Five Days Home

It's hard to believe we have only been home with Jackson for five days. I feel like he has always been here with us.
This little boy is amazing! He seems to be adjusting well. Some quick tidbits about JJ and our first days home......

**He is happy as can be during the day. He plays with toys, loves playing with his big sister, and can't get enough of our dog.


**Each day he becomes more and more comfortable with us and we see a little more of his personality. Today we heard playful screaming and little chants..."dada, dada, lala, lala" while he plays that we have never heard before.
**Today was the first day, I noticed he had no problem going from room to room without me being close to him. He ran all over the house today.
**Today he also loved the bath! I wish I had my camera with me to catch his splashing and playing. This is a huge turnaround from the terrified screams of the first bath and the others where KJ had to get in with him and quickly lather him up. So, we could get him out as quick as possible.
I think a lot of Gracie demonstrating and showing him things are all okay is helping out huge.
** He has the most infectious belly laugh that can be brought on by tickles or tosses in the air.
**He is quick to get used to something he is unsure of. For example, the chair we have at the table for eating and the car seat. He did not like being placed in either of these at first but, now it doesn't even phase him. He even pulls on his chair at the table and requests to be put in there. He loves to eat.


**He is now best buds with our dog. The first day we brought him home he was scared of him. But, that didn't last long. He finds him very funny and loves to pet him, grab him, scream at him...anything to make him move. He then mimics him, crawling on the floor or running around. I even caught JJ throwing his snacks on the floor purposely so our dog would lick them off the floor. JJ mimicked this too...laid down flat on his stomach and licked the snacks right off the floor. Of course, I quickly put a stop to this but, not before I got a really good laugh out of it.


**Again, he loves to eat and snack...all day...all the time. At his first pediatrician appt on Monday, he was 96th percentile for height and 20th percentile for weight... Cute little peanut!
**He will try anything we put in front of him. The only thing we've found that he doesn't like so far is scrambled eggs. We are mixing a lot of staples that he is used to (rice, dried seaweed, fruit, korean snacks) in with every meal but, he has no problem trying everything.
**He knows his name Jackson and "no no", of course. He can express himself and his wants very well with some pointing and a little "eh eh".
**He is busy and FAST. He often runs as fast as can across our floors and occasionally wipes out but, nothing phases him. One time he came running as fast as he could into the kitchen, tripped and hit the floor hard. He slid belly first across the floor, whimpered a bit, came in for a quick hug and then was off again.
**He's like this with a lot of things I expect him to cry about. Today, at the ped, he flinched but, didn't full out cry when he got a shot.
**He still wakes up quite a bit at night but, the past two nights he has needed very little consoling to go back to sleep. In his pre-flight report, his FM noted he wakes up twice a night and needs a bottle to fall back asleep. So, I don't think he's ever slept through the night. We'll get there one day but, are in no hurry....little adjustments here and there. (again only 5 days home but, he feels like he's been a part of us forever)


We know Jackson's Foster family loved every inch of this little boy and took such good care of him. This and his fantastic personality have everything to do with why he smiles and laughs so much. I will be forever grateful to them and continue to pray for them and their kind hearts every night.