Living in the Land of Gates

Well we have been back in the US for a week now and have been home since Tuesday night.   We are all adjusting.  Shaun does great wit the girls and Stephen.  They love playing together and we are seeing his behavior when with them improve greatly.

Bed time is another story.  This child does not need much sleep.  He can get by with a short or no nap most days and can stay up until 10 or 11 if he wants to.  If you put him to bed he throws a major fit, banging the head etc.   He some times wants to be held, other times just wants us in the room near him, figuring out what he wants is half the battle, getting him to go to sleep is the other half.  

Last night I fell asleep rocking him and he climbed down and began playing in his room.  He stayed up until about 10:30 when Aaron and his friends from college came in the house.  The kids were so loud I thought he will never go to sleep. Within a few minutes he was out and never moved.   Noise does not seem to be a problem and may actually be soothing to him.

Back to the title.  We feel like we are in training for a hurdle race.  We are constantly having to step over gates to get around the house.   The front stairs are gated, the back stairs are gated, the foyer is gated and then there is the floating gate that is used to keep him in or out of any specific area of the house.  We have had to start keeping our bedroom door closed all the time as he gets into everything in there, I guess we have a bit more child proofing to do.  This child is so busy and so curious and if one of us can not be near by to keep an eye on him the gates come into play.  Amazing how much one little 2 year old can change your routine and home.

Shaun loves being outside but apparently had not been on grass.  Last night we went out to play on the swing set and he cried any time his feet touched the grass.    Today he went to a picnic with us and did much better on grass and this afternoon he actually played out there while we planted our garden.   I am guessing I will have to fence off the garden as he has already tried getting in there to help me.

This afternoon we gave him his birthday gift that was too large to take to China.  The girls loved playing with his cars and garage more than he did.  The all had fun. Shaun loved playing with the box.

All in all it has been a great week.  Shaun has met all 3 of his brothers, his 3 sisters and his sister-in-law.  He also met second brothers girl friend and two good friends from college and he has done wonderfully with everyone.    He is smiling a lot and happy most of the time.   Eating is getting to normal which is a good thing.

We feel blessed to have Shaun as part of our family.  There are trying and stressful times none the less but we will get through those.

Tomorrow will be his first time in church.  We will see how that goes.  I have a feeling that one of us will be sitting out in the commons watching on a TV.

I have added a photo montage at the top of the web site for your viewing pleasure, it will show you highlights from the entire trip.

Have a great week.