Friday Flashback

Today is November 20, a day that is etched in my memory. It was a day of comfort of finally being at home and being a mommy. I felt like my new life could finally begin.

We had along journey from Vladivostok back to Russia and I don't have a lot of pictures to document it. Here are a few, though.

Here we are with the wonderful Irina at the airport in Vlad, before checking in for the first of 3 flights that would take us home.


Here is Henry and Nana peeking out the window before we took off on our first flight.


And here is Henry sleeping on the seat between me and Nana on the longest leg of our journey, the segment between Seoul and San Francisco.

Overall, Henry was a trooper on the flights. For the first segment (about 2 hours long), he fell asleep and they had a little bassinet that hooked to the wall in the bulkhead seat. However, being untrained as I was, I accidentally bumped his head while putting him in there (already asleep). This woke him up and that was the end of him being in the bassinet or sleeping for the rest of that segment.

For some reason, we had very little time between our connection in Seoul. We had to go through Security again, and we were concerned that we would miss our next flight. So we were pretty much running from the time we got off the first airplane until we finally sat down on the next. Henry was starving and I remember him gnawing on his Robeez shoes while he rode along in his stroller.

As soon as we got settled on the flight between Seoul and San Francisco, I asked the flight attendant to fill his bottle with warm water so he could eat. He gobbled that bottle down as if he hadn't eaten for days. I think he ate it so quickly, that a few minutes later, he vomited it all up...all over him and all over me! Fortunately, I was prepared with a few changes of outfits for him...not so much for me. However, I was wearing layers, so I removed my top layer and was in pretty good shape.

He slept off an on during that long flight. I don't remember exactly how long that flight lasted, but it was an overnight flight. However, we passed over the international date line coming home, so we arrived on the same evening that we left...even though the trip exceeded 24 hours.

As we landed in San Francisco and went through customs, Henry officially became a US Citizen. Unfortunately, the US Government doesn't allow cameras/picture-taking in that part of the airport, so I have nothing to share with you. San Francisco is where we parted paths with Nana. After customs, she went one direction for her flight to Chicago, and we went another for our flight to Houston. Henry and I freshened up a bit, ate a bagel and waited for that final leg that would take us HOME.

I don't remember much about that last flight. I don't think Henry slept, but he was quiet and content on my lap playing with the few toys and books that I had packed for him. When we arrived at the airport in Houston, Leslie was there waiting for us. Again, the details are a bit fuzzy, but it seems like it was late on a Saturday night. By this time, Henry was DONE. I buckled him into the car seat, which was a whole new experience for him and he was cranky the whole way home. The only thing that seemed to sooth him was for me to hum the theme to Batman. If I stopped, he started crying. So all of the way home, I hummed "na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BATMAN" over and over and over. Whatever it took.

Based on the recommendation of my pediatrician, and with the help of my wonderful best friend, Leslie, we had an open house the following day. Now, you may ask why it was recommended by my pediatrician. In fact, I had decided that we would "nest" when we arrived home to allow us both to bond to each other and to allow ourselves to begin settling into a routine of becoming a family. I wanted to limit external stimulation and allow Henry and I to merely focus on each other. However, I had a bunch of close friends that were just so excited to meet my new son that I couldn't put them off. So we decided to go with the "big bang approach" and let them all meet immediately. Then, we could settle down and focus on bonding and attaching.

Again, I don't have a lot of pictures from that evening as we were all just enjoying each others' company. And I can't say enough how nice and comforting it was just to be home. Here are a few:

And Henry seemed to instantly bond with Hailey!

That rest of November continued to be a steady stream of firsts, documented below with some of the pictures I have:

Wearing a "hand-me-down" outfit from his cousin, playing with some of his new toys.

Taking his first bath at home...he wasn't a fan of baths when he first arrived home, now I can't get him out of the shower!


His first piano recital!


Hanging out in his high chair while I prepared the next meal.


Attending his first book-study, back when we met in people's homes.


Being sized for his first pair of "good shoes".


Attending his first meeting at the Kingdom Hall.


Playing in his first box...favorite toy. Having a kid around 24/7 was new for Dolly, too. She's not quite sure what to think.


Having his first doctor's appointment with the wonderful Dr. Singhal (adoptive mother herself and featured on Discovery's Adoption Stories)


And all tuckered out after that doctor's visit, that involved drawing several vials of blood for all kinds of testing.

Reviewing these pictures to put together this blog post brought back all kinds of memories and reminded me of things I had totally forgotten about.

What I haven't forgotten is how grateful I feel to get to be Henry's parent! Prospective Adoptive Parents go into the journey called adoption, not knowing what they are going to come out with on the other side. For me, I can honestly say I have no regrets. My journey to Henry is THE best thing I've done in my life. He has become my heart and soul. And as we celebrate 5 years of being HOME, I wouldn't change a thing. That boy is my life!

I am the UPS

On Wednesday, I had an unusually early conference call that I had to take while Henry was still home. I had prepped him for the fact that he needed to stay quiet and occupy himself while I was on this 30 minute call, and left him eating his breakfast.

When he was finished, he followed me upstairs and did a great job of occupying himself. When he was done, he presented me with this note:

Now, this may look like a lot of scribble scrabble to you (as it first did to me). But I asked Henry to read me his note. He knew exactly what it said. Here is a video of him reading the note to me.

And for those that may have difficulty understanding what he says, here is a transcript: "I am UPS and I deliver packages only on the earth. Thank you for the bubble gum. Henry, the UPS."

If you look at the note quite carefully, you can almost see where it does attempt to say exactly what Henry says it does.

After going through all of this, he brought me a sheriff's badge he had dug out of his dress up play stuff. He held it to his chest and declared "There is a new UPS in town, and that's ME!" I'm not sure where he comes up with this stuff, but he totally cracks me up.

He has long held a fascination with UPS and even has a few toy UPS trucks. And this reminded me that it wasn't too long ago that instead of calling it UPS, he liked to call it the PUS.

Wordless Wednesday

Yes, he understands you....

The rest of our weekend was absolutely lovely. On Saturday night, we helped celebrate Leslie's parents' anniversary. This had originally been scheduled to occur the weekend that Ike hit. At long last, we were able to coordinate schedules. A grand time was had by all. Henry had fun playing with his buddy Jack and cooing with baby David. He LOVES shrimp, so I ordered a combo that included grilled shrimp and he was quite the happy camper.

On Sunday, we went to Benihana's for lunch...always a favorite of ours. Henry enjoys it as long as I confirm with the chef that he will not make fire at our table. Of course, he again ordered shrimp. So it was a shrimp kind of weekend for him.

Afterward, we decided to do a spot of shopping since we were right there at the mall. Hmmm, you know how they say you should never go food shopping on an empty stomach. I think it should be added that you should never go clothes shopping for adorable little boys on a content stomach. I went a little crazy. I can't wait to post some pictures of the cute outfits we picked up.

The rest of the day was spent at home. I wish we could say were were lounging, or watching football. But there is currently a TV ban in the house (at least for everyone 5 and under). So instead, Henry spent some time practicing his piano (we started lessons again last week). I like his new teacher, at least so far. The most important feature: he's 2 minutes from home. I also think that Henry will benefit from having a male teacher.

Me, I was working on a "project". Henry did great keeping himself occupied while I work. After piano practice, he played in the backyard with his sand and water table. He's really been enjoying that. He usually will blame his invisible "co-worker" for getting all wet and sandy while playing. Too funny. Afterwards, he got some of his cars and just zoomed them around...never too far from me.

And sweet Leslie ran off to do our grocery shopping. Fortunately, it was a short list for our short week and she wasn't gone long. The most important item she brought home was the fly swatter. Ever since Hurricane Ike, we've had two obnoxious houseflies that we just could NOT get rid of. They're both gone now. Yippeeee!

So, now, to the title of the post. As mentioned earlier, there is a one-week TV ban in process here. Apparently, Henry has made some choices at school to not listen to the instructions he has been given by his teachers. This has resulted in discpline while in school and even gotten to the point that phone calls and notes home have been involved.

