First post-placement visit

We had our first post-placement visit with our social worker Saturday. Henry had an upset tummy, a shorter than normal nap, and was very fussy all day so we were a little concerned for how it would go. Fortunately, after some initial fussiness, he did very well. He was cruising around the furniture and even smiling at her. Then he charmed her by blowing a kiss, and that pretty much sealed the deal! Thank goodness he saved up his HUGE meltdown for a short while later as we were in the car coming home from the party supply store. Oh yeah...my kid is about to turn 1!!! We are having a Tol party for him next weekend, which is the traditional Korean 1st birthday celebration. You can learn more about it here: http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/tol/tol.cfm

I've had several people ask me about this lately, so I think I should explain that we have not adopted Henry yet. Korea allows families to finalize the adoptions in the US 6 months after receiving the child. In the meantime, however, we are required to have 3 post-placement visits with a social worker and complete monthly reports on his development/progress. At the end of 6 months we will go to a judge here and then Henry will "officially" become a Jesse!

Here are some new pictures of our little man:

Blowing kisses--the cutest thing ever!!

I took him to Barnes and Noble and let him play with the train set.

He was very excited about the books there too. Yay!

Mommy forcing some smooches upon him.

We took him to our favorite Korean restaurant for the first time and he loved the rice and Miso soup!

Doesn't he look like a man in that pose?

A Trip to Daddy's Office and......He has a head made for hats Part II

Henry has been home 2 weeks now! He is learning to trust us more and more each day. We are working hard to create a structured daily routine to help him adjust and feel secure. He has been sleeping better lately at night, though we have had a few rough nights recently. I dread those nights when he doesn't sleep well because he is an absolute cranky-pants all the next day.

He's such a silly, fun boy who loves to play. He is very close to walking--he'll take 8-10 steps by himself before plopping down. I know that there'll be no stopping him once he gets going because he is very active!

I also think it's great that he loves to go out. He seems to get bored at home and really likes when we go for a walk, a trip to the mall, etc. I'm glad about that because I like to get out and do things too. Yesterday we went to visit Daddy at his office. Henry got to play with Daddy's computer keyboard and mouse, which, I can assure you are some of his favorite things!

Doesn't he look handsome in hats?? Amazingly, there is still ONE more hat that he hasn't worn. I admittedly went a little crazy when shopping for him!

Why mealtimes require extra supervision around here

What can I say? Our poodle Rocky loves the baby for this reason only. Henry doesn't mind sharing with him one bit. By the way, Henry's first real word was "doggie." He says "mama" and "dada" but he mixes us up. "Doggie" is very much intended because he shouts it (in a slurred baby way) whenever he wakes up and sees them.

By the way, please ignore Rocky's glowing red eyes. He's not possessed....I promise.

He has a head made for hats!

The past couple of days James and I have been delighting in a new kind of baby torture (according to Henry). We love sticking hats on his cute little head!! I must say that he looks quite dashing in them. He disagrees. He will initially allow us to put them on him, but he promptly yanks them right back off. It's funny, but we actually have 3 more hats that he's never worn. Those pictures will be coming!

We have a ridiculously small little above the ground pool in our backyard that we bought just for him. We also bought a neat little baby float that has a shade over it. We decided to try it all out yesterday. At first he had this reaction:

We think that his little cry face is so cute.

Then after a bit, he felt more like this:

Not exactly happy, but at least not mad either. Perhaps after a few more tries he'll grow to love it. That's what happened with bath time---he absolutely hated it at first, but now it's one of his favorite things (though I think that eating will always be #1).
On a sad note, Henry went through a rough time Tuesday night, which was exactly 1 week from coming home. He woke up around 2:30 am crying his head off. This wasn't his usual crying. It was wild, uncontrollable screaming for about 20 minutes. He was resisting our comforting him as well. Even though he's not really talking yet, he was trying to say something over and over. It was the most horrible thing to watch him go through. This grieving is a normal (though extremely difficult) part of the process. If you think of this past week from his perspective, then it's amazing that he's done so well! Last night, our sweet boy slept through the entire night without waking once. It's the first time he's done that with us.

Fourth of July Weekend

Our little Korean-American on the 4th of July.

It's nearly been a week since Henry joined our family, but the time has really flown by! He's such a true blessing to us. We are falling more and more in love with him each day. He's still not sleeping well, but I think we are getting accustomed to a certain level of constant exhaustion. We have switched him from our bed to the Pack and Play in our bedroom. We all seem to sleep a little better that way. Eventually we will work up to him sleeping in his beautiful new crib, but we aren't going to push it for now.

Henry passed out from exhaustion.

Good news! He has decided that he loves taking a bath now! Yipee! The past 3 days he has played happily in the tub. Bathtime is no longer dreaded. However, this boy really hates diaper changes/putting on clothes. We have tried playing with him during it, but it just makes him crankier.

Henry in his cute little diapers and monster jammies.

On Sunday we went to visit some our family who had not met Henry yet. He got to meet his great-grandparents in the nursing home, his great-aunt Marcia and great-uncle Mike, his great-aunt Meemo, and his PawPaw. He charmed everyone with his cuteness, of course. He made a special bond with his PawPaw, eagerly sitting in his lap (he hasn't wanted to do that with anyone else) for quite a long time. It was so sweet to see that!

Henry with his Pawpaw and his favorite toy...a cell phone.




Well, this is all I have time for. I will, of course, continue to brag about my adorable baby....when I have time. :)

This is Henry with his new teether. It vibrates. Muy delicioso.

Finally...pictures!

Our family waiting at the airport with us...



The moment we first saw Henry through the glass...

The first time he was in our arms...

After we got home...

Bonding with Mommy in his room...

Exploring his toys...

Trying out the sippy cup...

Looking awfully cute with those big cheeks...

Knocked out after a long night...

He's here!!!

I'm going to have to cut back on my usual ramblings today because I'm fighting some serious exhaustion. Also, I only have a very small window of time before Henry wakes up.

Picking him up at the airport Tuesday night was wonderful!! It really couldn't have gone any better. He went right into my arms without tears and was just looking around at everyone for the longest time. Just before we left the airport, he began to laugh, smile, and play pat-a-cake. It was so cute!

Here are some quick things that I've learned about our new son:

He LOVES to eat! His escort told us several times that he ate a lot. Anytime he sees food he gets really, really excited.
He hates to be strapped into things (carseat, stroller, highchair).
He quickly became fascinated with the doggies and wants to play ball with Rocky all of the time.
He hates taking a bath...with a passion.
He quickly attached himself to me and won't really let me out of his sight. It's very sweet, but also sad too, because it shows how scared he is.
He really likes having his picture taken. Our family was his personal paparazzi on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and he really hammed it up!
He is having a hard time sleeping at night. He tosses, kicks, flips around, etc. most of the night. He is sleeping in our bed with us because that is the usual way families sleep in Korea. Thus, we are really not getting much sleep either. I know that he's also jet lagged, so that's a big factor too.

***Okay, this post has been on our computer for 24 hrs, and since it doesn't look like Mary is going to have time to finish it, I'm going to submit it for her.

Things have been going well. We are very tired, but very happy. We have lots of pics and video, and when we have time, we'll put them up on the blog.