One week home!

Yep, my oldest daughter reminded me tonight that I haven't posted an update on Elijah since New Year's Day! Ooops! Sorry about that. The days fly by when they are full. So, I'm going prop my eyelids open and try and get this posted tonight.

I want to take a minute to thank everyone that has sent meals, cards, and clothes! They have ALL been a true, true blessing to all of us. The meals we've had so far have been outstanding and such a load off of my mind during this transition period.  And he will certainly be one of the best dressed little men around! Thank you!!!

Elijah is doing GREAT!  Everyday he seems to be doing better than the day before. His cold is almost completely gone, and the Dr. said today his lungs are clear. Yay! Last night, while he was eating supper, he would just look up at me and smile. Oh, melt my heart. :-)  Everyday he seems to be a bit happier, more content, have a few more smiles and enjoy life just a bit more than the day before.

He had his first doctor appt today with his pediatrician (we've always had a Family Practice Dr for the other kids). She is AWESOME!  God could not have given us a better doctor "for such a time as this". Not only does have several patients with Ds, but she has adopted from the same country as we did! So, we had fun comparing notes on the "process". And she totally "gets" the orphanage behaviors, nutrition (or lack there of), and the fact that what we were told (i.e. he was on a GF diet) is not always reality.  So, I thank the Lord for her and for being local.  He topped the scale out at 23# (a few more than we were initially told) and 32". I forgot to ask where that put him on the Ds chart, but we'll go back in a month for a weight check and maybe he'll have inched closer to getting on the chart. That really doesn't matter though, he is the way he is and we'll just try and give him the best nutrition we possibly can to get him as healthy and strong as he can be.  (The blood draw was not very fun for him today though. :-( Poor baby...I forgot the list of his vaccinations he's already had, so we'll revisit that a different time. One BIG poke and the TB test poke are enough for one day.)

Food:  He eats almost everything he put in front of him...almost. Things he ate after "Gotcha Day", he won't eat now, but we'll keep trying. Dr. said that is very normal, as things will taste different here in different surroundings while he's still adjusting. He did go back to eating oatmeal again after spitting it out the first few days home. A few days ago, he actually did push some food away after he had eaten quite a bit, so that was a good start.  He did drink a little bit of milk tonight, but he certainly didn't slam it down like he had been with the apple juice/water mixture I was giving him. I want to take the introduction of dairy slowly, as I don't think he has ever really had any.

Sleep: He continues to sleep WONDERFULLY!  I lay him down, rub his back for a bit, and as long as I leave the door open with the hallway light on, he falls asleep just fine. He's been sleeping at least 10-11 hours straight, and often taking 3 hr nap. Can't beat that! And I'll fully admit that one of the leftover orphanage behaviors that I appreciate is that he will lay quiet in his crib playing with his blanket until I come and get him out. I'm trying really hard not to take advantage of that. :-)

School:  Ok, he's not doing any school yet obviously, but he's done well as we've started back up homeschooling again. He loved to play with the kitchen set in the orphanage (only in the playroom for 2 days and had only 2 pieces to it), so he is really enjoying ours in the school room that has way too many pieces all over the place.

Attachment:  He seems to be doing pretty good in this area, although when Sarah was holding him the other day, he signed "mama" at her, so we need to work on that a bit. :-)  But at times, he'll come running (ok, walking fast) to me for hugs, and will cuddle up with me at almost any time. I'm trying to do the majority of feeding him (when he isn't feeding himself), so that will help too.

Siblings:  Ah, this is the biggest challenge right now.  But really, I'm SOOO grateful, as he could be struggling so much more in so many different areas.  He does have fun playing with the 4 older ones, but will still occasionally give them a good swat on the face or pull the girls' hair. They understand that it is ingrained orphanage behavior. But little Rachel (14 mo) doesn't understand. They have made a lot of progress over the past several days though. She won't start crying if he looks at her the wrong way from 20 ft away. And sometimes she won't even cry when he gently whacks her on the head. He definitely seems to be doing it more because he knows its wrong than for any other reason. Yes, in some ways, he is a very normal 3 yo little boy. So, we are working on that. Thanks for your continued prayers in this area. I keep saying once they start getting along, they are going to be "double trouble".  They will keep my hoppin', that's for sure!

Ok, enough rambling. I'll share a few pictures and then off to bed.



Love that spaghetti! I cut it up and put it in a bowl for him to eat. Yum yum!



Playing in the dishwasher together...Rachel is keeping a pretty close eye on him though.



And this is what the Lil' Miss did while I was doing dishes and Daddy was playing with Elijah. :-)



He wants to play just like his big brother!
(From a few days ago when his nose was still red. It's fine now.)

And just tonight...wonderful progress they are sitting so close to each other and even sort of "playing" together. We will get there and of course, even now,  the blessings far out weigh this temporary difficulty!