First E....he has continuously surprised us with how well he is adjusting. His first few weeks home he had remarkably good behavior which we knew couldn't last-just not normal for most kids much less a kid from a hard place. Nevertheless it was night and day from his behavior this summer. More recently we have seen more boundary testing and etc that we had expected...nothing extreme though.
A friend let both boys come over and ride her horse. They LOVED it!
His English has progressed wonderfully....after only a few weeks home we were able to actually havec conversations. He is continuously asking me about what something is, why, or meanings of words every day, which I think is wonderful.
We celebrated his 9th birthday in mid Oct. It was kind of emotional for me to experience it with him. He was so excited when he saw the house decorated! We all had a great time.
We went back and forth on school for him. Originally I had planned to home school all along, but got nervous about the imminent arrival of baby sis Z. Then right before they came home I decided to home school. then after 21/2 weeks home E said he wanted to go to school. So we looked into school for E and even started the paperwork and started some testing to see where he stood academically. Testing showed him slightly delayed for grade level in reading (pretty impressive for a kid that had been in America less than 3 weeks at that point in my opinion) and significantly delayed in math. We were scheduled to go back for more testing, but E got cold feet and I guess I did too a bit. So now we are homeschooling focusing on phonics, English, and math.
A-well we were told in Ukraine that he had delays. And when he got home we could definitely see that. There are aspects of sensory seeking behaviors, an inability to learn or remember, and impulsive behaviour that definitely had me worried. But on the other hand we were able to see him blossom and change EVERY day a bit more. In Ukraine he basically had no schooling, no teaching, no working on motor skills, little physical exercise other than running around the playground with other kids, etc. I didn't mention yet, but in Ukraine he really bonded immediately with my hubby and not really with me. The first month home we took many steps toward bonding and attachment.
Teaching him to ride a bike.
Skating-he was fearless.
Our focus was on attachment, getting him to speak (he was still so shy at first) fine and gross motor skills, and learning abc's,numbers, and colors (more on that later.) Their sister Z was due Oct 31st and finally right before her arrival I started getting many hugs a day, him following me around, etc.
We did have a lot more tantrums, acting out, etc from him....which was really not surprising.
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