Big Steps (Literally

Kellin took his first steps last week!  He has taken several steps at a time, several times this week - all by himself!

We decided to make it a goal to go out for lots of bike rides this summer, so we invested in new bikes for the adults and for Rabbit, who had outgrown her old bike, and bought a bike carrier for Kellin and Pooh to ride in.  We went out for our first family bike ride last weekend - and Kellin LOVED it!  He loves sunshine and wind, and combine that with the movement of the bike carrier - he was giggling and babbling the whole time.  And sitting next to him - Pooh fell asleep.  Hoping we can get out for many more bike rides this year!

As promised, as few videos:

Here's a video of Kellin's precious little giggle as he plays with Daddy.

And one of him standing up all by himself, without holding on to anything.

And one of him walking!  Not his best steps, but still exciting.

And can anyone guess what Pooh's latest obsession is?  Puzzles, of course!

It's the Little Things

In the past week, we haven't seen as many of those huge leaps in development with Kellin - but there is magic in the little things.

Kellin is laughing in response to others' laughter.  Previously he would laugh if tickled, and sometimes when overstimulated he laughs hysterically at nothing, but now he will laugh just when he hears others laugh.

He signs "more" (holding our hands) when he wants to sing another verse of a song, or when he wants more water splashed on his tummy in the bath (he loves that).

He can walk with just one hand held, although he prefers to hold two hands.

He can get himself up from the floor into standing without holding onto anything, and often lifts a toy up with him.

He will play (sometimes) with non-musical toys, like a spoon and pan, or a stuffed animal, or a textured toy, or a vibrating toy.  He will move away from his favorite musical cube after awhile to find out what else is around - he's exploring!

He is learning where his toys are kept.  He has his own toy cubbies, with each of his toys having its own spot, and he is definitely starting to figure this out - he knows his cube is in the upper row of cubbies, and he knows his keyboard is up on top.

He is showing some beginning interest in books.  The three boys have story time together before bed, and we always read one of Kellin's books.  He also holds it and chews on it while we read the other boys' books.

He is more tolerant of touching grass with his hands and feet.  As long as you keep him busy with songs or games, he will let his hands or feet rest in the grass.

I'm hoping to have some videos to share in my next post!  Stay tuned!

The Power of a Picture

One year ago today I saw Kellin's picture for the first time.  One year ago today we were not in the process of adopting; we had talked about it in "probably someday" sense, but really we had only had superficial conversations about when, what kind of child, and what country, and no decisions had been made.  The only thing I knew for sure is that I wanted to adopt a boy, because so many more boys wait than girls (did you know that the majority of adopting families choose girls?). However, I was (and still am) a daily lurker on the Reece's Rainbow website, and I always checked out the newly listed children.  I had certainly seen children I was drawn to before, but I had always been skeptical of that "when you see your child, you just know" mentality.  But when I saw Kellin, I KNEW.  I swear my heart skipped a beat, or stopped for a moment, or something.  It was similar to what I experienced the moment that I heard each of my other children cry for the first time after birth.  Three days later, we were viewing his file and searching for a home study agency.

One year ago, we were a busy family with two working parents and three young children (one with medical needs).  We did not have $35,000 sitting around.  We did not have experience with adoption and knew very few people who had adopted.  No one in either of our families had adopted.  We were not familiar with international travel.  We did not know how we would make arrangements for someone to care for our children while we traveled.  We did not really know the extent of the paperwork that needed to be done.  We did not know the heartbreaking details of our son's history - abandoned, placed in an orphanage, sent to a high-qualify foster care home, and then suddenly removed from there several months later.  We did not know our son's health had deteriorated since those roly-poly, chubby baby pictures had been taken, since being returned to the orphanage.

