Joy in the Journey: July 2012

Two months ago today, we became a family with Jack! Jack has been doing amazingly well with his adjustment, and Bryan and I both have noticed how he seems so much happier with us now. :) It's amazing how time can really change things.
This month, Jack experienced his first cold, stomach bug, and hand, foot, and mouth disease. Poor little guy has seen the doctor several times now and been a trouper every time. Despite the sickness, Jack is still sleeping well. He goes down about 10pm and then up around 8am (sometimes even later). But now the first thing Jack does when he wakes up is sing! It is such a sweet sound to wake up to each morning! Bryan and I had still been sleeping in his room, until last night. We spent our first night in our bed in two months and it was great! Jack slept through the night just fine, but of course, we had our fake "body" under the covers in the bed in his nursery. So, we will see how he does once that is out of the room. ;) So far though, this is working for us pretty well.
Jack is still eating pretty good too. He is even trying a few veggies! He is off his bottle now and likes drinking his milk before bed. He still likes his walks and bath time. He still loves singing and cuddling his stuffed animals. His new love is playing in the pool and sprinkler. And he also gets so excited and does a little happy dance when I get his shoes out to go somewhere.
He still isn't talking much. Well, he talks, it's just not English. :) But I'm starting to try not to worry about it as much. He seems to understand a lot of what we are saying, so I feel that is the most important thing at this point. He still doesn't call us Mommy/Daddy or any variation yet. He says, "Da Da" a lot, but he isn't consistently using the right way. His latest words are "Hi," "Cracker," "Thank You," "Poop," and "No, No!" but he says it, "I" "Ka Ka" "Aaan Gu" "Poopa" and "Na, Na!" :) He still uses sign language and can gesture some, like high five, blow kisses, and pound it (fist bump). ;) He can also point to his belly button, nose, ear, and mouth. He hasn't quite got the eye part yet. ;)
We've had a lot of stuff going on this month too. Jack's Grandma came to Charleston for a week to help out and we loved every minute of it, especially Mommy! We had our first social worker visit and that went well. We only have two more and then we can finalize our adoption! We also just got back from our first trip to Georgia and he did great! It was a five hour drive, and he slept for one hour and was pretty content just seeing the sights on the way there. He got to meet and spend time with the family, and Mommy and Daddy even got to go on a date to see the Batman movie! That made Daddy very happy! We also celebrated his half birthday while we were there, since we didn't get to be with him on his first birthday. I made him a Tow Mater cake. Mommy and Daddy nicknamed him that after we got his referral. ;)
So, anyway, this month has still had it's ups and downs, but we are definitely growing stronger as a family. Our love for Jack grows more and more everyday and we just can't wait to see what the next months brings! Here are some highlights from the past month...