Settling In

Don't you hate those bloggers who leave the country with their newly adopted child and then you don't hear from them FOREVER? I was SO not going to be one of those bloggers.

And, yet, here I am. We've been home a week and a half and I haven't said one word on my blog. I will not judge those bloggers again. Getting home and settling into life again is no simple matter.

I wish I had some great homecoming pictures to share with you, but I haven't received any yet. I do have the homecoming video. It's not as full of emotion as I thought it would be. But we kinda surprised the family by coming in early. Only a couple minutes early, but they had forgotten that we had already gone through passport control in D.C.

And then, on the drive home, I knew I would be sick the next day. Sure enough! I woke up with a sinus infection. So my first two days home were perfectly miserable with aches, pains, fever and much sleeping. Luckily, my mom was available to come help with the children while I was in bed and Mike was back to work.

But how are we now? We are doing good. Zeb has settled into the family famously. He got into a easy routine within a day of being home. He has gotten much more relaxed about meals. The first couple of days were rough. Lots of fits, but he quickly learned that fits aren't allowed and we WILL feed him until he's full (a feeling he knows now).

Zeb has bonded with all the kids, but most especially with Ainsley, our 7 year old. He adores her. Lillian, our 4 year old, wants to hold Zeb and cries when she can't. But she has gotten used to the fact that she can't carry him. She can, however, play with him. And they play together during school time. Eli and Zeb have a like/dislike relationship. They are the same age. Eli tries to be nice to Zeb most of the time, but when Zeb wants a toy that is Eli's favorite, well. . . . they are two. Let's just say, Eli has walked away with bite marks a couple of times. And Max. Max is the oldest. He is 12. He is very used to being the oldest of many littles so to him, not too much has changed. He treats Zeb like he has always been his little brother. It is very heartwarming.

Zeb is continuing to pick up signs. He has learned "Daddy" "Mommy" "dog" "cat" "please" and "thank you". He is trying to stay more on his feet lately. He will seek out toys that have wheels so that he can walk behind them. This morning, he grabbed the push cart and walked back and forth across the living room. Again and again and again. He still hasn't learned to chew, but we are hoping to get some therapy for that very soon; along with all the other therapies he needs.

All that to say, we are all doing very well. Zeb makes us smile every day. He is so happy and generally content. We are blessed to have him in our family.

I will try to post some pictures this weekend. I've been too busy enjoying being home to get out the camera. Sorry. In the meantime, here's the homecoming video: