Four weeks as a family of three

We have been a family of three for four weeks now. Where does the time go? I've been intending to blog about how things are going, but there's a cute little 10-month old around our house that keeps us pretty busy these days. :)


The first three weeks of parenthood were something of a blur to us. We didn't have any particularly major challenges with Calvin, but recovering from international travel and learning how to be parents at the same time kept us pretty busy -- and fairly stressed as well. Brad and I feel like we all three turned a corner late last week and are thrilled that life seems to be settling in a bit.

We are very pleased with how Calvin is adjusting to his new home and attaching to us. We knew that the adjustment & attachment phase is different for each child, and we wanted to be prepared for whatever Calvin might need from us during that time. But it seems that Calvin's easy-going nature is helping him adapt fairly quickly to all the changes in his life. (Although, while he is fairly laid back, he also certainly has a strong-will and stubbornness about him at times...I guess all kids do.)

Our biggest challenge was Calvin's sleep, and even that wasn't just awful - although a few nights at 1am, it felt awful. The first issue was jet lag. For the first week or so after arriving in the US, Calvin was wide-awake for 2-4 hours every night and ready to play. (Due to the 14-hour time difference, the middle of the night was middle of the afternoon to Calvin.) This is common for children who have been moved half-way around the world, so I got some advice from friends who have also adopted from Korea, and in just a few days, Calvin was on US time.

The next sleep issue was that Calvin was waking up multiple times every night and having trouble going back to sleep - even with one of us holding or rocking him. And instead of getting better with time, it was getting worse. This was incredibly frustrating for all of us. We did some research and decided that he needed to learn to soothe himself back to sleep when he wakes up. After just a few nights of relatively painless sleep training (Ok, the first night was pretty bad - the others were much better.), Calvin is now sleeping through the night with us going in his room no more than once a night for just a few minutes. And and it seems we've also successfully eliminated his 3am bottle. This all makes for a better night of rest for the entire family.

In fact, it seems he may even enjoy sleeping in - which could not make his parents any happier. :) He typically wakes up when we start stirring around 6am. But we're enjoying a 4-day weekend together now, and both yesterday and today, Calvin slept until 8 or 9 am. Maybe, just maybe, our days of sleeping in on Saturdays aren't over!!

Aside from the sleep challenges, we are extremely pleased with how Calvin is doing in every other area. He was almost exclusively on formula in Korea, so we've been working to add more solid foods to his diet. He loves most anything we feed to him, and he's learned to use a sippy cup for water. His diet consists of rice & oatmeal cereal, mashed up bananas, applesauce, avocado, and yogurt. We're working on adding more foods with time. He still gets about three bottles of formula a day, and we'll continue that for the next few months.

Calvin naps twice a day - a longer nap in the morning and shorter one late in the afternoon. He doesn't mind being strapped into his booster seat at meal time or the car seat for outings. (We did have a bit of trouble initially with the car seat, but he quickly got used to it.) He loves baths!! I think he would stay in the tub all day playing if we let him. He started crawling in the first week or so after he was home (He was doing the "army crawl" in Korea.), and he's also pulling himself up on anything he can find! He doesn't have any teeth yet, but he's been teething since a day or two after we got him in Korea, so we keep expecting to see one or two break through any day. Sometimes he's ok with diaper changes; other times he fights us through the whole thing. He doesn't mind getting undressed, but putting clothes on the little guy is like trying to wrestle jello!!

As soon as we returned from Korea, we made an appointment to get Calvin's hair cut, so he had his first US haircut two days after we got home. He sat very still for the haircut and didn't cry or fuss at all!!


The next day Calvin had his first visit doctor's appointment in the US. Our pediatrician was recommended by several other adoptive families in the area, and we love him! He has a lot of experience working with children adopted internationally - from Korea and other countries, which is very helpful. He said Calvin is in very good health, which we expected, but it was still nice to get that confirmation. :) Calvin did have to get two shots and a blood draw, which wasn't fun for any of us. The shots weren't too bad since they were over quickly, but the blood draw was simply awful. I watched as Brad and a technician held Calvin still while another technician put a needle in his arm and drew a vial of blood. It was horrible to watch - and I know it was even more horrible for Calvin, especially with all the other stress in his life at that point.

As far as Calvin's attachment to us, we are thrilled with how things are going. He's definitely learned that we take care of him, and he looks to us when he needs something. He's affectionate toward us and seeks us out when he wants a little mommy or daddy snuggle time. At the same time though, he's comfortable playing alone for a few minutes when we're busy with other things around the house. He enjoys our brief outings to church, Target, the zoo, or wherever, but he's generally very reserved right at first in a new place or when new people are around and clings a bit more tightly to one of us during those times.

We are so blessed to have our little boy home. We're enjoying getting to know him, and now that life is settling in a bit, we'll be posting more updates soon we hope!