Post

Friday we had our first post placement visit. It went great. We discussed attachment, changes in Daniel's height and weight, his habits, his likes, dislikes and everything in between. It was fun to think back to when we first came home and realize all the changes we have seen.

Speaking of changes, we have decided that Daniel is ready for day care. Our sitter was very nice, but we think he is ready for a more structured environment. I've noticed at the library that he is sitting at the stations and working with projects with other children and really enjoying himself. He also seemed to have a lot of pent up energy at night, after I picked him up, so Troy and I talked it over and agreed that day care with a teacher would be the best option for us. I do worry about putting him through a change, but I think this one will benefit him. We looked at several day cares and finally made a decision. I feel good about it and when we left from the visit, Daniel cried and cried. I guess he liked it there!!

Lastly I can't believe this is our 100th post!! I need to say that this blog has been a wonderful way to keep in touch with family and friends. Also it has become a great outlet for me and I've made some really great blogger friends. The support group out there is amazing! Thank you!!

Off to Mother Goose Time tomorrow!!

Chat 'n Play at the Library and Progress Report (long)

Today we went to our first Chat 'n Play at the local library. This is something, along with Mother Goose Time, that I have been wanting to do for some time. The programs just started back up since school is back in session so today was our first day. I wasn't sure what to expect so off we went. I was pleasantly surprised by the room we had to play in. There was a mat with lots of soft shapes to build things with, a tunnel to crawl through, cushions to tumble on, books and a rocking chair, a trampoline with handles for the child to hold on to, blankets with toys, tables set up with puzzles, ink stamps and paper, and my personal favorite, shaving cream. What a great idea. We smeared shaving cream on the table and used popsicle sticks to draw in it, and of course our fingers too!! It was loads of fun. Daniel played with several children and I got to talk to several moms and just be a regular mom myself. With me being the fabulous mother I am, I forgot my camera so at the end of the post you'll just have to settle for pictures from the other day!!

As for progress I thought I would try to list out some areas of improvement.

Attachment:

Just today at the library Daniel fell backwards on the mats where we were all sitting and right into another mother's lap. She instantly put her arms around him and swung him side to side being playful and he started arching his back pointing at me going, "Mama, Mama". They all thought it was sweet (and so did I), but also secretly I was cheering him for only wanting me. He also backs away from other women now when they want to hold him unless he knows them (family).

Speech:

"Fantastic" is his new favorite word and mine. He is starting to initiate conversation now for basic needs and to tell me something he sees. He still doesn't understand the concept of answering a question (just repeats the last few words I say), but we are working on it. Just today I pointed at something and said "How about that?" to which he repeated the same words perfectly! We also taught him how to ask for help with something by saying "help, please" instead of crying when he wanted something. Now he'll run around the house saying "help, please, help please." It's pretty amusing!! We are still working on colors and numbers but we think he's come a long way.

Potty Training:

We've just started and so far we are not getting anywhere very fast. He will go when we put him on the potty to which he gets an M&M, a sticker to put on his chart and he gets to (are you ready for this) flush the toilet. Flushing the toilet is great incentive. Of course the M&M seems more important because when I ask him if needs to go potty he instantly says "M&M?" Wish us luck!

Sleeping:

Still a good sleeper although we're figuring a few things out. The biggest thing is he hates to be woken up. Talk about not a morning person!! I only wake him up on the days I have to go to work and even then I try to bang around and make alot of noise so he'll technically wake up on his own. He likes to wake up and play then he's ready to get up. If he isn't totally awake and done playing when I go in there, he pretty much gives me the evil eye and crys when I take him out of the crib. I guess it's too bad for me, who is a total morning person!! His naps are getting shorter but still decent. I usually have a couple of hours to get a few things done in the afternoon.

Eating:

Hmmmm....this goes back and forth. Since trying the tea with milk I've been able to transition him to just milk at mealtime and he drinks it!! Although he drinks it slower than juice it still goes down and he tends to eat a little better. We still have days where he decides he doesn't like anything. We're also having days where he just wants to play with his food. I don't mind a bit of playing but lately he's been banging his fork alot and squishing his food up. Yuck!! Table manners are cinsidered an ongoing learning process and of course he is only 2!

So there it is! The update I've been wanting to post for a while but just had not gotten to it!
The pictures below are of Daniel on our new play toy that I picked up a yard sale for a whopping $10.00~~I was so excited to find it and couldn't believe the price when I saw it. I even had to go home, get Troys truck, go back load it up, tie it down, get it home, spray it off and then I put it back together again all by myself!! I don't think before becoming amom that I could have done all that!! It was worth all $10.00 and then some!!

