Perspective

I know that I have been silent for a while on how the boys are doing.  I just needed to get a little perspective.  We are coming up on the 6 month mark for David.  Wow, time flys and to be honest it has not always been fun, but we have had some great times.  

David is a wonderful boy.  He is much calmer than Sam, but they seem to enjoy each others humor, when they are not fighting.  He has a great smile and those dimples just make you fall in love.  However, it is the constant whine that dampens those dimples a bit.  I know, I know...he is learning the language.  But at this point it is actually more than that.  We were told that we would have to wait at least 5 more months before they would call us in for speech therapy.  Well, let me tell ya, that is not going to do.  David wants to speak, he understands AMAZINGLY well.  The problem here is that he cannot say the words.  I work with him the best I know how and he really tries, but we need a professional.  So we are pushing to try to bump up that 5 months.  My real fear here is that he is developing patterns of whining that will continue even when he can say words.  We do use a lot of sign language with him, but if we don't push him to use it, he will fall back to whining.  As much as a mom loves her children the constant whine really gets to a girl.  

David is also INCREDIBLY stubborn.  I know many of you other adoptive parents and some non-adoptive parents (my mom for example), are saying ''we understand'' (actually my mom is laughing at me right now, saying ''I told you that your stubbornness would come back to bite you!'')  The stubbornness served him well in Ch*na, but it is not serving him so well here.  I have been pretty good and kept my patience about me, but I have to admit that today I lost it a bit.  There was some yelling, followed by a time out (for both of us), and crying (on both our parts) and apologizing (on both our parts), then some hugs and cuddles.  When it was over, I cringed to think about how angry I allowed myself to get.  In my talk with God I am reminded that I too am stubborn beyond belief, and that I failed, but I still have more time and a God that is constantly patient with me.  So tomorrow I will try again, while trying not to be stubborn myself with my Heavenly Father.  

I am constantly reminded that my boys are an incredible blessing.  Sometimes that reminder comes in the form of other adoptive moms and dads out there...so thank you.

So I would say that for now my perspective is still growing as we continue to grow as a family.  But when I do get a breather and I step back, I am incredibly grateful for the privilege of parenting these boys.  Awesome responsibility in the hands of Andreas and I.  Sometimes I question our abilities, but in the end I cannot question God, because He really does know EXACTLY what He is doing.

Blessings,
Laurie