1. Although Liam loves his bath, he hates rain!
When raindrops hit Liam's head, he cries like rocks fell on his head. Maybe it's a new sensation for him?
2. Liam is almost off the Asian growth charts!
Liam had his check up with the pediatrician who is traveling with us. Dr. Barbara ______________________. (will fill in when I can remember) She is an awesome lady!
He came in 75th percentile in height and 90th percentile in weight on the Asian charts. His head only came in at 25th percentile which surprised me because his head looks big, but one of the grandmothers traveling with us has a theory on that. Many of the babies laid in one position too long in the orphanages and have flat places on their heads. Liam has quite a flat place on the area between the back and side of his head which would probably explain the small measurement.
Liam must have known he was being checked for developmental appropriateness. She gave him a board book about cars (Kyra got to pick out which one she thought he'd like from Barbara's collection and she chose well!) which Dr. Barbara signed. He sat on my lap looking at the pictures while I said red car, blue car, yellow car. For the first time, Liam repeated every word I said exactly! She was quite impressed.
3. Speaking of developmental skills, Liam's fine motor skills are quite developed. Even the Chinese waitresses are so impressed with how well he handles his spoon to feed himself. He even uses his spoon to wipe dribbles from his chin to his mouth and will hold his other hand under the spoon if it looks like it's going to drip. He can also put on and remove his shoes. He was quite independent at the foster home apparently, so for the sake of attachment, I'm trying to feed him and put his shoes on when he'll let me. He's pretty good about letting me.
4. Liam hugged his sister for the first time ( I think).
Liam has not hugged anyone. When you hold him his arms hang limply. He walked up to Kyra and put his arms around his waist. I quickly praised his saying "Good job! Hug!" Over and over. He loves being praised. (But for all I know he was initially intending to knock her over!)
5. Liam can hold his breath underwater - I think.
The baby pool here comes up to Liam's chest. He loves to walk around in it and will try to run. Twice he has fallen and gone under. With our hearts in our mouth, we've always been right with him and scooped him up quickly. No coughing and sputtering and no tears, so apparently that automatic hold your breath under water reflex is still with him. Scary stuff though! He may not have been scared, but we sure were!
6. Liam is transferring his attachment to me, but it is very insecure (naturally).
Liam initially attached to Craig which is not unusual and Craig was thrilled. Craig wanted him to start attaching to me, so Craig could go back to work. Now , Laim is very distraught if I even go into the bathroom and shut the door. He stands outside crying with his arms up toward the door. If Craig picks him up, he cries and pushes him away. Now I feel bad for Craig, but this is apparently common and you should really only have one person meeting his needs so he can form strong attachment to one person at a time. I think he'll still be daddy's boy gradually because daddy is certainly more fun!
Random Thoughts:
Kyra's patience have worn away. She has now started purposely annoying him by grabbing things she knows he likes to play with and not sharing. Her understanding has mostly disappeared and she now says he's mean (he is very aggressive!) and she doesn't want a little brother. It's really quite exhausting and I wonder if they'll ever love each other! Meanwhile, I'm in for a long summer! I'll be stocking up on chocolate! (for me!)
I fear for Sophie. I'm not sure how Liam will react to Sophie, but expect that it isn't going to be pretty. He has no interest in looking at the photo book I brought of Sophie pictures and just knocks it away. My poor dear Sophie - who would only hurt a chipmunk : ( - never a child-but I don't plan on leaving the 2 of them alone for a long time. Sophie might be tempted to defend herself! I'll be stocking up on special treats for Sophie as well!
I have big hands! I went to get a jade bracelet at the jade market. The Chinese tradition here
is for the mother to wear a jade bracelet on her left arm until her daughter is married and then give it to her on her wedding day. I wanted to try to follow that tradition. With 3 other couples and our guide watching - I began to look for a nice bracelet at a shop our guide, Wensie, took us to. The two Chinese men couldn't find a bracelet to fit over my big hand. The Chinese woman held a plastic bag around my hand while the men tried to squeeze bracelet after bracelet over my hand. We were all cracking up and I can only imagine what the the Chinese were saying about my big horse hands! I finally ended up with a lovely bracelet that I have little choice but to wear indefinitely!
Kyra loves China. Kyra talks about how she likes China. We've only done 2 journal entries because we lost her journal for a while, but both entires talked about how we all love China. But she frequently tells me she is glad she lives in America because she likes American potties better than Chinese potties. (We call them squatty potties - they are basically flushable holes in the floor and you have to bring your own toilet paper!) She refuses to write about her brother yet because he's mean and she wants to wait until he's nice.
Kyra said for the second time the other night that she feels like she's in a story. I love when she says that - it describes the adoption experience well.
The first night that Liam spent with us we slept in a family bed all together. I switched sides to be next to Kyra and Liam reached over the top of her pillow and for the first time reached out his arms and said, "Ma". That's a random thought I will never forget!
