Yes, it is our joy filled boy's joy filled day, well, should be anyway. Today our little Ammon turns FOUR YEARS OLD! In all reality he really missed all of 3 year old development so his developmental age is more like turning 3 today. But its his special day none the less but we had to cancel his party at school and our family dinner, cake and festivities at the McDonald's playplace tonight. Our boy is sick. He has a barking cough and and continually dripping nose. He has finally gone to sleep for a much needed nap. His birthday is rescheduled for Tuesday. We still plan to attend the CNY party so keep fingers crossed we can.
Our Ammon is the greatest kid! He is not even 10% the same child we brought home. I was talking with Connie Er, our guide in Guangzhou over the weekend and she about choked when I ended the call and told her that Ammon had been in my lap the whole phone conversation as she hadn't heard a peep out of him. He was drawing circles on page after page of paper and as content as a clam in rich warm mud. The change in his behavior since the change in his medication has been astounding. Ammon is such a GOOD BOY! We have been tremendously blessed to have him part of our family.
He has developed a very special bond with his 18 year old sister Makayla and she him. She runs through the door after school calling for him and he breaks out into a huge grin when he sees his Lala. He constantly has bright lipstick all over his face where his sister can't keep from kissing him. It has been really good for Makayla to have this little brother. She adores him and I'm so glad we have given her this blessing too.
There are still many, many things that Ammon can't do that he "should" be doing. Of hand these are some of the things:
He cannot:
Put on socks, even get them past his toes
Take a shirt off or on if his life depended on it
Talk....while he has learned about 10 new words in the 2 months since coming home, my other children his age adopted from China had about 200 words by now.
Play appropriately with little friends his age or play with toys. He is clueless about both but making progress.
But these are the things that he can now do that he couldn't do two months ago when we got home. He can:
Ride a trike
Jump with two feet off the ground
Hold a fork (still can't eat with it but can now hold it)
Put on snow boots by himself!
Focus
Let us know what he would like to eat by pointing in the fridge to exactly what he wants. Hot dogs and eggs are his current favorites
Put his toothbrush in his mouth and try to brush
Sit in his carseat and allow us to buckle it without trying to get out
Give kisses!
Refrain from standing/climbing on mom
Keep spit in his mouth instead of spewing it on others
Clean up his toys
SIT IN HIS CHAIR FOR ALL OF CIRCLE TIME AT SCHOOL (This is like a miracle to me if only you had seen him two months ago!)
He has always been able to light up the room with his grin and his giggle and he can still do this. He can fold washcloths perfectly and feed a baby a bottle like a pro.
We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our boy and can't imagine living life without him. HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY OUR BEAUTIFUL BOY!