And guess what?  Here we are, a year later, and Kellin has been HOME since January 24th.  We fundraised, learned, did paperwork, shared our story, and prayed - and we did it!  Has it been easy? NO.  Absolutely not.  Everyone says adoption is hard, and they are right.  Adjusting to the life changes of having Kellin in our family has been hard.  But SO COMPLETELY WORTH IT.  If I knew then what I know now, would I still do it?  Absolutely.  Kellin has enriched our family and he is just coming alive with the attention, stimulation, and love.

My message here is that if we can do this, others can do it too.  You don't need to be rich, or have a big house, or wait for the perfect "right time."  It can be done.

My heart is still broken for all the other children who wait.  Now that we are settling into our new routine with Kellin, I find I am thinking more about all the other children who have not been chosen.  Does anyone remember "Koins 4 Kellin?"  The fundraiser our daughter ran to collect spare change for our adoption?  We have pulled out a container and placed it on our kitchen table, put pictures of three precious children on it, and we are collecting money for these children.  Please consider joining us in helping these children's adoption grants grow so that perhaps a family will be able to choose them too.


Meet Jesse.  I have featured him on the blog before.  He was abandoned at nine months old and when found, he had a severe eye infection that cost him his sight.  He was so sick he was expected to die.  However, he is a fighter!  He survived, and is fortunate enough to be cared for in a good foster home.  But he still doesn't have a family.  He is just five years old.  Will you add to his grant, share his story, help him to be SEEN?  Could he be your son? http://reecesrainbow.org/59002/jesse


This is Simon.  He is six years old and very intelligent.  He is also blind.  He lives in a foster home that specializes in providing high-quality care and education for visually impaired children.  HOWEVER, this home is for preschoolers and is not equipped to continue Simon's education now that he is older.  He is supposed to be sent back to his orphanage - and there is no school there that is prepared to teach a blind child.  If not adopted, Simon's chances of a good education and a future are in jeopardy.  Please join us in helping him! http://reecesrainbow.org/86198/simon


And this little princess is Holland.  She is three years old and has lost her sight due to cancer.  She has endured cancer treatments - without a mommy and daddy at her side.  She has been through so much but is doing well.  I can't believe this beautiful little girl is still waiting.  Her needs sound severe but really, there are no limits to what she can achieve with the love of a family and good medical care.  There MUST be a family out there for her! http://reecesrainbow.org/70509/holland

Three Months Since Gotcha Day

Three months ago today, I met Kellin for the first time.  In some ways, I can't believe it's already been three months, and in other ways, I can't believe it's ONLY been three months.  The Kellin we have today is so different from the limp, unresponsive "newborn" I was handed that night.  He has come SO FAR and is really more like a spunky young toddler now and can do so many things he couldn't three months ago:

-Kellin can move around!  He sits, crawls, stands, walks with support, and can get himself into these different positions without help (for example, he can from sitting or crawling to standing up without needing to hang on to anything - he gets into a "bear" position on all fours and then stands up)
-He holds and plays with toys.  He has favorite toys and will "look" for them if someone turns them on or even if we just say "cube" or "table."
-He understands many words and phrases: blankie, night-night, crib, water, diaper, no, hands down, no poking, eat, bottle, cube, table, piano, up, sock, shoes, pat-a-cake, march, walk, all done, more, on, mama, dada, book, his name, light, hug, cup, song, and probably a few more I can't think of right now.  He knows how to do the actions for the songs: I've Been Working on the Railroad, The Ants Go Marching, Open Shut Them, Pat-a-Cake, and kind of knows a few others.
-He signs "all done" and seems to say "mama," "on" (for turning on his toys), and maybe "more."  Also this morning he seemed to sign "hungry" by patting his tummy.
-He knows many songs and actions.  He "requests" certain songs by pulling our hands through the actions and if you name a song, he will start the actions on his own, so we know he understands the names of several of his favorite songs.
-He eats from a spoon.  His favorite food is definitely yogurt, but he will also eat baby food fruit and oatmeal.  He can drink from a sippy cup and an open cup if someone holds it for him.
-He likes to cuddle and hug with Mommy, Daddy, and big sister.
-He sleeps 8-9 hours most nights and takes a 1-2 hour nap most days.
-He is stimming much, much less.  He doesn't play with his lips and spit very much anymore (except when he is in his crib before he falls asleep) and if we say "hands down," he usually stops.  He still pokes his eyes quite a bit but responds when we say "no poking."

