It's been a busy two weeks, and sometimes difficult, as were some of the flights, but we are home! Internet access was sketchy in certain places during our trip and my blog was restricted so I wasn't able to post. Here we are though and I've added more.
We have found that Kai tends to have long meltdowns and also tends to have other behavioral concerns. We are confident that with a consistent, loving, stable home and family he will do very well. They were expected, and afterall, what could one expect with a child who is deaf, has no language skills, no training to help him communicate and caregivers that gave into him so he wouldn't have meltdowns. We will get through it, with His guidance and help!
We've also found that he knows how to break the cables on part of his hearing processor and are trying to figure out a way to protect them so he can't break them. I've just ordered two more, but for now he is without his device. He could simply be one of those kids that won't wear them willingly, but again, we will give it every effort because based on our experience in China, he can hear something, all be it very limited.
Here is a pic from last night when we got home when he inspected his new home:
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Sept 5th - Life at home
Well things continue to improve with Kai, which is great! Our family continues to bond and we continue to learn from each other. It is not without issues/meltdowns but we are getting there. His meltdowns are much shorter than they were in China and when we first arrived home, and he is learning the aspects of sharing, being a little brother, being kind to others and more sign language. He is a big helper too! He picks up his dishes and puts them in the sink, he helps with laundry and so on. It's really pretty cute. We've also seen a very silly side of him come out this week. Ru is also adjusting to being a big sister, again not without some meltdowns of her own (when Kai trashes her projects... and other frustrating sibling stuff) but we are all learning from each other and how things need to work.
We've also learned that Kai has more significant balance and sensory issues than originally reported. We are now in the process of looking for a single level home in town to rent long term and we think we have already found one. The condo we are in now is multi-level and he is having a great deal of difficulty on the stairs, and with his other issues, we really need to be closer to Doctors and town in general. We love it on the mountain but Kai comes first and Ru and I are both fine with the move. The house we are currently looking at is a single story ranch style with a nice big fenced in back yard with fruit trees in it. It is also in a nice family neighborhood, which is great! The kitchen needs to be redone but the new property owner is also a friend and will be re-doing the kitchen next year sometime. I will just give the old wood cabinets a quick coat of paint to make it look nicer for now. It also needs some landscaping but that is something I love to do and will remedy in the spring. We are hoping this house really works out - she is closing on the house in Sept and we should be able to move in October sometime, after they make some repairs and add security locks for little man. I've attached a few pics of the house and the kids messing around in it with our new landlord. Pray the house works out!
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September 9th - Well we've been home about two weeks now and things are improving. We continue to bond as a family, which is great! When we brought Ru back to school earlier this week he didn't want her to go. It was very sweet. Kai's tantrums are also decreasing and becoming shorter in duration, and his overall behavior is improving. He continues to learn sign as well and gets really excited when we watch his signing videos. He's still not ready for a full social schedule yet, but he's doing pretty good. We really want to head back to church but he still won't sit through service that long without an issue, but we are hoping we can soon.
I took a couple of pics of the kids playing with a toy and with the dog. It's funny, when Kai first met the dog he was very afraid - can't say as I blame him as the dog is a bit crazy... But within a couple of days things started to ease and now he won't go to sleep without him - so cute!
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Sept 12th - Ru gets the first award of the school!! She missed the first two weeks of school because of the trip, and was able to complete three weeks worth of school work in less than one week! They also announced that she was getting the award for being a good big sister and learning sign language so she could communicate with Kai, and all of her effort in that. The award is for Committment! I'm such a proud mom!
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September 18th - Life is good and we are so blessed!!! Kai is doing great, only three weeks home and he is doing great! He is smiling and laughing more everyday and we all continue to grow as a family and enjoy each other as such. He continues to learn sign and loves trying to help do things like in the kitchen and with laundry - too cute!! He hasn't seen much of time out at all this week, which is a sure sign his behavior is turning around. While we still have some things to work on and his patience level is still a bit short, we are getting there. We also need to work on his perception that everything is his own personal property (common with kids from orphanages who had nothing), but we are making great progress overall.
Things continue to move forward with our rental house as well. The closing is set for the end of this month or early next month. We expect to be able to move mid to end of October. We are very excited and are anxious to get settled again. This will be a very long term home for us at this stage of our lives and we look forward to His peace in our new home. We have been blessed to have it here and we pray His grace provides it for us in our new home as well. Ru can't wait for the big back yard and I suspect Kai will enjoy it just as much!
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Sept 23rd - Hi all! Things continue to get better on the home front. We find out Monday if Kai's Cochlear implant is actually working, or if it has the potential to and just needs re-mapped (reprogramed). If he is gaining no benefit from it at all, we will simply take the external components off and use sign, which is what I planned on doing anyway. He is very vocal so I have no doubt that with speech therapy he will learn to speak on some level. I will update the blog next week when we know. We also start all of the preliminary evaluations next week to see what he will need overall. We are praying for the best.
Ru is doing great as well. She is looking forward to the trip to the zoo on Monday when we are done with Doctor's appointments, and so am I. She and I love the zoo and we are sure Kai will too. His reaction to animals in this area - horses, cows, deer, moose - is just amazing. Ru is a great big sister too and even though Kai can be a typical little brother she does really well with him.
Here are the sweet faces that I love! Ru took the picture of herself and the dog. Not bad at all...
Blessing All!
