Breakthroughs

SJ has had several breakthroughs withing the past 3 days.

-She comes to me and says "shuma" every time to go potty. No more accidents!

-She let Papaw get her out of her carseat at church and carry her in.

-She climbed in Mamaw's lap and sat for a while.

-She will be in a different room than me without crying. She knows I'm nearby and will come back.

-She walked to Missy and lifted her arms to be picked up. Missy has some weird voodoo Kid Magic that they love her instantly, it worked on SJ!

-She played with the other kids in the church nursery on Wed. I stayed in there, but she was running around playing and quite proud of herself.

-I have learned to manage the tantrums. I ignore it for about 5 minutes, then distract her and she's willing to move on.

-She fell asleep in her bed without Mama there holding her hand. I waited 30 mins and she was still singing and playing. I said goodnight and she fell asleep without crying, on her own. We thought it would be months before she was able to do that!

It's been an adventure learning to parent a non-English-speaking tantrum-prone adorable girl. Some definite challenges, but not nearly as difficult as I had thought it would be. I do have a nasty muscle pull in my upper back from carrying my 25 lb bundle of love. A good excuse to ask for back rubs from Super Daddy!

B is doing well too. He expressed some feelings of jealousy. We're making the effort to include him in all things and continue having special time with him. B is learning how to be a great Big Brother, we're all learning. He's such a verbal kid, we're glad he's telling us his feelings so readily, it could be much worse.

Thanks be to God for our wonderful kids!