Settling In

Five days in and Bogdan seems to be adjusting very well to life with lots of chaos siblings. He already has some specific ways he relates to certain people. For example, when he sees seven-year-old Ben, he nods his head really fast and laughs when Ben mimics him. 

Ben, Ellie, and Bogdan at the park.

He bonded first with nine-year-old Tali. She got up at 6:00 a.m. to spend time with him his first morning here. That hour and a half of one-on-one with him has paid big dividends as he still prefers her over the other kids. She delights in mothering him and he delights in letting her.

Tali and her new buddy

Eon was thrilled when he woke up Saturday morning and we were home. He just laid on me for a really long time and I got lots of kisses. He could not have cared less that we brought an extra kid with us, at first. He basically ignored Bogdan most of the day, which was fine because Bo was busy being overwhelmed by all the other siblings. Later in the day, Eon came over and started jabbering to him and pretty soon, they were poking each other and laughing. Sunday morning, Eon saw that Bo was already up and yelled, "Hiiiiii, 'ogdan! Pay," while waving and signing, "play." 

Eon seemed so HUGE and sophisticated to me when we first saw him. He really grasps the subtleties of communication and relationships. He turned four when we were gone and he really seems like a four-year-old. He also seems to be having a word explosion. He is mimicking everything we say and suddenly saying a lot of two-three word combinations. 

Big brother

It is interesting seeing him so quickly adjust to the role of big brother. He has a little sister, but he was only 21 months-old when she was born and, let's face it, she was born bossy, so they are more like twins than an older brother/younger sister set. With Bogdan, he finally has someone he can boss around and he is relishing the power! Their relationship needs a lot of supervision.

They look the same size here, but Eon is about 15lbs heavier and 5" taller.

Little sister, two-year-old KJ, adores him and expects his undivided attention. Unfortunately, she has an itty-bitty little girl voice and Bo doesn't hear very well. She is not used to being ignored (although it's probably really good for her) and is none too pleased with his apathy toward her. For now, it's okay because she just wants to spend much of her days trying to crawl inside my skin. I think she missed me. I went to the store the other day and when I returned she seemed shocked and exclaimed, "Mama! You home?!?" Of course she was surprised...the last time I left home, I was gone for three weeks.

KJ feeling like all is better with the world now that we're home.

Shawn and I are loving the fact that Bogdan will stop playing and come over for a snuggle every once in awhile. He watches me with the other two little ones and seems to have figured out that he just needs to come close to get a tickle or a hug. It warms my heart that he already seems to know that I'm his mama.

Checking out the planes on the way home.

As for our adjustment to being home, we managed to stay awake until 10:00 last night! We may beat jet lag, yet.