Bumping Through LIfe in Month 15

This shall be known as "Month of the Bumps."  Though the joy of "bumping" (walking/running/DRIVING/pulling ANYTHING over ANY kind of bump on the group/pavement) would continue for months, it was Month 15 when it became an obsession.  Levi seems to have Brad's sense of direction.  You take him somewhere a time or two, he remembers the route, and specifically if there is a "bump."  His favorite bumps are in front of our local Whole Foods and Petsmart.  He tells me all about them if we even just drive past those stores.  He also adores the bump going into all his grandparents' homes.  Pulling toys over Bob and Bonnie's driveway bump is his first activity (after raiding their pantry), and he immediately memorized all bumps around my parents' Florida home.  (Thank God they also have a bump into the drivel!)  And then there is the one that gets ME exercise: jumping over the bump (a.k.a. the threshold) of our backdoor.  Levi would happily have me jump in and out all day if my arms and legs could hold up.

Month 15 also included a big sleep development which turned out to be the turning point we've waited for these 15 months.  As always, like sleeping on the floor the month before, it was an idea sprung out of desperation.  With Levi's "testing boundaries" attitude that comes with being 2 also came boundary testing at night.  He rarely seemed truly scared or hungry at night as he used to (which were needs that we had to attend to due to his orphanage experience), but he more wanted to see if he could get attention, wiggle into my bed, get up extra early, etc.  SO, one night after a tantrum that began at 11:30 and seemed to have no end, I put a baby gate at his door and went to lie down on the couch just outside his room.  There I could still talk to/be there for him, but he had to stay in his room with only one option: GO TO SLEEP.  After another hour of learning that he is now able to climb over both the short and tall baby gates I stacked the two on top of each other in his door.  Back on the couch I waited until about 3:30 a.m. and then...SUCCESS!!!  He got back in bed and stayed there until 6:30 in the morning.  Yes!

This immediately became our bedtime go-to.  Brad does the normal nightly routine of reading and prayers, which Levi is more than thrilled with ever night.  Then the gates go up, and while we cook dinner in the kitchen or watch TV in the living room we only will say to him, "Momy and Daddy are here, we love you, climb back in your bed and find your teddy bear.  It's time to go to sleep."  After only a couple nights he got the hang of it and barely put up a fight at all.  Sometimes a half-hearted visit to the door and that's about it.  Sometimes there were still early morning or middle of the night wake-ups, but even then I could just ask him to get back in bed and he did.

Now, we couldn't have done this until we did.  When he was first home he needed to know that someone is always here for him and also what having a parent is/who we are.  But they said in our training that we would know when we could remove our presence a bit, and we really did.  The "Terrible 2's" brought a shift in Levi.  More confidence, more boundary testing, hence more boundaries being set.  God bless the Terrible 2's!  And I would highly recommend the baby gate method for anyone who wants something in-between "cry it out" and answering every whimper.  He can see us, hear us, feels loved, his needs are met, but the boundary is clear.  Working like a charm.

Levi's language has really started to come along.  He is growing in confidence while imitating our words.  I realized, when we brought him home may have been at a detrimental time for his language development.  Right at almost 11 months he was probably about ready to try out some first words, and what do we do?  Changed languages on the poor little guy!  He must have felt like his ears had stopped working.  Can you imagine everyone sounding completely different all of the sudden and using different words to describe everything?  Maybe any younger and he wouldn't have been quite as attached to trying Amharic. (For instance, it is interesting that he has always said "Ah" instead of "yes."  "Awo" is yes in Amharic.  Hmmmm.)  And any older he maybe would have understood the process of forming words/imitating a bit more.  He would have at least gone through the process in some language.  Recently though it is becoming difficult to keep up with all his new words!  We've stopped filling in the blanks for him to encourage him to try out his own sounds.  He also is great at picking out and making the sounds for many letters.  We like to joke that he can read better than he can talk.  Ha!

