We put up the Christmas tree today and I was amazed at how fast London became stressed and over stimulated. Kelly brought in our little people nativity and the pieces of our prelit tree and London was pinging!

As Kelly was putting the tree together I pointed out to him London was getting more and more overstimulated. Kelly stopped and put London on his lap and started talking calm to him. London's whole body was shaking. I did not expect him to get stimulated to this extent. We had prepped the boys about the decorations and tree, but I guess it was not enough.

He became even more uncoordinated, his moves were jerky, and his chatter was rapid and non-stop. By the time bedtime came around Kelly and I were exhausted!

I tried to read the boys a story and they were all pinging and could not focus. I put the book down and started doing deep pressure pushing from elbow to wrist and then ankle to knee. Amazingly enough it worked on all three and they were able to focus on the story. London was able to stop chattering that he had not been able to control all day. Interesting...

Well, I am back to blogging after a very long break. Unfortunately I just didn't have it in me and when the boys go to bed at 7pm I flop on the couch mentally exhausted. Here recently I have gotten my mojo back! If I find the time I might publish some older posts I started and never finished.

I felt back in July the boys had made progress over the past year and then Kristofer started kindergarten on July 29th and London reverted back almost to day one. It was at that point I threw up my hands and said, "Clearly, I am not doing something right and gave up until we could get to The Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio. (abcofohio.net) This center is ran by Dr. Gregory Keck who wrote Adopting the Hurt Child and Parenting the Hurt Child. We go on Monday, November 30th for an evaluation and from there we will set up therapy with Arleta James. I have been following a family's blog who has been seeing her since November of last year and has had great results.

I have decided to blog about this to help other adoptive families as well as keep our family and friends updated. Here our some of our concerns:

London
*Still tantrums every morning Kelly leaves for work. I think there is great fear Kelly will never come back.
*Very oppositional and disagreeable.
*Not as attached to me as he should be. This is typical because all the women he has known in his life (birth mother and orphanage workers) have left his life so he is just waiting for me to walk out of his life too. Not to mention we went to Russia twice to visit and then finally brought him home with us. Essentially we already walked out twice on him.
*Likes to control
*Has great fear of never eating again.
*Gets over stimulated very easily causing tantrums.
*Chatters non-stop and is very repetitive. If he asked for juice he keeps asking over and over until it is in his hand. This makes for a very stressful environment for those around him.
*Can not relax. When I am walking to the living room after he wakes up from nap he puts his head on my shoulder and twists so he can see what is coming.
*Very fearful of anything and everything new. Cries or tantrums over it.
*Is so demanding and controling of attention it is hard to focus on Kristofer and Kolton's needs.

Kristofer
*Gets very stressed when his brother tantrums and we need help bringing his stress down.
*Likes to control
*Back talking a lot.

Kolton
*Has trouble with eye contact.
*Is getting attached, but I don't think he is fully there.

Are we potty training?

It started with London wanting to sit on the potty and then Kolton wanted to as well. They both got stickers for it and then they did it again in the afternoon. Kolton even peed a little. Wooohoo! If we don't have to buy diapers anymore that would be awesome!

So tootin funny!

**Warning: Don't take a drink while reading this. You might spit it out!**

London and Kristofer were sitting on the same side of the table at snack. There was a toot that happened and I thought it was London but it was really loud and juicy and Kristofer claimed it. (I guess it was too good to pass up.) A few minutes later the smell overcame Kristofer and he ran from the table gagging. I told him, "I guess it is a little hard to claim a stinky toot that is not yours." He agreed! I laughed until I cried on that one!

I love raising my boys!

Camping at Spring Mill

We took the boys camping and met up with some friends of ours. It was a good thing since our trip started out so rocky. The map was read wrong and we went a good hour out of our way as well as taking a wrong turn and having to backtrack. By the time we arrived at our camp it was well after dark and at the check-in station they were tracking severe weather on the radar.

Thankfully our friends have a camper and said we could just sleep in there for the night. It ended up storming pretty heavily and the boys slept through it. I was so glad we did not bother setting up our tent that night because the others got flooded.

We really had a great time hanging with our friends.

The boys eating breakfast.

Taking a lunch break.

Kristofer helping set up the tent for the second night.

Kristofer lost his first tooth today!

We were sitting around the table eating lunch and our occupational therapist Heather was there and Kristofer was not eating much and moaning that he was done. I kept prodding him to eat because he needs it. Heather realized what the problem was. The problem tooth needed to come out. Sure enough I gave a tug and out it came and he was able to eat again. The tooth had barely been hanging on.

He was so excited to leave the tooth for the Tooth Fairy.

He was trying so hard to go to sleep fast.

What a relaxing Sunday we had.

The weather was so wonderful we had lunch on the porch.

After naps we put on our swim clothes and played in the pool and sprinkler. I don't have many pictures because the battery on the camera went dead.

I bought London some dairy free ice cream and he got to try it tonight for dessert.
After I gave it to him he kept saying, "Happy. Happy." I am pretty sure this was their first ice cream experience.

Papa being funny.

London was saying, "Mmm." when I took this picture. Now that is pure bliss!

After dinner the boys jumped on the trampoline for a few minutes and then it was off to the bath and bed. Today was a wonderful day!

Huge Milestone For London

Tonight London actually closed the bathtub doors to splash! This is HUGE for him! Normally, if someone even acts like they are going to slide the tub doors closed he panics.

Tonight he was the only one in the tub and wanted to splash. We coaxed him into closing them and showed him he could open them right back up if he wanted to. He had so much fun splashing and then opening the door and playing peak-a-boo. It was so cute. I love that boy's smile!

Kristofer is growing up

Tuesday his front tooth became lose. It shocked me because I did not expect him to start losing them for another year at least. I could tell he was unsure/nervous/scared about it and so I had him sit on my lap and I just snuggled him and babied him for a bit. I suggested we read a story and picked on off the stack from the library, One Morning In Maine by Robert McCloskey. It just so happens that it is about a little girl who wakes up with a lose tooth. I think he felt better about it after that.

Wiggling it just a little bit.

He thought maybe he could floss it out. Too cute.

Getting a good look at it in the mirror.

It is making taking bites a bit hard.

************************************************************************************
Instead of preschool his class had a picnic at a local park. Papa got to join us and we had a great time.

The preschool class singing Father Welcomes All His Children.
They did a great job.

I knew Kristofer was strong and a pretty fast runner, but he was blowing all the kids away pushing the merry-go-round. While he was still pushing they were dropping off because they could not keep up.

Is he not the most adorable 5-year-old you have ever seen?

Kolton and London had a great time playing too.

Kolton and London were trying their hardest to follow their big brother Kristofer.

Enjoying some yummy rice krispy treats.

I don't remember what this is called, but the kids had a grand time flipping it and running under.