3 Months Home!

Things have been a whirlwind since coming home in early December. The holidays, doctor's appointments, and normal day to day stuff has kept us very busy.

Maks is doing great. He sleeps and naps well and is almost always in a good mood. He did catch a cold, and was pretty sad while he recovered, but he's feeling much better now.

He bonded very quickly to me, because I am the one with him the most. Daddy kind of fell by the wayside, which, if you were following our journey in country, you know that he had more of a connection at first with Kyle. He cries when I leave for errands on the weekends, but that's good bonding time for him and Kyle. The other day, we had a breakthrough, though, and Maks actually cried when Kyle left for work! Maks is doing great with bonding in general. He does not go to strangers easily anymore, which is huge progress.

I took him for a haircut and he actually called out, "mama!!" for me, when the lady picked him up to put him in the seat! I was so proud at that moment, because it was the first time I knew for sure that he was using mama correctly.

He had an ENT appointment and his tonsils and adenoids need to come out. His tonsils are about the size of Texas, but I am afraid of surgery, so we are praying and trying to figure out when to have it done. He also had a dental appointment and had NO cavities!! And, he sat through the whole thing with no complaints. He is a total rockstar.

He is walking better and better each day, but he will probably need to get some sort of orthotics, because he's turning his ankles in. But, he is doing so great, and balancing much better. It's making my life a bit easier, because I can actually have him hold hands with me and walk, instead of hauling out the stroller every time we go somewhere.

One of the cutest things he has started doing is giving actual kisses. Usually when we try to kiss him, he gives us his forehead, but lately he's been making an effort to actually make kissy lips.

He loves tickles, the baby, his sisters (even though they are done 'honeymooning' and are now fighting regularly, like any proper siblings), and his mommy and daddy. He enjoys music, dancing, books, especially books with animals, he loves to make animal sounds. He hasn't really picked up anymore words this month, but his receptive language is AMAZING. He's too stubborn right now to learn many signs.

He has STOPPED throwing toys!

So, did we luck out or what? He has been nothing but a blessing to our family.  A gift from God that I doubt most people could imagine.

We are just your average family. We struggle in many ways, but we knew we could help at least one orphan, and so we did. Reece's Rainbow made that possible, and I will forever be thankful to them. The team we used in country was amazing.

Please pray for Ukraine, and all of the orphans there. That their parents will not allow fear to creep in and will continue to fight for them and adopt them. And please, check out Reece's Rainbow, you never know, your child might be there and you don't even know it yet.