17 months old

Isaac has taken some huge leaps forward this past month. He has really started to become a little independent boy, knowing his likes and dislikes!
Today we went to the occupational therapist for an assessment through the adoption clinic at the Royal Alex hospital. I wasn't sure it would be worth going as I know Isaac is doing well and I really have no worries about how he is doing developmentally, but it was great to see him go through the testing! He did so well, the OT had him do a lot of copy cat games and I had no idea if he would go for it but he did! Every little game she had him do he would copy her and complete it. She was very impressed with were he was at and said he was up to par with where he should be at 18 months. Can you believe it????  Only 6 months ago this little baby was acting like a 6 month old, hardly able to sit up, unable to crawl and definitely not using his legs. I knew he could do all the games but at times he really did surprise me. She brought out a ball and showed him how to kick, to my amazement I watched as he walked up to the ball and not only kicked it but said "kick" as he did it! It's just all really amazing to me.
I had a moment in the car later on, just sat there bawling. It all hit me, God's grace, his protection, his favor. I prayed so hard for this boy before he was even born, I prayed even harder once I saw his face and knew he was waiting for us. I specifically prayed that Jesus would cover the time we were away from him, that he would watch over him. And it dawned on me in that moment that looking at Isaac today, it's like he was never in an orphanage at all. I often think of him when he was a baby just laying in his crib. It breaks my heart what my son had to go through in the most vulnerable year of his life. But today I realize all that Jesus protected him from and how far he has come since being in a family. It really floors me what love and a family can do. It's just a beautiful design. I was looking through some of our first photos of Isaac, when Arnie held him for the first time. He was looking right in his eyes like somehow he already trusted him, yes we had to earn his love, but I feel that God was preparing him for that.
So onto the little update...I'm changing some of the categories as I can't sit and list all his new words because there are a lot and some have stayed the same.

At 17 months you like to play:
-you love to run and climb, you insist that you should walk everywhere we go
-you still love things like little bottles with product in them, your toothbrush, packaging, spoons and lotion
-as far as toys you now like to throw them around and think that is pretty awesome
-you literally want everything we have, we try and let you be a part of what we are doing as we think the best toys are real life hands on things.
-you like things that play music and love to sing and dance

At 17 months you say the silliest things:
-you have so many new words and you are starting to string words together like: "more snack!"
-you say "ah-de-da" which means "give it to me" in Hungarian. You make us laugh with this one! You told the OT to give you the marker she was holding, she had no idea but I knew what you were saying!
-you also like to say "an-ge-da" which means "let it go" in Hungarian. You walked up to Daddy and looked at the pens that were hanging in his work pants pocket, you quicked yelled at him to let them go as we often say this to you when you are grabbing pens!
-your singing is so beautiful, you have been trying more and more to sing. You love the song "If your happy and you know it", you grab my hands and say happy so I will sing the song, everytime I sing the word happy you open your mouth and lip sing the word!
-the Dr said you should know 6-10 words, we told her you knew 11 in Hungarian and about 30 in total, she was amazed at that!
-I find that when you start to love someone, you learn their name. You say the names,  Papa, ungle(uncle), annie (aunty), Bobby, ma (grandma), Annie Yoyo (aunt lois), Booky (brooky), Addie, Oli, Rollie, Audrey, Emmy, Nunu (Nini), Gucky (Dak), and of course you most favorite to say DADA!!!!! (Mama too:))

At 17 months you weigh 20lbs, wear 6-12 month clothes and size 3-4 shoes. You love to wear your puppy slippers and will often wonder the house in a diaper and those slippers.

My favorite moments recently were:
-I rocked you to sleep a couple nights ago after a few minutes you puckered up to give me a kiss then snuggled into me and fell asleep, I was so shocked that you did that, it was so beautiful and kind.
-you have been working in the garage and working out with Daddy, he lets you follow him around and go on his back for push ups or take some tools to "fix" things.

