First and foremost, let me apologize for my lack of updates. I know I've been asked by many for an update on how Jackson is doing. He is really well and this is my reasoning for the lack of posts. We have been busy with end of the school year stuff for Gracie and getting out and about enjoying the weather and the start of the summer.
Jackson has adjusted so nicely!~ We are so incredibly lucky to have him home with us. He brings us so many smiles! Our house is so busy in a wonderful way. KJ and I joke that if Jackson is not sleeping, he is running. He is a very busy boy who likes to laugh, scream, run and explore everything!
He is now not only understanding his name but most of what we say to him. He has already started to say some words too including.... "eat" (along with the sign), "Hi" and "Bye Bye" (while waving), "Ru Ru" (when calling our dog Rudy), "hello" (with his hand up to his ear after the phone rings). He shakes his head "no no", specifically when his about to touch or do something that would require a "no no". He gives "high fives". He breaks into a little tushy shake and sways anytime he hears music, including the wind chimes outside. He signs "all done" to get out of his chair after eating and gets better everyday at expressing what he wants.
Yesterday, we taught him how to play hide-n-seek with Gracie. It's really cute. Grace will run and hide while Jackson and I wait. I then say to him "Where's Gracie".. He puts his hands out and opens his mouth wide while saying something that sounds like "where", then runs to look for her. He points and laughs so hard when he finds her. She then gives him a big hug and smile when they find each other....love it!
We had our first post-placement visit with our SW last Thursday. It was very relaxed and casual. She stayed about two hours and just observed Jackson and our interaction with him. She took notes and asked questions about his development. We have three more visits with her in the next six months as we work towards finalization. At this meeting, we gave her a note to pass along to the FosterFamily along with some pictures we've taken. We now hope to start communicating with them more and keeping them updated as Jackson grows. I also hope to now be able to check in with them, thank them a hundred times over again, and get some answers as to some of Jackson's firsts. We only got one update during our wait but, were lucky enough to get a ton of pictures from the foster family. I am really curious as to when he started walking.
We also concluded Jackson's blood tests and lab work for his first ped visit on Thursday.
As for sleeping, we are doing much better with the crying out. Although, Jackson still wakes up at least twice a night, he usually just wants a bottle and then goes back to sleep. We don't see any of the screaming or, terrors with confusion, that we saw in the first few days home. I know I've been asked why we aren't weaning him off the bottle. This is not our top priority right now and will come in time. It brings him comfort so, we are sticking with it for awhile. We will eventually help teach him to self soothe which will hopefully, get us all some sleep increments of more than three hours... :). But for now and probably for sometime, we are okay with this. We are just so happy , he is happy!
Some pics taken since we've been home..
Playing....
We didn't know Jackson's personality, his likes or dislikes, his amazing infectious laugh, his sweet smile, his loving hug, his general love for all things new, or that he was the most wonderful little man in the world at that time. But, we did know he was our son and we fell instantly in love with his picture and the information we received about him. It's hard now to believe it has been one year since that special day and that Jackson has only been home with us for a short time. But, now that we are all home together we can't imagine life any other way.
