September 10, 2007

Andy has been at his new school for two weeks now. He seems to be doing well. He gets there about an hour early for before-care and stays about two hours late for after-care. He seems to like his teacher and I can tell that he is already learning lots of new things - like how to "s-t-r-e-t-c-h out" words, which is how his teacher is showing the kids how to sound out words. He is also learning how to phonocize - a game they play to associate words with the first letter that they start with, while exercizing at the same time. Andy's homework each night will be to read with a parent and find the title, author, certain punctuation marks, etc.

Andy has art, music, PE, library and computer class. I think that he likes music the best so far - I think in large part because the teacher is fun. He fell off of the art stoll during class and two kids laughed at him - this upset him because he would have been concerned had it happened to them, rather than laugh.

All in all, I think this year will be a good one for him. He seems to get along with the kids in his class, but I am waiting for his strong friendship preferences to show.

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Nathan started in his new Natural History classroom one week ago. Evidently, he is quite a challenge to keep still and happy on the train commute each day. He cried when Gary dropped him off on the first 2 or 3 days, but seems to be settling in with the new routine. Gary says that the lead teacher is really good, so that should make for a good year for Nathan. Nathan is saying so many words now. He basically can repeat any short word you ask him to. His first 3 syllable word he said yesterday - animal. We were at the zoo and he keep saying it. Amazing to watch language development. Andy gets really excited when Nathan says words and is always working with Nathan to encourage his speaking.

August 27, 2007

Andy started kindergarten today. Off to school he went with me wearing his Puffin bird shirt carrying his new Diego backpack. He was a lot more eager to get out of the house then I thought he'd be. He and I walked to school together holding hands. He was babbling about disney characters or something, while I thought about how quickly he's grown up. I personally felt a huge mix of emotions - excitement, nervousness, curiosity, and sadness. My boy is in real school now. I didn't want to probe too much about how he was feeling because I didn't want to impart my fear on him. I could feel a little nervousness from him just in his stronger than normal grasp as we walked down the street together.

We got to his school and entered the all purpose room where he will be spending time before and after school. He was instructed to place his backpack in his assigned laundry basket - I helped him find the right spot. His laundry basket is one of several dozen, but his is the only one that is blue. Andy quickly spotted a bucket filled with toy cars and tracks to play with. He played mostly by himself, but alongside some older boys. I spotted a young girl sitting on the cafeteria bench by herself. She was starring vacantly out into space with her barbie doll next to her. I wondered if she too might be a new kindergartener. I thought of asking her, but didn't know if she would fear me because I am a stranger - I opted not to approach her and just focused on my son. Another boy, Paul, who he met last Friday, came in with his big sister and mom. The sister seemed like a bossy, big sister, know it all. Andy seemed to recognize Paul, and he Andy, but they didn't speak to oneanother. About 10 minutes into playtime, the fire alarm went off. I guess they were testing the alarm, but we all went outside for about 10 minutes. While outside, I heard Paul say something to his mom about Andy's dad not being the same guy as last week - I heard the mom shush her son. No judgement from the son about this, but plenty from mom. Back into the all purpose room we then went, only to clean up and line up. Kindergarteners first - Andy was one of four of them.

Through the school we went to line up by class on the playground out back. Turns out that Andy and two of the other kindergarteners are all in the same class. He is joined by Paul and Jessica, the lonely girl sitting by herself with the barbie. Andy's teacher, Ms. McGills, is a woman about 45 or 50 years of age. It is her second year at the school, but she taught elsewhere before that. Nice woman who spoke to me like an adult, which I appreciate. Seems so many teachers speak to adults and children both the same - like everyone they come in contact is a child.

Into Andy's classroom we all went. Andy quickly found his cubby, as instructed, and put his backpack away. All of the other kids did the same - a rainbow of diverse children. 8 boys, 4 girls. 5 white children, 3 black children, 3 asian children, and 1 latino child. Andy was then instructed to find his name at his table and take a seat. He sits at the first table with Reginald, Alexie, and Marie. The teacher came around with drawings of people for the kids to color. Andy got to pick with one he would color - I think he was given two choices of boys. He was then instructed to color it using the crayons before him in the bucket. Since Andy loves arts and crafts, this was a great first activity for him. I said goodbye to him for the 10th time and then left - I was the last parent to leave the room and Andy was already engrossed in his activity.