The naughty things you do:
-you decided to be like the dogs and lap out of their water bowl...I just can't convince you it's yucky!
-you like to pull kleenex and wipes from their box as well as unroll toilet paper
-when I try to rinse your diapers in the toilet you like to take the opportunity to dive your hands in the water which is so disgusting and results in a lot of cleaning!
-you still love to squawk for things you want...you will correct yourself with the words, "help" or "please" but we have to remind you a lot ;)

We love you so much, we love laying around playing with you. You are so fun and full of life! You really have lighten up our lives :)

We did a little fall family photoshoot! 17 months old in these pictures and just figuring out walking alone!

Family Age

It's been 6 months since we became a forever family. To say these months have flown by is an understatement...I feel like I blinked and here we are! We are feeling more and more of a bond with everyday that passes. Our love for Isaac keeps growing, I can't explain to you how much we love this boy. You know when you here a good sappy story and your eyes well up? You don't full out cry or form tears that roll but emotions bring your eyes to well up. I get that almost everyday watching Isaac. I hate being the one that is all fairytales and sparkle dust because the reality of adoption is usually not that...but sometimes it is. Sometimes I look at Isaac and he runs to me to pick him up and hug him all silly then he bursts out laughing and in those moments the tears begin to form. Now I will be realistic, he is almost 18 months and with that bring a whole host of other emotions...like how I feel after I explained for the 50th time that he can not throw his food to the dogs, or the embarrassment of the shrieks in public, "no, no, no!" But it's all coming together, this imperfect, messy and beautiful life as a family. We are feeling like one. Isaac has always been ours but I'm at a point now when we go in public that I am almost shocked if someone thinks he isn't mine. I was extremely aware of the fact that Isaac is our son through adoption for the first few months of arriving home, but now I just don't think of it all the time. Occasionally I am very aware like when I attend my mom and baby workout classes, I often feel like an imposer at these, but I am thinking of it less. Maybe the fact that Isaac is my son is finally beginning to sink in, it's been a while since we have referred to ourselves as auntie and uncle!
Lately I have been thinking a lot of our family age. I find myself comparing to others with 18 month olds, they tend to be able to leave them easier, worry less about what they eat or play with, carry them less and not baby them as much...but I remind myself that our family age is only 6 months. In many ways we parent as if we have a 6 month old at home. We have been labelled the overachieving parents, in love of course, but it is true to say that of us. When we go in public you will often see us fussing over Isaac, pulling on his clothes, cleaning him, feeding him, and just generally over concerned with him. While this be hard for some people to understand or look to most people like we are over the top, to us he is 6 months old. I find myself mentally trying to catch up to his age. Like when he started to walk with confidence it was hard, and probably harder than people would understand, after all whose 5 month old walks by themselves?? And while I love watching Isaac grow, it's hard to see him grow out of being a baby. Sometimes I still see glimmers of his babyness and I almost sigh in relief that it is not all gone. When I lay him down to change his diaper he curls his legs up to look like a baby or when I rock him to sleep he will snuggle into me with his bottle or when I snuggle him up in my sling, I see bits of his baby side still lingering and I am in no hurry to see them vanish. While most people have long since rocked their baby to sleep at 18 months, I still do it as if it was the first week having him home. I watch him as his eyes fight to stay open and then finally give in to sleep and close. In these moments he is my 6 month old baby, I sigh and think "oh how sweet". So when people suggest I do away with these parts, carry him less, rock him less and baby him less...I just think they really don't understand that to me Isaac is 6 months new...and not 18 months old.
Don't get me wrong, I love to see Isaac grow and reach new achievements, nobody is prouder than us! But we do struggle with it, we were in no rush for him to walk, we were ok with him crawling for as long as he wanted and this should explain why. I am beginning to shift from baby to toddler in my mind, admitting that he is becoming a big boy, but I will still let the little baby parts of him linger for as long as he needs them to. So bare with us as we now begin to think of what it might look like for someone to watch him while we go on a date or the fact that he still sleeps in our bed or even that we haven't allowed him sugar yet... Trust me we will get there, it just might take us a little longer then usual :)