Pics and some more firsts

Overall, things are going pretty good. J is mostly easy going and compliant. Sometimes he's compliant without really wanting to be, but he still is. At school Friday they informed me that he was a bit mischievous. Like I didn't know that. I'm glad he's comfortable enough to let his personality come out some but I hope they figure out how to control it. He had no homework over the weekend so that makes us all happy.

He had some more firsts again and I got some pics this time. This is at a small discovery center.
Just in case you were wondering, Dexter still stares at the treat door. He knows if he stares long enough, it will open. And J has given him up to 6 treats at a time so Dexter likes J.
This is one of those pics where we tried to crop it down and blow it up. The cropping worked but we haven't gotten it blown up yet.

He LOVES the pool. Even if it's too cold for me he'll still go in. I know his scrawny little Caribbean body freezes but he loves the pool. He was jumping into the ring and making it nearly every time.

My dad showed him how to fill up the noodles with water and blow them at people/things. He showed him how by pointing one end towards J's face and telling him to blow into the other end. J figured that out fast. It takes a lot of air to blow them things.

There he's got it.

We went to the drive-in theater the other night. It was his first movie on the big screen, first icy, and first cotton candy. That's a lot of firsts in one night. T turned the backseat around and the three boys (some friends came too) sat in there. Good times!

It's working out well for both he and I to be on antibiotics at the same time. We take our meds together, one, two, three, go and then we get candy. We're both happy with that. J likes to eat yogurt which is a good thing since we are on antibiotics. He also loves pizza, pepperoni, salami sandwiches, broccoli of all things, eggs, pastas with red sauce and just about any kind of meat. He refers to all meat as chicken. He's not big on cheesy stuff/sauces but he likes cheetos. He turns his nose up at most vegetables but is at least willing to try it if we ask him to. One night he tried what we were eating and then opted for peanut butter sandwich. That's the deal around here. If you don't eat what we're all eating, you have peanut butter and jelly.

We've had 4 or 5 dry nights since we've been home. I thank God for dry nights. Ah, the simple things in life.

A few pics

Well, J's first day of school went really well. He was ready to go again this morning so that's a good thing. He had about an hour or more of homework. I'm not a homework fan. I feel like kids spend all day in school and need time to just be kids. It went fairly well though.

Here is a pic of all of us, including R's bf who is now at boot camp, just minutes after we got home on the 30th.

Here is J his first time on a horse. Getting his feet in the stirrup.

There are a few more pics I'd love to post but I don't know how to get them off my phone. I'll probably have to send them to T or R and let one of them put the pics on the computer. I'll keep trying.

It's Thursday morning...

...and J is at school for the first time here. Wow. He got up way early and was ready to go about 20 minutes before we even needed to leave. He walked right in with his backpack and lunch boxes (yes 2 of them-we had bought one and then he was given another one so sandwich and drink are in one and "snacks" are in the other) and saw the ESL teacher, shook hands with the principle and then they knocked knuckles (whatever that's called) and we walked down to his class. He got settled into his desk and I gave him a hug good bye and he was busy with the ESL teacher when I walked out. We'll have to work on the morning routine and what time to get up and all that but I'm just glad he went willingly. I hope that continues.

A couple of funnies. I asked him if he wanted big ice or small ice in his drink and he said "scrambled". I knew that that means "crushed" ice. We had some steak one night and he said it was bloody because some pink ran out when he cut it. We assured him that it was okay. The next day my mom had us over for barbecued ribs. Later on the girls were telling nanny how good it was and J said, "It was bloody, but it was good." Apparently barbecue sauce looks bloody to him.

So much to learn, for all of us. Keep praying that things go well. Someone warned me this morning that we are in the "honeymoon phase". I was like, it's going to get worse?!?! Oh my.

Welcome home son

J and I just got back from the Dr. We are being treated for strep throat. He probably got it from me. Welcome home son.

I don't feel sick, just a little throat irritation. I haven't felt bad at all the last few times I've had strep. Weird. J feels bad. He had a fever this morning and kept saying that his head hurt or his neck hurt and then if I asked him to point to where it hurts, he pointed to his throat. Poor kid.

We are both on medication now. That should perk us up. He is struggling with diarrhea too so we got the "collection kit" from the doc. Fun times. He's being pretty good about it though. He probably thinks American doctors are really weird.

