Two Months Home

It's been two months since Eli was placed in my arms, and it's been a whirlwind. If you saw my post last month, you many have spent the month worried about my mental health, and I am happy to say that although I am still very much in the trenches of this mothering thing, at least we're smiling at the end of two months.

The first big change is that Rose is starting to adapt to Eli's presence in the house. Instead of hitting him hundreds of times a day, she's down to a few, usually right after their naps when she's grumpy, or when he has taken something from her. She also likes to pinch him when they're sitting in the stroller together, but I feel like what we've got now is normal sibling behavior and not attempted murder.

When I first approached Ed about adopting again, it was because I felt strongly that Rose needed a buddy down at the end of the family, and while Eli is much more than just Rose's little buddy, I am happy to see that relationship emerging as well. Whenever she wakes up in the morning, she always goes looking for "Ly-ly" and if I'm not quick enough she'll often wake him up. Their favorite time of day is definitely "twin tickle time" when I lay them side-by-side on the floor and tickle them until they're out of breath. Then do it again and again until my hands fell like they'll fall off.

We've moved into a stage where I don't feel like I'm quick enough to manage them, but it doesn't feel like our world is imploding, either. This afternoon, the house was quiet for five minutes, so I enjoyed watching Sherlock while I folded laundry, and the reward for that solitude was a whole bottle of shampoo poured onto Eli's head and all of the bath toys, with the remainder dumped into the entire roll of toilet paper they unrolled. We had to fix our pantry door because they were getting in there multiple times a day and spilling food. Emptying the dishwasher while they're both grabbing things out and throwing them onto the floor feels like a challenge right out of The Amazing Race.

Eli doesn't seem to be gaining weight and growing big like Rose did last year, but it's always hard for me to tell since I'm with him day to day, and he didn't have as much to make up for as Rose did. He's a good eater, and he's sleeping well once we finally get him to sleep, but the bedtime routine can take anywhere from five minutes (if someone else is putting him to bed) to an hour and a freaking half (if I'm the one in there). He still isn't at the point where he can go to bed without someone in the room with him. Maybe by next month....

Eli had his first appointment at the Shriner's Hospital a week after we got home, and he's now on his fifth and final cast (blue, kelly green, purple, orange, lime green) for his club foot. He's also had a tendon release procedure. In two weeks, he'll trade in his cast for a brace, and he'll be able to resume his favorite pastime, taking a bath. We're waiting to hear when he'll go in for the first of his four hand surgeries-- we're hoping it happens soon.

So all in all, things are going well. Life is slowly returning to normal. And we are so delighted to have this little guy in our lives.