We've been busy

Our winter was filled mainly with adapting to life with two kids, one of whom spent the first two years of life in an orphanage. While we know from our pre-adoption reading that we have gotten off incredibly easy as institutional behavior goes, it does wear a person out to actually go through the constant reassurances and continual physical contact that is required to give these kids a good shot at bonding with their new families.

As I said, Thành is an incredibly cheerful, bouncy, smiley fellow with a strong will, many opinions and he doesn't back down easily; in other words he fits into our family very well!

Thành is a one-person welcoming committee and cheerer-upper. When we walk down the street he waves to everyone and says hello. He thought he was pretty fancy when he learned to say "Morning" like the rest of us and he knows to use that greeting only on the way to school, not on the way home.

Thành has a little bounce in his step and a big smile and incredibly bright eyes and everywhere we go people break into a grin as they approach us. That, in combination with his irrepressible desire to press the back of our hands to his cheek or to spontaneously kiss us, makes strangers and acquaintances alike incredibly happy. He is our cheerful little imp.

And he's not as little as he was, he's growing! Thành recently hit 28 pounds and 33 inches and has officially outgrown 12 mo. clothing. He still fits into some 18 mo. stuff, but by and large he is a 24 mo./2T guy. We're really happy with his physically development, his coordination and his improved strength. He's one tough, but tiny, cookie!

We have, more or less, fallen into a family rhythm that is working for us with fits and starts. Every couple of weeks the house looks like a bomb went off in it, we're overtaken by fur balls or no one has any clean clothing to wear, but we are getting used to it. Both Ted and I are so much happier when the house is clean and things are orderly that this adjustment has been difficult and paired with the small amount of time that we have together alone to discuss things, housework is usually low on the list.

The other thing that is becoming clear is that we need a larger car. My Suzuki Sidekick has been a great car for us and largely problem-free, but we are using every inch of the car when we take road trips, and usually have a luggage bag on the roof. It would be nice to have a larger vehicle, too, so that we don't always have to depend on borrowing Mookie's truck when we need to get something large from the lumber yard, though that doesn't play into the decision much.

Mostly we look ahead a year or two to hauling our kids and needing to pick up a friend and go somewhere and we can't do that with the Suzuki or with Ted's VW. So, it looks like we will be buying some sort of van or cross-over car in the next couple of months. It will make life much easier when going to the schoolhouse.

Louis has settled in to having a brother very well. He alternates between finding it wonderful to have someone to poke and provoke and being genuinely sweet and appreciative of Thành. Being an older brother has also let Louis exhibit some of the sweetness that we used to see more often before he started school. He will stop and crouch down and patiently explain how to do something to Thành or enthusiastically invite him to join his fun. It's heartwarming.

Most days Thành wakes up at 7 AM on the dot and he comes and crawls in bed with me, since Ted leaves the house by 6:30 AM. We spend about a half an hour cuddling; it's pretty clear that while Thành was held a lot as a baby, he must not have gotten enough skin-to-skin time because he just cannot get enough of it now.

At 7:30 or so we wake up Louis together and that is really fun with lots of snuggling and kissing and crowing like a rooster. We read for a while and then get up and get washed up and dressed. We eat breakfast and then we walk Louis the block to his school and Thành carries Louis' lunch bag, which makes him feel important and makes Louis call him "The Butler".

Then we walk home and we hop in the car and drive the mile to Thành's pre-school and he spends 9-3 there. I go to work and Ted picks Thành up and they drive home and then walk up to get Louis at 4 PM. They play on the playground or come home and play and make dinner and then we're all together again at about 6 PM.

It's a full day, but we are pretty happy with it. We acknowledge that we're not going to have much adult time for another year or two, but that's okay with us most days. We get a sitter every couple of weeks and spend some time together and we've kept up a couple of regularly set dinners with friends through out the month, so we see other people, too.

Mostly we try to remind each other that while there is a lot to do and a lot to get done, the boys won't be small for long and then we settle down and "just be", as Auntie Reece says. That's when we're really happy.