The Fanning Four

Yesterday Caleb slept in his room, in his crib for the first time ever and he did really great. Minimal crying. He woke up at 3:45 am and joined us in our room, but that's great for a first night. There's no manual for how to do things "right" when it comes to kids (adopted or bio). It's been almost 2 months since we got him, he's adjusting great, getting taller, and needs to get out of the pack and play, and our room. So, I just decided to push a bit and see what happens. And so far it's working. I had already started working with him to fall asleep on his own in our room and to stay in the pack and play all night long. So, really it's been a gradual process. Leaving him with other people is a whole different story. We have been taking turns staying with him in the church nursery each week to get him used to it. He's been comfortable playing in there and leaving me to walk around and play. So, this past Sunday, I decided to leave for about 3 min...

Anybody out there still? I've tried to blog, really I have. But life....well it gets in the way of blogging sometimes. So, I turned 31 and celebrated with a few girlfriends since the hubs was out of town that day. The previous weekend we went out with a friend couple- the wife was having a bday too. Both celbrations were delightful and 31 feels like 30. Wait, I take that back, I am more tired now. But I have 2 children now and a year ago I was just filling out the paperwork. So yeah, I am tired but even more blessed than I was a year ago. So much has happened I don't even know where to start. Caleb is in speech therapy twice a week. They'd like to increase to 3 times a week. Hearing test, take 2 is on Monday. Bethy started gymnastics twice a week- loves it. She's a star in the making! Caleb loves to dance. He's a dancing machine. Oh and he learned how to jump. Bethy had allergy testing today. Allergic to trees, dust mites, cats, dogs, and milk. Oh joy! A...

Bethy brought home an art project today with a Humpy Dumpty theme. I asked her some questions about the story and this is how it went: Me: "What happened to Humpty?" B: "He fell down." Me: "What did he fall off of?" B: "A b$%ch" Me: "A what?" B: "A bi%*h" Me: "Oh, a BRIDGE." B: "Yeah, I already said that. A bi!$h."

It's been a month since we boarded a plane for the long flight home. He's gained a a pound. He's learned to eat solid food. He met his sister and many other family and friends. He walks better. He makes new sounds. He signs a few words. He laughs. He doesn't scream when I hold him. Last night I told him it was time for a bath and he pointed towards the bathroom and reached out for me to pick him up- he understands! He goes up to sister's bed before nap time waiting for his kiss from her. He's a sweet, sweet little guy. There were days in the process when I questioned our decision to go down the adoption road but now. Well now, there's this..... There's also the other side of the coin and I never want to dismiss that part because it's a very real part of adoption. There are times that Caleb just cries. A very sad, sad, deep cry. I hold him and rock him and he cries. I wonder what he's thinking but I think I probably know. So, I just tr...

Tuesday was speech therapy for Caleb and the therapist was happy with how much progress he had made in just a few days. He is signing several words and was interactive with her in playing and imitating sounds. We've been working on it a lot at home and are excited to see him learning so much! Yesterday we spent all morning/early afternoon at the International Adoption Clinic at UAB. The clinic specializes in treating children who are adopted from other countries and they were a huge help when we received Caleb's referral. Yesterday we met with a family therapist, an occupational therapist, and a pediatrician. We also had blood drawn at the lab. There were no big surprises which is good. He seems to be adjusting pretty well and behaving as they expect him to. Here are some things we learned. He is at 12-18 months developmentally. He's gained a pound since we got him one month ago. It doesn't look like he has any syndromes associated with his CL/CP. He is probabl...

3 years ago at 6:20 pm after 15 hours of labor followed by an emergency C-section, this beautiful bundle of joy came into our lives. She was 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 inches long. Today she is 28 pounds and 30 something inches tall. She can walk, run, jump, climb, do gymnastics tricks, speak very long sentences, knows some of her abc's, some of her numbers, all of her colors and many of the shapes. She likes to make up stories as she "reads" to us from her books. She sings to us and even makes up her own songs. She's very neat and we sometimes find her cleaning up her room. She likes to make parties for us. She builds schools, dams, and houses with all of her "stuff". She can ride a tricycle and a scooter. She swims with floaties on and is trying to swim without them. She says God lives in her heart and tickles her. Her favorite foods are fruit, green beans, chicken, fries, and pizza. She loves going to the pet store to look at the animals. She has many im...

I hit a wall Saturday. I was so sick, tired, frustrated, you name it, I felt it. Bethany had been "mad" at me for days. She kept telling me she didn't love me and didn't want to play with me. Caleb cried/screamed when I held him, only wanted to be with Tom. Things had been getting better before I got sick, but being sick put a temporary stop to the progress. I didn't want to get them sick and I was too exhausted to fully engage with them. I felt helpless and just wanted to crawl in bed and hide under the covers. Fortunately, Tom let me do that Saturday morning. He took the kids to his parents house and I crawled into bed and covered myself in the big, fluffy, down comforter. I needed that time to get over my cold and to get over myself. I prayed a lot. I slept a lot. I thought a lot. I knew that even though I was sick, I needed to suck it up and be present with my family. Even though the kids kept telling me they didn't want to be with me, they needed me to be...