Nice teeth!!

Family Picture

We brought Benjamin home September 30 and we thought it was a little strange that part of his routine was to have a bottle of formula each night.  When we got home, we continued this routine for a few reasons: 1. to keep his routine the same and 2. all of the books say this is a time for mom and child to bond.  He could drink the bottle while Nanette was rocking him and he could get more familiar with her.   We knew that we needed to do this, but we also knew that he needed to get off the milk at night.  So, after about a month or so, we transitioned that to water and then we got rid of it altogether.

Fast forward several months and we take all 3 of the kids to the dentist.  When it's Benjamin's turn, he gets in the chair...and you know you are in trouble when the dental hygenist says "ooh, there's a cavity, before she even puts her hands in his mouth.  After she cleaned him up, the dentist comes in and says "this is in the double digits".  Nanette said, "excuse me? are you talking about cavities?"..."yes maam, it looks like he has at least 12 cavities".  12 CAVITIES!!!.  He's only 3!  So we are in the process of figuring out a course of treatment.  Unfortunately, our dental insurance does not cover anesthesia and our medical insurance will not cover it for dental procedures.  So we are trying to get this figured out and make sure he gets what needs to be done.

Who would have thought? 12 cavities!!

Otherwise, all things are going well.  Benjamin goes to "school" 2 days per week and seems to like it.  It took us about a month or so to get him tell us a name of one of the other kids in his class, but he does seem to like it and really likes his teacher.  He is learning his letters, numbers, etc.. and his english is progressing each day.  We are now working on how he pronounces his words, trying to correct him and make sure that he says the word right.  

Very proud of his blue Q, painted with a q-tip!

One of his favorite phrases is: "all the time".  For example, "Daddy, I like to eat candy ALL THE TIME" (he said this at the dentist!!!) OR "Mama, I like to play the computer ALL THE TIME".  Another favorite is "I like gum ALL THE TIME".  

This spring is looking like it will be busy: Bryce will be playing soccer, Elise is going to start piano lessons, and Benjamin will go from activity to activity!  Life is good...

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….

Happy New Year

It's been awhile since we updated, but here are some pictures from the past few weeks.  Everyone has been asking us how Benjamin did with Christmas..he knows it was Jesus' birthday and he got to open presents, so it was an overwhelming success.  I don't think he had a clue until Christmas morning, but it sure didn't take long to catch on at that point!

We continue to make progress, his english is coming along and it seems like he learns something new everyday.  I know we keep saying this but Bryce and Elise are still doing great with him.  

 At the lake, Benjamin's first boat ride...

 The peace sign is something every kid in China/Taiwan seems to do...not sure why.

...now Bryce and Elise often do it.

 Going to see Santa...he liked the reindeer!

 "Who in the world is this weird guy in the red suit??" 

 First time to Krispy Kreme with dad...he didn't really like the donuts...but the hat was cool!  A few nice scratches on the nose from being wild and crazy.

 Time for a haircut...

Sleep update

Benjamin has been making a lot of progress in a number of different areas.  We feel like the bonding is going well.  He wants to be with us all of the time and is much more hesitant to go to strangers than he was when we first brought him home.  One of the toughest areas that we were having trouble with was the sleep.  When we were in Taiwan, he slept long hours and took really long naps (we now know he was probably shutting down) but when we got home...things changed.

The first night we were home, we put him in his bed in his room (that he shares with Bryce).  In the middle of the night Bryce told us that he was very restless and moving around a lot which bothered Bryce.  The next night, he was crying at night and keeping Bryce up, so we decided we needed to change.  At that point we moved him to our room.

He had spent most of his life in a pack-n-play, so we thought he might like to sleep in there.  So, we put it in our room, but he would not get in it.  He was very fearful and acted terrified when it was time to go to bed.   The first few nights Nanette would have to hold him and lay with him until he fell asleep, then we would transfer him to the pack-n-play in our room.  The only way he would go to sleep was by laying on Nanette.  That went on for a week or so.  We were concerned about Benjamin being in the pack-n-play because he was too big for it and unable to stretch out.  So we put him on a crib mattress on the floor in our room.  Still the same routine of rocking and laying in our bed and then transferring to the bed on the floor.

After a few weeks, we were able to progress from laying in our bed to Nanette laying beside the crib mattress on the floor until he went to sleep to where she would lay on our bed while he was in his.  This went on for about a month.  We did not even try outright napping in his bed at first because of the fear exhibited and it was not worth the fight.  Nanette would leave a little early to pick Bryce and Elise from school and he would always fall asleep in the car for 30-45 minutes.  After about 6 weeks we started on the weekends to let him nap in his bed and he would do it if we laid with him.  One night about 8 weeks home, Benjamin slept in his room for the first time at night!!  Then on the weekend, we had a "party" in Bryce and Benjamin's room with Elise on the blow up mattress.  Benjamin has been in his room since then!!  What a milestone for us!  Praise the Lord that things are going so smoothly!!  This is just one clear example of how he has progressed over the weeks.  This past Sunday, we left him for the first time in child care for church and he did fantastic!  We are blessed to have his teacher, Jennifer Christy, be one of Scott's co-workers so he has met her several times and knows her.  We are so proud of him and how well he is transitioning!

The main question people are asking us is how his English coming.  We feel like he understands most of what we say and he tries to communicate with us using words and hand motions.   There are times when we can't understand him and he will demonstrate what he he saying so we are communicating very well. It is so cute how he almost acts out what happened as he is talking!  He is also learning his ABC's, numbers, and colors, for we are working on it every day.  We both feel like he is learning very quickly!

Bryce and Elise are doing wonderful and still dote over him.   They argue about who gets to sit by him, etc.  They are still surpassing our expectations on how well they have enjoyed having a younger sibling! Christmas has been a really fun time for our family with explaining about Jesus's birthday and Christmas trees, ornaments, decorations, etc.  We are anticipating the next few weeks to continue to be fun with seeing things with "new" eyes!

Videos

twinkle twinkle....

Jesus loves the little children...and me...

Week 9

Sorry for the delay in getting some more info out...but things have been busy.  We have good intentions but just haven't been able to get it done.

Overall, things continue to go well. We have been venturing out more, went to our first UAB football game.

On a side note, Scott took Bryce to the Auburn/Georgia game.

And we cannot forget Thanksgiving...

 Playing with Elise at Thanksgiving in Troy, AL.

Bryce had a Thanksgiving program at school and Benjamin was real proud of him!

Benjamin continues to do very well.  He has been sick the past few days: high fever, cough, and runny nose.  It has made sleeping tough for us, but we know it won't last forever.  We have mentioned that sleep has been one of our issues, but that seems to be getting better.  He still won't let Scott put him to bed, but Benjamin does let him put him down for a nap in his big boy bed that he should be sleeping in.  So we are making progress and think as soon as he gets over this sickness that he should be ready to join Bryce in their room!  Bonding is going well, he clearly recognizes us as his parents and wants us to do everything for him.  Benjamin is getting along well with Bryce and Elise and they are becoming more and more comfortable with each other.

Please pray he gets well soon!

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.