Mother's Day 2012

I haven't written in ages, but today is a good day to do it. I'm sitting in the library with 2.5 hours of Mommy time as JJ finishes his last day of Chinese School for the year. What a difference a year makes. Last year on Mother's Day he took a spill at the Royal's baseball game and we ended up in the ER with a concussion, only to follow it with yet another concussion a week later. Oy Vey. So far so good today - no major accidents! I am blessed beyond belief with this little guy. He is 6 going on 7, growing like a weed, and really starting to catch up with his peer group. He has grown like a weed since the beginning of the year. His speech is improving, his comprehension of English has skyrocketed, he is understanding subtleties with language, and on the cusp of reading independently. We are finally dry dry dry, both day and night. He is very social. After a bumpy ride adjusting to his new school, his kindergarten year is ending with a bang. While he would prefer to stay home and play rather than go to school, I can't get him to leave when I go to pick him up in the afternoon. He has to touch base with a lot of people before we get out the door! He loves to come into my room in the morning to cuddle and have a quick conversation. "Mom, are the dinosaurs coming back?" "Mom, I'm putting Vivien (bff from school) in our family." "Mom, did you pass gas?" We found a great Vietnamese hairdresser with his same hair type who we love. We started going to a new dentist that we love as well, close to home. He's still on the same soccer team that he's been on for several seasons - recently he actually started paying attention and scoring goals. Some for our team, some for the other team. His progress in soccer alone is such a good marker for me. He used to so clearly stand out as different from his peers, now he still lags with attention, but far less so, and he stays engaged longer and is reinforced by sticking with it. We have a great Coach Michael, and have become friends with all the other families. We are starting to have a consistency and rhythm in our life and I really like it. We are one year out from our next surgery, "The Biggie," when they will take some bone from his hip and graft it into the cleft palate area. We go to consult with his orthodontist (who specializes with kids with cleft palates) next week. He's my orthodontist as well. He'll get some kind of spacer contraption to start preparing him for next year. J is looking forward to going as he wants to have braces "like Mommy." That one worked out well. I'll get mine off when he will be gearing up for his own dental extravaganza. I am so grateful for this child, he brings me so much joy on a daily basis. Even when I'm exhausted, even when I need a break, even when his impulsivity drives me to distraction, I wouldn't trade a minute of being his mom for anything else in the world. I think this is one benefit of having children later in life. I did every single thing I wanted to do before becoming a mom. I look forward to the next couple of years, when I plan to start traveling more with him, going on a cruise, etc. He loves to be out and about. I love the look on his face when he discovers something new, it happens almost every day. The recent Book Fair at his school might as well have been a magical wonderland, that's how he experienced it. Big wide eyes, giggle of delight. Life is good. I am grateful. We are really settling in to being a family and living life together. We talk about adoption more, especially in the context of books we have. I told him recently that he pooped on the floor the first day we were a family because he didn't know what a toilet was, and how the flush of the toilet scared him to death, and how he loved the bathtub. He just loves those little details. Now if adoption comes up, he's saying, "I pooped on the floor, right!" He has a lot of friends with non-traditional families, for which I'm grateful. He's asked for a Dad sometimes, and also for siblings. I really wish he could have both, especially siblings, I guess because our sibling group was so strong growing up, especially after my mom died. I was really raised by the older ones. Every family is different and every era is different. We do have dear family friends in Kansas City and I'm grateful for that. "EricBlakeyNoNo," a triplet group of boys (Eric, Blake, Noah) are definitely like brothers to him, all within months of him in age. He is social, and I think he'll always have lots of friends. We are also getting to move across town. I picked a home in a neighborhood with kids his age, old bungalow homes with porches where folks still hang out and chat. I'm hoping this is a really good move for us. There were just no other kids on our block, and it is turning into a gentrified neighborhood as we speak. So off we go. Life is good.