Thank you Come Home, Mama

This week, Violet had a show at her school that Randall and I both wanted to attend.  We knew it would be too much for Levi to handle, yet...imagine loads of parents frantically taking pictures, squirming to see their child in a packed gym...plus the show was past his bedtime.  Not a  good combination.  So, we asked Joseph to babysit. 

Levi was so very, very sad to see us leave.  We knew Joe would do great and that Levi would learn that we return (as hard as it was to pull out of the driveway).  We received texted pictures of Levi being served ice cream.  He was read his favorite books.  He was given a bath and put in soft jammies.  He was taken care of well.

And yet when we returned, we were met at the door by a little boy who frantically begged to be picked up.  Once in my arms, he squeezed my neck tightly and kissed my cheek while saying,

Thank you come home, Mama.  Thank you come home.

I don't know about you, but I cannot recall a time when one of my biological children thanked me for returning.  Unless they were waiting to tattle on a sibling.

My bio kids don't thank me for coming home

Because they know I will.

But Levi...and Mia and Violet...and millions of other children have wounds so deep they wonder, "Am I enough for someone to come back for?  Am I worthy?  Valuable?  Special?"

In this crazy, mixed up, mad world hope is so important.  It's what kept Levi going until our return.  It's perhaps the most important thing we can give each other while we wait for the most important return of all...the return of Jesus....when He will make all things new.  Bind every wound.  Heal every heart.   Wrap us in His embrace and say,

You are more than enough for me to come back for.  Let's go home.

Who are you loving today?  How are you giving hope to those around you?

Shriner's Day

It's busy, busy around here lately...'tis the season for everyone, I think.

Today was Levi's first trip to Shriner's.  Violet was such a fantastic big sister.  It was AMAZING to reflect on just how far SHE has come.  She held his hand and took him in to "her" hospital, beaming all the way.  "He's just going to love the playroom, don't you think Mom?"

Shriner's is a totally different kind of experience than a regular hospital...and I don't just mean when the greeters meet you at the door in the infamous hats ;-).  You begin by checking in in the middle of a large room flooded with natural light.  The entire ceiling is made of skylights.  So awesome!  The room has traditional toys, coloring tables, video games and the coolest game machine built into the floor courtesy of Dunkin Donuts.  You play by literally moving your body all over the giant 12 x 12 foot magic carpet screen.  My favorite game is catsup vs. mustard and one person has to jump on all their condiment pictures as they appear and splat them before the other person can splat all of theirs'.  Too fun!

Today, we waited only a bit and then saw the Chief of Staff, Dr. Dvaric.  While we waited, the kids were given adorable plush buddies. 

All I said was, "Levi show me how much you like your new buddy" and I got this picture.  :-)

From there we were off to see our friend Brock who custom creates Violet's prosthetics.  He is just the best.  Love him.  He is fantastic with kids.  Violet's foot has changed in shape a bit and her prosthetic was no longer fitting correctly.  So, she's getting a whole new one!  It will have a different kind of mechanism.  She's excited to pick a new exterior pattern.  Imagine wearing the same pair of pants and shoe every day for two years...you would be excited to get a new thing to wear, too! 

Levi was curious, but did not want to get "casted" today.  The process literally starts like if you break your leg...they wrap the limb up, let it dry, then cut it off and use that as the template to create the prosthetic.  Levi was not really understanding that we wanted to make one for his hand.  He shook his head politely no.  The only way it was going to happen was if we held him down.  Brock thought it better to wait for a future visit to create his prosthetic when he had more acquired language...I agreed.  We don't want him to be traumatized by Shriner's visits.  We want him to love his prosthetic, after all.  But here's the weird thing...as soon as he saw that Violet got to have hers cut off by a MACHINE he was all over it. 

"Can Levi do, please?"  I'm serious.  And so he was casted.  And even though his arm was so straight and tiny that we could cut the cast off easily with scissors, he was "treated" to the big MACHINE where they cut the cast off.  He loved it (and told his older brothers with charades and a big grin later).

 Levi will initially be using a prosthetic that looks like a hook.  He isn't old enough to have the attention span to learn how to manipulate the more complicated prosthetic that looks more like a hand.  We hope he will be ready for that before kindergarten.  In the meantime, this should allow him to do some simple tasks, like holding paper (necessary for cutting) and swing ropes (necessary for Mom's sanity).

