Everything is continuing to go well. The kids seem to like playing in the water, and as soon as the pool gets fixed at Melody Lake, we will be out there.
They are continuing to test boundaries, which kind of wears on us after a while, but we know that the work we do now will make it easier later. Today for the first time, they resisted bedtime, even though this is the latest we let them stay up (we watched Toy Story, which ended at 10:30).
They are continuing to have possession issues, especially with each other’s stuff. I had talked to our social worker at CHI about it earlier, and how we were considering putting them in separate bedrooms sooner rather than later. She urged us to keep things the way they are now, and explained that while they may be acting like typical kids and typical siblings, there is the added layer of their orphanage existence, and not ever having had possessions of their own before. They don’t understand the concept of something being Aman’s only, or Serawit’s only, versus both of theirs. They don’t understand that it is not going to be taken away, and they will get even more. It gets more confusing when they go to someone else’s house, pick up something they like, and said person tells them they can keep it. I know, I know, your preschooler doesn’t/didn’t understand that either. The fact is, your angels probably understand/understood more than you think. With our kids, we kind of have to teach them from the infant level up. Thankfully, they are not hoarding, which is definitely a sign of problems, but because they act like regular kids, everyone wants to treat them like regular kids – we find ourselves doing the same thing. The stuff they fight over the most are what they have gotten from other people – especially the stuff one will pick up at another’s house and then are told they can take it. My wonderful well-meaning friends and family simply have to stop doing that for right now. Eventually, you will have ample opportunity to spoil them rotten and send them back. Please let us work with them for a little while first.
Another thing we were hoping to wait on was taking yucky medications. Serawit unfortunately has a rather nasty case of ringworm, meaning 6 weeks of daily oral medication that tastes absolutely gross. Yesterday was the first day and we had to give it to her three times before she would actually swallow it and not spit it up. Tonight was better. We had lots of tears and crying, but she took it. Poor baby.
We are getting more of a routine down pat, and we are having fun trying different foods and drinks, figuring out what they like and don’t like. We’ve been to a few restaurants, and every server has been happy to help us in our exploration. Aman is the most adventurous eater, however, usually after seeing Aman eating something and liking it, Serawit will decide she likes it too.
Still having fun!