1 Week Home!

WOW- a week! Already? In one sense it has flown, and in another...not so much. :) We are absolutley loving getting to know Landon more and more, and watching him learn and blossom! Each day there are so many new things he learns, which just makes us so happy! Here are some things he has learned since coming home! My goal is to try to keep a list for each week so that someday I can reference back to..."when did he learn that?." My list is not all-inclusive- it's just way too hard to write it all down, but here's what I have compiled:

Words/Phrases he responds to:

"Where's Mommy?" /Daddy/Mickey Mouse/Dakota (to each of these, he will point or go looking for...)
"Where's Daddy's eyes" / "Where's Daddy's nose?"
"Come here"
"Lay Down"
"Up"
Give Mommy(or Daddy) a Kiss (SO CUTE!!!...complete with the mmmmwwwhhhhaaa sound!)

Words he has said, or is trying to say"
"Dakota"
"Bella" (Greg's parent's dog)
Ah-Oo (Russian word for  "#2".... yes, we are potty training!)
MaMa
Dad
Poppop
Mickey Mouse
Goofy

All in all, Landon is adjusting very nicely! We are super impressed. He did have his roughest day yesterday, but it was just because he wasn't feeling good. He even had a fever at one point. He is cutting two bottom canine teeth, and I am sick, so he may be catching something from me, plus, he did just fly (like we did) which means he could have ear pain...like I do. Who knows- maybe a combo of all three. But, today, he is feeling much better, and is back to playing more, and being his silly self.

Just a special sidenote to to all of our friends and familly who haven't yet met Landon: thank you for your patience! These first few weeks home are extra crucial for his bonding time with us. We are trying to make sure we only introduce him to 3 or 4 people at one time, and only maybe one set of new people a day. The past two days have been a nice reprieve from visitors. We are super excited to share him with everyone, but we don't want anything to hinder his further bonding to us. We aren't concerned that he won't bond to us, per say, but (for those of you who are reading this, and are not adoptive parents...) we are more concerned that he could bond to anyone. When kids come from orphanages, they are used to depending on anyone and everyone to meet their needs. We are trying to re- train Landon to know that the two of us are his mom and dad (i.e.- primary care takers) and that our relationship with him is unlike anyone else's. We appreciate everyone's support in this regard. I just wanted to kind of explain why we have been so protective of that. I had intended on blogging about this before we had left for our 3rd trip, but everything just happened so fast, especially since preparing for Landon's arrival coincided with Christmas preparation. 

Well, here are some more pictures of some of the fun we have been having since we have come home!!!

Believe it or not, this is a real ceramic mug- with (decaf) green tea in it! We are witnessing what we have read on other blogs- our boy must have been a tea drinker!

Our strong boy still likes to vaccuum, despite daddy's pleading to play "catch" with him instead.

Landon holding Daddy's hand walking through what is now left of the snow in the backyard.

...and shoveling what is not there anymore!

And, last, but not least, my new favorite picture!!!

I am hoping that in my next post, I can share some Airport arrival pictures, and even a video!!