Matthew- 2 months HOME
I know I did not blog much about our adoption on this blog.
I had a seperate blog for the adoption. You can read all about that here...
I am closing that blog to new entries and I am going to continue to blog here. :)
I wanted to do a quick re-cap of Matthew's first 2 months home.
He is doing amazing!!
He is bonded with us, I would say for sure.
He is bonded with his siblings.
I have wanted to elaborate how much I am thankful for him and how I really think this LARGE CRAZY LOUD Chaos of a family has been good for him.
I know he was part of a "groupa" of boys in the orphanage so a sibling group of 6 was not a HUGE adjustment for him, and yet it is. I do not really know how they handled sharing, disputes, caring and playing with those boys who were all wheel chair bound and near the same age. That said-- our group ranging from 1 to 11 is a BIT different.
Matthew has had to learn to be kind, gentle and compassionate with his youngest 2 siblings, often giving up things (toys) at times that he would want. It was not a BIG adjustment for him, and now he does it very well.
Matthew has had 2 older brothers to look up to and wrestle with (and NOT always win).
Matthew has a 5 year old brother whom he most relates to right now and that has been a sweet sweet bond. They do school together, they sleep in the same room, they really do 90% of EVERYTHING together.
I think Matthew did think his American family would be a bit different, maybe he would have more, get more, have more 1 on 1 attention, yet as I sit back and look at him.... a BIG family, a messy family is GOOD for him. I can see that. It brings my heart joy.
At the same token, having a younger brother with a special need has been a bit of change for my oldest 3 sons as well. They are used to younger siblings and being kind and compassionate to them. Having an 8 year old brother is a bit different, they do not baby him (well a certain 10 year old brother has a heart of gold, would ABSOLUTELY "baby" him if I let him!! He means well but we continue to remind him-- "Matthew needs to grow and become strong, back up a bit.".) They have adjusted to mom being gone at first many mornings for therapy, lab visits, dr. visits and more. They are learning to show kindness, but not baby him. As he LOVES to play kick ball, football and other such games but he obviously has a disadvanage (due to the ground being muddy and his wheel chair not working in the yard). They have adjusted-- and they ALL coming in laughing and telling me the score and how much fun they had.
Some of Matthew's other adjustments have been in his overall strength.
I can see him stronger, both physcially as he is walking more, doing stairs and so forth. I can see him stronger emotionally. He did not handle sportsmanship (playing games) well, he does not handle "No" well either. He is making SUPER big strides here. I love when I can see his mouth and face change to that "I'm going to cry or break down" and then change to-- "No I can do this-- I'm not going to cry!" It is amazing to watch!! I watched it just yesterday so vividly. He had to wear his shoes inside (he likes no shoes, he can bend his ankle the WRONG way and walk a bit further, but the therapist and dr. said - NO MORE-- shoes all the time) and when I gave him his shoes He wanted to break down and cry-- but he didn't He thought for a moment and then bared up under it and put them on. Then he had to make his bed-- It is a big bed and in the past Stephen has helped him but Stephen was busy, he again wantd to cry and break down, but he didn't-- he GIRDED up his strength (mental and physcial) and GOT IT DONE WELL!!! It brought me joy-- and I praised him SOOOO much!!!
He now plays games well-- I still like to be present-- as sometimes kids miss turns, don't read the spinner well, or other forms of "cheating" come up-- and that does NOT go well here. He used to break down in EVERY game he lost-- he now can LAUGH and move on-- it is BEAUTIFUL!!! I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!!! He has learned again-- we all lose at some point-- we don't pout/cry/get mad-- we laugh and move on-- as long as we have FUN.
He is a STRONG STRONG boy-- both physcially, emotionally and mentally!!
I love him so much.
He is MY SON... no doubt
He is blended-- it is beautiful!!!
We are blessed!!!
Here are a few more cute videos of Matthew, I'll add more pictures and hope to be more current going forward.
This boy can JAM!! Where he learned this I have NO idea!! It cracks me UP!!
His first time playing in the snow--- they were not allowed to go outside in the snow in the orphange.
