7 Month Update (1)

Boy, is this update overdue!!

William has now been in our arms for 7 months! Time has flown by. As you know, we moved back to Ohio a week or so after getting back from China, finally into our home a week into January and things have just been a bit crazy since then. :-)

So much has happened, so quite honestly I'm not sure where to start!

William has definitely adjusted well into our new home. We've got a great consistent routine going on which I know has helped him adjust that much more.

Some highlights so far have been first and foremost his 3rd birthday (May 31st)! We took him to get Chinese that evening, made him a cake and let him open a present from us, and then a week or so later we had a big birthday party with all our family. He had loads of fun playing on a couple small inflatables, in the pool and on the trampoline with cousins, lots of food and dessert - he definitely had a good time!!

Many ask us how his english is coming along and it's coming pretty well! He says 3-4 word sentences and occasionally even lengthier. His imitation speech is superb and copies words fairly well. He knows way more than 100 words now, so I've lost track.

Nursery rhymes and music are his favorite. Probably his favorite one is Humpty Dumpty (which he just recently drew a picture of! The very first recognizable picture he's ever drawn -- basically an oval with eyes and a mouth and sticks for legs protruding from the bottom..ha!).

He is still a jokester. He's constantly doing things to be funny, whether it's silly faces or funny gestures..he's a hoot!

He's been counting to 10 for the past few months and counts objects. He's getting much better with colors as well.

He's experienced so many firsts it's hard to keep track of! Remember him being unsure and scared of the pool in China?? Totally loves getting in one now! He's attended his first ball games, going to the zoo and seeing various animals for the first time, first time blowing out candles, first church services, first big family outings, first picnics, and the list goes on and on.

His attachment with all of us is strong. His attachment with Billy (Daddy) has improved so much since the last times I've posted! He loves his daddy. There is still some anxious attachment (having to know where I am at all times in the house - if he sees us get our shoes on or take them off he panics and makes sure his are on or off if ours are, etc). But outside of those things, he's doing as well as we could expect!

So much more to say, so I'll go ahead and split this update into two posts! I'll leave you with some recent pictures!

Dec.14-19; The Big Move

Dec. 10 :: 

"Sunday was spent cleaning and packing up the rest of our items and traveling to our midpoint to Ohio. It was a rough day for sure with a little boy who wanted nothing to do with hours of driving, and it was hard on mama and big sis to feel helpless half the time (the other half we exhausted ourselves trying our hardest to keep him happy).

He woke up happy the next morning and we went to meet and eat with sweet friends who live in the area (who recently adopted a sweet boy from China also). That was so nice, and wish we had more time with them!!!

After we got back to the hotel to check out and leave and in the meantime we thought sweet boy may have sprained his arm, and while Micah locked himself out of the other room with the loose dog inside...one of his very pricey retainers was eaten...and as we tried to leave my car wouldn't start from a dead battery.

Anyway...baby boy's arm is fine and eventually we got on the road and he enjoyed the 5 1/2 hour drive that day muuuuuch better than the day before. Ms. Cosette and I should've patted ourselves on the back because we worked hard to keep him happy!

William is fine moving around and is happy. I think he's learning that home is simply wherever he's with us.

 He has also recently really taken up singing and uses a flashlight for a microphone. He's veeerrry serious about it, and really tries to belt it out! Cracks us up."

Dec. 14 :: 

"Baby boy is currently taking his nap as you see in he pic below and I'm finally able to post a quick update. (Yes - he keeps us verrryy busy!)

Past few days have gone pretty well! Sweet boy has met 5 out of 6 of his grandparents, saw his new home for the first time, attended the closing for our home, and had his first doctor's appointment since getting to the US.

The doctor appointment went...as I expected. He cried anytime doctors came near him, and didn't want anything to do with their lil antics. ;-) A group of specialists were crowded in one room, and the developmental specialist pretty much dumped a bag of toys on the floor to see what he'd do with them. As you heard me say before, he's no fan of people he doesn't know and you could probably guess what he did with the stuff they asked him to play with. :-D We go back in several weeks, and he will be put through quite a bit during that visit and I've been told he may need sedation.

He's gotten a *lot* more cuddly over this past week, especially with me. And the other day he was very upset that Daddy was leaving to go to work which was nice to see/hear!!

He at times will argue with big bro or big sis. A couple days ago, big sis was telling him that the tablet she was on was hers saying, "You can't play with this, it's mine." He points to the tablet and says with a hymph, "No. Mine. Hymph!" I admit...hard not to laugh!

He continuously copies *everything* we or the kids do, so we've had to remind the kids to be just a wee-bit more attentive to what they're doing.

He's watched Micah swoop his hair to the side, so now every once in a while he swoops his hair (what little hair he has). He's also watched Micah take out his retainers and has tried to tug on his own teeth to "take out his."

He gave me the magnadoodler and said, "Draw Daddy!" And the kids get a kick out of him repeating weird words. They've had him say, "Dorito" "Frito" and "Cheeto" a million times in a few minutes..
With all that said - his pronunciation is crazy good at times. He says apple very clearly (whereas I remember the kids saying it as "Bockle" and "Bapple" around his age). This amazes me considering that he had a significant language delay in China, and was not saying much in his native language.

He's also a lil dare-devil! He jumps off the ottoman thinking/trusting we will catch him even if we're not looking/watching. He dives off the bed head first to the floor, etc.

His sleeping at night has taken a step back. He wakes up at least once a night - sometimes I'm able to soothe him back to sleep and into his pack n play, but at times he's ended up back in bed with us. I'm pretty sure it's nightmares. Lastnight he was throwing fists, kicking, and crying in his sleep at different times. I wish so badly I could get in his head to know what he may be dreaming (or then again, maybe I don't..)."