Home for a week

We've now been home for a week and we're starting to feel more settled. Jetlag didn't last as long as it did when we brought Claire home as a baby, thankfully. Getting Ren to sleep has been more of an issue here than in China but for the last two nights, he slept through the night at least, so that's progress!

Ren is doing remarkably well, considering all the immense changes this little boy has faced in the last two and a half weeks. I'm really impressed with his resiliency and his go-with-the-flow attitude. He seems more attached to us every day. Back in China a few days after we received him, he began throwing his arms open wide and coming forward for hugs. That has continued with more and more enthusiasm, and with a tighter hold on the hug, as the days go by. He is kissing us more too and will often approach Kitsya and air kiss towards her. He now calls us by name: not a lot, but some of the time at least.

We have been using a few signs with him and this week, he began signing back! The first was 'diaper change' on Tuesday. He did it again the following day without any prompting whatsoever, and the day after that, he did the sign when he saw the Pampers bag we had just bought. Yesterday, he repeated the sign for 'eat' and today he repeated 'more'. He's catching on! I should mention that he also says the words verbally as he signs but I'm grateful for the signs because his words aren't always discernable (diaper change certainly isn't!) He's also repeating more words like 'puppy', 'horse', 'cow', etcc, as well as animal sounds.

As for Cantonese words and phrases, he continues to use the two phrases we first heard in China: something like "dye" and "a-may" / "a-may-ya". We went to a Cantonese restaurant this week and asked our waiter about Ren's two main phrases. He didn't recognize them and thought they were simply baby talk. We are pretty sure they mean something, although it could be Ren's version of the words. For example, when Claire was little, she would often point to things she wanted and say, "Dis". We knew she was saying, "this" (as in "I want this") but if a non-English speaker had heard her say it and asked another English speaker, they may have assumed it was simply baby talk.

Today, we heard Ren say a new little phrase or song in Cantonese (we think). He was at the park on the swing and began to sing something like, "Wah woo lie, Wah woo lie". It sounds like it could be a nursery rhyme or something.

Other things to note:

- Ren has a hilarious laugh, kind of like Horshack from Welcome Back, Kotter. Anyone remember that?

- He hates his bath, every since we washed his hair.
- He eats well with a spoon - a skill he hid from us while in China.

- He doesn't seem to have any experience with puzzles but is very interested in them and seems to be catching on.

- He is good with blocks and loves books.

-He doesn't seem to like fruit or veggies much, much to our dismay and Claire's excitement (they're her favourite and she always ends up with his portion!)

- he is getting better at taking turns although is still prone to a big pout session at least once during the turn-taking.

- He doesn't yet have a comfort object despite our efforts to give him one. We weren't successful with that for Claire either. We'd really like for him to have one to help with bedtimes and other times he may be anxious. Any suggestions on how to help a child attach to an object for comfort?

Today was another week of firsts: first grocery store horsey ride, first time in the snow, first time at the park, first snowman. Ren really did not like the snow at first but today he seems more comfortable with it.

Here are some pictures of his first experience with snow:
One of my favourite moments between the siblings happened the other day. I had been giving Ren a horsey ride when I told him it was almost Jie-Jie's turn. He seemed to catch on because he 'dismounted'. But then he went towards Jie-Jie. Totally in sync with him, she crossed her legs and motioned for him to get on! I couldn't believe it! Luckily, the camera was within reach:

Now I know it looks like she may be giving him a swift kick to the you-know-whats but really, she's just giving him a nice horsey ride! Oh, and notice which leg she is using for the ride. Too funny that she crosses her legs but gives a ride on the uncrossed one.

Paul's parents arrived last night for a long weekend with us and have already created amazing memories with the kids. I'll blog about it in a couple of days.