Beyond Terrible Two's

For any of you that know us well you know that the past 15 months have been a bit of a roller coaster ride.     We received Shaun 4 days before his second birthday, just in time to receive the full benefit of the terrible twos.  Add to that a dad with a messed up wrist and three surgeries, plus all the day to day things that go with having a large family, it has been a bit of a rush.


I am so thankful that God made it abundantly clear to us that Shaun was the child for us on the day we received his referral.  We had a peace that surpassed understanding about him.  That really helped on those difficult days over the past year.  We feared many days that the terrible twos would become the trying threes.


Shaun is a wonderful little guy and we have all grown to love him so much.  However for the first year he was with us he was angry and destructive a lot of the time.   He would break things and throw tantrums.  His vocabulary was limited and adjustment was hard.   Our house had gates restricting him from getting to the girls rooms, from the TV and entertainment center etc.  It has been an obstacle course around here. But then around the time he turned 3 it was almost like we flipped a switch.   He became so loving, began talking all the time, stopped being destructive.    He loves everyone in the family but is really a daddy's boy.   He is smart, and likes to understand how things work.    He now loves to talk and can easily communicate his needs.  So as we progress gates are coming down and life is slowly returning to the new normal.


We are thankful for these improvements and are so thankful that he is part of our family.   Adoption is never easy, it begins with loss.  The loss of a child for the biological parents.  The loss of parents for a child.  Then just when the child thinks things are settling down along come new parents that don't look like them, don't smell like them and talk so funny.  And these new people upset everything and take the child to a new strange place.  Friends are now lost, food is different, language is different, everything is different!   So children react in different ways and some are like Shaun some worse.   Thankfully most of the time they do adjust, some faster than others.  We are thankful that the terrible twos seem to have stopped for us.


We are thankful that this phase of adjustment is over and that Shaun has made so much progress. 

We are also thankful for all the ways we have been blessed through adoption and are thankful that all of our children have adjusted and are as much a part of our family as anyone.   With healing comes new growth and some times the new part is stronger than what was there before.  

Well that is my ramblings for today.   Stay tuned for more.  Lots happening around, a wedding in the works, lots of family coming in, school starting back up, lots of work stuff, life happens.