Home 2 months

Matthew has been home over 2 months now.  What a kid!  He had his first pictures taken and was very cooperative!!!   I brought the Shelby and Robbie along for entertainment reinforcements and even threw on some extra deodorant in case I would have to wrestle him into the next outfit or have to stand on my head to get him to smile. Perfect little smiling gentleman decided to show up instead. 

 

It is a lot of fun to see more and more of his personality coming out.  Most days he is a sweet boy.  Then he likes to spice things up around here and keep his momma a hoppin.  As with any two year old, "no" has become a staple of his vocabulary, even if what he really means is yes.  Matthew wants to be held a lot and prefers to be my shadow everywhere I go - bathroom, laundry...  I think so many things are new to him and wants to make sure he doesn't miss a thing.  It's still pretty exciting to put laundry in the dryer and flush toilet paper in the toilet.

  I have seen some days where he tests his boundaries and my trust. He will get mad and push me away. Tantrums erupt... Then when he calms down and he sees his mama is still willing to hold him after all the hard stuff, you would think I couldn't hold him enough.  Occasionally he will still call out in the middle of the night, I will go and pick him up and he will be clutching me trying give me the tightest biggest hug.  I will give him some more hugs and kisses and just lay him back down.   He seems pretty content and relieved that yes mama is still here. 

Matthew is starting to play by himself occasionally.  Who knew how much fun a can of play dough and a plastic knife could be?? He loves to wheel his grocery cart through the house "shopping" - if you have lost something, it's probably in the cart.  Rain boots and puddles are #1, too.  Matthew loves to pray - he frequently stops our meal (sometimes 4-5 times), folds his hands and grunts for the rest of us to follow.  Imaginary food is still pretty yummy to "eat". 

It is such a funny place where I am as a mom - college visits, play dough and deprived sleep.  I would have thought by kid #3 I knew it all - wow am I ever amazed how much I still don't.   Even though he is just two, he certainly comes with a past that didn't have a  momma and daddy meeting all his needs.  So some days are HARD, but adoption is crazy joyful and beautiful, too.   To have the privilege to be called his parents see this awesome little person emerge, makes my heart burst.  The four of us can't seem to get enough of his sweet little hugs and kisses. If one of us has been away, we all rush to find Matthew in the house when we get home.   How amazing for an orphan from a whole other continent to fit right into his new family half way around the world just like he was always supposed to be here. Isn't God cool!     

 

 

 

Happy 10th Anniversary Show Hope!

MRI

I am sitting in the radiology waiting room while Matthew gets his MRI done. Only one parent is allowed back in the radiology suite. Jeff is back with him and I know Matthew is completely fine, but boy is this difficult not being back there. I am usually the one who gets to do most the procedures, appointments and night time wake ups with the kids, hard for me not being there to comfort him.I know this is only the beginning of a lot of medical stuff and this is probably the least of anything Matthew will have to go through, still tough.

Sunshine, Unicorns and Rainbows

 

We are closing in on two months together and yes it's all sunshine, unicorns and rainbows! Haha!!  Ok, I have carefully chosen pictures that don't show the messes around the house.  Matthew is sleeping through the night -  well not always, but at least in his own room. Thankfully there is a twin bed in there when he needs me to be there.  He is such a sweet sweet boy but he is 2 and trying to find his way in being part of a family and I am trying to find my way being a mom to a toddler again.  We make a pretty funny combination at times and it sometimes its hard to tell who has less patience - him or me :) At the end of most days we are exhausted, but we are in love with this little funny naughty monkey. 

 

We just celebrated his second birthday and he has grown 1 inch and gained almost 3 pounds in the past two months.  Matthew is saying around a dozen identifiable words and starting to sign some words, too. His favorite signs are "more please".   Funny enough he can whine at a very loud intensity, but he still says most words in a whisper.  His favorite foods are yogurt, fruit and chinese dumplings and he has never been known to turn down a cookie. 

 

He has had many medical appointments and evaluations with some more to come.  Matthew's eczema  has been flaring up for the past few weeks, especially on his normal cheek.  I can't figure out for the life of me why it doesn't affect his other cheek??? Family doctor was able to give us some new meds to clear it up and we pulled out the "puppet shirt" to help with the night time scratching. 

No this isn't a straight jacket, but a specially made eczema shirt passed down from Robbie when he was little and had eczema. It helps him safely scratch the itchy spots at night without breaking the skin. Surprisingly he doesn't mind wearing it.

  The developmental specialist feels he is only slightly behind his peers and expects him to catch up quickly.  She was really impressed with his receptive language skills but she wants us to work on  going up and down the steps and encouraging him using his voice.  We met with the surgeon and Matthew's sedated MRI is scheduled for mid April.  Most likely he will have at least one surgery this year to remove a large portion of the malformation.  He gave us the range of possible scenarios - best case that the malformation is close to the surface and in one piece (i.e. only a procedure or two) or worst the malformation is in several pieces and entangled in the bone, muscles and nerves (long term multiple difficult surgeries)   The malformation has been present since the womb and if it is not completely removed it will continue to grow with him his entire life. Since we really have no idea at this point, we just pray its the easier route. He is otherwise a very happy healthy little boy, we just wish he didn't have to go through so much.    

 

 

Shelby's best buddy when she has something good to eat

 

Did I mention what a good brother Matthew has? 

 

The best part of the day - when daddy comes home!!

 

 

 

Making Headlines... Family adopts son, blogs his experience

The Lantern - Revere High School - Family adopts son, blogs his experience

Matthew's Hometown

 

I have been thinking a lot about Matthew's life before us, since it was his birthday this past week.  It is easy to forget that he left a totally different life back in China for his new life here.  We weren't able to spend much time in his hometown, other than the short visit to his orphanage and police station.  He was so upset during our travel then, it is hard to remember what was even outside the windows of our van.  We made the hard decision not to make a second trip back to find his "finding spot" and visit with his nannies at Maria's Big House of Hope - we just felt it would have been too much for him.  I would make the same decision had I to do over again, but my heart is sorry that we don't have those memories or information for him.  I hope we can go back someday to fill in some of these gaps.  In the mean time, I found the sweetest video of Luoyang. 

 

 



 

 

2!

 

Our first day of spring little man is 2 today! 

Your weekly dose of cuteness

 

 

Momma's little helper

 

 

We need to get this boy some zips duds, too.  He is loving his big sister and brother and sits in the window waiting for them to come home.

 

 

I try not to encourage him to put bags around his neck, but this bag was positioned just perfectly!  Do you like the picture on the bag of the zombie Ragedy Ann?