Another post-placement done!

Can you believe we have just completed post-placement number 2! I don't know where the last 3 months has gone. Tiffany was gone for 6 weeks this summer so we had a lot of one on one time with Brian. He has grown so much more comfortable with our family. I think him having all the attention for a few weeks really helped. He did miss Tiffany though. He would often ask when she was coming back. We actually went to pick her up in West Virginia. Brian did great with meeting the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. He wasn't shy one bit. He talked to them on the phone often so he recognized who they were by their voices and of course the pictures we had been showing him. Brian did great traveling in a car for 2 days up to West Virginia and then another day up to Pennsylvania. Coming back was a little different. Tiffany was with us and he didn't have the back seat all to himself. He also got carsick several times but luckily was able to tell us so we could pull over. We now carry plastic bags in the car for traveling over 30 minutes!

We believe Brian still has not yet gotten comfortable knowing that he will have food the next day. He tends to eat alot still. We will finish up a meal and about 30 minutes later, he wants to eat again. He also always wants to have something to drink. We just took him for his 6 month check up. The peditrician tested him for juvenile diabetes but thankfully that came back negative. She said he is just a growing boy. He is healthy and seems to be progessing normally. Brian is still wetting the bed though. He goes through spurts where he will be dry for a week and then all of a sudden wet the bed again for several days. The doc gave us some info on bedwetting alarms and they also gave us some medicine. We are only going to give him the medicine if he sleeps somewhere other than at home. I would rather wake up every morning at 2 a.m. and take him to the bathroom than put him on medicine. We will see what works best.

Brian has started to talk about his life in Colombia. His first outing was at home in West Virginia. We were all sitting around the fireplace with the lights out just enjoying each others company. All of a sudden, Brian starts talking about a scary time in Colombia in the dark with a man and a knife. We were shocked. We didn't get any information on Brian except that his mother neglected him. We were also told that the father wasn't in the picture. I am happy that he feels comfortable enough to share his thoughts with us. Not everything he tells us is bad. He did say his room had only a bed and no toys and a little bit of clothes but that he missed his room. He also has asked if his mother would be coming to Texas to see him. He also will occassionally mention his brother but has not talked about his sisters. We take each situation as they come. He isn't showing any signs of anger, resentment or withdrawl so for right now, we just listen. There may be a point in time that he may need a psychologist to talk to and we will certainly get him any help he may need. As for everything else, we are doing great.

Tiffany started 7th grade and Brian started 1st grade. Tiff is having a hard time adjusting to 7th grade though. Everything is not spoon fed like it has been and she actually has to take her own notes and be responsible for knowing when tests are and homework is due. It is a bit of a change from 6th grade. Brian is doing great. He has learning many words in English. Sometimes it is still hard to understand what he is saying but we work through it. I am very proud of both my kids.


Here is Brian on his first day of 1st grade. He was ready 30 minutes before we had to leave and kept telling me to come on that I was too slow. He was really excited to get to see his friends again.
Brian is playing soccer. He is on the Earthquakes. Learning to play as a team has turned out to be the hardest thing for him. Actually, all the kids are having this issue. They all want to kick it in the goal. Their coach is doing great with teaching them how to pass though.
Can you tell who the family clown is? We always have to take several pictures before getting one that is "good." Brian thinks it's funny to make faces or pick on his sister when taking pictures. We were trying to get this pic for our last post-placement and he was making sure it wasn't going to happen.