He Talks

LM is finally talking to his speech therapist and his teachers. It has been a long process but he finally decided talking to others is not so bad. He was slow to talk to us but that only lasted a couple of weeks. He held out for 14 months for his preschool and preK teachers. I was crying when I found out what he was clearly talking about in school. Since we are near Thanksgiving, they are talking about families and the holidays. He drew a family picture with things we do as a family. They have each child talk about what they drew. I figured he would just stand there saying very little like he usually does but I guess he was loud clear and distinct in telling everyone about his family. Not his favorite toy and not favorite things it was his family. What a special little boy we have! We are blessed and thankful for him everyday. We have had our struggles but this little boy loves his family and we love him back.

National Adoption Month

Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.
Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.
Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.
Adopted Child: A natural child with a real parent who is my own child.
November is National Adoption Month but our family is blessed by adoption every month! (Borrowed from Beth Gore and P. J. Wolfarth.)



Things to think about:



Every 15 SECONDS, another child becomes an AIDS orphan in Africa



Every DAY 5,760 more children become orphans



Every YEAR 2,102,400 more children become orphans (in Africa alone)



143,000,000 Orphans in the world today spend an average of 10 years in an orphanage or foster home



Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…



Every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system



Every DAY 38,493 children AGE OUT



Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home



I really never thought about the stats on orphans until I was blessed to call one my son. I always knew we would adopt a little one. It is hard to believe that 3 years ago our lives would change. DH said yes to bring LM into our family. The following is some scripture about orphans and openig our hearts:



"Once our eyes are opened, we cannot pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12



"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."
John 14:18



"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 1:27

One Year Post & First Day Of School

July 13th 2010 came and went by fast. We were on a houseboat trip on Lake Powell. LM really liked the houseboat. He cried going on and cried going off. He really open up on this trip. I do not think he even had any thought on it being his anniversary day with our family. He was having a trip and he was having fun. Even about two months later he is still building houseboat out of his legos. It seemed like he was waiting for his one year anniv. to open up. He talks constantly ever since. Even on our other vacation trip he opened up to all the family members. Will add picture once I get a chance to download them. Having the kids for the summer was hard work and now need to get back to organizing house again.

Today was the first day of PreK for LM. He went in crying and screaming. Hopefully it will be like the houseboat trip and he will be talking to the teacher in no time. He did not talk to his preschool teacher so I am hopeful he has decided to talk to these teachers. I asked for one I knew he was familiar with. Time will tell. He does not do well at first with change. But once he is comfortable he will relax. This is a lot of new things which makes it hard. New teachers, new classroom, new playground, new toys and some new kids. I will know once I pick him up tonight.

Interesting Comments

DH has been getting a lot of comments lately while taking our son out. Once he went to get his hair cut with both kids and the barber asked when did he get rid the first wife and get an Asian one.

The last one that I really find interesting was when he was in line at Disney California Adventure. I had the DD at another ride and he was at Monsters Inc. A lady in line asked him what ethnic background was his wife. DH answered German/Danish decent and yes he is adopted.

It is somewhat nice they think DS is his bio son but I think it will be hard on him as he gets older. Maybe I am taking this out of context but he can't talk for himself now and I see he reacts to it when DH retell me about these comments.

Hearing Checked

It has been awhile since I have posted. Been busy with everything. Theo had his hearing checked again and it is in normal range. He does not need to see an ENT outside his cleft team. Even though we have a daughter with a cleft, you never know what each child will have. We are thankful that only Theo lip and gum line are affected. He will not have the ear issue like his sister. When our daughter was born we knew nothing about cleft lip and palate. She is an inspiration to me to see how much a champion she is at the doctor office. She set such a great example for her brother. She is the reason for her brother and what we would accept in a child. It is sad to think she will have more surgical procedures than him but she has been blessed with the gift of patience when sitting in a doctor chair as they poke and probe her. I am learning lessons from her just as my son is. He adores his sister and she is starting to adore him. It is sweet to see the two of them together. I have been blessed and thank him everyday for these two blessings, one by birth and one by adoption.