Hopefully we're on the mend. Those of you who know us in person, sorry. Don't breathe our air.

Hard day

Today was a bit rough. It started out okay with J wanting to go to the store to spend his money that his grandparents gave him. He had $23 to spend and picked so carefully, asking me how much each item cost. I told him how much and we kept adding up how much he was at and how much more he could spend. When he would find something he liked better he would put enough back to match the thing he liked better. His bill came to $22.29 so he did real well.

He got himself a cap gun and roll caps, walkie talkies, 4 wheelers, GI Joe and a couple other things. He blew off so many caps that I asked him what he was going to do when they were gone. He said he'd buy some more and I told him he better get a job. So when A went over to work at Nanny's, J said he wanted a job too. I helped him dial and he said, "This is J. May I have a job too?" His face lit up as she said sure and he went over to work. He was back fairly quickly and I asked what was wrong and he said his neck hurt. He got some water and went back to work. He again came back fairly soon and I could tell something was wrong. He was clingy and whiny and I thought he felt warm. He was running a little fever and it turns out his neck pain was actually a sore throat (or maybe due to all the times he landed on his head on the trampoline). We are visiting the doctor tomorrow instead of school. :(

I got him busy on an online learning to read site and he loved it. I bet he spent close to two hours on it today all together. Things were okay until he discovered that R and I would be going to a staff meeting. Can you say unglued?!? Wow. It was a kicking screaming hissy fit that I unfortunately had to leave his sister to deal with. When we got back J was fine and A was upset. I need to make sure that I clearly state what each day will look like, what will be happening, etc. when we get up each day. Oops. My bad. On his part, he needs to know that fits will not change what I need to do and what is appropriate for showing anger and what isn't. I also need to empower A to handle the few times she will be the caregiver. We are really trying to make sure that T or I am around most of the time. We'll talk about it again tomorrow. It's a huge learning curve. Don't stop praying for us now that J is finally home. Please. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Labor day weekend

Well, I worked yesterday afternoon and all day today and it was nice to do something "normal" for me. Our check book will appreciate it too. T and J had a big day together. J was laughing so hard about something he saw on the Cosby show that he could hardly tell us the story. T said he laughed so hard when he was watching it that he nearly wet his pants. The girls had gone shopping together so that's why it was just T and J.

J has been swimming just about every day. He was afraid to jump in at first. It was so funny because he would run up to the pool and stop. Then he'd run up to the pool and stop. Over and over. I told him to jump off the step so he would know what it would feel like and he jumped off the second step. Then he backed way up and went for it and he came up sputtering and shouting, "That was so fun!" And then he jumped again and again. Nothing can stop him now. Too bad it will be too cold to swim soon. The pool is cold enough now that I won't even get in. It doesn't deter him.

He did well at church yesterday. I went with him to his Sunday school class and close to the end of it he told me I could go. Too funny. Then he sat with his daddy in the sound booth. You should have seen his face light up when he saw all the buttons and switches up there! He loves buttons and switches and I'm having to tell him not to push, turn, pull stuff without asking. He turned the lights off at church from the sound booth before I could stop him. The pastor introduced him from the front and he waved down at everyone from his perch in the sound booth. It was quite cute.

He is not good at interacting with other adults. He does fine with us and is getting better with my parents but if others ask him a question he generally gives a blank stare or a quiet one word answer. He does fine with other kids and is looking forward to going to school.

T went to a walk in clinic on Saturday and was dx'd with an upper respiratory infection. I need to go tomorrow because I've had this cold thing since I've been home and because I have a white spot on my tonsil, except that I haven't had tonsils for over 30 years. I guess it's where my tonsil used to be. Or something. And yeah, my throat feels a little weird. Sorry for those of you who know us in person. I hope I haven't given my "ghost tonsil spots" to anyone. Sleeping has been rough for T and I because about the time I'm falling asleep, he coughs and wakes us both back up. Sigh...

R is doing okay with her bf going off to boot camp. She missed his call on Friday and was upset about that as that was the last contact for a few weeks. She is liking most of her classes this semester and especially her Hebrew class. T is jealous that R is taking Hebrew.

A is liking school. She'd like to get a job but has only applied a couple places so far. Her nanny still pays her quite well but once the lawn mowing is done there won't be as much work to do. J said he would like to work for nanny. If A gets a job I'm sure J can take over most the work. He's a good helper. A hasn't tried out for any plays lately. She has driven herself to school a couple of times and seems to like that. One day she drove herself to school we didn't see her again until 7:30 or so. 12 hours! She had planned most of the stuff she did and kept us posted as to where she was so it was okay.

