Randy and I have had several conversations since we picked up Artem about how much God was looking out for us over the past 7 years as we tried to start a family. Throughout the years we tried to figure out why we couldn't get pregnant and why our prayers of having a family were going unanswered. Now that we finally have Artem, we are beginning to understand the big picture that was unfolding and how God was truly looking out for us.
Our attachment to Artem continues to amaze us. Our bond with him grows stronger each day and the more we get to know him, the more we see how perfect of a match he is for us. Here are a few of the attachment highlights we are seeing with Artem since we've been home:
*Artem constantly mimics us and copies things we do and say. Randy plays a game with him where he blinks his eyes fast and Artem does the same thing. He copies the noises we make with our mouth and the claps we do with our hands.
*Exhibits good eye contact with us and initiates peek-a-boo with us.
*Initiates a game of putting our foreheads together and rubbing noses while looking into our eyes.
*Holds onto us when we carry him. Wraps his legs around us and clutches our shoulder with one hand.
*When meeting new people, he will not go to them when they hold out their hands to him, instead he holds us tighter and turns his head into us, refusing to go to other people.
*Loves to sit in our laps and listen to us read him a story. Each night he sits in my lap and lays against me while watching a Scholastic story video. He also takes his fingers and rubs and pats my skin while watching the video.
*Cries when one of us leaves the room and tries to follow us if we leave a room.
*Smacks and touches my bare bottom and legs when I get out of the shower. (I really think Randy taught him this, ha ha)
*Shares food with us and "feeds" us when he has his meals.
*Reaches up to us and babbles the same sound each time he wants to be held.
Artem loves to be outside and goes to the front glass door and says "dee-dah" or sometimes it sounds like "deet-tah". We don't know if this is a Russian word for outside or what it means but he uses the same word every time he wants to go outside. He makes the same sound when he looks outside the back glass door so we know it is his way of saying "outside". Tonight Randy was laying on the floor in our bedroom while I brushed my teeth to get ready for us to go to dinner. Artem walked up to Randy and said, "deet-tah". Randy told him, "If you want to go outside you have to go get your shoes." Artem left the room and walked into the kitchen and returned with his blue sandals. He understood what Randy was telling him and we clapped and hugged him afterward.
Artem also loves to be on the go which matches us perfectly. We love to be out and about doing things. We love to be out at the lake on the jet ski, camping in our trailer, and we are starting to see how much Artem loves to be doing things too and just reassures us that God knew what he was doing when he was picking out a child for us. Unlike our first experience with a car ride, Artem loves to be in the car and sings, babbles, and claps the whole time we are in the car. We have children's songs in the cd player and he loves to hear the music. He is very happy to be in the car which is such a relief because getting so sick on the car ride home from Fryazino, I really thought he would be a car sick baby.
Our bedtime routine continues to go well. After we get in from our nightly walk we put in a Scholastic story video and Artem sits in my lap and we watch the story together. He will sit the entire time (tonight was a 12 minute story video) and watch the video. We've also added brushing teeth to the routine and Artem lets us brush his teeth and then he gets his turn to brush his teeth. He does a good job and they must have worked with him at the baby home because he knows how to hold the toothbrush and brush side to side.
Tonight at dinner we all received fortune cookies and Artem's said, "You will always be surrounded by those who love you." So true little man, so true!
My new shades: Daddy's little helper:
11 comments:
Your family is truly meant to be! Thank you so much for these updates. I hate to admit how many times a day I check for a glimpse into how things are going for all of you.
Elayne (from SN)
Susan, you are SO incredibly blessed!! I am so happy after all of your waiting that God has given you such a wonderful child, a child who is so perfect for you and Randy. We have been amazed by how similar Owen's personality is to ours. Although we've had to do a LOT of attachment work (and still do), he definitely was born to be our child.
Thank you for sharing updates and more pictures with us! Artem is such a precious little boy! I can't wait to see and hear more!!
I'm so glad Artem's attachment is going so well. What a blessing.
I am reading your blog with such interest. I am so happy things are going well. He sounds like a great match for your family. Keep up the fun and keep posting.
What a great post. And it is truly amazing, how we do end up with children that are so obviously meant to be ours. I am sure you get sick of me saying that the more I "know" Artem, the more he just reminds me of Iliya - but I have to say it! If we ever get those 2 boys together, I bet they would hit it off and keep us in stitches the whole time!
BTW, I bet he got sick on the ride from Fryazino because of a mixture of baby butterflies...and the fact that that was probably his first car ride, ever - or at least in more than a year! I bet it was a weird sensation!
Isn't God amazing? He had such wonderful things in store for you but you just didn't know it at the time. You are a family now. Artem needed you just as much as you needed him.
Robyn (rhwalters from SN)
O i love his outfit! O i miss the days when Ryne would let me dress him in cool, cute outfits. Now he is just a smelly teen in tee-shirts! Love the blog!
Mike and Wanda
Susan, I have been following your blog from Storknet. I just want you to know that I have loved sharing in your story. It just gives me the warm and fuzzies! Thanks for sharing.
Your little man is absolutely precious, you guys make a beautiful family!
You have to figue out what the "outside" word is that he is saying. Liam says the same thing. When we were in Moscow he would look out the apartment window and say something close to "da-da" and he still says it. I have been trying to figure it out for months now.
Glad to hear thins are going so well with the bonding. Sounds like the 3 of you are defenitly a match made in heaven. Glad to hear that he has not had any more issues with getting sick in the car. Sounds to me like it may have been more nerves and being nervous about leaving the only home he has known with people that he really doesn't know. Keep being the great parents you are showing us all you are!
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! *sniffle*
We have that same onesie ... *squee!!!* baby legs!!!!!!!!
- *Ginger* from SN
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