Hugs & Kisses

It has been just over 2 months now since we first met our sweet son & he joined our family.  Each day is a lesson in patience for us.  He seems to have adjusted to us pretty well now & even seems to like Daddy a little better these days.  I had to go back to work a little over 2 weeks ago & things have not really gone that well.  I knew Trit would be upset when I dropped him off each day at pre-school/daycare, but I didn't anticipate that he would continue to have trouble throughout the day.  He does not do well with new people at all typically & there are just too many new faces all at once.  Then within 2 days of starting pre-school he became sick & missed some days.  He only went back 1 day last week & then had surgery last Friday for his teeth/urological.  We also weaned him off the bottle last week & we knew that if the bottle continued no matter how watered down it was that it would only lead to more issues.  The worst part too is that he still does not sleep through the night.  The worst yet so far was the other night where he woke every 30 minutes or so!  It felt like an episode of the Nanny as he would get out of the bed, we would put him back in, he would cry & then the cycle would start all over again.  I am grieving for him too because I can't imagine what he must be thinking & how difficult this must be for him.  He has been taken away from the only "Mommy" he has known his short life in Thailand, traveled to the other side of the world, & put into a new home with new parents.  Also,the language, landscape, weather & people are all new too.

The one thing that I can say truthfully though is that our family has fallen in love with this playful, sweet little boy and we could never imagine our life without him now.   Tonight, he smiled the most beautiful smile & put his little arms around me to give Mommy a much needed hug then a kiss.  No coaxing required:)  I can only hope with time that each day will continue to get better.

Wake Up Sister

We continue to be busy with settling in and adjusting.  Trit seems to be doing much better.  He still wakes up at least 2-3 times a night, but he is crying out less and less.  The past couple of nights he just seems to get up & try to find us.  Once he is assured that we are nearby then we can typically put him back in his bed & he will go back to sleep.  We are trying so hard to wean him off the night time bottle.  It is mainly water now with a bit of skim milk.  Last week we found out he has 4 cavities in his front teeth all due to still being on the bottle although we were not overly surprised.  He will need to go to Vandy to have the work done in the OR due to his G6PD & his age.  Poor little guy:(  He also will still need a visit to the Hematologist which is coming up soon.  He still is a very healthy & beautiful little boy. 

He is VERY active during the day & does not slow down for much of anything.  He truly is a little adventurer as they told us!  It is fun to watch him explore.  He loves being outside, anything related to water & enjoys music. 

I will have to go back to work in the next couple of weeks & I truly hope he will do well with his new preschool.  He seems to love other children & so I am hoping that he will enjoy school.  Since Tenley is in school all day the only person he has to play with right now is me.  He does seem to really like his big sister & loves to go in to try to wake her up each morning.  I know he is sad when she leaves each day. 

Busy Days, Busy Toddler

We have now been home over a week now & Trit does seem to be adjusting to our family.  Poor little guy though.  I can't imagine how things must appear to him.  We celebrated Easter with each of our families so he has visited so many places & everyone seems to be making a fuss over him.  He probably is thinking why do they keep dragging me to all these houses, why is everyone looking at me & snapping pictures & why do they keep handing me a bucket then telling me to go find hard plastic eggs???  He actually did okay though & seemed to love all the other "kid" family members that he met.
Today, he had his 1st doctor's appointment.  It went pretty well considering he had 5 shots & multiple vials drawn of blood.  We were glad to hear that for the most part he is a healthy little boy.  He still will need to see a specialist for his G6PD & hopefully, that will also better educate us about his condition.  Just praying that all of his blood test are normal & that all else is well with him.

I fall a little more in love with my precious son each day.  This afternoon I was sitting with him & we were just swinging along when he patted me then said "Mama" with a big grin on his face.  He has also been giving out "kisses" to me the past few days.  He is truly precious & I feel so blessed to have him in our lives.  Yes, I have not slept well in weeks & yes, I am constantly chasing after him & yes, there have been some very difficult times - but I really think it has all been worth it!  I know we have some difficult days ahead - we still have to wean him off the bottle, more doctor visits & eventually "Mama" will have to go back to work.  Right now though I am enjoying getting to know my son & trying my very best to take good care of him & hopefully, we will get through all of those stressful days ahead.

