dd is toilet learning today!

[RedOakMomma]

How did my little one get so big?! Dd said this weekend that she wanted to stop using diapers "on Wednesday". I'm not sure she understood what that meant, but we've been doing our big countdown to Wednesday and here it is! So far, so good. One pee on the potty, a whole lotta books and snacks in the bathroom (movies, too ), and one very excited, happy little girl!

Wow, it goes fast. It feels like just yesterday she was in our arms constantly, and now here she is being her little grown up self.

Anyway, I know this is kind of random, but I always feel like my parenting experiences with dd fit more in with this forum, and all of you lovelies , than anyone else.

Any other updates on the kiddos in this forum?

[Sierra]

My dd turned 4 this month. So hard to believe. She has also learned to read! She's been reading now for at least half a year, and is now at a beginner first grade level I am approximating. I am so happy for her because it really opens up doors for her in terms of exploring the world. She also has been taking ice skating through the state and got placed with the "upper skill level" of her age group. She's so brave and willing to try. She's doing really well. She continues to be really VERY active. She needs us to focus more on special time with her in order to reinforce the attachments we've made with one another (we frequently slip out of good habits), so I plan to begin making some more efforts on that end. I feel really guilty about that end of things, but overall, dd seems happy and healthy.

ds is turning 5 next month and just lost his front bottom teeth! First two teeth to go! He got his teeth early and fast, and it looks like he is going to lose them the same way. I can't wrap my head around the fact that I am about to have a kindergartner. I just can't believe that. He is my sweet, sensitive boy. He is planning a "flower party" for his birthday and he has been asking to take ballet. I can't stand the "boys will be boys" line right now that I hear so often when people see boys acting like my dd and try to explain the behavior. My ds is so sensitive and my dd is so active. No stereotypes being filled here. Anyway, he is doing very well also. I have his IEP meeting next Monday, and just in the scheduling I've unfortunately already had to battle the district a bit, so I am not looking forward to the meeting...but...oh well.

On a mama-update note, I have been accepted into a masters program at a couple schools so far (including Yale). Now comes the hard part: decisions and issues of logistical and financial feasibility in going (plus work stuff related to my decisions)...ack!

[pumpkingirl71]

Originally Posted by RedOakMomma

So far, so good. One pee on the potty, a whole lotta books and snacks in the bathroom (movies, too ), and one very excited, happy little girl!

Now that is exciting My little girl is close to finishing her first year of kindergarten. She is still making slow progress with toileting. It is hard to be patient, but it is also hard to believe she was 100% in diapers a year ago at this time. She loves writing and drawing and painting.

Therapy is also slow going, but we feel blessed to have the resources we have.

[Polliwog]

Terrific thread. Yay for toilet learning and getting approved to masters programs (see, the majority of kids don't go to college in diapers. LOL.)

Polliwog turned three last month and is an incredibly independent little girl. In the last ten days she has: gone upstairs, went potty, filled the tub with water, and happily started playing (eeek); gone in the kitchen and made peanut butter and honey tortilla wraps for herself and her brother; and has started to go to bed independently (grabs her blanket and paci, goes upstairs, closes the door, gets in bed and goes to sleep.) I think she's on the fast track to emancipation. She won't need me for much longer. I'm so not ready for this. Her adoption is in the works. Our beloved adoption social worker just left and the supervisor will be handling the adoption. It's not a big hurry though. She's not going anywhere.

DS is 5 1/2 and loves to draw. He'd probably draw all day if he he could. He started a drawing class last week and loves it. I'm so happy for him. Which is good because he's having a really hard time in kindergarten. He's got a summer birthday and I knew he'd be behind the other children but it's more than that. He was diagnosed with ADHD and sensory issues a few months ago and was just classified as developmentally delayed. I don't think that the DD classification is really right but since it's getting him the additional services he needs, it's not a bad thing for now. He goes to OT and a psychologist in addition to the services he gets at school. This all hit me like a ton of bricks. He had had some behavioral challenges when he was first taken into care as a toddler but seemed to be a pretty typical kid throughout preschool. So much has changed since then but he's a terrific kid.

