Week 6

Fall festival at the school!

Well, a lot has happened since our last post.  Benjamin is doing extremely well.  We had our 2^nd International Adoption Clinic appt. on Oct 27.  His antibodies for ALL his vaccinations were present, which is a praise (no extra shots)!  The OT looked at his motor skills and she was amazed at how well he is doing.  Rarely are the motor skills of adopted children age appropriate and Benjamin’s are on target!  We do need to focus on his pencil grip when coloring, but he is doing great!!  The family therapist said he was bonding great and saw no problems within a couple of minutes of being with us!  We noticed that he will play in social settings, but will come to us when he needs something.  When I give him his bottle at night, he now looks at me and strokes my hair, which before he would look at a distance.  He is still sleeping in our room, which has honestly been difficult the past 3 nights since he has been coughing!  His crying out at night has improved (except for the coughing) as well.

Scott went to China for work for a week and this was difficult.  My mom and dad came and helped the weekend, which was nice, but by the end of the week, both Benjamin and I were having melt downs!!  Scott is an integral part of our family and was definitely missed!  We were so thankful to have him back home, and it was so sweet to see all 3 kids cheering for him as he loaded his suitcases into our van!  We were concerned about the timing with Scott leaving but we tried to skype daily, which I believed helped.  He really did not miss a beat with Scott and all the kids loved the countdown that we had going until dad returned!

 Bird's nest...

Great Wall...

Everyone has been asking me how Benjamin did with Halloween.  He dressed up as Spiderman and I was concerned that he would not keep his costume on since he would not keep it on at the house the days before.  However, he did fine with keeping his clothes on (Yea!).  He was a little weary of the other costumes that we met, especially the scary ones.  I caught him staring at several people, knowing that he was wondering what was going on.  Halloween is really a strange holiday but of course he LOVED the candy.  I carried him to the door at first but later we just stayed in the golf cart.  Elise and her friend, Brooke, would alternate getting him candy!  He worked the system--got the candy without actually going to the door!!

A golf cart??...they have it too easy

Another landmark was our anniversary on Nov. 8.  We wanted to go out for a couple of hours to celebrate, but Benjamin has never been left without one of us, so it was a test!  My brother and his wife, Michael and Summer, were so gracious to be the guinea pigs.  He sees Summer and his cousins frequently since they live across the street, so we felt like this would be the most successful!  He did fantastic.  They reported that he did not miss a beat and we enjoyed our dinner!

Last thing…. We have discovered that Benjamin is pretty strong willed, probably due to his survival in the orphanage.  He has been “testing” Scott and me in the obedience issue.  He chooses to be defiant sometimes and it turns into the battle of the wills (like a lot of 3 y/o!).  Fortunately, both Scott and I are very determined as well to lovingly teach him obedience, so we are seeking and praying for wisdom in this area.

Bryce and Elise continue to be so caring and loving to him.  It really is amazing how they treat him, but I have noticed some sibling rivalry surfacing, which demonstrates to me that he is molding and truly becoming part of the family in their eyes as well!  Don’t get me wrong, they still love to see him when they get in the car from school and baby him!

Please keep the prayers coming.  We would love for him to be sleeping in his own room.  We are praying that he has the desire to sleep in his own room, learns to be obedient, and continue to progress with his language and bonding.