Jet Lag & a Toddler

Jet Lag & a Toddler - I think these are 2 things that definitely don't go together.  We have now been home for a few days & it doesn't seem like a normal sleep pattern is anywhere in sight.  Both Tenley & Trit have been getting up at 3 am or so ready to play, but that leaves us all ready to crash in a few hours.  We have gotten out of the house a couple of times.  Trit does seems to do much better with the stroller & car seat than Tenley did which we can only hope will last.
Trit had a rough night last night though.  We have tried him sleeping in his bed the past 2 nights.  Last night did not go so well.  He woke up several times crying or trying to get out of bed.  I even slept with him most of the night just trying to comfort him.  He was back to crying those pitiful cries much like he did on the early days with us in Thailand.  He has done okay this morning & I can only hope today will be a little better.   
It has been a rough past few days.  The jet lag is awful anyway & then on top of trying to acclimate a toddler to a new environment adds up to some pretty cranky adults (& 6 year old sister).

Trit does seem to enjoy exploring his new home & seems to adore Tenley.  I think one of his favorite people so far though is my nephew Grant.  Grant is 4 & Trit will follow him around & give him big hugs.  Trit is not so found of our dog Griffin.  Poor Griffin is so sweet though & I think he just wants Trit to like him so he will follow him around.  Trit tried hiding from him, but I think Griffin figured it out;) (see pictures attached)

Home Sweet Home

We are finally home after our long & very exhausting travel schedule.  Trit & Tenley did amazingly well.  They slept some & when Trit was awake let's just say he explored every aisle way of the plane quite nicely:)   I only slept maybe 2-3 hours on all of our flight schedule & I think it was about the same for Daniel too.  We all went to bed around 10 pm last night & Trit was up by 5 am.  He cried out a few times last night & he seemed scared.  He slept with us & we know that for now we will have to give up our rule of "no sleeping with Mommy & Daddy".  Poor little thing - yet another new place for him to try to get used to in the short time he has been with our family so we realize some sacrifice is in order. 
He has played off/on all day when he wasn't napping.  We all fell asleep this afternoon.  Tenley, Trit & I all slept in his bed which was an effort to try to introduce him to his bed.  It was kind of funny &  Daniel might have slept in there too, but it is only a full bed so he napped on the couch.  I am not sure how bed time will be tonight.  Typically, this is when Tenley is getting ready for bed here in the US, but it is actually morning in Thailand.  It will take a while for us to get our schedule back on track & for Trit to adjust.
We are so glad to be home & continue to pray that our precious little boy will adjust well to yet another new environment. 

Safari World - Bangkok

Yesterday, we went to Safari World.  They have an animal park & marine park.  It is mainly  shows which actually Trit & Tenley both seemed to enjoy.  They especially seemed to like the Orang Tuan show & Sea Lion show.  It was really quite expensive though.  Your ticket pays to get you in the park for the shows, but you have to pay for the only 2 "rides" they have at the park.  One is a safari ride in an air conditioned bus, but it was pretty neat as you see a ton of animals.  They have the largest herd of giraffes I have ever seen.  There is also a boat ride much like the Jungle Cruise at Disney which is extra too.  I would give it a "D" though as it cost almost $10/per person to ride & it was so cheesy. 

We had another scare yesterday too as this time poor Elaine fell & Wayne tried to rescue her so he fell too.  We were trying to find seats for a show & they went face forward down the steps.  I know our family will think we have beat them up so don't be surprised if greeting us at the airport!

Trit still continues to adjust nicely to our family.  He slept through most of the night again & wakes up ready to play.  He was so wild & playful yesterday.  This kid goes like mad all day long & again let me say it - HE IS IN TO EVERYTHING!  At least he does take naps though which Tenley never did.  I think we definitely found our Thai version of the Monkey King.  (This was Tenley's nickname in China because she was born in the year of the Monkey & she was in to everything too.  The difference with Trit though is that he is much more of a daredevil than Tenley though.)

Today, we leave to come home.  Our flight does not leave out until almost midnight though.  We are all ready to come home, but I must say that I am still dreading those long flights back to the states.

Floating Market Damnoen Saduak

Today we traveled almost an hour and half outside of Bangkok to a floating market.  It was quite interesting-kind of like a floating flea market.  The prices were ridiculous for many of the same things that you can find in other stores in Bangkok so we did not buy very much, but we all enjoyed the boat ride & the interesting sights.  We also visited a temple along our tour.  It was definitely an unique experience that I think our whole family enjoyed.  The other adoptive families traveled with us & I think they all enjoyed it as well.
Trit had another great day & is quite the charmer.  I know he always looks so serious in most of the pictures, but believe me he is laughing & smiling quite a bit the past couple of days.  He actually posed for a picture today & put on the biggest grin for the camera.  He really enjoyed our boat ride & truly seems to love the water.  Tenley had a great day as well.  She purchased a lovely pink umbrella to shade herself from the sun:)