Our Little Russian Peanut: May 2012

There is so much to catch up on and I decided it would be best to start with the newest member of our family – Nathan! Poor Nathan suffers from “third child syndrome”. Alex was my first child and even though he came into my life late, I did as much as I could as a parent. I scrapbooked every moment of his life, was a fabulous and attentive school mom and never missed a sporting event. Then came Andrew. Andrew suffered a bit of “second child syndrome”. No scrapbook for him, but he at least had a well documented venture via this blog. I have made it to all of Andrew’s sporting events and school events, I’m proud to say. Now, Nathan. Poor, poor Nathan. Barely a blog and definitely no scrapbook. He seems to be a natural lefty in baseball so I’ll be sure to make all of his baseball games someday. :-)

As you know, Nathan has been with us for just over two months and it feels like he’s been here forever. What an easy going, happy kiddo we have been blessed with. That’s not to say he isn’t stubborn, because I’ll be the first to tell you he is, but for each stubborn moment he has many more moments of hugging, loving, giggles and sweetness.

Nathan melds so well. He loves routine, loves to help out and is talking up a storm. He came to us with a pretty extensive Chinese vocabulary from what we were told. He’s held on to a lot of that, but his comprehension has been amazing. Less than a month home and you could tell him to go into the bathroom, put his toothbrush next to the sink and turn off the light - he wouldn’t miss a beat. I am amazed. He also promoted himself to “table setter”. Each night he jumps up and down while I am making dinner until I put plates on the table. He walks each plate around saying “Mama, Baba, Andrewee (how he says Andrew’s name)”. It is too cute.

He is going to preschool two half days a week which allows me a little bit of time to get some work done. He wasn’t so sure about it at first but now he runs right into the room and heads straight to the puzzle table. We’re going to increase his time there to two full days a week which I think will be great for him. He’s such a loving and social kid that he needs time like that.

So, how about hitting some Nathan highlights?

Special Needs: Nathan’s medical record said he had two special needs. The first special need was CHD, or complex heart disease. Based on the review by the head of the heart institute in Atlanta, his need appeared to be minor and if surgery was required it would be outpatient - “just like putting a cork in the wine bottle”. After a visit to our friendly pediatric cardiologist, it turns out Nathan’s CHD was nothing more than a teeny, tiny coronary fistula. Something he will outgrow most likely. No medication, no restrictions. Yeehaw! His second special need was undescended testicles. I took him to the pediatric urologist and guess what? They are both there and where they should be. Can I get a “woot –woot”?? :-) I told Keith that we’ve been so blessed with both of our kiddos and that the third time would certainly be a charm. His response was “Or three strikes and you’re out!” Can’t blame a gal for trying! :-)

Speech: In the beginning we played charades and a darn good game, I must say. I want Nathan on my team when we play as he grows up because he and I totally get each other. He can now count to 10 and a bit higher if you help him a bit. He loves to talk about cars, boats, trucks, diggers and tell you how many he sees. He knows most colors but still confuses yellow and orange. Just recently he started putting three word sentences together. This morning he shouted “That silly dog!”. He loves books, loves animals and he and our little dog are partners in crime. Nathan rules the little dog and the little dog is well aware of who the boss is. (Not sure what that has to do with speech, but just go with it.)

Eating: Nathan is quite the eater! He will try everything but LOVES fruits and vegetables. I’d have to say that a new favorite of his (one I don’t think he had ever had before) is corn on the cob. That child makes sure that every single piece of corn has been eaten. He loves “nanas” (bananas) “yapples” (apples) and “brocc-o-li”. Typing that reminds me of a funny. I think he is the only kiddo that adds syllables to words, making them more complex. We joke around about how he is part Italian with his extra syllables. “Ice-ah-cream” is his favorite dessert. “Base-a-ball” is his favorite thing to play. I have learned to make a fabulous Beef with Broccoli and a few other Chinese dishes. He loves spicy food and can sit and eat a bowl of salsa and chips like nobodies business.

Sleeping: Nathan is also part ninja. We tried to co-sleep with him for a while and he beat us to a pulp. Kicking, smacking and kicking a LOT more. He would start out on the pillow and his feet would wind up at our head. Painful. He is now in a room of his own, right across from Andrew’s. We brought out the big, blue car bed once we were confident he wouldn’t kick himself right out of the bed. He loves it. He sleeps pretty well through the night and still takes a nap, but I think that is going to be short lived much to this mama’s disgrace!

I’m sure there are other high level things to cover, but this post has taken me 2 hours to type. My “good sleeper” is having a rough night of it tonight. Actually, it’s been an all around rough day around here. I’ll leave you with some pictures of my sweet little kiddo’s “firsts”! (Hey… I’m not THAT bad of a mom – I did manage to capture a lot of firsts!)

First time… in the United States! This was taken at Atlanta airport after we landed coming home from China!

First… haircut!

First… trip to the lake!

First… bike (thanks, Grandpa and Nana!)

First… ummm… not sure what to say about this one! Th0mas the train helmet, Buzz L1ghtyear wings and a McD0nald’s cheeseburger sitting in the H0me Dep0t parking lot. First time decked out in all that is American?? :-)