3/16/10 - One Month Gotcha Day Anniversary!

I seriously cannot believe it has been one month since we "got" the boys!!! What an amazing, challenging, joy filled, exhausting, wonderful different daily discoveries, flown by month it has been! Here's a brief overview:

Week One - It's all about survival baby, both for us and the boys!! lots of meltdowns as the boys learn what is okay and what is not okay, have to share, and don't like being told no - regular kid stuff, hum? Establishing a routine takes a few days (because it's not a routine on the first day, is it?) Mike was figuring out how to sleep during the day (he works third shift) with two boys in the house and I was fighting a TERRIBLE cold. By the end of the week though the boys seem to be getting into the swing of life here: the realize they can color or play in the play room first thing after coming downstairs in the morning. I still spend most of my time watching everything they do because I don't trust them not to get into something they shouldn't!! And thank you Tracy and Geralyn for the play date that first week! Doctor visits and blood drawn this week - both boys are totally healthy - PRAISE GOD!

Week Two: By the end of this week John Eyob is understanding almost everything we are saying to him or asking him to do - WOW! I make my first trek to the grocery store with the boys. They love the shopping cart mock-e-naws (don't know how to spell it but it's Amharic for car) and we only buy about six items at two different stores but it is a success! We also try a few different projects involving gluing, cutting, and coloring on big pieces of poster board. I even have a few moments a day, while the boys are awake, to check email and the Yahoo Group!

Week Three: The weather is nice enough to get outside and the boys LOVE it! And they seem to have been home long enough that they are not running out of our yard and into the street. We have established consistent days we take tubs (which they could stay in for hours), which day of the week we run errands (note to self: always make the post office the first stop and not the last), and an approximate time for daily naps. And I am not completely exhausted at nap and bedtimes. I even make it to 9:30pm a couple of times! John Eyob has a dentist appointment this week (lots of decay, eight cavities in all). Kids Dentists will become great friends as we schedule the first four of eight appointments to remove, cap, and crown teeth.

Week Four: The boys are really understanding what we are saying. John Eyob is beginning to carry on basic conversations and Ryan Ephrem is super at repeating words. They play and act silly. They ask questions to verify when we are doing what (especially John Eyob). They are happy! Ryan Ephrem has his dentist appointment and wasn't too excited about opening his mouth. But the doctor gets a chance to look inside (and he was screaming) and things look MUCH better than his brother so we don't need to come back for six months.

One month down - a life time to go!