And some pictures!  (FYI - We just got a trampoline, but Tigger was at a birthday party this morning when I was out there taking pictures.)

Our accomplished gymnast!

Pooh attempting a somersault

Kellin loved to bounce on the trampoline!

Our best attempts at Easter pictures - not bad, really!

Brothers

Acceptance

Someone asked me last week what the hardest part of this adoption process has been.  Now I've been asked many, many times "How's it going?" or "How is he adjusting?" but I don't think anyone else has asked specifically about the difficulties.  I wasn't really sure how to answer at that time, but I have given it some thought since, and I've decided that the hardest part is accepting.  Accepting what was done to Kellin during his first 3 1/2 years.  Accepting that there is no way to change those years or to go back and fix them.  Accepting that Kellin is who he is, challenges and delays included.  Accepting that no matter how hard we work, there may or may not be lifelong limitations for Kellin.  I work every day to come to a place of acceptance of Kellin's past, present, and future, and some days, it is hard.

That being said - Kellin continues to progress by leaps and bounds!  He is much more mobile now - he crawls, spins, and scoots around and actually can move quite a distance if he chooses.  We have organized his toys on shelves so that each toy has its own spot and we are trying to teach Kellin to "find" his toys on his own.  This is just starting to work - if we turn on a musical toy on the shelf, he will try to crawl to it, but his ability to locate things by sound is still not great, although he tries hard.  Kellin will now reach down to pick up a toy on the floor while he is standing, and then stand back up, so his balance is really improving!  He is also trying to stand up without holding onto anything, but so far, all he does is get up on his hands and feet in a "bear" position, stay there for a while, and then plop back down.  I'm sure he'll figure out how to get up onto his feet before we know it.

His favorite toy is still the musical cube, but he is really enjoying his toy keyboard too.  Funny thing about that though - it has to be set on the "demo" mode so it plays songs.  If Kellin hits a button and turns the songs off (which happens often), he gets MAD and fusses until someone comes along and turns the demo back on.  It is funny the first couple of times and then it gets kind of frustrating.  After a while, I usually end up putting the keyboard away because he is just too frustrated (and I'm tired of fixing it every couple minutes).

He is using his first "word" consistently - the sign for "all done."  When he is in his chair to eat, he will let us know when he is done.  Sometimes this is hard because he will sign "all done" before he's even eaten, and then it's a dilemma - do we respect the fact that he is communicating and put the food away, or do we coax him to eat just a little because he needs those calories so badly?  Other times, he will eat quite a bit before signing "all done."  Overall, I think he is starting to eat more, but the progress varies; some meals he eats well, and then the next day, he may hardly want to eat at all.  I can't wait until we have an opportunity to weigh him again to see if he's actually gained anything.  He sure hasn't grown out of any clothes or diapers yet.

He is becoming even more of a cuddlebug!  I am at work all day, and when I come home, he often wants to just snuggle in for a while.  It is so sweet.  He's also saying "mama" again more often, but this seems to come and go and I'm never quite sure if he means anything by it.  We'll have to wait and see.

I've been hesitant to post this on the blog in case I jinx it again, but Kellin is sleeping!  Through the night (most nights)!  He sleeps usually eight, sometimes nine hours.  Ahh, rest.

We've been so thankful for the warmer weather because Kellin LOVES to be outside!  He loves the bright sun and for some reason, he really enjoys the feeling of the wind.  He will raise his head up and open his mouth (I think to feel the wind on his tongue).  He's been out for a few walks and a few trips to the park with Daddy and Pooh.

Couple of cute pictures: