our first week home, part one of two

1930We pretty much had non-stop visitors our first week. Yeah, we know what all the books and “experts” say about bonding and attachment and over-stimulating, but we feel that the love and support of our friends and family has only helped the children feel more secure. Plus, it has given us opportunities to more quickly teach who is really in charge. Our entire support system has been phenomenal in directing the children back to Adam and I as the authority figures. No one has tried to take on the nurturer or disciplinary roles. Thank you so much friends and family for helping us on this journey. Also, living life as usual around here has given us the opportunity to teach the children about hugging and touching people that aren’t mom and dad. It is slow, but boundaries are starting to emerge in their minds. I can see them being formed every day.

Our children are thriving, and our support system has helped in the process. I know this is not the way for everyone, but it is the way for us. We’ve been swimming, camping, out to eat, over to friends’ and family’s homes, shopping, to the movies, and hiking this past month. Instead of shaping our lives around these new creatures, we have been able to insert them into our lives–and they love it. They love the activity. They love the love that they feel. They love the opportunities. They love school. And they are so grateful for everything we give them. This is the positive part of the adoption. The kids are truly happy.

One of the first things we did was have Rob and Jaime come over to go through the entire house with the kids, like we did with the apartment in Bogota. This helped tremendously. We had already trained the children to remove their shoes etc… so a lot of what we went over was familiar. But there were also things like the DISHWASHER and CLOTHES DRYER and CRAFT AREA and CHORES that had to be explained. Robert did a fantastic job:

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After the explaining was over the kids played with Rob and Jaime for hours…legos, lincoln logs, bracelet making. You name it, they wanted to play with it. We knew that the first week would be one of discovery in the house. Things have calmed down since, but we really did not mind the mess of the first week. It was joyful!!! And hey, the kids now know how to load the dishwasher. 🙂 That is a bonus in my book.

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You do notice the two princesses bonding above, right?

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We also had to immunize the children the first full day we were in Las Vegas. Oh man, what a welcome they received–six shots total for each child. But it allowed them to register for school the next week. We are actually due for their follow-up Hep shots. I don’t think I will tell them where we are going. Maybe they have forgotten what the building looks like.

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At least the clinic was doing immunizations on that particular Saturday. Otherwise, I would not have had Adam’s help. He held each child down for the shots while I rallied the waiting troops in the other room. The screams should have broken my heart, but instead it cracked me up because each child came out of the screaming ordeal saying that it didn’t hurt that much. So I ask myself, why did I have to endure an hour of blood curdling screams in the waiting area? The anticipation was too much for them I think. And they even got some of the other anxious kids in the room crying prematurely. Adam and I could not stop laughing as we walked out. I am pretty sure we will not be getting any “parents of the year” award any time soon. At least we took them to Red Robin for a post-immunization celebration complete with chocolate milkshakes. Man, these kids have it so good now. All I ever got was a “good job, rach” or maybe a $0.50 cone from McDonalds. 🙂