A strange walk home. I wondered how things were going after I left - I'm sure fine. I would have loved to have silently observed for the entire day. What will Andy be like in this strange, new setting. Who will he be friends with? Did we make the right choice to send him to public school? Is this school good enough? Do they have any idea how smart he is? Are the other kids in his class as smart as him? Did they group the kids according to their intellectual potential?

Now I have the day to wonder. At 4 p.m., Gary's dad and I will get Andy from school. We are sending him to aftercare for about 30 minutes just so that he gets used to the routine. I can't wait to hear all about his first day of school....

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I went to pick Andy up from school with Gary's parents and Nathan at about 4 p.m. He was out playing on the playground with three other boys, one of them being a new kindergartener friend, Lucas, and two older boys. They were chasing eachother around and he greeted me with "Hello, Daddy! Want to hear my growl?" He seemed to be having fun, but was ready to go home when I got there. He didn't say a heck of a lot about his day, but overall I think it went well. We toured his classroom before we left and he showed us around with some degree of pride. We then ran into his teacher on our way out and she told me that Andy had a good day. Her exact words were "He participated, but looked a little deer in headlights at times." Once home, Andy told me that he couldn't make a basket at playtime, but his friend Paul could. This to me indicates that he played with Paul some during playtime. He also said that he didn't have time to finish his lunch, thus explaining the many chocolate chip cookies that were still left uneaten in his lunchbox. I asked if his teacher was nice, and he replied "She's nice to grown-ups." I asked if she was strict, but he didn't really answer.

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Nathan spent the day at home. He took a good morning walk with his grandparents in the woods. He ate a big lunch, but didn't want to go down for nap. He ended up diving out of his crib head-first (twice). I stepped in and took over nap duty - Gary's mom was in charge yesterday. I couldn't get him to go down, so I put him in the stroller and walked him around the neighborhood. He was out cold in about 5 minutes and I let him nap the rest of time in the stroller. I think it is about time Nathan, only 22 months, transition to a new bed!

August 24, 2007

The last day of Smithsonian preschool was last Friday. Andy "graduated" from the program and will be attending public elementary school in our neighborhood this year. Nathan moves up from the infant class to the toddler class.

My work has a back-up daycare option available, so we used it for the first time this past week. We had a woman come to our house and watch the boys while we both went to work. I spoke to her briefly before she came to watch the kids. She had a heavy French accent and was a little challenging to understand. I pictured an overweight white woman from France. When she showed up the watch the boys, I learned she was a Black woman from Cameroon, Africa. She was okay. She watched the boys and I think they were in safe, capable hands, but she definately preferred younger children (she even told me this). She didn't really talk to Andy much or interact with Andy much, instead focused most of her attention on Nathan. We'll use the service again (only $4 per hour; my work pays the remaining $16 per hour), but hopefully the next person they send will be a little more engaging.

Andy went to kindergarten orientation this morning with Gary and Nathan. He will be in a class of 12 kids, including him. There are 8 boys and 4 girls. It seems to be racially diverse and Gary reports that the classroom was full of exciting things for Andy to play with and learn from. It will be nice for Andy to meet some kids in the neighborhood and develop some local friendships. At least 2 other kids in his class will be in the before and after care program with him - so that is great.

Gary's parents come into town later this today for the week. They'll watch Nathan next week, his school is still closed next week, and watch Andy before and after school (Andy starts on Monday!). Next weekend we head up to Philadelphia for cousin Hali's 2nd birthday party. Should be a nice time.

More later as the school year progresses for both boys.

David

July 27, 2007

Here is a recent photo of Andy and Nathan during our trip to Las Vegas in June 2007. We thought this trip would be great in every way, but Andy was ill (sinus infection, fever, and vommiting) the entire time that we were there. David attended a conference for work, while Gary and his mom, who flew in from LA, watched the boys. We stayed at the MGM Grand hotel and got upgraded to a suite (featured in this photo) which was really nice because it allowed us a lot more room. After David's conference ended, we spent the later part of the trip with Gary's cousin at her Las Vegas home. We also celebrated Gary's 39th birthday while there.

