8 months home

Since I missed the "picky sticky stages", it is important to me for his sake to document his progress every month for the first year.  I'm going to make a first year book like I did for the other kids because when he starts asking questions, I want to have a tangible way to walk him through his first year "home" because it will important to him.

This kid is affectionate, loving, pleasing, smart, funny, silly, serious, and secure.  

Many people have commented in the last two months that he's a different child.  We haven't heard his "scream" that shook the house for several months.  He is not strong willed like I thought.  He knows the boundaries now, and he obeys readily.  He has the occasional fit, but walks to time-out and is "done" in about 30 seconds.  He's very particular still, and is definitely a "first born" because he wants to do it all himself.  Because of this, he can put his shoes on, wants to dress himself, gets his back pack when it's time to leave, and helps set the table.  We've even had some potty training successes which I never expected in this time frame, but again he wants to be independent like the big kids.

This past month, he has continued to add to his vocabulary. He can say every letter of the alphabet, identify all the letters in his name, plus about 12 more if asked to identify.  He wants to ride his bike so badly, but cannot pedal yet.  He says David pedal?!  His favorite character right now is "Thomas the train," and he loves all things "Thomas."  

He will sit and work on a puzzle for long periods of time, and plays with his cars frequently still.  His favorite food hands DOWN are sweet potatoes.  He will stand in front of the oven when they are baking, and say "tatoes" over and over. He can hardly wait.  

From the looks of it, he's had plenty of them:)

I will say every month has definitely gotten a little better than the month before.  I feel like the old me is back, too.  I'm light hearted again and laugh a lot.  This has definitely been one of the hardest seasons of my life (I've not been through many major losses or trials.)  I spent many months grieving our old family.  That may sound surprising, or weird, but I didn't know how to explain it until someone said those exact words to me, and I could TOTALLY relate.  We were very settled, and when the youngest is four and the oldest is nine, that is a sweet spot in parenting....no teenagers, no toddlers.  I didn't even realize how "easy" I had it.  When David came it disrupted all that, and honestly my reaction to his joining our family was the opposite of what I wanted or expected.  I rebelled against God for a brief period of time because I was resentful that He lead us in this direction, and even questioned if it was He who directed this or just some crazy thing we came up with.  In His great faithfulness and grace, as I've said before, He brought me back to Him, and reminded me that he is in total control and that He will grant me the love and care that David deserves.  He's given me just that.  I ADORE my new son.  I enjoy him.  I'm incredibly proud of him.  I cannot imagine our family without him, and I love him without condition.  

And that is the honest truth.