It’s our last day in Zhengzhou, and we are very ready to get home to Miriam and Elijah and real life. David continues to astound us and show us more of his little personality each day. The first couple of days you would have thought we have a relatively quiet and reserved little boy. But last night after his bath, more of his true nature started to shine through!
He was laughing, mimicking our speech, and roughhousing with Baba. He got a very mischievous gleam in his eye and started testing his boundaries right and left. In particular, he decided to start trying to hit and pinch at us. Not very hard, and not at all in anger, but I think just as a release of pent-up energy and as a way to get a response. We tried to consistently and firmly tell him no while re-directing him. It worked for the most part, but I can tell we will have a ways to go in helping him slowly give up some bad habits in that department.
We found a small kid’s playroom in our hotel with some rocking horses and a ball pit. David entertained himself for over an hour by stacking some buckets we had brought and putting balls in and out of the buckets. He’s such a thorough and focused little guy, with amazing problem solving skills. I was amazed at how advanced his ability was to figure out how to put the buckets together and organize things.
I’d say overall he is developmentally at about where an average 18-20 month old would be even though he’s almost 28 months old. His gross motor skills, physical size, and speech are all at about that level. His fine motor skills are more advanced, as well as his reasoning ability. I haven’t yet observed anything that causes me any long-term concern in terms of his development.
Our guide took Jeff back to the notary office this afternoon to pick up David’s passport and other translated documents. Everything is in order and we have everything we need to fly home tomorrow morning! We are planning to leave the hotel at 7am, and should be back home in time for lunch with our other kiddos!
I finally got some pictures of our little man coming out of his shell. Enjoy!
Happily and intently playing with his buckets!
We call this the "bulldog" look. It's one of his many smiles!
Aloof
Happy!!
Mischievous
Silly
He loves his bath!
love the pictures! he is looking so happy :)
ReplyDeleteabout the potty: have him stand in front of you, looking towards the squatty, or patch of grass, or stand on a stool in front of the real toilet. "point" in the right direction and get little man to lean forward a bit. he'll learn to do it himself (kind of thrusting his hips forward) but in the meantime you can hold him by his shoulders or upper body and encourage him to lean forward a bit.
once he gets the hang of it he'll be much easier than girls!!!! so sweet that he is trying so hard and trusting you to help him with all that!
can't wait to see pics and hear about the family reunion!!!!
I love the naked baby pictures and the many faces of David!
ReplyDeleteAnother potty tip, though you'll have to keep in mind that I've never seen a squatty potty-- yet! You can give him something to aim at by throwing a square of TP on the surface of the water. You can also encourage him to "make bubbles" in the water. Not sure if ya'll are there yet, but having Dad demonstrate is very helpful. I know ya'll are anxious to get home. Praying for you all and your transition to a family of 5.
-Rachel