[tiffani]

so nice to hear all the updates!!

makes me realize how long I've been hanging around this thread waiting for kids to come to us! In so many ways I'm so glad it has taken this long, but now that we're 100% ready on our end, and we have actual little people sitting there waiting for us, we're MORE than ready!!!!

Polliwog, I suspect that my bio son would receive a dev. delayed label in some of his motor skills. it's so strange to think of your own vibrant, brilliant, beautiful child as dev. delayed, but all kids have their strengths and weaknesses, and the label doesn't mean much when you look at the big picture. My son was totally pencil-phobic until about a year ago, and he draws like crazy now, but they look like the drawings of a 4 year old... except that he is amazing at making the funniest, most accurate facial expressions on his crudely drawn people with only a few little lines. makes sense since he's so (overly!) attuned to people's emotions... I feel like everything about kids that is either hyper or hypo developed is a blessing and a curse...

but back to your updates, I'm loving them!! I can't believe how big all your kiddos are getting!!!

[queencarr]

When did our little ones get big enough to do so much?!?

Kiddos here are all doing pretty well. Jimmy is in jr high (gulp!) and loving it. He is in a math class that seems to truly challenge him, which is good since the silly boy does math problems that he makes up for fun. He is still getting all A's without too much effort. He is busy with scouts and dance, and loving both. Sierra, it made me think of your ds and dance. It is so good for them, and Jimmy loves it. Sometimes people question him being a boy and in dance, which I just find so weird. He has the same couple of close friends that he has had since he was little, and they have just grown up together. He is such an interesting, sensitive kid and it is really enjoyable to watch him explore so much. It has always fascinated me to see how his mind works--he is scary smart and I really don't think he knows it.

Connor is in pre-k in our school system this year. He did pre-k the last couple of years at daycare, but is really enjoying the whole "school concept." He is still the perpetual charmer, and can talk his way out of almost anything (and make you think it was your idea!!). I think he has the whole school wrapped around his little finger Even big kids on the bus (pre-K through 5th ride the same bus) give him candy, toys, and pencils and like to sit with him. He is currently fascinated with letters and soundplay and rhymes. He is just on the cusp of figuring out how to read, but not so overeager that he is not enjoying right where he is in the process. He is the funniest child I have ever met, and has such a free and easy laughter that is contagious. He is also starting to process being adopted in some interesting ways. I think he gets it now, but when we were talking about his sister (who was stillborn before he was born), it came out that he thought she was in Korea with a Foster Mom. Because in his mind, babies get born, go to Korea for a while, and then come home!

Isaac is continuing to settle in better and better each day. I think he is finally starting to believe and internalize that we are his family, and that we are staying. He is getting into the routine of daycare/preschool, and is playing with and interacting with the other kids now. He still cries at drop off a lot, but I think it is a reminder of all the losses he has experienced, rather than fear that we will not come back. Although he still fusses a lot, the happy personality we heard about in Korea is starting to show. He has a great sense of humor, and a baby chuckle still. Potty stuff is not going as well for us as ROM but he has been trying on his own since last summer. The process keeps getting interrupted, and so he is usually dry at school, and dry about half the time here.

I am almost (thankfully!) done with graduate school, I have a few more weeks this semester, clinical stuff and a short class this summer, and then externships next year. I managed to hurt my back in December, and then just as that was better and I was getting around again, broke my foot this semester, so that has added an interesting demension to life! DH is almost done with the classroom portion of his teaching certificate program, so will hopefully be student teaching next Fall. He is in the last week of his semester of regular classes, and then has 2 more to go, and will be done with those in May. Between work and school and children, our lives have been too hectic. Had we known how crazy it would be, we owuld have delayed Rick's teaching program a year. But once we realized, it was too late to do much about it except jump in and try not to drown. Someday, we will sleep again and my house will be clean! But that day is not today (or tomorrow! )

Glad to hear everyone's updates. I am constantly amazed by all of our children. They are pretty incredible!

[mamadebug]

It is so nice to read everyone's positive updates!