T's aunt passed away this morning. She suffered with several ailments over the years and rarely complained and she is now fully healed and in the presence of God and reunited with her daughter who went before her. Aunty L, see you on the other side.

Oh, I almost forgot. J just got to see his first hail storm. He wanted to hold some of the "little ice rain" but I couldn't pick any up. Oh well.

P.S. We had dry night number 2 last night. Woo hoo!

School

We went up to see the school this morning and I can't say enough good about it. I hope it stays that way. This is the same school that R went to 3-8 and A went K-8 so we are familiar with it but so many things have changed in the past few years since A was there. The ESL teacher was there to greet us as well as a guidance counselor (who was happy to meet me as she'd been trying to get the abstinence program at this school and another one in the system). The principle is great.

At first J was overwhelmed. He's used to everything to do with school being in about a 2,000 sq. ft. area so just the size of the building was intimidating. We went back to the office and sat down and someone asked him if he was ready to come back on Wed and he shook his head no. Oh boy, I thought. But the guidance counselor had taken a few kids aside the day before and asked them to be his buddies and just explained a little bit about him coming from a different country and that everything was going to be so new to him and those kids came and we kind of left them in a room talking and working on puzzles. He warmed right up to them and then went to PE with them, which he loved. Now he is thankfully ready to come back on Wed.

I have no idea what we'll do about lunches. I'll send him one at first but he's picky about what he eats. Any ideas? I'll probably end up giving him the option of school lunch with plenty of snacks if it's something he doesn't like. I don't know how that will play out.

I'm much relieved that they are not going to just throw him into a classroom and let him get lost in the system. It feels like we have a great group of people as a support system and we'll be meeting regularly to see what's working and what isn't. Thank you, Lord.

Some more firsts

Things are going fairly well overall. Yesterday we had a few "moments" and today J got his drawers in a wad because he didn't get a debit card in the mail like T, R, and I did. It was rather funny. He just has no idea. Even when I told him that A didn't have one he was still devastated that he didn't either.

He rode the horse for the first time today. All I had to take pics with was my cell phone. I sent them to T and he is supposed to get them to the computer and I will post them then. When R first got the horse out he was scared. But later on some boys close to his age came over to play and they all were going to ride the horse. J went first and walked right up to her and climbed on. He was all smiles. Then the younger brother rode and then the older brother changed his mind and didn't ride. J got back on again and then decided he had to go get his cowboy hat and ride again. He loved it.

We went to a small discovery type museum today and he liked playing with all the different things but he didn't stay at any one thing for very long.

The ESL teacher came by the house this afternoon and did a little of the testing to see how much help he's going to need at school. She is awesome with him. She could tell he wasn't getting what she was trying to do and that he was uncomfortable so she just stopped and talked to him. We're going to the school tomorrow and maybe she will finish then. She'll be by his side next week for 3 days straight so that should be good for him.

All in all we had a good day. Oh, and T is at the Titans/Packers pre-game so you know he's having a great day. We grew up in Wis. and live in TN. We are rooting for the Titans.

Firsts

We had a few firsts today. J had his first happy meal. I don't think he was overly impressed though. The burger had mustard on it but that was quickly remedied by dad who took the burger and wiped off the mustard and then traded one of his bottom buns for the top one from J. Problem solved. He ate all of that plus the apples and wanted more. I guess he needs the big kids meals. They didn't even have those when my girls were younger.

It was also his first time to go to Wal-mart. He wanted everything but was fine with being told no. I told him he could get one thing but it couldn't be very expensive and he finally got his choices down to a tent/action figure set or a t-shirt that had binocs, watch, and compass. He went with the t-shirt and accessories.

In the food aisles he touched just about everything and looked at me to see if we could put it in the cart. He was very good and didn't go into any pouting or anything like that. He LOVES apples, grapes, meat, eggs and cheez-its. He wants to try everything but says he doesn't like a lot of things, even things that I know he's had before and liked them fine. I think he's just overwhelmed by the choices.

We also bought some school supplies and so far he is interested in going to school and asks when that is going to happen. We are going Friday so he can see the school and meet the ESL teacher who has been looking forward to his coming. His English is probably good enough not to need ESL services but he will definitely need reading and math help. He reads only a very small amount but he likes being read to so that's good. And he understands and remembers what is read to him.