Other firsts and trends:

Understands and says "come back" - very helpful for separation anxiety!, Says Na Na (Nanny or Nana) and Papa, laughs whenever we laugh (even if he doesn't understand why), loves to get "Warm and Cozy" by snuggling in blankets or towels and also to "Snuggle in Tight" against my shoulder - very Mommy attached this month, made it through a whole church service!, asked to pray by folding his hands together, tried to put food literally "in his belly," moved to a twin bed, month of hating the park (sigh), loves his baby laptop, remembered EVERYTHING about Nanny and Papa's in Florida, obsessed with stop signs and bridges when we drive and walk, first time we used a sitter outside of the family at night, scratched me for the first time, can pull his pants up, really wants to hold drinks by himself and is doing well using a cup, likes to know our "plan" for the day.

Even more brave with the ocean on this trip!  I was holding on awfully tight.  

Nanny and Papa showing him how to work the very cool water table they got him.  Still wishing we could have fit that in the truck for the drive home.

More sand digging skills on this trip too.  And we almost always have the beach to ourselves.  Gorgeous.

That's a lot of dog.  Note the little one by Dad on the couch too.  Five dogs for a week and they all got along famously.

Fun at the Jacksonville zoo.  

Checking out the fort and walking along the water in beautiful St. Augustine.

Snuggling with Dada.

Easter!  Had a great dinner with the Todds and a wonderful church service, but this is the only picture we managed to take.  No egg hunts this year, but definitely next time.

Getting good at throwing the ball for the dogs.  Note the bare feet.  I don't think Levi has worn shoes outside since the weather turned warm.  A boy after my own heart.

Still amazed that he snuggles with a teddy bear now and then after having no interest at all for so long.  

Some day he'll fit in Dada's hat!

My brave boy conquering the big slide.

Chair picture, Month 15.  Looking very grown up.

God bless Dada.  He spent 5 hours putting together this fantastic airport train set for Levi, a gift from Nanny and Grandpa.  It was a huge hit (and still is) when he woke up in the morning.

And our favorite warm weather activity, playing with our doggies.  God bless them too for being so patient.

Month 14: Levi's 2!

And so it is here.  We've entered the land of the two year-old boy.  It is a strange and new place, living up to every story one hears.  Of course, we saw signs of two year-old Levi long before the actual birthday, but he has latched on to his new persona and is not looking back.  I have never been more grateful for the wonderful training that was required of us during the adoption process.  Not only did we learn what to expect when bringing home a child with orphanage/transition house experience, but they mixed in some wonderful parenting techniques.  If not for these, I am pretty sure our days would have been highjacked by Levi's desires, tests, and whims.  "Time In" is my very best friend and our constant go-to.  It's incredibly gratifying (and really just a huge relief) to see it work.  (Is there anything better than seeing your toddler voluntarily clean something up after a bit of discipline?)

I've also come to the realization that kids acting out at this age is actually desirable.  How else can you show them what is okay to do?  I will forever be more understanding when I see a child having a "moment" (what I now call a "learning moment") in public (though never understanding if the parent is screaming back or giving in).  Already I can feel how these years lay the foundation for expectations and consistency throughout Levi's entire childhood/young adulthood.

However, I must admit, even these testing moments are a true joy as they tell us he is right on track developmentally.  I am constantly amazed at his resilience.  His two year appointment was much more uneventful than his 18 month (after which we were referred to First Steps, as well as an eye and ear specialist.  Whew!)  Our fantastic pediatrician (who has the wonderful perspective of being Nigerian) could not have been more thrilled with his progress, weight, height, and overall health.  What a relief.

Levi's speech still isn't very clear, but he continues to add words.  Some highlights include names for the dogs!  Cal has become "Ga Ga", Gracie is "Good Girl" (guess we call her that a lot!), and Luke is "Gu".  He just adores talking about them, asking for them, and calling them by name in his sing-song voice.  When I made a list of all his vocab for his doctor's appointment I had to laugh at the words he has chosen to say.  The list is comprised of almost soley his favorite things or funny words to say.  Very rarely anything useful, like, say, "milk, juice, tired, hungry...."  This month he added words like "Bummer" (makes him laugh hysterically) and Bird.  He's also getting very good at recognizing letters and is beginning to pick them out without practice first.  D (for "Dada" and "Dog") is, naturally, his favorite at the moment.  

