Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Day 24: New Beginning

Today's visit with Jacob was the first time we saw him after becoming his Mama and Daddy. It felt different...even Jacob seemed to sense the difference. There was a relief and a letting down of out guard. We could just enjoy him without worrying that something would go wrong and the judge would rule against us.

Today was also the last day that Brad will see Jacob in Ukraine. The next time Jacob will see his Daddy will be in The U.S. Brad left tonight and is traveling by overnight train to Kiev. He will fill out an embassy form tomorrow and will then fly out on Friday morning. It was hard for all of us to say goodbye. Jacob didn't understand and I hope he will adjust well to just me going to visit him each day.

Today was one of the best days we have had with Jacob to date. He pulled out all the stops today...I like to think that he wanted his Daddy to see all the things he can do before he left. He was much more engaging with us and kept hugging Brad really tight. He explored all around the room and even opened storage cabinets under the coffee table and climbed in. He normally does not notice much of the environment, partly because one of the side effects of the medication he is on is light sensitivity. (We understand now why he keeps his eyes closed a lot in the bright room.)


He pulled out the wet wipes I keep in a ziplock bag and pulled them all out and handed too me. I would refill it and give it back and he would pull them all out an hand them to me again. This was HUGE for Jacob to interact with me like that. He even recognized me as someone who could help him and handed me the bag when he couldn't get it unzipped. Up until this point he only relied on his own ability and then gave up if it was too difficult.


He was talking more today too. I thought he was done with his snack and put it on top of the coat cabinet and he pulled up on the cabinet next to me and yelled, "Mama!" Like "come on Mama, get with the program, why are you putting that away when I clearly wasn't done with it!" :)

The icing on the cake though was Jacob's first English word. "more"
We taught him to say it is sign language when we are feeding him his snack and today after Brad said, "say more," Jacob up and said it! Forgot this signing stuff...our boy is itching to talk. :)




By the end of the visit he was wiped out and laid down and rested until the nanny came and said it was time to go. He had worked hard today.

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

Love all the pictures of him in action!

Anthony and Sharon said...

A Wall kid's first English word having something to do with getting more food? He is SO your child!! HA!