Wow! It’s been a while since we posted anything. It has been a wonderful, crazy, filled with firsts kinda week.
Elisha got his first haircut from the barber on Friday. After watching Papa get his hair cut, he clung to my neck while Harry (great name for a barber, isn't it?) gave him a cute little boy cut.
We took off for Grammalot’s Friday evening since Tim’s class was cancelled. We had planned to go Sat am. We loaded up the car with our 2 precious little ones- Elisha and Baka, our Pom-Chi-Itsu- more gear than we took with us for a month in 
Elisha did great on the trip. We started out with him consoling Baka- see hand on cage. She didn’t really appreciate the fingers in the holes of her carrier, but the trip was pretty smooth. We got on the road about 8:30pm- so Eli was soon asleep in his car seat. Whew!! Don’t have to worry about motion sickness when he’s asleep :0)
About an hour into the trip, we stopped at Wendy’s- the snacks we brought weren’t quite cutting it. We had all but forgotten about the dog, and Elisha was sleeping the soundless sleep of the young. Until the young woman spoke to us at the drive through. Baka didn’t like that, and suddenly we remembered she was there as she began barking her stranger alert bark.
Elisha woke soon after that and sat quietly and drowsily the next 2 hours, falling asleep less than 5 minutes from Grandma’s house. I also forgot for a moment about Grandma’s dog. Baka didn’t. Before we got her out of the car, and while we were trying to quietly bring Elisha in so he wouldn’t wake up, Baka issued her warning that she thinks she’s a very big dog and can take anyone that comes her way- all 10 or so pounds of her…….
So, around 1 or 2 when we finally all got back to sleep……….
We had a great weekend. It was so wonderful to see Grandma and Aunt Sandy and Aunt Judy and Uncle Mike. Mom and Dad were there for a big all class reunion from high school, so we were able to see them, too. When Dick and Clara stopped over, Baka found her true friend immediately in Dick. We had so much fun!! Breakfast Sunday morning was a hoot!! We were talking about the little "chubby" joke- where you smash your face between your hands and pretend you are "Chubby" in the back of the truck wanting Daddy to go faster. I looked over at Elisha half way through and almost couldn't continue. He had the funniest smirk on his face watching me. We all broke into fits of laughter!! Here he is imitating Papa, sitting with arms crossed while he talked.
Church was fun- their pastor put together "funbags" for the children in church during worship- Mr Potato head- yeah!! After donning the glasses on himself, he was ready to go. It was really hard to leave on Sunday. Looking forward to going back to see the whole family in July!!
Other than fitful sleeping, we all had a great weekend- and an answer to a long awaited prayer. Tim and I had been discussing some of the attachment and bonding books we’d been reading. It is so hard to know if what you are doing is right, especially when there are so few people in our circle of friends that know anything about the first few months of raising an adopted child. The idea of so many areas being as an infant in the toddler’s life is so hard to grasp. For example- while one wouldn’t automatically go up and take an infant from its mother’s arms without asking, it doesn’t seem a problem with a toddler. It’s hard to forget that in many ways he is still an “infant” as far as his totally new surroundings and learning what a mom and dad are and if he is passed around to too many people, it seems no different than in the orphanage- where he had 12 or more caregivers.
Anyways, Elisha was being a typical toddler in a new place who hadn’t slept well. Tim took him back to the bedroom we were in and remembered reading about “holding” your child when s/he started acting crazy. So, instead of scolding Eli, he went back and held him close. Elisha relaxed in his Papa’s arms and…… fell asleep. The idea is to give them a safe place, in the shelter of your arms, facing you, head against your chest so they can hear your heart. As they relax more, they hear your heart beating more. And soon you hear their smooth, deep breathing.
This probably wouldn’t have amounted to much, except the next night, after traveling home, and cleaning up from the motion sickness 5 minutes from home, as we were getting ready for the nightly struggle to sleep, Tim walked towards the door, turned around and suggested we have some cuddle time. I sat on the bed, held my son close to my chest, and within less than 5 minutes, he was asleep in my arms and the sweetest sense of peace stole through my body. I hadn’t realized how stress filled nights had become listening to his crying, then dealing with him only wanting to play when we go into the room. Here was my sweet chance to just sit and hold my son in my arms, praying over him, growing to love him and bond with him even more.
Thank you, God for your answer to prayers!!
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