It takes us about half a day every time we head to Shriner's.  We'll return next week to do a fitting when the artificial limbs may or may not be done.  The downside of custom creations. ;-)

Did you know that Shriner's does all of this at no cost to patients who cannot afford to pay?  Prosthetics are pricey...like $10,000 and up so this is such a blessing!  They literally help people all over the world.  They travel and set up clinics, have hospitals across the globe, and fly people to the States all to help children.  So refreshing to see things working for the good these days, right?

Is everything about Shriner's perfect?  Nah.  Is anything?  But my goodness...look what they're attempting to do!  We are nothing but thankful!

Levi Update

Oh my goodness!  This little boy is learning so much so quickly!  We continue to be thrilled to have him in our family.  He is speaking over 100 words and understands many others.  This doesn’t mean that we always understand each other, though.  J  He loves to tell elaborate stories with comical mixes of English, Mandarin and charades.  We all melt when he wraps his little arms around us, gives a kiss and says, “I luba you.”  When we say, “I love you too, Levi” he responds, “Yeah!  Good job!”  Apparently, he’s getting lots of affirmation around here. ;-)

He can do so many things independently…like put on shoes and clothes.  I am always amazed at how well kids with limb differences compensate.  When he did the fire pole at the playground one handed we knew he is definitely Violet’s little brother. ;-)

He does the best with routine since that is all he has known.  Sadly, with a family this big and with ages this extended, our schedule changes a bit more often than we (or he) would like.  For example, last week the big boys had regular school schedule Monday and Tuesday and then no school on Wednesday followed by half days on Thursday and Friday.  He was so confused he cried.  Poor little man.  We use pictorial cues and clues when we can, plus the English and charades that work…but sometimes it just can’t be helped and he gets surprised by what has to happen.

He LOVES music.  He’s got quite the repertoire…from Say Geronimo to Give Me Oil in my Lamp.  He sings them all with gusto, all his Hebrew h’s thrown in, and a good healthy dose of Chinese opera, too.  His favorite song is 10,000 Reasons. The last time I took him to the grocery store he sang, “Bless the Lord oh my soul” quite confidently.down.every.aisle.

Speaking of the grocery store, I never noticed that the deli counter announces over the loudspeaker when every order is ready for pick up.  Levi did.  And every time the automated voice would say, “Ticket #whatever, your order is ready for pick up.  Thank you.”  Levi would politely answer, “You’re welcome.”  

This kid reminds us of Gabe in many ways.  He is quite the ham and can be very silly.  He also has a very tender heart.  If he misbehaves, it can sometimes take a few moments to explain what was incorrect…but once he realizes it, he is truly sorry and his little eyes can get all teary.  They fill to the very tip top and sometimes one lone tear slides down his cheek as he apologizes.  Of course, we are quick to love on him…there’s so much for him to learn that I’m sure it must feel quite overwhelming to him.

Speaking of learning, we are working on quick obedience.  Sometimes he is tempted to do what he wants first and then obey.  The tricky part with a language barrier is that for the first couple of months, the child doesn’t understand you (plus you’re concentrating on forming a relationship and connecting).  Now that we’re two months into having him home and we know he can understand enough to at least stop when we say certain words, we are concentrating on it.  

We have entered the hardest phase of adoption…we think.  Out of country travel and jet lag are hard.  The first two months are hard for so many reasons, too.  However, there are so many things to discover about each other that it’s very much an adventure.  The next 4-6ish months are where we begin to focus more on how we behave in a family, weeding out orphanage habits and instilling new, positive ones.  It is slow, tedious work at times.  So much like God working on our hearts!  The newly adopted child can be resistant to change just like we are with God.  Familiar is comfortable.  Safe.  This will also be the time we anticipate the other children in our home to be tempted to feel frustrated.  It’s funny the first time your little brother takes your bass to play it.  It’s not so funny the 50^th time it happens. So if you think of our family, pray for us.  Between this normal weeding and growing time, it will be the holidays.  You know what that means…crazy schedules and loads of sugar!  

 We have started the process for Levi to be evaluated by our town for services in their special ed preschool.  It’s a fantastic program that combines kids with special needs with peer mentors from the neighborhood.  If accepted, Levi will receive ot, pt, and speech therapy all in one place.  Those would be so helpful for him!  We’ll see what happens…