Updating That Day (& Speech)

Sunday was probably the worst day we've had in our family of 4. Milo woke in a bad mood at 5 am & remained in a bad mood until dinner time.
It was. A. Very. Bad. Day.
A lot of screaming.
A lot of crying.
A lot of kicking.
Crying.
Hitting.
Screaming.
:'(

I'm still not 100% sure exactly what was wrong with our little guy. In my heart, I think it was multiple things. I'm almost positive there was grieving in there at least part of the day (if not all). As well as being tired.
And teething.

It wasn't until tonight, while I was horsing around with both kiddos before bed, that I finally caught a glimpse inside his mouth. He's got at least one new tooth that popped through at some point. After I got that one little look-see, he clamped down & wouldn't let me look any more. I know when we got home from China, he was working on 2 teeth at once. Xandra was like that- always popping at least 2 teeth at a time. So, just guessing... but he may have gotten another one on the other side, too. I'll keep looking every chance I get.

I must say, however, that my boy has been back for the past 2 days. :) And it's been a wonderful couple of days!

We had another speech therapy meeting yesterday. Milo likes his therapist, Miss L. But yesterday, her supervisor came with her to check on his progress. So Milo decided he'd clam up for the entire hour they were here. Grrr!! I'm not exaggerating when I say, the second I closed the door behind them after they left, he started chattering away! He even yelled "BYE!!" to them through our open front window. The little stinker!!!

Needless to say, the supervisor just took our words for how Milo is progressing. And she seems pleased. Woo! She'd like us to work on putting 2-word-sentences together. Miss L did say that most kids need to have a good 50-word vocabulary they're using pretty consistently before they begin putting 2 words together. Unfortunately, Milo just isn't there quite yet. But we'll keep working!

Also, Milo's really good at imitating. He'll usually try to repeat words you ask him to say (not always well, or distinguishable, but at least he's trying). Miss L would also like us to work on getting him to use the words he does know spontaneously, without our prompting. Hmmm. So, we're supposed to "wait him out." Ask if he wants something, and wait for him to answer before getting it. In other words, try to discourage the really annoying "pointing & grunting." :)

Is he..? How do you...?

Is he grieving?
Is he teething?
Is he getting sick?
Is he growing?
Is he tired? {YES!}
Is he being a "normal" toddler boy?

How do you know what's going through a little boy's head who has been through way too much for his very short 2 years?
How do you figure out why he's so upset, when he can't quite communicate yet?
Why is he suddenly biting his sister for no apparent reason?

Milo has been having a very hard time sleeping for the last week. He hasn't been sleeping as long at night as we're used to. He's been cutting his nap times down from 2 & 1/2 hours to a little over an hour - if we're lucky. And we've noticed the difference. OH BOY!! Have we noticed the difference.

For the 1st part of this week, I chalked most of this behavior up to the time change. The dreaded time change. And I think he's teething. Maybe. He's drooling like he's teething. But he won't let me look. And motrin has no relieving effect, like it normally does for a baby in pain.

So maybe it's not physical pain. Maybe it's emotional.

How do you help a baby through emotional pain that he should never have had in the first place?
How do you hold him when all he wants is to flail around & scream?
But if you set him down, he screams even harder?
How do you comfort him when he's so upset, you can't tell if they're tears running down his face, or sweat?

And... how do you explain this to the 5-year-old that he's attacking?

It's not all roses & sunshine when you've got a little boy whom you've loved for over a year, but only just met 6 months ago. Bringing him home was life-changing for us, but nothing in comparison to the changes he's experienced. It's an amazing soul that has the resilience to be thrown into the arms of complete strangers, who look so totally different from anything you've ever seen, smell weird, speak funny, and want to smother you with hugs & kisses. All that, and he was smiling & laughing within 48 hours. And now he actively seeks out hugs from us. What an incredible little boy.

If he needs to have a bad day (or week) to grieve all he's lost... I'll take it. For all he's given us in the past 6 months, I can handle this. :)

Or maybe we'll see a new tooth pop up in the next couple days... Who knows?