signs of standard two year old behaviour

On about day two of having our son, we went to dinner at the lobby bar.  We all sat down, our son with his snack container of goldfish crackers.  Then it started.  Out of his shell he came.  He was eating the crackers acting goofy.  He was feeding them to us, eating them while saying "yum" and even throwing them.  He was laughing the whole time having a blast.  My wife and I looked at each other and just started smiling.  Now this is how a two year old acts.  He wasn't sitting there quietly waiting for dinner or entertainment.  He was the entertainment.

I think some parents would be embarassed about their kid making a mess in a public place, but we didn't care.  He was finally acting like a 2 year old.  He was becoming comfortable around us.  He still made time to eat a proper meal between all the goofiness.  All is all we were happy and changed our perspective of him being serious all the time as having a goofball side to him.

This continued to spill into breakfast and other times during the day as we rolled into day 5 of living in a hotel. 

picking your fingers is running in the family

If you ask my wife what she hates about me most she would say when I pick my fingers.  Its a nervous habit I think I have always had.  I dont even know when I am doing it.  The last time we were un russia visiting our son he did this one time when he was scared.  Now that we have him he does this often.  whenever he is scared, which was fairly often in the beginning. He would stop what he was doing look at his fingers and start picking.  My wife would just sigh and say 'oh great'.

The first few days you would be playing and all of a sudden you get the look and the finger pick.  This is common.  His whole world changed in a blink in an eye and he is just getting used to things and us as mama and papa.  The more time you spend the more you understand what triggers the fear.  The fear is abadonement my wife tells me.  I am behind in reading my adoption books so I will learn more soon.

For the record, my son didnt get the finger picking from me. He got it all on his own with zero influence from me.   I tell my wife that and as much as it pains her she knows its true.

first 24 hours

He is doing well.  He is definitely scared and unsure of everything.  He needs to be by my wife at all times.  No privacy for her including bathroom visits.

Our son didn't eat much the first day.  Just a couple snacks and lots of goldfish crackers.  He is recovering from a cold so congested and sneezing a lot.

We took a flight from his home city to moscow which lasted just shy of 2 hours.  He was good and slept most of the way.

He is an amazing kid with lots of personality.  He shows us glimpses of a smile and then gets all serious.  He crosses his legs when he sits sometimes and folds his hands onto his lap.  He also likes to hang on to chairs when he sits in them.  One thing important we learned is when we put him in the crib is to lie him down.  If we stand him up he will just stand there looking at us.  He wont cry or do anything but watch us.

got our son!!

We picked up our son from the baby home.  We had to first meet with the social worker to get paperwork.  Then we met with the doctor to pick up his medical records, ie immunization records.

Then we went to his room to go see him.  He was awoken early from a nap so a bit tired.  We gave the workers our clothing for him.  We watched and took photos as they dressed him for us.  The one worker told us a story that he was playing with a toy earlier that day.  He picked up the toy to his ear pretending it was a phone.  He was saying hello mama.  The workers didn't think we were coming for a few days yet so they told him mama was coming in a few days.  He must have been surprised to see his mama a few hours later.  It was a cute story.

We took him and of course he cried and looked scared.  We got in the car and drove to our hotel about an hour away.He stared outside of the car window  just looking at everything.   He was probably wondering what the heck is going on.  And our new life begins.

Last trip to Russia

We almost did it.  Tomorrow we leave for Russia and get to finally bring our son home.  His room is ready, the toys are assembled, clothes are washed and even meals are prepared and in the freezer.

Approximately 30 days ago we were in Russia for court.  We became his legal parents, but Russian law dictates we have to wait 30 days to bring him home.  So here we are.  Our flight leaves tomorrow and after a layover and a night in a hotel we will pick him up from his baby home.  We stay overnight in a hotel in his city.  The following day we fly to Moscow and stay with him 4 nights.  We have to be there for two working days for the Canadian consulate to do their part.  I believe their part is issuing him a Visa to fly to Canada.

I hate to use the term surreal, but it really is.  I never thought this day would come and looking back the last 4 months since we first saw him wasn't as slow as I thought.  The first to second trip is long, but trip 2 to trip 3 went by fairly quickly.  I think we needed this time to really absorb that this really happening. 

I'm most excited about spending time with him.  It will be nice to be just our family.  No visitation room with workers always around and other kids as well.  The workers are great, but I think it's a distraction for him.  He's so attached to them he immediately goes to them.  It's what he knows and likes.  It's makes it harder for us to create that bond. 

Our little guy's world is completely going to change.  New people, new language, new bed, new toys.  His world currently is so small and it's going to change.  Based on his personality, I think he will handle this well.  Probably better than expected.  If not, that's okay.  I will allow him to go at his own pace.  I will video and take plenty of photos so I can share this great story of how he first came to Canada.

Current update:  this Friday he's ours!!