Monday, July 4, 2011

Week 3

In some ways, it's hard to believe that Seth and Lizzie have been part of our family for 3.5 weeks already; in other ways, it seems like an eternity, given how hard it's been at times.

Early last week, I posted a few pictures...here are a few others from last weeks' adventures.

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Here's Lizzie standing in a corner - totally self-imposed.  She needed to use the toilet but was refusing to, for some reason.  So she stood there, becoming more and more distressed, until she got over whatever she needed to get over, and then told us she needed to use the bathroom!
 
  
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My parents took us to Montana's for dinner on kids-eat-free Tuesday last week.  While I was in the bathroom, Seth decided that he wanted his face painted, too.  For some reason, the face painter chose to paint him as a devil (something I would never have agreed to, but it was already well in process by the time I saw him)!

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I'm so grateful that the weather has been so great since the kids have been home.  We've spent so much time outside, and the kids love it.  Seth is here on his tricycle, which took him a while to learn to pedal...but once he caught on to the required motion, there was no stopping him.  Lizzie is holding her beloved water bottle, which is always to be found somewhere near her...she drinks 4-5 of these, filled with water, every day...which may explain why I seem to spend about a third of my days in the bathroom with one or the other of them!
  
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Matthew, trying to figure out how to use a perfectly good long board that he found in a neighbour's garbage!

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Snacking on the front step: toasted and buttered cinnamon bread; oranges; and, of course, bottles of water.

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More tears...thankfully, Lizzie usually overcomes her frequent teary episodes quickly.
 

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I have already posted about Seth's dental surgery on Thursday.  He's feeling a lot better (though still in some discomfort and in need of occasional tylenol/advil).  In these pictures you can see a bit of the work that was done: six extractions (of rotting teeth); multiple crowns and spacers; etc etc.  Thankfully, he seems to feel considerably better than before.
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Beautiful little thing, isn't she??

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Seth's first bath (probably ever).  So far, we'd been showering them, like at the Transition House, but both had their first baths last week.  To say that they loved it would be a gross understatement.  They had no fear of the water either; they dove below the surface with gusto and held their breath while 'swimming' around. 

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A cool dress on an incredibly hot day (41 degrees celsius).

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We spent Canada Day afternoon in our backyard with cousins and their kids...and had a great time.  I should have taken pictures of our eldest and their eldest engaged in intense water gun fights - all of the kids (and one of the dads - sorry Tim!) were soaking by the end of it.

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Seth's not in this picture but I thought it was a good one of the other cousins indulging in hot dogs and chips!  What's not to like?!

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Daddy with his three blessings, shortly before bedtime on Canada Day.  Seth is holding the little tape recorder that we gave each of the kids as part of their post-court gift; he loves that thing, and is constantly taping our conversations and playing them back to us!  This keeps us on our toes, 'cause you never know when he's going to play out loud what he's been recording!

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An afternoon with other cousins, once again loving that splash pad.  That was a great $10 investment from Walmart.


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Lizzie and Seth with two of the cousins they love...and who love them!
 
My sister, with her daughter and mine!

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Two of my favourite little girls.

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Seth is the happiest when out of doors, being physically active.  He's a very physical child and has a lot of energy to expend.  It's great seeing him enjoy the outdoors...there's not much he won't try!

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Matthew, acting like the ham that he is at times.

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All three of my kids, on the play structure.


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This picture of Seth on his new two-wheeler is a bit blurry, but I'm including it because of the look in his eyes.  This is Seth: incredibly intense; very determined.  Can you see the resolve?


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This is the beaming look we got when Geoff asked Seth if he liked his new bike.

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Matthew wanted me to take this picture because he thought he looked like a farmer, with a long piece of grass hanging out of his mouth!  I didn't have the heart to tell him that it takes a lot more than this to be a farmer...but maybe it's time for a trip to a farm!

That's it for now!  Week three has come and gone, and we're well into week four.  More to come!!

