Jumping

Yep, Daniel jumped - both feet off the ground. Look out world.

Other recent highlights in the Life of Daniel:

• says: ball, dog, & door while pointing at aforementioned objects (without prompting)
• knows that a sheep says "baa baa" and will share that important information when asked
• is NOT afraid of very large cats (aka: tigers)
• has two new bottom teeth erupting
• can swim 5-7 feet underwater and still come up smiling
• does a beautiful backfloat (while wearing arm floaties)
• jumps off the diving board

I'm sure there's more, but perhaps I'm going a bit overboard with the achievements. But, I figure, I missed out on the first half of his life accomplishements, so I can share my joy in watching his growth and development for a while.

In not so great news, I'm finding myself rather frustrated at a lot of things, and rather worried about how they will turn out. School starts in a week & a half and I'm greatly concerned about Daniel's transition into this. He has extreme separation anxiety at the moment, and is terrified of me leaving him. Yes, I know its kind of normal for this age, but the whole issue is greatly compounded by the fact that I haven't had a whole lot of time to build trust and that he's been "returned" or "rejected" a number of times in his life. And that's hard. How can he know that I'll come back and truly get it? Its not the pattern he's known. Oh, and no one seems to understand the added adoption/fostering attachment issue. That doesn't help.

Secondly, I still don't have a housemate. That's bad news. No one to share the rent or the bills. And the rent was raised when I re-signed the lease, so I'm paying 140% MORE rent now than I was two months ago. Plus, you know, the expenses of a small child. Sigh. Please pray for a housemate or two.

Finally, my other big stressor is the fact that I still know nothing about the adoption process or what I need to be doing. I did find out that DS*WD (government child welfare agency) is fussed that agencies are using the foster-to-adopt program. Apparently they think agencies are using it to make adoption easier. Um, hello? Why is this a problem? It was made completely legal last year.

I don't get it.

A Month Into It

Ok, I've been at this parenting thing for a month now, and I'm a pretty big fan so far. Yes, it's hard (as any of you parents already know, duh), and yes there have been a whole lot of challenges, but overall, my life has been changed for the better, for sure.

Daniel keeps me laughing most of his awake hours. He has two funny faces he does upon request to entertain the crowds. Yesterday he did a rain dance before bed. This week he's been trying his hardest to jump (still hasn't made both feet off the ground). More and more, he's copying everything I do, from facial expressions to tones I use (not actually talking much). He says (verbally) "hot" all the time, using that particular adjective for anything that is cold, bright, soft...and sometimes things that are ACTUALLY hot!

Two weeks ago we went to the beach, and this weekend we're headed to the beach again (definite perk of living here and having a summer break). Daniel doesn't mind the sand at all (even on his watermelon), and after a few unfortunate incidents, learned to shut his eyes when going under water in the ocean. Yep, pretty sure he'll be a diver as soon as he's old enough!

Last week I started putting him on the toilet when he wakes up and after meals. Its pretty exciting (yes, it HAS come to this) to report that he really "gets it" - pretty much every time I put him on, he actually poos in the potty! In fact, yesterday, after dinner, he went into the bathroom on his own. We're spending some quality time in there with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and (in slightly unrelated news), Daniel is starting to point at things in books, actually acknowledging the pictures.

So, those are just a few highlights from the past month. Challenges have included some biting & hitting , and recently, screeching. I'm so NOT a fan of the screeching - it really makes me cringe every time. Definitely working on eliminating that. I've found its definitely harder to spend time at other's houses, especially those without small children. It's just exhausting chasing him around, making sure he's not breaking something or messing something up. My hang-out time in the evenings is much shorter, as bedtime is generally about 7pm for Daniel. We can push it a bit later, but the results aren't always so great.

BUT, even with the challenges, I think I could get used to this! Please pray with me for the next steps in the process of making this a permanent thing. I don't even know what the steps are at this point, but I'll update the blog with them as I figure stuff out. It hasn't taken long to fall in love with this little boy, and I am just pleading with God that we can be a family forever.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Must See Video

An update from me is coming soon, but for now:
I came across this video today. I don't know anything about the organization, but I am beginning to be aware of how desperate the need is for adoption all over the world.

