It’s not all smooth…

All the cousins at Christmas

We have not updated in a while and things are going great.  Benjamin continues to amaze us with the amount he learns every week.  He pretty much knows his ABCs and he loves to try to write the letters, especially the B.  Benjamin likes to color now even if everything is in the color green!! 

On our blog we have stated how well he has been doing, which he is, but it is not always a “bed of roses”.   Benjamin is definitely a strong willed child, much more so than Bryce or Elise.  We attribute this to the “survivor” spirit of his first 3 years of life.  He deliberately tests and crosses the line, and then when discipline occurs, he cries big crocodile tears with a huge pouty lip!!  One of the issues that we are dealing with is lying.  He tends to lie frequently to the point where we sometimes don’t really know whether to believe him or not.  He has even earned the occasional nickname “little liar” (he has never heard us call him this).  It could be a communication gap so we are praying that through our instruction and teaching and his continued language development that this will get better.  I wonder if this is a common problem with adopted children….

On the flip side, Benjamin is such a helper.  He LOVES to help me with whatever I am doing (folding clothes, cleaning up, vacuuming, etc.).  He is always eager help us out.   He also does better at clearing the table and putting away his things than his older siblings!

There's nothing in the backpack...but it's fun to wear!!

The new news is that Benjamin has started school at God’s House two days a week just 3 hours at a time.  He loves it and wants to go more.  I think that he likes it b/c Bryce and Elise go to school everyday and he likes to wear his backpack!  He loves his teacher, Mrs. Millie, and we are trying to get him to learn the names (or a name) of a friend at school.  When I pick him up, he is always appears happy and says that he has fun, although I can’t get anything further from him. 

I do believe that he understands the majority of what we are saying to him, but he does have a hard time communicating extensive information to us.  For example, his day at school answer will be “ I dunno”.  He tries sometimes and you can see him thinking and trying to come up with the right words!

mmm...french fries...

He continues to eat well.  He loves chips, French fries, noodles, apple juice, hot chocolate, and hot tea.  The sleeping issues have just about resolved.  He sleeps in his bed for naps and at nighttime with a short routine to put him down.  He loves to be held but this is being reduced simply b/c he is too heavy for me to carry for long distances!  He does not watch much TV, but does like Dora and Diego, Mickey Mouse and Leap Frog.  He also has started to show more interest in our daily Bible story time, which is exciting.  It is so fun to teach him Bible stories for the first time.

Benjamin did get to experience his first snow/ ice a few weeks ago. We had fun sledding!!  He has dealt well with this cold weather considering that it is does not get below 60 degrees in Taiwan!!  His skin is so tender to the cold and blisters easily. This is about everything new for now….