I should have something poetic and lovely to say ... but, I can't seem to muster anything up. But, I would like to re-cap a little of what my boy is doing for my own look back one day.
We are making headway and some strides in lots of areas. For one, my sweet boy has officially figured out how to get his peddles to go on his big boy bike. From 7 or so weeks ago when he'd look at the bike, maybe be helped/hoisted on to the seat and then just sit (because he had noooooo clue how to get the peddles to move) to today, when he could actually make movement down the street, turn while he was riding and would yell "Maya and Canyon" and try to keep up with their games. He still needs a "poosh" to start, but we are seeing some major progress! I also love seeing him JUMP off his bike and run as fast as he can to the curb when a car comes. Nice job, Z.
He also will now go down a slide and has been trying to climb more on the park equipment.
His language is starting to just blossom. Many times we can't make out what it actually is he's saying, but if you listen and give him another try ... we can usually get it. He has a pretty thick (and precious, I will add) little Ethiopian twist to everything he says.
"Zebene ty" and "Mommy - can I - Zebene _______ (Fill in the blank with a finger point or something he may want - ie, candy, cheer - o's, color, side (outside), dink (drink), baf (bath) are frequent things I hear. That and "Momma" ... ALL. DAY. LONG. That prefaces anything he might want - "Momma, can I, Zebene - TB (tv)? This would be his way of asking if he can watch TV. When I give him a "No Tv" ... he immediately turns to "Momma, can I, Zebene musac"?
Food - yeah, we don't have any issues - the boy loves to eat and the finger swag and shrugging of the shoulders at what I am giving him has all but disappeared. Sometimes, he'll get a little picky ... but all in all, eating too little is never a concern. Have you seen his belly lately?? I mean - 2 pounds in 5 weeks is what my boy put on.
Sleep - Ah, this is a beautiful thing. Thank you, Jesus. Every night and before nap is my favorite. He LOVES to rock in the rocking chair and sing. These are the moments that melt away anything that might have been hard. He usually sings right along with me until he gets good and tired. Once I put him in bed, he's pretty good to go down and we don't ever hear a peep out of him until the next morning. Naps are pretty good too ... except for the days I have found him playing with his stuffed animals and books instead of sleeping. While my first gut instinct is to be frustrated that he isn't napping (because it means he's always mean later when he's tired), I am reminded that he is content and happy in his room and this is a great thing! Indeed, we have "Felt safety" in their! Such progress from the little boy who slept on a mattress, next to my bed - and wouldn't let me leave without crying unless he was sound asleep.
Z loves to ride his bike, play outside and read books. He loves to zoom his car really "Fat" (fast) around the kitchen island while I'm cooking. He loves cheerios in the morning while Mommy drinks my coffee - and please, for heavens sake - give him 2 helpings (yeah, and that goes for me too!). He asks all day for Canyon, Dakota and Maliah and I tell him all day that they are at school. I think his favorite moment of the day, next to Daddy's arrival is the moment they get in the car. Maliah is his buddy and for sure, the melt my heart part of this adoption has been the relationship between the two of them. Watching Canyon love, wrestle and dote on Z has been priceless as well. Canyon has never been my "physical touch"kid so to see him give affection freely to him has been such a sweet spot. Dakota is amazingly patient and sweet spirited at all times with him and I have seen such fun hints of her "mothering" side. This too another sweet blessing along the way.
Z loves ketchup, peanut butter and jelly, bread (dabo), fruit - namely - ee-taw-betty's (strawberries) and guacamole (like by the spoon full). He recently added cottage cheese to his likes. He will eat salad, green beans, and broccoli. Ice keem is super yummy ... but please don't try and take a bite. We don't yet like to share. He loves "feesh" for snack (goldfish) and if you give him animal crackers - he likes to tell you what all the animals are - and bite off their legs or heads and giggle. A few days, we have gotten "pop-pickles" - he loves those too!
Speaking of animals, he can name just about every animal in English in his book - and we're not talking just basics, we're talking Macaw, Iguana, Chinchilla, and more. Pretty good. The funniest animal is the "fock" (fox) - but whew - thank goodness we don't see too many of those out in public. When Z arrived home, he was terrified of dogs. He will now pet them - himself! He also has gotten to go twice to see his sister ride horses. He loves that ... and he even pet the horse and gave it a treat by hand the second time.
Two months! It feels like a year ago that we were in Ethiopia. I can't even put into words the past 2 months. Full of hard, full of giggles, full of blessings, full of newness, and full of seeing the world through amazing brown eyes. When I look back at his pictures from then, I can really see how much progress we have made - and how much he has grown. I am beginning to see trust in those big brown eyes and a peace in his smile now that wasn't there then. What a far cry from the little boy who was terrified to get into that van and ride away with us. Zebene - you are the bravest little boy I know!
I know we have a long way to go still ... but as I look back, I can already see how far we have come.
Only you, Jesus! Only you!!!
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| Holding my big bro's hand ... because, well, he's a super cool baseball player AND takes such great care of me |
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| Maliah and Z - and his favorite yellow sunglasses. Look at those little chubby cheeks - that might be one of the pounds he's put on. ;-) |
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| Angel baseball tournament - College Station, Texas. Z got to come for the day - no sleepovers just yet, but we did survive TWO games on Saturday and he did great! |
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| Coloring with my sister - while my big sister rode a horse ... a horse, that I will now pet. Huge progress! |
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