Just a couple quick videos to give you a window into the awesomeness of our kiddos...
Brian was vacuuming today [can you say "best husband ever"?] and Judah gave Brian his toes to "suck" up. It was so sweet and side-splitting funny. We caught a few seconds of the game...
This is a typical picture of Addise eating. She LOVES her food and gets quite demanding when she's not fed at warp speed. Ah-kast [auntie] Cassidy made us spaghetti and Addise, well, you'll see...
I've had a lot of requests about what to pack for bringing your kids home. Here's what we packed for the kids - along with some adjustments and lessons learned. This list was in light of bringing home a 2 1/2 year old and 11 month old. Hope it helps!! :)
Kids
□ Travel First Aid Kit
□ Pedialyte – 3-4/day, individually packed
□ Medicine – Neosporin, Benadryl, Ibuprofen, Triaminic
□ Diaper bag – diapers, wipes, changing pad, Tide-To-Go, Band-Aids, hand sanitizer, baby Tylenol, mommy Tylenol, floss, teething gel, butt paste, bibs, formula, change of clothes and socks
□ Burt’s Bees Shampoo + Conditioner and Shea Butter Moisturizing Hair Lotion
□ Diapers + Wipes: Addise: 8-10/day; Judah: 5/day = 75 Diapers
□ Clothes – 1 outfit/day + 2 extras
□ 4 pairs of PJs
□ 1 pair Shoes
□ 4 Bibs
□ 2 Blankets
□ Stroller
□ Ergo
□ 5-6 Toys – stackable, stuffed animal, nothing that rolls
□ 3-4 Books
□ Blank paper – Washable markers and Stickers
□ Communication Photo Album
□ Portable DVD player + 1-2 Baby Einstein DVDs
□ Food
o Cheerios
o Crackers
o Snack foods
o 4-6 jars of baby food – fruit & veggies [Addise didn’t eat any of it!]
o 2 plastic bowls & spoons
o 4 bottles
o Formula: 32 oz/day
Pack for Airplane
We ended up bringing on the plane the diaper bag, roller suitcase with changes of clothes, and 2 backpacks
□ Diaper Bag stuff [see above]
o 8-10 diapers/kid
o Snacks – cheerios, crackers
o Pedialyte
o 2-3 Toys
□ Ergo and Stroller
□ 2-3 changes of clothes for parents and kids [in case of diaper blowouts, vomit, or whatever!]
Final Travel Tip: If you fly Ethiopian airlines, your first flight will be 17 1/2 hours! We learned the VERY hard way that it's a L-O-N-G flight for little ones who've never flown before [much less for adults!!]. We ended up postponing our 2nd flight to LA and spending the night in DC to give everyone a breather, rest, and get out of airplanes with recycled oxygen. It was one of the best parenting decisions we've made to date. I'd HIGHLY recommend taking an extra day to fly to your final destination, especially if it still entails several hours of flight time.
When he's feeling a bit precocious, he wrinkles his nose, borderline grunts, and slowly back ups with his little feet. He has a dozen predominant expressions, but they mostly involved a wrinkled up nose and showing his chicklet front teeth. He giggles from the depth of his bloated belly.
He's an explorer and definitely finds whatever is not child-proofed in our house. When Brian or I leaves the front door, he's quick to poke his head behind the curtains and blinds to see us walk down our stairs and toward the garage.
He's in the 1% in weight and 0.33% in height, but generally really healthy. He's wearing 18-24 month clothes. He's learned to say "momma" - which he was calling both Brian and I for over a week, "daddy" - which he's still learning is Brian, and "bye-bye" - which he learned from his V-tech toolbox thanks to Auntie Melissa and Uncle Brian. We think he's really smart because of how much he observes the world around him with his massive brown eyes. We can tell he's really beginning to understand English too. His frustration communicating is ever-so-slightly less and less every day.
He loves chomping massive bites of banana. Milk is not his friend. He's a trooper of an eater, and has done really well learning new foods and experimenting with non-Ethiopian food. Today, he pooped on the toilet for the first time. It was the highlight of my day. One less diaper to change and we're on the way to potty training!
He's definitely grieving. We're handling 4-8 tantrums of varying intensity every day. Nap time and bed time can be tearful and scary for him. We're learning how to love him through those and help him grieve. He's learning how to be loved through those tantrums.
He's a cuddler and lover. He's just started kissing me, daddy, and his little sister on the lips. Melt my heart! After a tantrum he wants to be held like a baby [very common for adoptive toddlers]. When he wakes up in the morning around 5:00-5:30 [!!!!] he comes into bed with Brian and me. He likes to sleep perpendicular in bed and always has at least 1 appendage on Brian and me. He prefers that one of our appendages is touching him, too.
He loves, loves, loves bath-time, especially splashing momma and daddy. He's not afraid of water in his eyes, in fact it's almost a game. He loves his sister most of the time and tolerates her the other times. He particularly is annoyed with her when she tries to climb all over him and incapacitates him from moving at will.
He's totally a boy. He's into kicking anything on the ground, sister included, throwing balls and blocks, figuring out how things work, and he's already into the Chicago Bears and Fighting Illini.
GENERAL DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on this site are April's alone and do not represent the views of any ministries or organizations in which she is affiliated. (I'm told this is important to say.)
Coaching and training leader to their fullest potential. Author of a youth worker book. Available for speaking to teenagers, youth workers, women, and churches.
