Six Months Home

This time 6 months ago, I was baring my soul about how I was blindsided by how difficult our homecoming was and about how unprepared I was for the transition from 13 years as "Dual Income No Kids" to "Oh my gosh, what have we done?". It became obvious that many of our blog faithful were only around for the rah rah of the trip and weren't all that compassionate about the real world realities of our journey. If those people are still around, I still don't apologize. No offense, but I didn't start a blog to sugar coat our experiences. The people who are following behind us need to know that it's hard. Not always, but sometimes…and not talking about the tough stuff is the same as lying, in my opinion, and that's just not fair to those preparing…to be parents, to adopt, to adopt internationally, to adopt a toddler, to adopt a toddler with a special need… or all of the above.

So, now that 6 months separates us from those who had so much to say about how ungrateful we were for our new son… how negative I had become…how poorly I was handling the transition… To those people, I say (insert that 'stick your tongue out' noise here). My frustrations were real, but obviously short lived. I haven't had much to say since other than how wonderful our son is and what a dream he has been. For those who have stuck it out with me, I appreciate your undying support, love, friendship, and confidence that I could eventually find a way to get past the hard part and finally realize that the day would come again when I could take a normal shower, let his feet touch the floor, leave his sight for 2 seconds, let the dog loose in the same room, watch TV again, have an adult conversation, drive for a mile without taking my eyes off the road (OK, I still can't do that). Thanks for waiting patiently while I got past all of those things.

It is hard to believe that 6 months has gone by since arriving home. I thought I would celebrate this milestone by giving you a comparison of some facts about Ian at homecoming compared to now to show you exactly how far he has come.

Following are a few reruns from the past 6 months.

Six months ago: Ian wasn't walking. Barely crawling. Kind of cruising. Today: Ian is at a full sprint during all waking hours, but is still working on the stopping part.

Six months ago: Ian had a 2 word vocabulary: Mama & Dada. Today: Ian adds words DAILY and wants everything to have a name. Most people need me to translate, but he is making amazing progress in speech. His favorite words are Buh (Polli), Ah (Car), Bike, Bmp Bmp (Beep Beep) Ball, Bye Bye, Nigh Nigh, and Uh Wuh Whoa (I love you).

Six months ago: Ian had spent less than 2 weeks exploring the outdoors since his abandonment at 3 months of age. Today: It's difficult to get him to stay inside. He loves the backyard, the park, and the playground at school. He picks me flowers every time we go for a walk (dandilions) and loves rocks or anything remotely "ball" shaped.

Six months ago: Ian spent his first scary night in a room by himself...ever in his entire life. Today: He goes down without a barely a peep every night with an enthusiastic "nigh nigh, uh wuh whoa" as we close the door behind us. Smiles greet us every morning. Is this kid for real?

Six months ago: Ian weighed 29 pounds and stood 30 inches tall. Today: He is exactly the same weight, 29 pounds, and stands 34 inches tall.

Six months ago: Ian was just getting used to solid food having been a formula and congee baby. Today: He loves almost any kind of food. He's not that picky and especially loves most every kind of vegetable, fruit, and meat.

Six months ago: Ian was wearing 18 months clothes...but required rolling the pant and shirt cuffs. Today: He's in 24 month pants, most without needing to roll the cuffs, and 24 month or 2T shirts.

Six months ago: Ian had never used a toothbrush before and would meltdown at our attempts to put our fingers in his mouth. Today: He LOVES to brush his teeth and lets us touch his teeth and tongue... and especially loves numbing gel or anything in a medicine dropper.

Six months ago: Ian had about 7 teeth (3 of which came in while we were in China). Today: He has all but the back molars, which we think are starting to come in as you're reading this.

Six months ago: He was scared of the dog. It didn't last long, but I don't blame him. She can be pretty bossy. Today: They are best buddies. If she's not there with me to wake him in the morning, he leans over his crib rails to look out in the hall for her, yelling for "Buh". She lays right outside his door while we put him to bed and goes from lazy dog to watchdog big sister the second his bedroom door shuts.

Other things you might not have known about Ian:

He loves to "put away" and "throw away"

He now loves to be read to. He watches my mouth as I read and tries out words. It's cute to watch his mouth move silently as he watches me talk.

He likes to touch the leaves of the same plants outside his daycare every day when I pick him up. If I forget, he takes my hand and walks me back by them so he can "pet nice".

He occasionally pats our buddha statue's belly and says "dad". In fairness to Shawn, he usually says "Duh", the last syllable in Buddha.

He's a milk addict. Since learning that it could be why he still has low iron levels, we're trying to get him to drink more water or orange juice. But he still looks at the color, hands it back to me and asks for milk (muh). I can't pull one over on this kid.

Ian is a card carrying health club member and loves swimming so far.

He loves to be tossed on the bed. I'm praying he lands right every time... I'm looking into supplemental accident coverage through my work's healthcare provider. Something tells me I'm going to need it someday.

Still one of my favorite pictures from while we were in China

First week home... 2nd time in a car seat. As you can see, it wasn't that big of a deal.

One month home. First experience with Mac N Cheese... Do you think he liked it?

Two months home. So far, it's been a slam dunk!

Still my all time favorite. Three months home.. First day of school!

Four months home. Our dog walker in training.

Five months home. Bubble-mania!

Six months home. Swimming fanatic.