I had a seperate blog for the adoption. You can read all about that here...
I am closing that blog to new entries and I am going to continue to blog here. :)
I wanted to do a quick re-cap of Matthew's first 2 months home.
All of our children!! Thanksgiving 2012
He is doing amazing!!
He is bonded with us, I would say for sure.
He is bonded with his siblings.
I have wanted to elaborate how much I am thankful for him and how I really think this LARGE CRAZY LOUD Chaos of a family has been good for him.
I know he was part of a "groupa" of boys in the orphanage so a sibling group of 6 was not a HUGE adjustment for him, and yet it is. I do not really know how they handled sharing, disputes, caring and playing with those boys who were all wheel chair bound and near the same age. That said-- our group ranging from 1 to 11 is a BIT different.
Matthew has had to learn to be kind, gentle and compassionate with his youngest 2 siblings, often giving up things (toys) at times that he would want. It was not a BIG adjustment for him, and now he does it very well.
Matthew has had 2 older brothers to look up to and wrestle with (and NOT always win).
Papa Wrestling with them ALL
Matthew has a 5 year old brother whom he most relates to right now and that has been a sweet sweet bond. They do school together, they sleep in the same room, they really do 90% of EVERYTHING together.
I think Matthew did think his American family would be a bit different, maybe he would have more, get more, have more 1 on 1 attention, yet as I sit back and look at him.... a BIG family, a messy family is GOOD for him. I can see that. It brings my heart joy.
At the same token, having a younger brother with a special need has been a bit of change for my oldest 3 sons as well. They are used to younger siblings and being kind and compassionate to them. Having an 8 year old brother is a bit different, they do not baby him (well a certain 10 year old brother has a heart of gold, would ABSOLUTELY "baby" him if I let him!! He means well but we continue to remind him-- "Matthew needs to grow and become strong, back up a bit.".) They have adjusted to mom being gone at first many mornings for therapy, lab visits, dr. visits and more. They are learning to show kindness, but not baby him. As he LOVES to play kick ball, football and other such games but he obviously has a disadvanage (due to the ground being muddy and his wheel chair not working in the yard). They have adjusted-- and they ALL coming in laughing and telling me the score and how much fun they had.
Some of Matthew's other adjustments have been in his overall strength.
Matthew at Physical Therapy
I can see him stronger, both physcially as he is walking more, doing stairs and so forth. I can see him stronger emotionally. He did not handle sportsmanship (playing games) well, he does not handle "No" well either. He is making SUPER big strides here. I love when I can see his mouth and face change to that "I'm going to cry or break down" and then change to-- "No I can do this-- I'm not going to cry!" It is amazing to watch!! I watched it just yesterday so vividly. He had to wear his shoes inside (he likes no shoes, he can bend his ankle the WRONG way and walk a bit further, but the therapist and dr. said - NO MORE-- shoes all the time) and when I gave him his shoes He wanted to break down and cry-- but he didn't He thought for a moment and then bared up under it and put them on. Then he had to make his bed-- It is a big bed and in the past Stephen has helped him but Stephen was busy, he again wantd to cry and break down, but he didn't-- he GIRDED up his strength (mental and physcial) and GOT IT DONE WELL!!! It brought me joy-- and I praised him SOOOO much!!!
He now plays games well-- I still like to be present-- as sometimes kids miss turns, don't read the spinner well, or other forms of "cheating" come up-- and that does NOT go well here. He used to break down in EVERY game he lost-- he now can LAUGH and move on-- it is BEAUTIFUL!!! I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!!! He has learned again-- we all lose at some point-- we don't pout/cry/get mad-- we laugh and move on-- as long as we have FUN.
Learning to WORK together
He is a STRONG STRONG boy-- both physcially, emotionally and mentally!!
I love him so much.
He is MY SON... no doubt
He is blended-- it is beautiful!!!
We are blessed!!!
Here are a few more cute videos of Matthew, I'll add more pictures and hope to be more current going forward.
This boy can JAM!! Where he learned this I have NO idea!! It cracks me UP!!
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