More fun firsts:

Loves to imitate us doing anything grooming related - comb hair, clean glasses, put on lotion/moisturizer, wash hands or pretend to wash hands; Pretended to wash dishes; Pretended to crack an egg and put it in a bowl in a play kitchen; can almost put his shoes on, and can put his arm in his coat; Peed "near" the potty; Tries to count his fingers; Tried to peak out of his bedroom when he knew not to be out of bed; can climb a couple rungs up our farm fence in the backyard; asked to go to Nana and Grandpa's; Knows where certain landmarks are, like his favorite parks and stores; knows the whole route to Nana and Grandpa's; participates more and more in music class by playing instruments and standing on his own for standup songs.

I promised an interesting sleep update, and boy was there one.  Out of pure desperation one night I just curled up on the floor by his toddler bed, wrapped in just a baby blanket.  It worked like a charm to be right beside him.  I didn't have to get up to comfort him or share a small bed with him, and he stayed in his bed all night.  So, I did it the next five nights (adding a yoga mat) before realizing I had to give in and just put a mattress down there.  Though he still tried to climb in my bed now and then, for the most part we were successful at getting him used to sleeping on his own all night.  (This is NOT to be confused with him actually sleeping all night, which is still not happening, but I'll take it.)  I'll forever be grateful for the bonding that came with sharing a bed with our wiggle monster for all those months and months, but to have my own space again was a revelation.  More progress to come in month's 15 and 16!  (Desperation leads to the best ideas!)

Aunt Jenny made a visit at the start of Month 14!  She had a meeting in town and we were excited to have her stay.  Plus, we got to have a girls' night out on the town with some great food and wine.  

Love seeing Aunt Jen!

After a little flu Levi was an expert at taking his temperature

Pointing to "Dada"

The great yogurt experiment!  Who knew it was so easy!?  And now we have cheap, organic yogurt on hand all the time.  Plus, the strained whey makes fantastic breads - Mmmmmm, bagels!  But the real question: Would it be Levi approved?  Yep!

Our dogs love their veggies.  This is Luke chomping on some bok choy.

As always, a boy and his dog...in Christmas PJ's in March.

Oh, we are in trouble.  At 2 years old almost to the day Levi figured out how to climb the fence in the backyard. 

Weekend trip to Nashville to visit some family...Levi was OUT after the drive at the hotel.

A good southern breakfast, our little carnivore skips over the fantastic biscuits and egg to pick out the country sausage.

The "Cheesy Smile" continues.  This is what you get these days if you ask Levi to "smile."

Trying out the race car at the Children Museum's fantastic Lego exhibit.

I had to laugh after I set out all the spices to make more Ethiopian Berbere spice (the cornerstone of most Ethiopian food).  Just the measuring takes quite a while, not to mention the grinding.  

But, very, very worth it.

The big 2!  So, the day before Levi's birthday I decided that Levi needed a German Shepherd cake.  You know, that is a lot harder than I thought it would be.  But I did learn a lot for next year's cake adventure and found yummy new chocolate cake and buttercream recipes.

When I asked Levi "Where's Luke?" (Luke is the dog that looks like the cake - I hoped), Levi actually pointed to the cake!  Hallelujah.  Really wasn't sure how that would go.

Giving cake Luke a kiss.

Blowing out the candles with Grandpa's help.

This year he ate cake and liked it.  (Last year he smashed it and cried.)

This doesn't look like a special picture, but for the first time he is eating his Ethiopian chicken stew (Doro Wet) off of the Peter Rabbit dishes I grew up using on special occasions.  Aw.

Attending the birthday party of our good friend, Elias Yutzy.  

Levi's first time being a guest at a birthday party!

  Obviously fascinated by bubble time.  And none of the parents could believe that all the kiddos actually sat at the table and ate.  Guess they worked up an appetite!

Play date with the Mott boys!  Always a blast.

Fun with our friend, Kayan!  Kayan and his family are our new friends and are originally from Kenya.  Levi and Kayan are almost exactly the same age and have a great time together.

First golf outing!

Chair picture, Month 14.  Still growing like a weed and quite the handsome little man.

Girls' night with Miriam in Broad Ripple.  A nice meal out ended with us getting a (large) assortment of cookies from Insomnia Cookies, some McDonalds coffee, and eating way too much while sitting in my truck.  Glamourous and, well, yum. 

Laughing over the word of the month: "Bummer"

Trying out a tricycle for the very first time.  Thanks, Nana and Grandpa!  Still need some practice.