Picture Update

This summer we went to Williamsburg, VA for our family vacation. We all had a wonderful time!

 First Day of School
Cathryn is 3rd
Caroline is 5th
Calvin is Pre K

 Calvin's new obsession is Spiderman as you can tell by his lunch bag and sweatshirt. He is requesting a Super Hero Birthday Party in May. He invites everyone he meets to his birthday, which he doesn't understand is a ways away. Calvin goes to school from 8-3 and is very tired at the end of the day, we have also seen some sensory seeking behaviors as he was nervous at school.

Celebrating 2 years

Two years today we drove to Dobrich from Varna with our translator in a yellow taxi. She picked us up after breakfast. I still remember thinking 'what have we gotten ourselves into?' I had butterflies in my stomach and was more nervous than the first time we met Calvin (5 months before hand). I turned to Chris in the cab and asked him if he was nervous, he said he wasn't. I then started praying and God brought certain verses to my mind about his faithfulness. Once we got to the orphanage, I was feeling calmer. We walked in and were directed first to the Director's office. She asked if we had any questions and mentioned Calvin had fallen and lost his tooth and that he had some scar tissue on his neck that could be surgically removed if  need be. We asked for any photos they had of him as a baby but they said they couldn't give us any. I am still very sad that we don't have anything of Calvin as a baby.
Pick up day was very exhausting for all of us. Poor little guy didn't get to bed until about 10pm once we flew from Varna to Sophia that same day.
All of this to say, I remember this day as if it was yesterday. We are so blessed by this little guy. God has been so good to us. We are far from being perfect but Calvin is so resilient. We have another appointment in a couple of weeks in Ann Arbor to check his heart and to make sure he is doing well on his medications. You would never know he was a heart patient unless you saw his scars.
Calvin didn't really understand the celebration last year, but this year he sure did. He kept hugging and kissing us saying we brought him home and we are the best mom and dad. He was excited to eat chocolate cake and swim in our new pool we had installed today.
Our son has come so far in his development he is now completely dry at night, not wearing diapers anymore. He is so proud of himself. He isn't falling as much, and is learning to hop on one leg. He is being more adventurous in the water, now jumping in and putting his face in. I am hoping with our new pool he will improve in his swimming. Starting in the fall he will begin Young 5's program. He will be going to school all day. He will still be getting OT and PT at school. They are thinking he will only need 1 more year of services. This summer we have been working on his writing (fine motor skills). I notice improvement each time.  Sorry for the long post, signing off with a photo from todays celebration.

Calvin is 5

 Calvin wanted a Thomas the Train party. We invited family and he was blessed with trains, tracks, bathing suit and toy for outside. He was so excited to play with his trains.

This week Calvin is being tested for Kindergarden. He has also been approved for one more year of physical and occupational therapy through the school system. He finished preschool the first week of May so we have been working on writing his letters, his name, doing puzzles on his tummy and a few other fine motor skills. He is showing some progress with his hand writing finally.

Baby Girl is 8

 Gymnastics cake for my baby girl. Happy 8th!

Her love is gymnastics. She is such a spunky girl with a tender heart. So blessed!

fine motor activities

 Calvin cutting

 We put glue on his hands and then he got to peel it off

 put food coloring in baking soda, he loved to watch it fizz (great fine motor skill activity if you use an eye dropper)

 Valentine's Card for his teacher. We used a toilet paper roll and put it in paint to make the hearts

Cornstarch and water makes this oobleck. Calvin loved this too. It is a solid in the bowl then turns into a liquid when you lift it up. As you can see the girls enjoyed playing with it too.

Fine Motor Skills

Easter eggs filled with  a chocolate chip. This is great for Calvin because he has to squeeze the eggs to open them to get his reward. To move onto the next egg with chocolate in it he also has to close the egg. He did awesome with this today and enjoyed it with no tears.

Another fine motor skill activity I found on Pinterest is matching the upper case letters with their lower case letter. I cut out a cardboard circle and labeled the outside with uppercase letters. I then hot clued the lower case letters onto cloth pins and he has to squeeze the cloth pins and match up the 'mommy letter with the baby letter'. Calvin know all his uppercase letters but not his lower case letters so this helps him learn them and works his fingers.

We had parent conferences at his school yesterday and his teacher said he need to work on his lower case letters and recognizing his teens (11-20). She also said she thought he would be ready for Kindergarten in the fall as long as we keep working with him at home and during the summer. His OT said he has shown improvement since Xmas (because I have been working with him at home in the afternoons after nap time). His scissor cutting is getting better ( still some tears when he has to cut) and he usually has tears when we work on lacing cards. I did buy the preschool curriculum for Calvin called Handwriting without Tears. When he doesn't have school on Fridays this is what he works on while I homeschool my older girls.

Meeting our son for the first time....

 February 2011 Bulgaria

He was so tiny and just ate pretzels, drank the bottle of water we gave him and wanted to run up and down the hallway. We tried playing blocks with him (not interested) and tried reading to him (not really interested). The best Valentine's Day, meeting our son. He was 3 months shy of turning 3 years old here. What a handsome little guy. Love you son!

Busy January

 Ice cream cake made by Cakesforamustang.com . Was so delicious.

 My oldest turned 10 last week. She is so beautiful inside and out. Here she is with her new teapot and teacups from my mom. Each year my mom gives the girls a piece of their tea set. I received my first tea set when I got married. We are British so yes we do tea time!

Since January, our middle child has been competing for gymnastics. This past weekend she had a meet. Here are the kids goofing around afterwards.

Christmas

 Christmas in Alabama...we got to go iceskating, bowling, zoo lights and swimming.

 Calvin's 2nd Christmas with us. He loves Thomas the Train. Here he is with his conductor hat, and his trains Christmas morning. Our eldest is in her new robe!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2013.