The Pretty and the Not So Pretty

I'm back to work (at my part-time job) today, so I finally have a little peace and quiet! I don't return to my other job til the end of next week. I love my boys, but I really, really needed a break from them (and they are probably glad to have a break from me too)!

Since I am home on medical leave I have been busy cleaning closets and cabinets, pulling weeds in the garden and Dan and I have been painting the outside of the house. Nothing like surgery and a forced 4 week leave to get some things done. :) We have also been having school daily. While they aren't crazy about it, it has been good for them. They haven't forgotten what they had learned and it helps to have a regular schedule for the day. Juan is doing well - he has only 5 letters and sounds left to learn. He is able to sound out words. When we started I wasn't too sure how well he was going to do, but he has surprised us. He is also now able to swim well enough to jump off the diving board without a life jacket. Maicol is reading pretty well and catches on to the math easily. He is finally starting to work better by himself. My struggle with him has been that he wants me to sit beside him as he works and watch his every move. No talking to anyone else, no reading the paper, etc. If I can't also help Juan or get something else done too it makes school take way to long and we miss out on doing so many other things. Andrew now knows 2 letters - A & E ("A" is for Andrew - according to him) and the basic colors. He is still mischievous - he can find a pair of scissors, pens, markers, etc. when no one else can and use them in totally inappropriate ways. He talks all the time. Skittles are proving to be a reasonably good incentive for potty training.

It was a very long week last week. Maicol has been struggling and it is of course all directed at me. Many unkind things said about me by him and lots of anger. I finally called Jonathan and begged him to come stay with them because I really needed a little time away with Dan. He was happy to oblige and we all enjoyed the break. He finally looked at me Sunday while playing his video game and said - "So you will love me even if I'm bad?" - and I repeated what we have been saying for a long time (of course we will, but it's much more enjoyable if you're good). Since then he has been better. Did that finally sink in? Even just a little bit? I sure hope so, but I know that we will be revisiting this again and again. Now that he's happier emotionally he's become my shadow again. Following me around all day, won't go anywhere if I don't go, touching me all the time, asking me questions constantly, etc. He wants me all to himself - doesn't even want Dan to play a game with us. He's driving me crazy! And to think back almost a year ago they were so in love with Dan and could have cared less about me. Now I have the opposite problem. :)

That's pretty much the news from the last 2 weeks. Some of it pretty and some of it not so pretty. We are approaching our 1 year anniversary - August 27. Hard to believe a year has gone by. Not sure if/what we'll celebrate - the day we met them, the day we signed the adoption decree, the day we got home. They don't always do well with celebrations, so we're still deciding what to do (if anything).

Thanks for following our journey thus far.

Karen