The First Week For Alex At Home

The next day my parents came to meet him. He was pretty quiet but warmed up to them. My dad was giving all the kids piggy back rides and he ran right up to have one too. That really surprised me. Honestly so much of the last week feels like such a blur. Kind of like after a new baby is born. Trying to get into our routine, figure out what/when he wants to eat and sleep and things like that. He only speaks Creole so that has been a bit of a challenge but I think we are communicating well. He points to what he wants and we show him what we want him to do and he seems to do it.

He and Avery are buddies! It is so cute to watch them play. They are only 2 months apart so at the same place developmentally in a lot of areas. Alex is really, really into Scott! The first few days he was really clingy to Scott- kind of like Avery has been with me for the past 3 years. So we laughed about how now we each had a 3 year old on our hip! Also we took him to the dr. and he looks great. He is 29 pounds so in the 30% for weight. Avery happened to go to the dr. this week too and we found out she is now 27 pounds and in the 3%. That is great news though as 2 months ago she was in the 1%! We did have to have a blood draw with him which was very traumatic. It is so sad because I didn't want to lose the trust we have been building but I think he recovered OK. We are sleeping with him and plan to do that for awhile. The dr. and all the books say to build attachment you need to in some ways do what you would do with a baby. Sleep with them or close to them, snuggle and carry a lot, feed when hungry, etc. He has a queen bed so we think we will move him up to his room within the next week or two but then one of us will sleep with him. Or maybe it would be easier to keep in our room. Who knows..we are just taking it day by day!

Alex has a sweet personality. Joyce told me that he can be a bit stubborn and quite sensitive and we have definitely seen that. If he gets upset he cries really hard, especially if we are not letting him do something. He does tend do get over it quickly though and move on to happier things. He also really struggles when someone leaves. When my parents and Josh and Katie left he was hysterical. When Hailey leaves for school he is hysterical. Probably because when he has said good bye before he never saw the person again. We are praying he will quickly learn to trust that people come back and that we will never leave him. He gets so excited when one of us comes back- it is so cute!

I am also noticing such a difference between boys and girls. Like I can see why they make all the boy toys out of metal or plastic. He drug his Little People fire station up to the top of the stairs. I thought, "How cute-he wants to play with it upstairs." Ummm..no. He threw it down the stairs and then yelled, "Yeah!" He also really likes to keep all of his things in a box or a backpack and carry them around the house.

He is eating OK. Actually for a Hoefer child pretty well. You all know we don't have the best eaters here. In fact I knew he was all Hoefer when I offered him breakfast and he shook his head, walked over and patted the fridge, so I picked him up and he pulled out a gogurt. One of his favorite foods I guess. He also eats a banana everyday. Doesn't quite know what to do with other fruit. Sucks on oranges and then spits out the pulpy part. He is into bread, hot dogs, cereal, and LOVES pancakes.

Nighttime is so cute. We get he and Avery both in their jammies and mix up a protein drink for them. Then we all read stories together. The big girls just love him. In fact he can do no wrong so far. If he is trying to do something like open up powdered drinks and eat the powder or crawl on the table and I redirect him they say,"Be nice to him Mom!" As if I am being mean. They think we should let him do whatever he wants. Wonder how long that will last. :)

OK I know this is random and probably not grammatically correct for those of you who notice such things but at least I have some thoughts journeled now. This week has been so surreal. Scott and I keep saying how this huge weight feels like it has been lifted off of our shoulders. We have - especially me- worried that this process would never end and we'd never have him home. It is such a relief to have this boy here. We could not love him anymore. Truelly we feel like we birthed him. God does something so amazing when He puts families together!!! We are so, so grateful for all the people who have supported us through this process. All the prayers, calls, emails have meant so much. Thank you to all of you for going through this journey with us!!