My Smart Boy

Matthew's language seems to be exploding over the last few weeks. Yesterday his first "sentence" Are you ready---- "Mommy Os spill" Yes they did spill all over the den and while vacuuming them up while trying to keep the dogs away I have never been so thankful for three little words

Matthew's Christening

Yesterday was Matthew's Christening we had a lovely day with family. He has come miles in just the short three months we have been home. His language increases everyday and it still continues to amaze us how much he understands.He is receiving services through early intervention and that is going well. We have also been to the cardiologist who said his heart is perfect YEAh!!! I have returned to work three days a week he goes to daycare at Steve's work and he loves it we call it school and he loves to go. Our lives and our home a full and at times chaotic and we wouldn't have it any other way. WE are looking foward to summer and the warm weather. Olivia and MAtthew are the light of our lives and we count our blessings all the time. Life is busy I will try to update more often All the Best---- Kate

Two Months Today

It is unbelievable to me that we have been home with Matthew for two months. We have spent the last two months falling in love with our beautiful boy and becoming our family of four. Matthew blossoms each and every day. We are seeing his sense of humor and playfulness. He is adorable charming energetic and loving. The attachment is coming in subtle ways. He now will just climb on our lap just because. He will play by himself but checks in every few minutes just to say hello.He says new words each day and understands completely when we talk to him. He doesn't always listen but he certainly understands. We have a child who will sleep late in the morning and goes to sleep easily at night. He says I Love You without prompting and just very recently i see he understands what those words mean. I can't explain it but lately I feel like Matthew understand what love is and understands that he is loved. I believe he no longer looked upon me as his caretaker and knows I love him. He no longer uses Aya towards me.He copies absolutely everything Olivia does and says he follow her around when she is home and waits for the school bus in the afternoon.He screams when he sees Steve's car in the driveway and helps him carry his briefcase in the house. He is my little helper during the day and helps me up and down the stairs with the laundry. We are still dealing with the food issues but do see slow gradual improvement. I return to work the beginning of April. We are beginning a slow transition to where he will be going to daycare and that is going better then we expected.
WE are so blessed to have both out beautiful children in our lives and I often remind myself to soak it all in.We had a terrible storm here this weekend and lost our power for a few hrs. I was reminded during that time that we need to simplify our lives. As we were sitting in the living room with candles just talking and cuddling our family close. I felt overwhelmingly lucky to have our family together and whole and complete. We are looking forward to Spring and certainly counting the days until the Easter Bunny visits--- All the Best Kate

Catching Up

It is hard to believe but we have been home for one month tomorrow. Matthew seems like he has been here forever. I will not lie adjusting to having a very active almost three year hold at times has had it's challenges but now I finally feel like we have a new normal. the first week Steve went back to work was very hard for me Matthew and I are finding our way and learning about each other. I have learned that boys are sooo different from girls. He has energy to burn and adaption to him in the winter is hard because it is difficult to find space for him to run off his energy. We have fond play places at the local malls and we visit them regularly. It is also good for him to be around other children. In the beginning he was very apprehensive around other children but it gets better each time.
One of our biggest challenge areas is eating. When it comes to eating Matthew has no off switch he would eat until it made him sick. He shovels the food in quickly and he is done when the table is cleared. We have adjusted our eating while we are teaching him to slow down and pace himself. The other issue we have is when I am in the kitchen he screams because he wants food right there and then. Because of the language barrier he doesn't understand that the food has to be cooked. It is challenging to prepare a meal with your son grabbing at your pant leg screaming. Th emotional end is heartbreaking because he is afraid he won't get enough to eat which breaks my heart. It is a work in progress and we are trying.
I am off work until early April we are in the process of looking at daycare centers and have Matthew evaluated by early intervention they have found him to be speech delayed(no surprise there) so he will qualify for services. Once we have all that narrowed down it will be easier to make that decision. Matthew also has to have a minor surgical procedure I will not elaborate here but it is of a delicate nature. We will have that done before I return to work
We feel blessed and happy to have our beautiful boy with us and despite all the challenges I have a new feeling of contentment knowing that our family is complete. I am not missing paperwork waiting for travel dates and all the ups and downs that come with adoption. Happy Valentine's Day and HAppy New Year I have a feeling the year for the tiger will be our families best yet. All the Best Kate.

Getting Back to Normal

We are trying to get our lives back to normal. I am still battling the jet lag awake at three am and then falling asleep standing up by 5pm I am trying but this is tough. Matthew is doing great with the sleeping. He sleeps all night and takes a two hour nap. I am so grateful for this I can't imagine how hard it would be if he were also suffering from the jet lag. Today he went for his first new shoes he was so excited in the shoe store. Nothing better than brand new sneakers. He certainly had a spring in his step.It seems as if Matthew has been with us forever like he has always been here,. We let Olivia stay home from school today and she enjoyed the day with her new brother. She is a huge help with Matthew and her energy has come in handy when Steve and I had none.
Matthew was a the doctor on Saturday for his first visit. Since we received him he has been itchy all over. The doctor feels that he is allergic to something but that is difficult to determine because his whole world changed that day. He also found that he was wheezing. We have been giving him nebulizer treatments and an allergy medicine and the itching has stopped so we are grateful for that.His breathing is also better.We introduced our dogs to him yesterday and that is a slow process he is very afraid of them if they come near him. We are separating them and bringing Matthew to them while holding him. It will just take time I hope. Thanks for all the comments made to the blog while we were in China. I have taken the time to read each and every one and am so grateful for the time people took to comment. All the Best Kate

Priceless

We are home!!! All safe and sound These pictures were taken at 4 am Saturday morning when my whole house was up. My two children were on the couch sharing cheerios. Despite feeling tired and suffering from jet lag God is good and we are blessed. These pictures and knowing my whole family is under one roof is priceless. All the Best Kate

Goodbye China

Today is our final full day in China. We have loved our stay in China and appreciated the people of China and their welcoming spirit. We have especially enjoyed our time in Guangzhou and will especially miss the sixty degree temperture.We are having a final dinner tonight with two other families we have met along the way. We will then be up and adam early Friday morning to begin our  long trip home. We will always be especially grateful to the country of China and it's people for giving us our beautiful boy we will always make sure he knows what proud people he is descended from. We are ready to see our girl and finally have Steve and Kate plus two all under the same roof. I will post from home YEAH!!!!!    Kate.