1 Monthsary!!

I cannot believe it was 4 weeks ago this evening (late, late tonight- technically around midnight) that we came home from our life-changing trip to China. We've had Milo in our lives for nearly 6 weeks. WOW!!! I've decided to try to chronicle how Milo has changed since we met him & the personality he's revealed to us over these weeks. He is a complex little man!

This is Matt's favorite picture of meeting Milo- he was not at all happy with our arrangement!!!

 Milo was really not happy about being thrust into this crazy man's arms!

A few minutes later, he's stopped crying & started half-heartedly checking us out.

We noticed right away that Milo was quite a hot-box! We assumed it had a lot to do with the fact that he was dressed in essentially a winter outfit (that striped shirt was a very heavy cotton!), while the room was easily nearly the 80 degree mark. We have since found out that Milo deals with stress by raising his body temperature. A lot. Seriously, that boy can make himself sweat profusely on an ice cap. It's his tell-tale sign that he's upset when you feel his little head getting hot.

He did not speak or babble when we first got him. To my knowledge, he has never said anything in Chinese in our presence. One of the orphanage workers mentioned that he understood a lot of Chinese words, though she never mentioned anything about his speaking. He is starting to try very hard to communicate with us. Of course, he said "Da Da" first (darn it!), but he is just now starting to associate it with Matt. Unfortunately, he also uses "Da Da" for "dog-dog." He will occasionally say "Ma Ma" but not too often (I hear it the most when he's upset about something). Just within the past week or so, he's begun to point. He points to things and looks to me for the words. So we spend a lot of time walking around naming items, people, and places.

Thankfully & frustratingly, he understands "No." That's not to say he abides by it!! And he's rarely pleased to hear it! Since he held out on walking for a while, we were honestly beginning to think he just may be an "easy" baby. ;) NOPE! He seems to relish tormenting the dog the most! He has surprisingly good aim when he throws things, which he does a LOT of toward the dog. When we first got home, Lexie (the dog) was really liking Milo because he likes to share his food with her. Then he started throwing stuff at her, so now it's a love/hate relationship.

Milo is a very happy boy overall. He gets so proud of himself for things, and he always sticks his tongue out! I love it! (I really need to get a picture of that!) He's not the steadiest of walkers yet, so when he gets to his destination without falling, he gets thrilled!

Matt has mentioned to me a couple of times that he doesn't even notice Milo's missing arm any more. I still notice it, but I'm very aware that it doesn't slow him down one bit. Our social worker had mentioned something during one of our conversations that stuck with me- she said there would be times that we may feel as though we're just babysitting this child. Slowly, she said, the babysitting feel would subside. I have to admit, there are times I do feel this way. Days when I count down from nap time to bed time, knowing that I've finally made it through one more day. Please don't get me wrong- there isn't one minute of one day that I don't love Milo with all my heart. I'm still getting used to his personality and our new daily routine. This summer has been such an incredible gift for our family, with both Matt & me at home to bond non-stop with our son. Whenever I'm having an "off" day, Matt is there to take over & let me decompress. (Love that man!!) I will be a bit sad when this incredible summer ends.... Thankfully I don't have to think about it for a while!!