A time of thanksgiving

I don't know who's even checking anymore, but I had a moment of calm (nap time) and thought it might be worth giving an update.
Things are going really well, it seems. For people who haven't been a family before, we all seem to be falling into a routine that filled with lots of really nice moments, some very ordinary "family things" and the occasional meltdown (not necessarily Sultan's).
Here are some of his favorite things:
Bath time still rates number one. "Take a baff!" is his favorite activity of all, and one of the newest elements is when Sultan voluntarily ends the bath early by saying, "Bye Bye Water!", followed by calling out "Bobek", the Kazakh word for baby. "Bobek" is a Kyle and Sultan tradition where Kyle swaddles Naked Boy with a giant towel directly from the bath into his arms where they sit together quietly, Sultan in Kyle's lap, snuggled down. It's really, really nice... for all of us. Lately it's devolving a little, though, and becoming a hybrid of Bobek and the previous routine, Naked Running Banshee Boy. Now, Sultan Bobeks with Kyle, then declares, "Mama Bobek", which is great in that I get a turn. However, about 30 seconds later, it's "De-Daddy Bobek" again and the bouncing back & forth begins.




Other favorites are taking walks, raking, playing with his electronic toys, particularly the ones that teach him letters or words, reading (Good Night, Gorilla, Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs!, and Caps For Sale are particular favorites, along with anything about trucks/cars/ambulances), and playing in my car (I know we shouldn't let that happen, but he's insistent and so far it hasn't killed him).


His favorite food is... trying to scrape the very last bit of meat off a bone like a wild dog. It's bizarrely entertaining for us (I have a little bit of a teeth scraping on bone being like fingernails on chalkboard thing myself). He just gnaws and tears and scrapes at the bone until there is absolutely nothing left on it. A completely feral activity. Kyle even suggested putting a bone in his lunch for daycare, just so we could imagine the expression of the teachers! Generally, though, he's a very good eater. He can be bribed into trying any vegetable, he adores most fruits, and loves soups and meat. He's indifferent to basic kids meals like pre-made chicken fingers, mac and cheese, etc., so that's interesting, and basically a good thing. We're lucky with him that way. I strongly suspect it is an orphanage thing.



He's been in daycare full days, full time since last week, and seems to be doing well. He's cried several times at drop off, but is fine within minutes. The last few days I have parked close to my work (which is just around the corner from the daycare), and we've walked to school, and that seems to make the drop off less sad for him. I hope to keep it up when I'm back at work (sometime next week) just so we'll have more time together, and a squidge more exercise (for me particularly).
He tested positive for exposure to TB, though follow-up chest x-rays are clear that he doesn't have it. The protocol for the presence of anti-bodies in the blood stream is to treat him as if he had active TB, and that means antibiotics daily for the next 9 months. We just got started last night. Supposedly the medicine tastes pretty bad, but he doesn't seem to mind it, so we're grateful that, for now, taking the medicine won't be a battle.
He's perfectly square: 34 lbs and 34 inches tall. He's getting rounder, it seems, so we are hoping that at some point he'll shoot up instead of out. He can knock the wind out of you with a running jump into your lap, but would you trade that for anything?

He is funny, funny, funny. He loves to laugh and hams it up all the time. He has this over the top expression of surprise that can unravel you. He's smart and wry and clever and stubborn. This sounds way cornball, but he is a real joy.
There are times when I feel like we've been on this elaborate babysitting experiment and that sometime, someone who really knows what he is doing will drive up, pick him up and we'll wave good bye, and with satisfied expressions look at each other and say, "Wow. That was fun." and then we'll forage for supper, like the old days, and eat it in front of the tv, watching a movie and playing scrabble and reverting easily back to our old way of life. And yet the rewards of this new life far outpace the loss of the old life. When he and I are upstairs at night and we are reading our 5 books, and later, he is lying in bed and we tell each other "I love you.", and I tell him that I am going downstairs, and he whispers "Stay.", I feel as loved and as important and as loving as I've ever felt, and I stay. Really, I have nothing better to do than stay right there..
This is a scary feeling, for me, this vulnerability. In the past, I've found it pretty safe to love just the right amount and supposedly not care just the right amount, so that you can come through any rebuff or unkindness or hurt mostly unscathed. Yet this little boy is defrosting that safe part, making me care so much I'm afraid my armor won't be there if I need it. I think that's the point, right? I feel like I'm joining a part of the human race who has known this love and this fear for a long, long time. Live and learn. I'm doing both in this new territory.







What else? I have newfound respect for the women and men who stay at home with their children, or who keep the home running while the children are occasionally away at child care. How do you do it? The vastly increased amount of laundry and the speed with which the food runs out and the house gets grubby is noticeable, and my baseline for these things was already pretty low! I really am impressed.
Lastly, a note about his language. He is talking up a storm, learning something new every day. Out of nowhere, he'll say "Emma and Cara", "Uncle John", "Thanksgiving", "scarebd" (scared). It;s amazing how fast he's learning, and we suspect that in a month or two, things will really pop and we'll see even more exponential language ability. He calls Kyle "De-Daddy", and our coaching hasn't seemed to iron that one out yet. Oh well. I think it makes Kyle sound like a rap star, which isn't all bad as we move towards the mainstream.
Love to all!



Happy Thanksgiving all!
Susan, Kyle and Sultan