Scootin' Along {Sunday Snapshot}

Nikon D90
ISO 100, f2.8, SS 1/320

I don't know why this picture speaks to me so much.
But I love it.
It's just so...  Milo.
The scooter isn't the easiest thing for him to use - he loses balance easily since he can only hold on with his one arm.
But don't for a minute think that stops him. Ever.
He always figures out a way.
I love watching him learn something new.
He is so driven, focused.
He is a survivor.
It's what saved him in China.
It's why he was so loved in the orphanage.
And it's what makes him shine now, and will serve him so well later in life.
He does not, will not quit.

I've been thinking about how adoption has affected our family and our friends lately. 

At this point in our journey, for me at least, it is virtually identical to the feelings I had after Xandra was born.

I cannot remember our lives without our son.

Well... I can. But I don't want to.

An update on Milo's progress in speech:
We've transitioned out of the Help Me Grow program in our county (we hit a plateau with the current speech therapist, and decided to leave the program a little early).
We started moving Milo into the local school system.
He was reassessed on his speech, and the therapist told us he is just ever so slightly below average.
She actually told us that he is so close to "normal" that it was a real toss-up over whether she should qualify him or not.
But she, as with most people we meet, fell in love with him & really wanted to spend more time with him.
He's a charmer.
During this process, we met with multiple people (gotta love all the red tape).
Almost all of them were shocked that Milo did not qualify for physical or occupational therapy.
One woman in particular was just amazed with Milo's abilities - especially when he showed her how he could wash his hand by himself.
I think we blew her mind when we showed her the video of him peeling an orange by himself.
We decided not to send him to the school system's preschool.
We have thought about this decision well over a month.
Ultimately, though, we decided that his current daycare is exactly where he needs to be.
They love him there; we're not just familiar with his teachers, they are our friends.
I am so happy we have this decision behind us.

Now.... On with summer!!!

I'm linking up with Sunday Snapshot.
Click the link below to check out the wonderful
Stefanie (@ Ni Hao Y'all) & other great blogs!

Dance Baby Dance!

Milo & Xandra have a new pre-bedtime ritual, outside of our normal bedtime routine. They request the Gotcha Video (I say "they" even though Milo isn't really saying anything- I can tell he loves it). Every. Single. Night.

The best part: as soon as the 2nd song comes on (Selena Gomez's "Who Says"), Milo starts to boogie!

Not much happening over here during these "dog-days of summer." Milo's doing pretty well with daycare. He loves catching glimpses of Xandra- when I picked him up today, he didn't even notice I'd walked in because he happened to see Xandra on the playground & was pounding the window to get her attention. Once he is with his sister & me, he struts around the daycare like he owns the place! 

The next month or so are going to be very busy for our family. Aside from both Xandra and I starting school at the end of the month, Milo's got a ton of appointments. We'll be seeing the rehab specialist(s) at our local Children's Hospital. I'm kind of looking forward to it, though I'm not sure why. We've already pretty much decided we're not going to get him a prosthetic. I figure he can ask for one when he wants it- until then, he seems to be doing just fine with what he's got. :)

Daycare

Milo has started daycare (yep.. on his birthday). I took him last Wednesday for a quick visit- we only stayed for an hour. He was rather nervous at first, but seemed to loosen up after a little bit. He didn't really participate with the class and kept looking for me every couple of minutes. Matt took him in again the next day. They stayed for a couple of hours before Matt brought him home again. Then Friday, Matt took him & left him for about an hour. The teachers at our daycare are the best- they knew I was nervous, so they sent me a picture to calm me:

We decided we would take him for another couple of partial days before we try a full day. While I'm sure he will be okay... I'm not sure I will be. I went through this with Xandra too. I think this may be one of the hardest parts of parenting- so far!

I got a couple more pictures from the teachers again today to put me at ease:

Odds & Ends

The kids' favorite video is Milo's Gotcha Day. Our original video is a little over 30 minutes long. I condensed it to about 10 minutes & the kids adore watching it over & over again. They were so cute standing together watching it tonight that I had to snap a quick pic of them!! (*We were starting to get Milo ready for bed- that's why he doesn't have pants on!)

Hello?

I never do get tired of that smile!!

I know this isn't in focus, but she's just got the most angelic face!!

Xandra was telling me a story- can you tell she uses her hands to talk? :)

We finally hit the "No more pictures Mom!!!"

So not a whole lot has been going on since my last post. Yesterday was my birthday, though we didn't do much. I've hit the point where birthdays are really just another day. If it wasn't for my Facebook friends causing my phone to 'ding' every couple minutes wishing me a happy birthday, I very easily could have forgotten about it. :) My only request was to go to a thai restaurant. It's really out of the way (about a 30 minute drive from our house), so I don't get to go often & Matt's never been. It's one of my favorite places & my loving hubby offered to take me. He got a little carried away with the spice level, though he did say he'd like to go back (yea!!- he doesn't usually care for that type of food). 

Today was Milo's first visit to his new daycare. It's the same place Xandra attends & we love it there. Milo has visited his sister's classroom a number of times when we either drop her off or pick her up. But today, he visited his classroom for the first time. We stayed about an hour. He cried at first, which I expected. It is quite overwhelming for him, I know. It took him about 20 minutes or so, but he eventually got up the courage to break away from me & begin to play! He didn't really play with anyone in particular, but he did play! I think Matt will be taking him back tomorrow for another visit & Friday I plan to take him again, but actually slip out of the room for a bit to see how he does. We're planning on him starting up full-time on Monday. I wanted for him to be there for a while while Xandra was still there to help him if he needs her. Wish us luck!!!