Hope is Fading from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.

The First Week

Well, so far, so good. Mostly good, anyway. I picked Daniel up last Thursday morning, which in itself was fairly anti-climactic, but a good feeling nonetheless. We headed home for a quick lunch stop, then headed back to the car to take Heather to the airport, stopping for lunch along the way. We spent the majority of the day in the car, as traffic was atrocious.

Since then, we've tried to get out of the house for a bit every day so far. He loves the car, so going anywhere is easy. I'm trying to work on his sleeping schedule and the short bits in the car allow him to not be so crabby while eliminating the morning nap. Today was the first time (I think) we've stayed home all morning and he didn't nap. The afternoon nap was nearly three hours. Wahoo! Now if only he'd sleep past 4:45 am for tomorrow morning!

There are some really cool things happening already. He has learned to sit and look at books, which is quite amazing because a week ago, I couldn't get him to sit thru one page. Now we can read two or three before he's done.

Although he isn't very verbal yet (his words are "mama" and "Zeke" [the dog]), he's REALLY picking up sign language. "More" is his most frequent sign, but he's learning that the signs for eat & drink are actually different. He's working on "banana", "please", and "thank you" at the moment. Today he actually used two signs together - "more food"! I'm not sure it was intentional, but it was very cool.

He's starting to clean up his toys to "help mama". He's not always entirely agreeable to the idea, but more now than a few days ago. We've eliminated his bottle altogether and he hasn't seemed to mind at all. He cuddles all the time, and will make a kissing sound, "mah", and even blow kisses.

Really, its pretty cool being his mom!

Part of God's Answer...

I sent out an email to our Filipino missionary group explaining my need for an apartment or room to rent. Within 10 minutes, I had two responses that might actually work!

One is with a family in Riverside, which is an ideal location because its still reasonably close by and I know the house. The house is huge and the room has an on-suite bathroom. After the initial response, I emailed back and explained my situation, that I'd really only be there part time, etc etc. Oh, and that I have an 18 month old.

The response was that they think I would fit in well! They are an expat couple new to the Philippines with three small children (ages 3 and under). I'm planning to meet them sometime in the next few days. You can continue praying that it would work well, and that the price would be right.

Unexpected Timing

The email I received today:

Here is the latest.

We were just informed that Daniel's certification for adoption is cleared.

This means that he is now to be presented at Local adoption and then hopefully, forwarded on to international adoption.

We will be submitting a case study that indicates he is in a foster home and there is already substantial bonding with the foster mother. We will also state that the foster mother has expressed interest in pursing adoption.

We are not out of the woods as you know DSWD has all the power and control (other than God).

Minet [the GH social worker] thinks that you will need to [actually] move because of your makati address and DSWD will indeed do a home visit for an adoption.

I am quite surprised with the timing of all this. we didn't expect daniel's paperwork to get finished.

our case is fairly strong but we still need to pray and convince them that the reasons for adoptions are strong.

does that make sense?

So, what do you need to pray for?

~ That I can find a room or apartment to rent ASAP, and possibly (hopefully) still keep my house.
~ That DSWD sees and understands the bond and matches Daniel with ME, not with another family.
~ For my heart, as this is the BIG step, and I need to be clearly hearing God on his plan for both Daniel and me.

Oh, this is big. Real big. And I covet your prayers right now.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

On April 20th, I got the message that my foster license was signed and released, making me an official foster parent. I was told that I had to be "matched" with a child (um, with DANIEL, hello!!) before I was officially HIS foster parent. Most people get their license first, you know, and then get a child. Our situation happened to be just a little different.

Well, I was told the matching would be completed by the end of the next week. The end of the week came...no match. As of yesterday, it was more than 2 weeks. Apparently the office was "behind", and there was nothing to do but wait. And pray. So I prayed.

This morning I got a text from Charity that I am officially matched with Daniel as a foster parent. Wahoo! Praise God, and thanks for praying for this step!

Now to start looking at the adoption process...