One thing that Vahnya is going to have to learn to love is baseball and softball :) all of his brothers and sisters play,Daddy coaches and is the umpire in chief.
Here are some pictures from opening day. Daddy took Vahnya out on the field with Jordan's the team when announced and the president of the league announced Vahnyas arrival into our family it was pretty neat Vahnya just held onto daddy don't think he knew what to think about all that.
Madison and Makenzy running onto to field with their team wearing matching All-star jackets.
Jordan ready for his 1st game
Amelia ready for her first T-ball game is she cute or what!
Makenzy ready for her first softball game
Madison batting at her first softball game
Vahnya watching his 3rd game for the day
Amelia catching for the first time can't even see her under all that gear.
Vahnya watching Amelias game well sorta lol I love his little mouth when hesmiles like this.
Look at his sweet brown eyes.
Amelia # 9 all of our kids try to get #9 each year ,this year it's only Amelia and Jordan.
Amanda and Amelia they both just got done with a game Amanda plays on the Franklin JV team.
ok so here are my attempts to show off my boy so you can all see how smart he is lol
The first one is the best although he is tired you can see it in his eyes its naptime.
This 2nd one he did more so well but got upset because I didn't give him his balloon back and didn't want to do any more.
This last one he does great but we cant see him do eat or all done because he's doing it off to the side and he wasn't going to do more because he already had a big waffle in his hands lol mean mommy took it away and tried to get him to say it ha-ha that didn't work mean mommy lol.
when you put all three videos together you can see how well he is doing he has learned them so fast
Daddy just took off with the three youngest Jordan, Amelia and Vahnya he asks me this morning is it ok if I go and show Vahnya off to my friends at the hobby shop and pet shop? lol like I need to give him permission lol that was funny. So Mike and the 3 went to the hobby shop and the pet shop making a pit stop (haha ya right probably a long pit stop) at TOYS R US so Jordan can spend his birthday money(his 10th birthday was yesterday) oh and to Costco to pick up a few things.So the older four Josh,Amanda.Madison,Makenzy and I are home. We need to be cleaning because our post placement visit is on Monday I would rather her not see the house like this.But so far nothing has gotten done! as you can tell since I'm sitting here on my computer lol.
oh the only reason we are able to do anything today is because all the baseball/softball games were rained out. Other wise our day would be spent at the field like last Saturday.I have pictures of last Sat I will add later they are still on Mike's camera.
Vahnya is doing better still wakes up with the barking cough but it goes away pretty fast and he is sleeping thru the night just fine.
He has learned so much the last few days he now signs more,eat,all done,drink, he says hi and bye bye puts his arms up and says yeah, he gives high 5 and knuckles.and he blows kisses.He is learning so fast it is fun. I plan to set up the meeting for the evaluation with the early intervention team in the next couple weeks but I want to make sure they have someone there that speaks Russian to come with them I know that he is much smarter then we can see its just we don't understand him yet and he doesn't fully understand everything we say.
he has also gained weight not sure how much but he is getting heavy lol he is a strong little guy for sure a little football player.
Vahnya woke up this morning with a barking cough and I knew he probably had croup. I took him to the Doctor and yep he does.He has medication to take for three days,they said just watch his breathing he should be better in a week.Funny thing is I was feeling bad about having him out at the Girls softball game last night in the wet and cold. well the doctor told me if he acts like he's not breathing well take him outside for a walk, the cold and damp air is the best for him. So guess I don't need to feel bad.
I had just read yesterday in my all about down syndrome book that croup was one of the things that children with down syndrome can get quiet often. I have it too but the doctor told me in adults it is no longer called croup but laryngitis lol.
Today it has been two weeks since he has been home and he is doing great.He has a great bond with each of us that live in his family. He does not give strangers much attention but maybe a smile or a wave of his hand lol. He has settled into his new routine and is sleeping well although has to be rocked or cuddled to sleep first. That's ok it is a nice time where he actually lets me cuddle him. Or his sister Makenzy gets lovie time with him .she is usually the one that wants to lay with him or they watch the doggie movie together while he falls asleep.He loves the dogs, we have two little cockapoos and he loves tossing toys for them . He loves any dogs actually real, on TV or even just a picture we draw for him lol
He is very stubborn and Mike and I have had to hold him on our laps while he screams at us and tries to get down, we just hold him and say no! after a while he gives up and will sit with us as long as we want him to and is happy. It sounds a little mean but he really needs to learn that when we need him to sit with us he will. There are times he needs to like at church and so on we can't have him fighting us on this.He needs to know we are the boss not him lol. This was hard the 1st week because everything was so new. I think we let him slip into some bad habits that we now need to fix.He does not like to share toys so we also have had a few battles there, mostly he just sits down folds himself in 1/2 with his head on his lap and cries when he has to share but he gets over it after a while.
