Our Adoption Journey: Learning to Eat

It's time for an update, and I thought I would start with the two areas that have been most challenging:

Eating: For those who have been following our blog for a while, you probably remember that when I met Kellin, he had only ever eaten from bottles. He did not understand food coming in any other way. This has been a long, slow process, but I am happy to say that we are making progress! Kellin eats from a spoon - his favorite food is yogurt, but he will sometimes eat other pureed foods. His willingness to eat varies based on his mood, but we can usually count on him eating solids at least twice a day, sometimes three times. He likes juice and we discovered he can drink from an open cup! Not perfectly, of course, because he doesn't really know how far to tip it up, so sometimes he can't get the juice and sometimes it spills all down his front. But I discovered that if I let him hold the cup of juice, I can pull it away just a couple inches from his mouth and slip the spoon in - and if I feed him this way, he'll eat foods like pureed meats and veggies that aren't his favorites. And the most exciting news - I have found a way to get him to eat tiny pieces of those baby puffs! First I put one in his hand and we sing the "Baby Bumblebee" song, which he loves. Then I break it into 2-3 tiny pieces and put one in his mouth - and then I quickly grab his hands to sing the song again so he can't get the piece out of his mouth. I have started seeing him try to chew it, and then he swallows! Sometimes he still gags, but it's getting better. And he is starting to chew on rubbery toys. So there have been no miracles here - but definitely some measurable progress.

Kellin with his cup, drinking all by himself!

Kellin with his "chewy" toy - figuring out what his teeth are for!

Communication: At his adoption, Kellin did not appear to understand any words in Chinese or English, and he did not use any words. He had some babbling sounds that he used, but not often. One of the things that has been hardest for us is that he really hasn't started saying any words. It seems like I see all these blogs and Facebook posts about children who learn to speak English words within their first few days or weeks with their parents, and sometimes it is discouraging that Kellin has not followed this pattern. BUT - Kellin now understands a ton of words. He knows the names of several of his toys, he knows words for the different routines of his day (eat, bottle, night-night, diaper, bath, etc.), he knows words like "no" and "up," and he knows the names and actions to several of his favorite songs. He signs "all done," "more," "please," and "blankie," although only in the specific situations we have taught him, so he hasn't really generalized it.

He is getting much more tolerant of touching different things. I have been playing with clay with him - having him hold it while we sing one of his favorite songs, and then we squish it and wrap it around his fingers, and he doesn't mind too much. He is getting much better about touching the grass too!