Adventures at the Zoo

I hope everyone had a great holiday! We made it to the zoo this weekend and had a great time. We saw giraffes and their big icky tongues, we fed donkeys and goats. We checked out monkeys, porcupines, tigers and bears. We even rode an elephant!! Daniel was fantastic at the zoo. He ran from one cage to the next. We let him walk the entire time as it wasn't very crowded (a small zoo). Please don't blast me for the dog backpack (aka leash) my son is wearing in the photos. Since we did not take in his stroller because we wanted to wear him out, and because we knew we couldn't hold him the entire time, we put the backpack on. Believe me when I say we never had to use it!! He listened and held hands with us and stayed beside us the whole time. We were thrilled!! Now some pictures!

Experiencing Play-doh

With more time off to spend with my little guy, we are now able to get into more time consuming toys, like Play-doh. Daniel seems to be entering the next level of play also. He seems more focused on one toy at a time and he also will now sit and color or draw (scribble) for more than five minutes. It's pretty pleasant because I can sit at the table and do other things while he colors.

Back to the Play-doh - it appears my son enjoys stuffing the Play-doh in the tubs and then taking it back out and then in, then out. Oh yeah - he likes the lids too. He had more fun just doing that than anything else. Wait - he did try to taste it once, but I caught him and explained that while we all ate Play-doh as kids, I still didn't think it was a necessary staple in his particular diet.

Speaking of diet, his is changing yet again. Guess what brilliant mother (me, in case you weren't sure!) figured out how to get her son to drink milk??!! Since coming home, we have pretty much been solely giving Daniel juice (mixed with water, since he won't drink water either) to drink. I have been trying and trying to figure out what else I could give him. Crystal Light was a no go with Daniel too. So I sat there one night and out comes Troy with his favorite drink - cold sweet tea mixed with milk. (YUCK!) At any rate I had a moment and ran to pull out Daniel's food chart from Russia. Yup - tea was on there. I should have known - we helped feed him one night and they gave him tea to drink. I ran to the store the next morning and bought decaf, made a pot, barely (I mean barely) sweetened it and mixed it half with milk. Ta da!! My son loves it!!! Plus, he gets the minerals from the tea, which according to my health book can be very good for you. Well, that only took me almost 4 months to figure out!!

Anyway, here's a few pictures of our Play-doh experience.

Learning Safety and Colors

This week starts my first part time week at work! We didn't make it to Mother Goose time at the library today as we had other things to do, but hopefully next week. I'm already enjoying the extra time with Daniel.

Last week I talked with Becky whose little boy Andrew has already learned his colors. I asked her how she taught them to him and she said they used little cars. I've tried books on colors with Daniel and crayons but haven't had any luck. So today I pulled out 5 cars in the colors red, yellow, blue, black and gold. We went over the colors and I asked him to pick up a certain color car. It took him a few tries, but he got it! Then after we were all done, I sat down on the sofa and he picked up a car and ran over to me saying "Gold, Gold!" and sure enough it was the gold car!! I was so excited! Thanks Becky for the great tip!! Here he is holding up the colored cars for me!!

Also, on a funny note - Troy thought it would be hysterical to put a pair of goggles on Daniel and have him ride his riding toys. He said it was all in the name of safety. Poor kid - he'll do anything for his Papa.

From Full Time to Part Time – A Big Change For The Better

Three and a half months have passed since we brought Daniel home. For six weeks I was able to rock him to sleep every day for his nap and every night at bedtime. I sat with him at every meal, kissed every boo-boo, sang good morning when he woke up, met his every need, with Troy’s help of course. After six weeks I went back to work full time. It felt good to go back to work, but I started missing Daniel every day. After a couple of weeks he cried one morning when I left him at the sitters. Since then he doesn’t cry but stands at the door some mornings looking after me and sometimes banging for my attention. I hate walking away from him.

So, Troy and I finally came to the decision that I would stop working full time and ask my current employer if I could change my position from full to part time. After waiting a week for a response, I was informed that they would be pleased to have me remain with the firm part time!! I was so excited. I’ll only be working three days a week for seven hours each day verses the five day, eight hour a day, work week. That means four uninterrupted days with my baby boy!! It means not having to wake him up in the mornings to get ready to go and then rush through dinner and bath time in the evenings so I can get him to bed early enough to just have to wake him up anyway. It also means we can go to Mother Goose time at the local library! I have been wanting to do this for quite some time.

I’m also looking forward to returning to the SPCA to complete adoption paperwork and match families with their forever pets just for special events and to help fill in. I have not been able to return as I was not working a 6th day away from home and from Daniel. This will give me the opportunity to just go in every once in a while for my ‘not mine’ animal fix!! Life is looking good!

I’ll begin my part-time position in just two weeks! Now, I’ll have

More time to do this:


and watch Papa and Daniel do this:

Hey, Papa - now that Mama will be home more - how about you, because you're comin' with me!