I was beginning to wonder if this was strictly a behavioral issue or if there was something more at play. Since I stay involved in the adoption community, I am aware that there are cetain things that are prevalant among "post-institutionalized" children, including sensory issues, high-functioning autism, attachment disorders, etc. I try to be vigilant in looking for signs that he might need help. After all of these issues at school, I thought maybe he was having some auditory processing issues (failure to understand what was being asked of him).

The timing worked out that a speech therapist was doing a screening at Henry's school last Friday. One of the things you could request screening for was auditory processing. I figured it wouldn't hurt to have him checked out since the opportunity to do so pretty much fell in my lap. So I left a note requesting what I wanted checked and granting permission for the therapist to also speak to his teachers. I got the results when I picked him up this evening.

Basically, he is in the 98th percentile for his age group in his auditory processing skills. So yes, he understands (well) what is being asked of him, he's just excercising his free will to choose not to comply. :-) Looks like there may be more TV bans in my future. (On a good note, I got word from two of his teachers today about the awesome day he had!)

And just for your visual enjoyment, I'll include a couple of pictures. The first is Henry while eating dinner last night. He's got the wink down pat.

And this is a picture of Henry's bean plant that he brought home from Zoo Camp (in August). We were excited when it sprouted and grew, and since then, it's just gone gangbusters. If you'll look, you'll see a beanpod (or whatever they're called) that is about the size of my pinky. There are two more blooms that will turn into beanpods, too. I doubt we'll be able to make a meal out of the produce we reap, but it's been a fun little project that Henry has enjoyed. Besdies, we don't even know what kind of beans they are.

Piano Recital

Henry had his very first piano recital today.

Unfortunately, I was out of town this week. His piano teacher announced at his lesson on Monday that there was a recital on Sunday and asked if Henry would participate. Uh, yeah, but a little more notice would have been appreciated...

So Leslie had the task of working with him to prepare him for his recital. Each evening, they would practice like it was the real thing..down to even pretending that others played and they sat quietly and listened and then clapped when the make-believe players were done. And then Henry would go and play his two pieces, complete with having to place his sheet music up on the piano and get himself positioned on the bench.

He chose to play the Theme from Starwars, and the Buggy Wuggy song from Little Einsteins (I can't remember the real name of it now).

So the recital is scheduled to start at 4, we arrive at 10 til, and guess what...no teacher. She trudges in at about 1 minute before 4, and then has to lug several carloads of stuff in, and then set up all of the equipment. Needless to say, we started about 30 minutes late. Ugh! The good news is that Henry was third to play. The bad news is that there were about 25 more kids after him that we had to sit politely and listen to.

When it was Henry's turn, he walked up put his music up and climbed onto the bench. Leslie and I were both about to get up because the bench was way too far away from the piano. But the teacher did run up there and move him closer. He paused and then began playing...Buggy Wuggy first and he played it pretty much flawlessly without looking at his fingers once. After he was done, he looked at the audience and smiled. Then he started in on Star Wars. He got a little distracted while playing and repeated a line, but I'm not sure that anyone noticed other than me. When he was done, he got up, took his music (and put it on top of his head), paused for a moment, and then bowed to the audience, he was just too cute for words. But he had such a look of self-satisfaction on his face. I was so proud of him. He did it! Then he ran down and back to me just giggling at himself. At the end of the program, they all received trophies, and this was another proud moment for Henry.

It was wonderful how supportive all of our friends and family were. Joyce, Grandma and Granddaddy, Aunt Courtney, Uncle John and Jack all came and listened to the entire concert just for the 5 minutes that Henry was on stage.

Afterwards, we went to dinner at Cafe Express. A good time was had by all!

My play piano, too!

Here I am playing the piano with Aunt Leslie. Mama got a book with all my favorite songs in it (like Twinkle, Twinkle and Row, Row, Row Your Boat). Aunt Leslie let me accompany her and we both sang along!

Love,

Master Henry

Hiking in the mountains of Arkansas

Here I am on my first mountain hike. This was one of the 'mountains' in Hot Springs.

Love,

Master Henry

My playdate with Jack

Here are some pictures of my playdate with Jack. We had a lot of fun. He has some really cool toys (hint, hint Mama).