Things are trucking along as always here. The winter hasn't been as bad this year so we've been able to get out and about. We registered Van for a couple of Ottawa recreation classes as we've been trying to figure out what his likes and dislikes are as far as activities go. He doesn't really show a lot of interest in much other than his movies and Thomas the Tank Engine episodes. He also really loves the train table we got him for xmas. So we decided to test the waters on a few classes, skating and gymnastics. Well skating was a complete bust! He really struggles taking instruction when there is any distraction at all and if it is something that requires focus then it is pretty much a no go. Skating involved one of us holding him up (to the detriment of our backs lol) while he flailed his legs about. Sadly the instructor lost interest in him after the first class because he would not listen to her at all. Patience and perseverance is the name of the game when attempting to teach skills to any toddler but this is especially true with our little guy. He is also as stubborn as all get out so he was going to try and get up his way or no way lol. Eeep...sufficed to say skating will have to wait for another couple of years. Gymnastics has been slightly more successful as he can attempt things without much focus. He definitely struggles with any of the group activities and is pretty much in his own, overstimulated, world which involves a lot of looking around in a slightly agitated way. Once we move on to the individual circuit though he seems to calm and be able to focus a bit better. Apparently he is very strong according to the instructor and she has even suggested rock climbing! Hmmm, he's not a fan of heights so I'm not sure about that one lol. Plus he's only 32 months old...Anyway, we'll keep trying and I'm sure eventually he'll find his niche. The search for patient instructors is also part of the picture. Any suggestions or recommendations would be most welcome.
February was interesting and fun as a friend of mine from the UK came to stay with us for 10 days. The interesting part was that she brought her 3 1/2 year old son Dillon. We figured we'd get an idea of how Van will be with a little brother in the house (of course Dillon is older but still). The result was not too bad at all. He can be a little aggressive with other kids (pinching and scratching mostly) and he didn't disappoint with Dillon around in his space. But he adjusted very well. One thing we did realize is that our little man needs his down time to decompress from life and the stimulus it brings. For awhile now we have been allowing him to watch a favourite show or part of a movie once he gets back from daycare. He truly needs this time to zone out and relax. It has made a big difference for him. We didn't realize how much he needed it until Dillon was here. A bouncy 3 1/2 year old who's been waiting all day to play with his buddy Van was a little overwhelming for said Van. We realized after a couple of days we'd have to make poor Dillon wait until after dinner to play. Van just needed his time to decompress. Dillon was a real trooper and so understanding. The sweetest kid. After getting Van back to his routine the aggression subsided substantially. All things to think about when we get our second!!
On that note, our dossier is now in Korea!! It was sent over at the beginning of February. That means that technically the referral could come at any time! Wow! We've heard of families getting referrals within 2 weeks of the dossier being in Korea. The matching process there is very specific and they work hard to match the children with waiting families. They base the match on different factors including physical appearance. So the wait could be days or months. One thing is pretty certain though, our son (small chance daughter) has already been born! The matching happens when the children are over a year old. As the wait time for referral doesn't usually go past 8 months it stands to reason that we are already parents for a second time! The thought blows my mind...again... We are very excited about Van being a big brother. He loves to help any way he can so I can imagine he'll get a real kick out of helping with his little sibling :) We are pretty nervous too though as we have our routines here down to a fine science lol. It will be tough at first to juggle the needs of the second with the needs of Van. We'll figure it out though. Many families before and many families after have and will.
Anyway, here are a few pics from the last couple of months (only meant to upload a couple but when you only blog every 2 months...):
Tet celebration put on by the Vietnamese Embassy:
Tet celebration put on by Samantha, Woody, Max and Vanh:
Fun with Dillon:
Claire and Dillon...and Chibi:
Buds for life :)
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