That's right... as of yesterday we have had Hope and Benjamin in our home for 6 months. What an amazing and challenging 6 months it has been. But I can say in the midst of the craziness and chaos we are blessed and cringe when we think what our lives would be like without these 2 little blessings we call our son and daughter. The laughter has been abundant around here! So let me give you a bit of an update on the kids...
Benjamin- he has come so far. When we were in Rwanda we thought we had possibly made a mistake. The running away, the hitting, biting, spitting and lack of fear of authority blew us away... it was SO hard. The 2-3 hours of screaming every night to get him to sleep was draining to say the least. But the first week home he was a new child... I mean like an instant 180 degree change. Structure, love and a schedule were just what he needed. The little boy who would not make eye contact or smile is full of love- hands on love, lots of kisses and laughter that makes you want to fall out in the floor. This kid is a comedian! So is life completely perfect and rosy? NO! NO! NO! And it never will be! With the comfort of getting to know each other he has begun to test a few new boundaries... in some ways he acts like he is 2 and at other times 4, like his true age. He is learning some letters and shapes but colors are still pretty foreign... although he recently has learned red, I think. Just when I think "HE'S GOT IT" he doesn't! Still a huge eater but a little more picky. He was not speaking in complete sentences in Kinyarwandan but now he makes beautiful sentences in English. The mispronunciation of many letters is quickly resolving itself... for example now he says Carter instead of Tarter, so many examples like this but we still have work to do. The thing that has driven us a bit crazy with him is the way he has learned to speak and learned to understand. He REPEATS everything a thousand times and asks a thousand questions every way possible and those we are around that witness it think it is so cute BUT I am SO over it! Love his ability to learn but being with him all day everyday makes me want to plug my ears at night! We think he might possibly have a future career in music. He loves to sing and memorizes songs very well. He can keep a beat like no other 4 year old I have ever seen, it is amazing! A perfect nickname for him is Curious George. He loves cake and knows that Christmas is about, as he puts it... "My Jesus"... not that I think he really gets it but I love his answer when people ask. He loves loud music and loves speed in a car, on a boat, on a motorcycle or 4-wheeler. He loves to pray and I love to hear him do it! This kid is AWESOME!
Hope- Our little girl who was so sick and so shy when we got her has COME OUT OF HER SHELL, like busted out! Her personality has slowly developed but is in full swing now! She is loud and "talks" all of the time! She gets jealous if Benjamin sits in my lap. She is a champ at telling people NO when she is serious and NAW when she is playing around... a redneck African! She loves to eat and LOVES to be outside... she cries if others are out and she is not allowed to go! Her language is booming! She can say all of our names, some not as understandable as others... Carter is LawLer. She attempts to repeat everything we tell her to say. She loves to play chase and peek-a-boo. She loves Benjamin and plays with him well. She screams when I cook dinner most nights but is learning to be patient and wait... kinda! She is bossy and will quickly tell you to "get back" and push you when you are in her way... she is so not shy anymore! She does not like to be left out of anything. One thing that we can't quite figure out with her is her sleeping at night. Some nights she is up for 2 hours, give or take a little. She does not cry or call for us to get her, she talks (loudly), sings and has a little party on her own. So what this means is that I am up with her, not physically but I can hear her... I have to remove her from her room since she shares with Aubrey so she doesn't keep her up and that means she goes in a pack-n-play in our room. Rusty can sleep through 90% of it, I have never understood that amazing ability of his!
Benjamin- he has come so far. When we were in Rwanda we thought we had possibly made a mistake. The running away, the hitting, biting, spitting and lack of fear of authority blew us away... it was SO hard. The 2-3 hours of screaming every night to get him to sleep was draining to say the least. But the first week home he was a new child... I mean like an instant 180 degree change. Structure, love and a schedule were just what he needed. The little boy who would not make eye contact or smile is full of love- hands on love, lots of kisses and laughter that makes you want to fall out in the floor. This kid is a comedian! So is life completely perfect and rosy? NO! NO! NO! And it never will be! With the comfort of getting to know each other he has begun to test a few new boundaries... in some ways he acts like he is 2 and at other times 4, like his true age. He is learning some letters and shapes but colors are still pretty foreign... although he recently has learned red, I think. Just when I think "HE'S GOT IT" he doesn't! Still a huge eater but a little more picky. He was not speaking in complete sentences in Kinyarwandan but now he makes beautiful sentences in English. The mispronunciation of many letters is quickly resolving itself... for example now he says Carter instead of Tarter, so many examples like this but we still have work to do. The thing that has driven us a bit crazy with him is the way he has learned to speak and learned to understand. He REPEATS everything a thousand times and asks a thousand questions every way possible and those we are around that witness it think it is so cute BUT I am SO over it! Love his ability to learn but being with him all day everyday makes me want to plug my ears at night! We think he might possibly have a future career in music. He loves to sing and memorizes songs very well. He can keep a beat like no other 4 year old I have ever seen, it is amazing! A perfect nickname for him is Curious George. He loves cake and knows that Christmas is about, as he puts it... "My Jesus"... not that I think he really gets it but I love his answer when people ask. He loves loud music and loves speed in a car, on a boat, on a motorcycle or 4-wheeler. He loves to pray and I love to hear him do it! This kid is AWESOME!
Hope- Our little girl who was so sick and so shy when we got her has COME OUT OF HER SHELL, like busted out! Her personality has slowly developed but is in full swing now! She is loud and "talks" all of the time! She gets jealous if Benjamin sits in my lap. She is a champ at telling people NO when she is serious and NAW when she is playing around... a redneck African! She loves to eat and LOVES to be outside... she cries if others are out and she is not allowed to go! Her language is booming! She can say all of our names, some not as understandable as others... Carter is LawLer. She attempts to repeat everything we tell her to say. She loves to play chase and peek-a-boo. She loves Benjamin and plays with him well. She screams when I cook dinner most nights but is learning to be patient and wait... kinda! She is bossy and will quickly tell you to "get back" and push you when you are in her way... she is so not shy anymore! She does not like to be left out of anything. One thing that we can't quite figure out with her is her sleeping at night. Some nights she is up for 2 hours, give or take a little. She does not cry or call for us to get her, she talks (loudly), sings and has a little party on her own. So what this means is that I am up with her, not physically but I can hear her... I have to remove her from her room since she shares with Aubrey so she doesn't keep her up and that means she goes in a pack-n-play in our room. Rusty can sleep through 90% of it, I have never understood that amazing ability of his!
So I am sure there are lots of things that I am forgetting that I wanted to share. I attempted to get the kids on video last night and it was a flop... when I get the camera out they crawl all over me. I also wanted to have a cute little slide show done of our trip to Rwanda to get them and that didn't happen either... maybe over our Christmas break from school I will get it done or maybe just started!
Life is crazy, full, fun, exciting, exhausting and tiring but so rewarding. And I can say that this experience has been so positive that we are not closed to the idea of adopting again BUT we do not currently have plans to do so!
1 comment:
i so loved reading this! and relate to so much.
ESPECIALLY the not being able to learn his colors!!!! lincoln is the SAME! and i have been SO confused about it! he can learn numbers and letters and shapes and memorize verses...but colors?? he can NOT learn them! i've asked people and NO one knows why?!? do you have any idea???
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