Friday, September 7, 2007

Do They Really Mean "No"?

Juan and I have been spending a little more time together today. Me saying "no" and him ignoring me which leads to me holding him beside me or in my lap until he quits screaming and is ready to apologize. We've done this a few times today, but we hope Juan is beginning to gain a little more respect for Mama. Juan and I just don't see eye to eye on the subjects of things like climbing barbed wire fences and playing in the trash. Papa got to hold Juan a few times today too. He makes up pretty quickly and then is on to something else afterwards tho. We were told to expect this period of testing. If this is as bad as it gets - we got lucky. Maicol has been a really, really good kid. Andres is getting better too. He hasn't thrown a fit about getting in the stroller to leave a park in 2 or 3 days. All in all we think everything is going very well. Patricia says we are very fortunate that they are so well behaved. She has been hosting adoptive families since 1995, so she has seen many families.
Hard to believe another weekend is upon us. This week has gone quickly. Dan has been doing schoolwork with the older two everyday. They are sitting still and working hard - at least for short periods of time. They are learning counting and colors in English. Juan to 5 and Maicol to 10. Andres knows that if you stand on something and someone is standing in front of you and they say 1, 2, 3 when they say 3 you jump and they will catch you (hopefully). I'm going to try and add 4 to that next week.
Hope your weekend is fun. We know ours will be!

Karen


I just love to push the stroller.
You just try getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time!


Acting like the baby
Our new friend Andres who likes to play soccer with the kids. He's saving our legs!
"Now this is what I want you to do."

One of many bamboo stands. This one is at the end of the street where we are staying.




5 comments:

beth baker said...

hey mom,
i sent you an email, but haven't heard anything back. i sent it to danbaker@insightbb.com if that isn't right call me tomorrow or send me an email at guitarchick80@yahoo.com

looks like you guys are havin a blast. hope juan listens better soon!

love you all!

J Bakes said...

Sorry I missed your call last night!

That's good to hear about Maicol, it looks like he's going to be a good older brother and keep the other two in line hopefully. I'm sure in less time than you think that JP will start listening better too.

It's great they found someone else who plays soccer! I'm sure it's not that hard though, south of the border.

I'm going to help a friend move this morning and then I'm going to a friend from my study's birthday party, so I may not be on Skype until late in the evening. Hope you're all healthy now and doing fine!

Love, Jonathan

linda said...

hi, We have a Q&A period this afternoon at church with the prospective minister. Chris Steele went to Lincoln, is married and has two boys 9&7. He is 35. Should be an interesting meeting. Your lives sound like they are very active but fun. I'm glad the boys are so loving. I know the two of you have lots to give them. Have a great weekend. Love Mom and Dad

AnaMaria said...

Hi there,

Our evening is winding down. The little boys are in bed but not asleep of course. It did finally rain this afternoon and I let them stay out and play in it. They got soaked and Christopher's shoes are a mess - but they had a great time and an excuse for a bubble bath.

My next stop needs to be the kitchen or the laundry. I also need to get some newspapers stuffed in the boys shoes to hopefully get them dry for church.

Backing up our words with actions every single time is one of the hardest parts of being a parent. Not to mention that I pretty frequently forget what Matthew's been told to do or not do.

Micah had his first soccer game this morning. I think he had a good time. He was very exicted and jumped around a lot. He also cried a couple of times, but I was not close enough to him to know what about other than he was not physically hurt. Clamming up and crying is one of his typical responses when he's overwhelmed or doesn't want to do what he needs to. It's not very useful, but I haven't figured out yet how to teach him otherwise. I think he will be very excited to play soccer with his cousins.

Pleasant dreams to everyone there.

Mary

Connie said...

Oh, yeah. I'm so glad you're on top of it now. You guys sound like pros! They'll be so much more secure to know you are in control and can keep them safe. Hang in there! We haven't had to hold Daniel for a few weeks or more. :)