We have noticed if he has a designated spot he knows he has to be in he will stay, but if he knows there is another choice all bets are off and its hard a big fight. For example on Saturday we had opening ceremonies for little league and after we had 4 games. so we were at the field all day, not one time did I put him down to run. He sat in the stroller or in our arms the entire time. If he would have known that getting down to run was an option there is no way he would have stayed in the stroller as well as he did. Also he likes to have food in his hand when we are out like that ok I know I can't just feed him all day lol but what I did was cut up an apple and would give him a slice ever so often and it kept him happy. Yes he is starting to gain his little skinny legs are not skinny anymore lol. He is also getting picky about his food. not doing to great with vegetables now .Still loves all fruit though. and bread we have to watch him on the bread he would just eat it all day.
He likes to put his dishes in the sink when he's all done with his food. Some times he sits in he highchair some times at the little table. He also like to throw trash away I think he will be my best cleaner lol.
He has learned the sign for more and its so cute when he does it.(we need to learn some more signs so we can teach him.he is a fast learner.)
He can understand a lot of what we say, like I can say "sit down" and he will, or "lets change you" and he pulls at his diaper. .He still cries when I change his Diaper and clothes I still don't get that but it has gotten a little better. He hates to have his teeth brushed,but I do it anyways mean mommy!
Usually when I tell him I love him he looks at me and kisses the air at me its so sweet,I still can't get him to say momma he says something like ababo if anyone knows what this means in Russian if anything please tell me. When we went for visits with him our coordinator said it sounded like he was calling me the word for grandma, ok thanks Vahnya do I look that old lol.
He really is a joy we all love him so much even his biggest brother who I was a little worried about in the beginning because he didn't like the idea of us adopting his 16 year old words were"why do we need another kid and why would you want one with down syndrome ?" that was a year ago people told me he's a kid give him time and boy can I see his heart has changed now. I knew it would once he met Vahnya I can see how much he loves him and it make me so so happy.
I JUST LOOK AT VAHNYA SOMETIMES AND THINK WHERE HE WAS, WHERE HE WOULD BE AND WHERE HE IS NOW AND I THINK ABOUT THE OTHER CHILDREN THE FACES ON REECE'S RAINBOW AND MY HEART HURTS FOR THEM. VAHNYA IS NO MORE WORTHY THEN ANY OF THEM THEY ALL DESERVE TO BE LIVING IN A FAMILY FULL OF LOVE LIKE HIM. IT JUST HURTS TO THINK ABOUT IT.
Ok so here he is Vahnya Josiah Nine our cute little man home only two weeks but seems like always!
I just emailed the gal I met last year so she could give me the info to start going to the play group for children with down syndrome . I'm excited to be able to chat with other moms. I have found it hard to figure out the things he does between having down syndrome and the fact that he was in an orphanage and spoke Russian.To tell you the truth I don't even notice he has down syndrome and find myself all the time wondering if others can see it. Not that I don't want them to I do. but it's like I want to announce "he has down syndrome" very proudly. but I bet they can tell I think I just don't see it because I'm his mom.
He has really been a joy the last few days I think he has settled in so good. He hasn't done that head shaking thing since we have been home I guess he has realized that we will sooth him, he doesn't have to do it himself any more. He cries now any time he gets hurt and I think actually over cries I mean today he fell off the bench of the little table in my daycare room and it was really not that big a deal but he cried and cried while I just held him and rubbed his back and said its ok baby its ok.
One thing he does that I wish he didn't is he wont let me hold him he gets up for a few secants then wants down, I wish he would cuddle. Also if the older kids are around especially Makenzy or Josh he wants nothing to do with me or Mike, he will come give us a kiss but that's it. Sorta makes me sad he's so cute I just want to eat him up. I find myself just watching him letting the reality sink in that he really is here he really is ours. I have seen so many changes in him in just this first few days he has been home it amazes me.
Little Constance has a family! my heart is overjoyed to say this. Mike said he can't even read thru their blog with out tears flowing. This means so much to us. This little girl was a treasure in the ocean she may have never been found if we hadn't been able to go into that room on that 1st trip to see vahnya. you can look back at this posts and read about it. http://bringingjosiahhome.blogspot.com/2010/11/2nd-visit.html
This just shows us once again how our loving Lord works, by the adoption of one little boy now a little girl also has found a family. Because the social director was moved to tears in the court room during our adoption of vahnya she had faith that this little girl too could find a family and asked our coordinator to list her, she didn't know that we had already made that happen months ago.
My girls started to advocate for her and others joined in to raise money to find er a family before April when she would be transferred . God has brought that Family we are all so overjoyed with happiness about this thank you Lord!!!
