A Whole New World

Allie here. We have been home from China for just over three weeks now and Peter is growing more and more accustomed to his new world. He is snugly, playful and into everything! He is also healthy as a horse. We had his second pediatrician visit this week and all his labs came back perfect, praise God!

Peter is not speaking any words yet, but definitely understands some. He knows and responds to his name, "no," "your turn" and "come" (come here, come with Mama, come this way). Matt and I joke that his command of the English language is currently much like that of a puppy :-)

Peter's favored method of play is taking everything out -- out of bins, out of the pantry, out of cabinets. He also likes knocking things down -- mainly blocks and towers made of paper towel rolls. His happy place is in the water, any water -- pools, the bath tub, sprinklers. And, of course, he likes to do whatever Noah is doing. He loves being around his big brother.

Peter is still uncomfortable with people he does not know well approaching him and he protests physically and audibly, but not quite as dramatically as before. And he still gets overstimulated, but not quite as easily as before. It is remarkable how much more physically capable, confident and comfortable he has grown over the past five weeks!

Playing at a splash pad near our house.

Playing with blocks - his new favorite toy. Thank you, Ms. Betty and Mr. Joe!

Peter is totally warming up to his grandparents - Honey and Ozzie. Here he is with his Ozzie. I love the love in this photo! 

Three weeks!?!

I can't believe it was just three weeks ago yesterday that Peter officially joined our family. It seems like he has been with us for so much longer!

Today was our first post-placement interview with our social worker. She came to our home and spent an hour and a half talking with us and watching how we all interact as a family of four. We discussed what we did with Peter each day that we were in China and all that has gone on since we've been home. It was a very comfortable time, and our next evaluation will be just before the six-month mark.

Peter continues to delight us. He still gets quite overwhelmed if someone new approaches him, so we've hunkered down a bit to allow him more time to adjust. We have been playing a lot so that he can learn through play, investigate his world, and just plain have fun. This week he learned to stack one block on top of another, and today he learned how to stack rings on the classic stacking rings toy. He is quite curious and determined -- and let's not forget adorably hugable!

~Allie