Since this is Nathan's adoption blog, here is a quick update on him...He's doing very well, now 21 months old. He's about average height for his age, but very skinny. He wears 9 month shorts still. He has about 30 or so words, but makes himself understood with grunts and pointing if he doesn't have the right words to communicate. He is very stubborn and persistent. He runs, climbs, jumps, and is into everything. His latest thing is climbing onto the kitchen chairs and then the kitchen tabletop. Not the safest place for him to be, but despite being so active and adventurous, he is careful.

April 2, 2007

Nathan is 17 months old now. In the past few weeks, he is showing amazing signs of thinking and comprehension. If you ask him to "get his shoes," he knows which are his and will retrieve them for you. Every animal is a dog to him - squirrel, lion, horse - it doesn't matter. He is starting to communicate more with us, although still only has about 5 words - Andy, Dada, more, dog, and hello.

Nathan likes to push the buttons of his friends and family - we are trying to teach him that hitting isn't very nice, but he seems to enjoy doing it anyway. He seems to like the negative attention that he receives - something for us to work on with him.

Nathan and Andy still get along very well - at least most of the time. Nathan seems to like playing with Andy - I think it is unusual for a child his age to play with another child, but perhaps it is the older sibling influence.

December 4, 2006

Nathan is 13 months old now. He started walking at 11 months. He is very curious, persistent, and loves sounds. He looks up to his big brother, Andy, very much and clearly loves him. Andy makes Nathan laugh like nobody else can. It is so nice to see the two of them getting along so well - we can only hope that it stays that way.

Nathan continues to really like school, his friends there, and his teachers. They provide him with lots of stimulation and learning, which is great. If school has the same impact on him as it did on Andy, he'll get such a head-start on life through the curriculum and opportunities that the Smithsonian provides.

Nathan eats pretty well. He eats a combination of baby food and table food for his meals. He is fine eatting table food, but it often doesn't meet his hunger needs quickly enough and he gets frustrated. Therefore, we are still doing some baby food to help fill his tummy more quickly.

This photo was recently taken - Halloween 2006. Halloween might be Andy's favorite holiday. As you can see, Nathan isn't quite sure though. We were shocked that Andy wanted to be a skeleton and not some kind of animal. Nathan got Andy's infant costume as a hand-me-down (I think it was a hand-me-down to Andy too). Next year, no telling what Andy will be - Nathan will probably be Ord (a friendly dragon from the kid's show Dragon Tales).

Nathan starts school

Nathan started school, Smithsonian, on Monday, September 11, 2006. We had to wake him up a little bit earlier than he was used to, but he wakes up really easy - happy and alert. It was rainy and gray outside, befitting of September 11th. He did a great job riding on the metro for the first time. I read books to Andy, while Gary handled Nathan. For most of the trip, Nathan sat in his stroller and just looked at people. Lots of smiles and waves from strangers to Nathan - funny how much people love babies. If only they knew Nathan's special story. Nathan grew restless toward the end of the train ride and Gary took him out of the stroller and played with him a bit. I got off the metro a few stops before they did, as I always do, and Gary took on the challenge of daycare drop off for Nathan's first time. Nathan's main two teachers weren't in yet, and after a few minutes, Gary had to get to work. He handed Nathan off to Andy's teacher from last year, Ms. Ponterero, and he screamed his head off. He continued to scream, clasping his hands together and sucking his sleeve, as he does when he is uncomfortable. Gary left the center with him screaming. Poor guy. I wonder what runs through his head. He was abandoned by his birthmother, lived in an orphanage for 8 months, we took him out of the orphanage and lugged him from hotel to hotel in Vietnam, then back to the US to be in our family, then he stayed at home with his daddies for a couple of months, now in another strange place with new people. Does all of this run through his mind. What memory does he have - any?

Gary got two updates from the teachers during the day-Nathan calmed down after a while and ended up having a pretty good day overall. Each day this week, he has screamed in the morning, but calmed down a little quicker each day. His teachers say that he really seems to like school and they are pleased with how he is doing. I personally think that he is a really easy baby, and given their experience with all kinds of children, I assume they'd agree.

On September 12th, Nathan started saying his first word over and over again. Funny what his first word is - mama. Funny because he has two dads. They say that dada is usually the first word a child says because it is easier to say - but not for Nathan.