Last night went very well. We ate a good dinner, our new boy is a good eater, and then played lots and walked lots. At bedtime, we got the little guy dressed in his pajamas and led him to bed. By this time we had a twin bed set up for him. He cried when we put him in it, and wanted to go to the room where his brothers were having story time. It seems he didn't want to miss out on that, because as soon as we set him down on the big bed to listen, he was all fine. Then when the story was over, we said our prayers. He watched us intently at that point. Then we led him back to his bed in our room, and I rubbed his back a little bit. There was some fuss but not much. He went from crying to dropping right off to sleep, with no in between. Just crying, then sleeping. After that, he was out like a light. He woke up twice in the night and cried, got out of bed and wanted to walk out of the room, but we led him back to bed and patted his back, and he went right back to sleep again.
Today we had three good meals and snacks as well. He is a very good eater and eats everything.
I worked on schoolwork with Mario and Erik for maybe an hour or two. We did some schoolwork yesterday too, but it worked better today. They both sat at the kitchen counter, and I alternated between them. I was working it, baby. Let's just say it is an adjustment for all of us, being a family of five. I would praise them for the littlest things, and that seemed to help a lot. Note to self: keep doing that.
Jerry and the little guy did lots of laps. I did a lot with him too, but I think Jerry did even more than I did. At least we are getting our exercise.
I should mention that there is a family from Spain here at the hotel too. They are a nice couple that are adopting an adorable little girl, and they are on their second trip. They were actually here on their first trip when we were, back in August, and it has been fun seeing them everyday and comparing notes, especially with regard to adjustment. They are a little ahead of us, having arrived last week. Their little girl, who is three years old, really loves to be around other little kids, so she and her papa did some laps this morning with me and our little guy. At one point after we had been walking for maybe ten minutes, the little girl wanted to hold our son's hand too, so the four of us were walking in one wide row. It was a little challenging on the turns, but we made it!
What else can I say that is exciting or interesting? Oh yeah, the power went out briefly. They have generators here, which kicked in after just a few minutes, so there was no problem at all. We just have to walk around and reset all the clocks, which in the scheme of things is not even a little problem.
This too: we had another concert in the neighborhood again last night, but it is hardly noticeable from our bedroom. I slept so much more than the previous night!
Our new son definitely has a preference for one of his new parents, and it is not me. I am not taking it personally, but I have to keep reminding myself of that. It is a good thing that we have read a lot about toddler adoption, because our guy is exhibiting many of the classic symptoms, including temporary rejection (boy I hope it is temporary) of one of the new parents. Apparently, it is not uncommon for toddlers to temporarily reject one of their new parents, and if they do, in most cases it is the mother. It has to do with the fact that they already have a strong attachment to their former caretaker, who is in most cases a woman, and they want to hold onto that. In their young minds, they think they are being disloyal to their former caretaker, so they don't let the new mom in. It does improve with time, say the experts. I sure am hoping for that. In the meantime, I keep making myself available for walks and play, gently touch him when I can get away with it, and give him food. I do get smiles from him and he will hold my hand when we are on walks, but there are lots of times when he will have nothing to do with me.
Bedtime tonight was great. We all five of us sat in Mario and Erik's room for stories (little mister played peekaboo with me behind his coloring book, yippee!), then I sat with Mario and Erik while they fell asleep. By the time I walked out of their room maybe ten minutes after we had turned out the light, Jerry was already sitting in the living room, and the little one was already sleeping. "You know what happened?" Jerry said. "We walked in the bedroom, and he just climbed right into his bed, lay down, and fell asleep. No tears at all, and he went right to sleep." Incredible.