It's been 8 months...

Seriously...can't believe it. It has been 8 months already. Some days have flown by and others have crept slowly. I love to do these posts so I can see how far we have come. It is hard to really notice how much has changed when you are in the thick of it, but stepping back, you get a better picture.

We have really seen some great improvements. Our whole family is doing really well and it continues to be a blessing. I had our follow up call with our agency the other day and was really encouraged. I was able to share some of the breakthroughs that we have had recently and our case worker shared that she thought we were doing many things right and could really take comfort and encouragement for seeing such great results for cocooning and being so intentional.

• I have gone out for an evening or 2 and had Chuck put the boys down by himself. I am working at being able to be gone for a weekend in Feb., so I need to work on allowing Chuck to take more responsibility for the kiddos.

• We can do more than one activity a day. Like the park and church. We still don't take the boys out to shopping much or very stimulating activities.

• Tate seems to be more comfortable around crowds of people. Like our adoption gatherings, or church. He is also starting to eat with others around and not be on such a food strike.

• Tyce continues to show improvement with being around other kids. He still has a hard time playing with others when we are around others. It isn't that he acts naughty, it almost seems like he struggles with social skills. He seeks out individual toys rather than group play.

• Tyce still doesn't like toys much. BUT...he loves to draw and color. He is very creative and creates a picture almost every day that represents our family.

• Tyce is learning to read. We are almost 2/3 of the way done with the 100 lessons book. He is catching on quickly but continues to struggle with some accent issues.

• Tate is doing better with his language. He is finally using more new words every day. He still uses his made up jibber language and haven't seen that stop.

• We've had some really good breakthroughs with Tyce. We have been able to identify some key triggers to pain and hurt for him and are helping him process through those feelings.

• Tate doesn't tantrum much anymore. Instead he finds a spot to sit and be sad, but when he is over it, he comes out and can bounce back quickly.

• Tate is still struggling with "playing nice". He can sure act like a stinker sometimes.
  

• The boys are learning to "check in" when they are out playing. They come over and "check in" with me and show me some good eye contact.

• We have been working really hard with eye contact with mom and boys. Tate's is continuing to lengthen and show good genuine connection. Tyce still has a hard time when he is being corrected to show eye contact.

• We now have a dial with "red, yellow and green" spots to show if Tyce is struggling a little, or shutting down, or ready to listen and obey. He is learning he has some control in the situation.

• Tyce's preschool teacher says he is still doing well and listening and obeying. I notice he doesn't take his eyes off the teacher and watches her intently. Could be a sign of being on high alert.

• We've learned how important it is to identify with the boys pain and watch their behavior to adjust to make things easier for them to succeed.

• Soccer season is over, Tyce did an amazing job (another post) and scored a total of 53 goals in 8 games.

• When the boys offer to pray, Tyce has now moved to including variety in his prayers (rather than just "thank you Jesus...food...family...thank you Jesus, amen". And Tate has started to prayer jibberish and he always wants to sing after we pray.

• Tyce called out for me one night recently because he had a bloody nose. That was his first time to call for me after I had tucked him into bed. It was a GREAT thing.

• Still haven't recieved those birth certificates in the mail...ugh...guess I need to follow up on it.

• I've been hunting for a picture of a mud hut that resembles the home that the boys lived in. I think I found something close. Below is the closest I have come up with.

I will hope to post again soon. Busy busy around here.