5 comments:

  1. So fun to see those pictures. I always show Mebira the pictures and she loves to see what her little buddies are up to!
    Anita

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  2. I would guess that L was in the corner feeling overwhelmed by the sadness and loss she is experiencing. Can you imagine how Matthew would feel if he was taken from your home, brought to a new country & family, where everything was strange and scary, albeit more affluent, and expected to be behaving as though nothing had happened. She probably needed somneone to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, that she was safe and loved. It was most likely additionally distressing to her to have someone start snapping photos of her pain. Can you imagine feeling that upset only to have the person who is supposed to care about you the most, maybe your husband, pulling out a camera to document your distress. It is not very compassionate behaviour. I wonder why you are so interesting in taking these photos, and then posting them? So you can say to the world, "look, my child is in pain, but my first priorty is to you, my readers, so I am snapping photos for my blog".

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  3. Hey Anonymous - I'd appreciate if you left your name. It's a little too easy to comment harshly when it's anonymous. I don't often post anonymous comments, but will in this case because others may be wondering similar things.

    That being said, I'll try to respond to what you said...though I will likely come across as being defensive.

    First, Lizzie will not always let me touch her when she is upset.

    Second, I take pictures in good times and bad. I take about 250-300 pictures/week, and most of those pictures will never make my blog. I want my kids to have tons of memories captured in pictures (again, of good and bad moments), perhaps in part to make up for the fact that they have NO pictures of their first several years of life.

    Third, the kids LOVE looking at all of the pictures I take of them...they see them all. When Lizzie saw this particular series of pictures (as well as the few in this series that did not make my blog), she laughed. We then did a role play of what happened, and it's from that role play that I learned what had been going on for her in those moments (and it was not dire!). We usually do a picture show every day so that they can see bits of their day highlighted.

    Fourth, if I took pictures of every time one of my kids were crying, I'd fill up my camera's memory card pretty quickly. You can be assured that I am available for reassurance, love, and safety - I almost always have a child in my arms these days, for exactly that reason. When one sees about 30 of these moments a day from each child, there are lots of opportunities!

    Fifth, yes, I have thought for many years about what it must be like for our children leaving everything familiar to them, and imagining if it were Matthew. That is something never far from my mind. They are not expected to behave as if nothing had happened - that comment almost made me laugh, to be honest, given what we have been going through around here.

    I really have little comment to make about where my priorities are. You've made some pretty huge assumptions. Were you in my day-to-day world, I think you'd have a better understanding of my priorities.

    I LOVE to blog, and do not apologize for that. I blog for many reasons: I blog because I love to write; I blog because I have my blog posts printed in annual books for the sake of our family's memory; I blog to supplement the journals I keep for my children, for their benefit (someday); I blog to help other adoptive-hopeful families (many of whom are my regular readers) understand the great and the challenging aspects of adoption.

    There is always a fine line to be drawn between writing about the reality of a messy (albeit great!) life and preserving family privacy. Most of the details of my children's lives are kept private; but what I do post I try to be fairly real about. If you find my blog still too open for your liking, there are many other blogs you may find more appealing.

    I'm sure there's lots more to say on the subject, but that's it for now.

    Ruth.

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  4. I would say Ruth, that you have been imagining how your children would feel about being taken from their homeland every minute of every day since you began this 10 year adoption journey. Clearly anonymous has no idea the depth of your compasion, love and understanding of everything that all 3 of your children are going through, and they obviously don't know the genuine, amazing woman you are to post such a harsh comment and hide behind an anonymous name. I know you are always open to discussion of others' ideas and opinions. Anonymous needs to be reminded that there is a way to differ in opinion without being judgmental.
    On another note, I LOVED seeing the pictures, and the ones of Lizzie made me laugh, as I too have taken pictures of my children crying in the corner (followed by that hug!), and we all laugh at them now. :)

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  5. I missed this post -- sadly I am a very sporadic blog reader lately! :)

    Just have to add that I took a photo of my Z. during a huge rage in Ethiopia. I did it primarily because at that stage, I felt totally hopeless that anything would ever get better. Some part of me wanted to document it, so that one day I could look back and realize that things really, truly had improved.

    I forgot about that photo until recently, when it popped up on my "random photo" screensaver. I stared at it, having totally forgotten those rages, and couldn't believe that it was the same child. It was such a huge source of encouragement to me: I know that we have a long, long way to go, but it's been a long while since we had a rage of that magnitude. I'm glad I have that photo now.

    And yeah.... Z. thinks the photo is hilarious now, and it has definitely opened up some conversational doors, and enabled us to discuss feelings and grief. :)

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