Saturday, February 23, 2008

Fun and Interesting Things About Caleb




Pictures: Caleb being silly for the camera
Thanks again guys for the encouragement and for not telling me I'm acting like a baby. At least if someone who hasn't adopted yet reads this and then experiences it themselves later, they'll know they are normal. We did get Caleb's passport on Friday and his tiny little face is so cute. Dima called the embassy and was told there is still a chance we can actually get the visa the same day (Monday) so not to let go of my ticket for Tuesday yet. The scary thing is I can't get my airline agent to email me back to see if she got Caleb added for the same flight. Just please keep praying.

No matter what happens I'll get to talk to Lin on Monday night and figure out a way to see her so that is something to look forward to. And I'll be home in less than a week whichever way it works out. And God is still here in Ukraine, too.

Now to Caleb: He likes to help me around the apartment here. When I make the bed, he has to get his little hands in there and pull on the comforter and pat it. When I move the coffee table so I can vacuum the black and white zebra-striped rug (!!!), he helps carry it. He loves to get hold of the dish cloth and wash table, chair, even floor if I'm not paying attention. He gets a folded up piece of paper and sweeps crumbs with it. And he loves to pick up 'guck' which can be anything from a booger to a piece of lint to a crumb of bread. A couple of times he has thrown his guck in the bowl I'm eating out of!

We added a new food to the short list of things he eats: oranges! I was so surprised. He can't handle all the fibery stuff but really enjoyed the juicy part of the fruit. So maybe that will be something I can take on the plane, too. I always offer him whatever is on my plate and he always says 'neh' so I couldn't believe it when I got a 'da' instead. Yeah, a source of vitamin C!

He does not cry when he falls, or whacks his head--not even when he has fallen out of bed. Once when he knocked his face on the coffee table I thought he was going to cry but it was more like a sharp intake of breath but no cry. He did make a noise when he got his fingers pinched in the drawer tonight and he has a sound that lets me know he's stuck somewhere but not really crying. The only time he has cried was when I washed his hair and he also fusses when I wash his back and bottom (he still insists on standing in the tub so to get to his back and bottom I have to move him away from the edge a little bit so he probably feels less secure) Well, a time or so he has got a real sad look on his face out of the blue and had tears coming out of his eyes but that wasn't due to a fall--I'm guessing he's remembering Vorzel.

He wakes up so sweetly in the mornings. We haven't had any early morning schedule so we just sleep until we wake up. He's been awake first most mornings and is just sitting in the bed making cute little baby noises or this morning was laying there kicking me with his feet (OK, so the kicking wasn't particularly sweet but he wasn't squalling or screaming.) One morning he was looking into my face. Monday we have to leave at 8 am so that might be a different story.

He usually sucks his thumb when he's falling asleep or if he's trying to get back to sleep in the night. I think it's adorable. I never see him suck his thumb otherwise. (Now pick his nose is another story . . .)

He sits in a regular chair while I feed him and doesn't climb out and run all over the place. I found out tonight that he takes real liquidy things better with a bigger spoon than with the baby spoon.

He feels likes he's somewhere between 18 months and 2 yrs. When I play with him and talk to him and look at him and watch him playing on his own, I think of him as being around 2. He loves to open and shut drawers, open and shut cupboard doors, say 'no.' I am actually starting to remember signs and songs and fingerplays, some of which I haven't thought of in years. We've done 'Wheels on the Bus,' '5 Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree,' '5 Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed,' 'Where is Thumbkin,' '3 Little Kittens,' 'Eensy, Weensy Spider' and of course 'This Little Piggy went to Market.' (Sorry, I cannot make the quotation marks work on this computer.)

I wish I knew Ukrainian/Russian kiddo rhymes/songs because there are times I know Caleb is saying them just by the way he'll be dancing his toy around and the sing-song of his voice and even the rhyme of some of the phrases. So cute but I can't reinforce because I don't know the words.

In case anyone is into diapers, he is peeing AND pooping.

OK, you get the point--he's a keeper.

4 comments:

liesel said...

Oh my goodness, Joy! Caleb sounds so wonderful!!!

amyl4 said...

Oh, Caleb sounds like so much fun!!What a big helper!:)
I can't wait to see pictures!Amy

Shelley said...

Oh Joy, Caleb sounds like such a doll! I can't wait to see lots and lots of pictures! I'm glad he's adjusting well. We will keep our fingers crossed that you get his visa on Monday.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Do we ever serve a great God! And can our ladies pray or what? (I'm sure all the guys at Men's Retreat this weekend are in prayer, too.) We will continue to hold you and Caleb in our prayers that everything will work out just right for you to come home on Tuesday, and we will see you on Wed. (he has to have time with his new family first)

Can't wait to finally meet this adorable little man, and to get to know him.

Love ya!
Carol