The Blessings of our Early March...

Early and mid March brought us some interesting times! I ended up taking a medical leave of absence from work.... The crazy fall and early winter months of traveling to and from Russia 4x while still working my 2 jobs followed by trying to help 2 kids adjust to their new lives while continuing to work (PA does not see adoption as a "payable" FMLA like NJ and other states do) took it's toll on me.. And the kids, god bless them, had a terrible time with sleep and that is putting it mildly... so the combo of trying to work, keep it together by day for 2 very needy and emotional kids, and working into all hours of the night and getting 1-2 hours of sleep was just too much for my body... 6 sinus infections in as many months and raging migraines were my red flags to stop the bus.  It is amazing the blessing that, in the end, that meant. I was able to fall asleep when they did and at least get some sleep which made the daytime a bit easier... we were able to get LM on some holistic meds that have helped dramatically with his anxiety and stress responses - he is a different kid.. and we were able to get SC onto a regular schedule and, except when teething or I am at work all day, she sleeps very well...and for me, I finally broke the cycle of sinus infections (tho have one now as i am 2 months back into work but that is another story!) and able to see specialist re: the migraines and have a plan to address those.... so, while  it was emotional having to say "I give up, wave the white flag, I cannot do it all and need a break from working".... it was worth it. And, in retrospect, who on earth adopts not once, but twice and never takes some sort of leave of absence from work?   Here are some shots of the early part of March... Our chitlins started making some strides playing together this month, which was sooooooo wonderful :) we had major break thrus in Florida--the next post will reveal :)

...Do you see what I see? ...

We have a fox who frequents our backyard, and lots of deer and other wildlife... SC realized she could hang out and watch them from the kitchen door, and LM often joins her and narrates what she is seeing.. it is very cute!

..."It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" Early March 2012...

Actually it was a breakfast bonfire morning we all had on a gorgeous day in early March!

 ... Playing with Cousin KK!...

In March, things I remember that the kids did... Youngest to Oldest this month:
Sweet Cheeks:

...SC and LM playing Hide and Seek together for the first time... he's under his woobie in the partially curled up tunnel...

....SC and LM Play Hide and Seek for the First time.. He is under his woobie...

• SC started walking this month!! We knew it was coming and kept knocking her over every time she tried! LOL. Nah, just kidding. I just SO LOVED the baby, carry/crawl stage we never got with LM that I was in no hurry to see her walking so didn't push it and let her figure it out! But once she realized "hey, i can not only take 2 steps away from the ottoman to hug Mama/Papa, but I can take 5 steps and pretend to run away from them squealing in laughter"... well, it was over. I swear she went from crawling to running in under 2 weeks time....
• I truly think she spent the rest of the entire month of March mastering walking/running. We did not see any sign language use, her babbling quieted a ton, and she was not interested in any fine motor play - she wanted to walk! So we did a lot of outside play this month!
• SC also realized that walking put her on a whole new level with her brother. She emerged to be less fearful of him and tried to engage him more in things like "chase me" or "oh no I can run away from you when you come after me" and her laughter was generally infectious which seemed to ease his stress a bit and make him more interested in her...

• The one "sit down" activity she DID show interest in absolutely delighted me...SC started a skill of going over to the book shelf, pulloff a book, wobble over to me with it... I love the "backwards parking maneuver" she learned to back into me and plop herself in my lap to read..She says "boo boo" for book very clearly!! Of course was delighted b/c i read so much less to her than I did and still do - we read a lot at night after she is asleep... so i was excited she is interested, too!
• Hugs hugs hugs... she is really a cuddler!!

Little Man:

• LM is constantly amazing me with his imagination and verbal skills! Did this child REALLY need speech therapy for almost 1 1/2 years?  Words we love to hear include "from my perspective" and "actually" and "I have a great idea!" and "like this/like that/like like like" ie: everything was like, well, you know, like we had a 13 year old who just "liked" to use the work "like' for everything... 
• LM hit a total "I not only understand the concept of SuperHeros, I want to have all things in my being BE super heros... super hero games, dress up play, action figures, etc"... You name it, and LM wants to be it superhero wise... 
• Even the "talk" of what happens on the playground and overall at at school is hilarious and superhero based... Here are 2 days of excerpts I remember in particular from March... "Mama, today Cameron told me that I could not be Green Lantern because he is a bad guy. I told him he was wrong that he was a good super hero and we got into a fight. He is not my friend anymore".  Of course the next day's report was "I played with Cameron on the playground. I was Captain America and he was Superman. Mom it was sooo cool and really funny. He pushed me and I said 'hey, don't push me Superman, we are both good guys' and then we ran off and played with Jake.  Cameron is my best friend. Did you know we had donuts for snack today?" Man this kid cracks me up, and I find that I am loving this new stage of verbal skills, imagination, self reporting, etc..

                    ...Lots of Play Exchanges this month!...
While they still most definitely "vie for pole position" on my lap, for my attention, etc etc... They are playing a lot more and it was Super fun to watch them realize they are fun for each other!

• Changing SC stinky pants in the BR, I hear squeaking and furniture moving in the kitchen.. to find that our LM got himself a tupperware cup, then ambled his way up a stool and into the cabinet to get some oyster crackers as he fancied himself a snack..... Thus, March began a new level of independence in self care and cold meal prep (yes, I am an OT) for our LM... in the days since, he has mastered the art of getting up to ANY level shelf in the house, knows where I stash all the sweets, and helps himself to anything he wants. THANKFULLY he has also accepted the idea of ASKING me first before he goes to get a snack (as notoriously he wanted one 20 minutes before dinner!!)
• LM can now write his name in lower and upper case letters without any help at all. He wants to draw/color all the time now. He is able to make a variety of shapes, can write all his numbers up to 10 without help, and surprises me with the letters he can write when I name them.  
• LM is VERY into spelling and rhyming... Suddenly he is into "what does C-A-T spell?" but of course he is mainly in the stage of throwing out letters like "hey, what does pgat spell?".. I remember our nephew going thru this same stage exactly 1 year ago, and they are 1 year apart...s o it delights me as obviously this child has fully overcome the fact that until 17 months old, he never even heard English... and now he is right on target down to early reading/spelling skills!
•  

 ... "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere"... Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

See? Blessings.