He observes everything. I think he is a visual learner. If something is going on he is right there in it, taking it all in. He can usually replicate what he saw.

We have a friend coming over this afternoon who has kids in 4th and 5th grades so J should be in one or the other of their classes. I hope things go well and he can learn how to actually play with his toys. It seems like he likes the fact that he possesses toys but doesn't really know how to play with them. He definitely does NOT like to be alone.

That's all I can think of for now. We're taking things one day at a time. Question; has anyone else brought home older children with bedwetting issues? J is 11, almost 12 and wets a fair amount of the time. I told him I was buying him some special magic shorts to wear to bed that will keep his bed dry even if he wets. I'm not sure he's buying that though as he saw me pick them up in the diaper aisle. They should put those in the underwear aisle. Any suggestions?

Homecoming week in review

Well, we've been home for a little over 24 hours now. J slept in his room by himself and did fine. I stayed in there until he fell asleep and just explained where things were and what he could do if he woke up, where to find us and he did great. I thought I heard something this morning but I actually woke him up by accident when I checked on him.

We took him to see where we each work but he was intimidated by all the people who wanted to see him. I'm glad that the bond to us is there already. He is definitely comfortable around us and not so much around strangers.

He likes the cats okay but is still not fond of the dogs. He just tolerates them.

He loves the ice and water dispenser in the fridge door. He is quite fascinated by anything to do with ice, including popsicles and ice cream.

I loaded a bunch of pics and figured the easiest way is to just review the week in chronological order.

I've been to Haiti several times in the last 25 years and this was my first time in a tap tap. That was an experience. I'm glad I did it but I went to the chiropractor already this morning. Of course that can't be blamed on just the tap tap. Anyone who knows Haiti knows what the "roads" are like.

This is the very, very bald spare tire for the tap tap.
Pic of a PAP hill side.
J is really going to miss his buddy, LM. I think they are close to the same age but LM is quite small for his age.

Um, yeah. A self portrait.

Hamming for the camera after putting his sunglasses on the fan.
This is the shirt I made for him to wear home. It says From Haiti to home with love.
Our flight out of PAP went fine without a hitch. We cleared immigration fairly easily too. It just took a little time because there were quite a few people. This is J's first meal in the US. Pizza!!

You know the whole trip couldn't go without a hitch. Our plane was delayed because of weather and when we finally boarded we just sat there for a while. They finally came on and said that there was a leak in the galley sink and it would take 20-30 minutes to fix it. A few minutes later they came on and said that the power to the plane would need to be turned off so we would have to unload the plane to fix it. We all got off, with our carry-on luggage and most people headed towards the only restaurant that was still open. We got some food and sat down to wait. J had been so good all day with all the waiting and he continued to be very good. He layed down and went to sleep.

I was able to wake him up to get on the plane where he promptly went back to sleep. We landed in Atlanta and Mrs. H and her daughter and grandson picked us up. It was about 2 a.m. at this point so we got to Mrs. H's house around 3. J was so good. He looked around for a while, asked some questions, and went to bed. I couldn't find my contact case but after a week in Haiti I was able to "degaje" (figure out how to make do or make it work). Here are my contacts soaking in bottle tops at Mrs. H's.

We drove the rest of the way home on Sunday. We had been trying to get there for church but after the delays and the very late night, it just wasn't going to happen. When J walked in the house and met his sisters he wandered around some and went up to his room. He was all smiles. He told us that he saw something on his bed. It was his Christmas gifts from his aunt and uncle from 2 years ago. He wandered around a little more and asked where his bike was. He knew we had gotten him one for Christmas a couple years ago. The tires were flat on it so they had to pump them up.

He really likes the bike.

He wanted to go swimming even though it was rather cold for that. There was another little guy here and they played really well together. Isn't it amazing how kids can just play like they've known each other forever?

He got cold and we had to pick out pants and long sleeves to wear. He was shaking and said he needed some sleeves for his hands too. I told him I had just the thing so he put the Spiderman hat and gloves on and went back out to play. Too funny.

He likes anything to do with electronics, computers, game systems, etc. and here he is bowling on his sister's wii.

Well, that's pretty much homecoming week in review. He is outside riding his bike right now. If I can manage it, I'm going to take a nap.