Krassi after one year home

Krassi really deserves a really great, long, detailed post about how he's doing after being home for a year. (90% of life: Pleven. 10%: Home. We'll keep nudging those numbers in our favor, day by day!) But although I have many photos I'm collecting, and things I want to say, I didn't get it up yesterday for the big one-year-at-home anniversary, so instead I'll throw just a few things out there that we notice about Krassimir after having him with us for a year.

1) There's a whole lot more life in those eyes than there used to be!

 A selection of photos from our first visit with Krassimir in March, 2013

And, in all fairness, there were moments like this in that first visit, too...where you got a little glimpse into who was waiting inside that shell, but these moments were fleeting.

A selection of photos from our pick up trip in October, 2013

There's a smile, but there's something just not there about his eyes.

And here are a few photos from recent weeks.

These two are really funny to watch together. They pick on (and at) each other, and seem to enjoy getting into each other's personal space!

Playing silly hand games with Reuben (bang the table, slap hands).

 2) Krassimir is a lot stronger (and also heavier) than he was a year ago!

This is how we remember Krassi sitting on the couch in October, 2013. We could prop him up there and leave him there and he pretty much wouldn't move.

This is how Krassi takes on the couch in October, 2014. Once again, he doesn't need heavy supervision anymore, as he did for many months, but it's not because he doesn't move. Rather, it's because he's starting to gain some sense of it being important to not fall off the couch (this is not a perfect skill yet, by any means, but it's developing), AND also is beginning to learn that getting down safely requires putting your feet down first.

A week or so ago he and I were able to "ride" on Reuben's little bike. If I held his feet on the pedals, and periodically put his hands back on the handles, he now has [just] enough core strength to be able to stay [mostly] on the seat and hold his body up while his feet are pedaling. This is not something I would have tried even a few months ago with him.

And, although we don't have an "official" weight on him, we know that he weighed 22 pounds at 8 years old, 29 pounds at pick up (9 year, 4 months), and according to our bathroom scale, is now weighing in around 37 pounds. But we didn't need a scale to tell us that - he just feels heavier than he did not so long ago, and you can see it - he's got muscles in his legs that you couldn't see before, and, as Matt announced while changing a diaper a few weeks ago, "He's got buns!"

3) Krassi's a whole lot more opinionated than he was a year ago.

There aren't really photos to illustrate this, but  little man here has decided that when he doesn't like something, it's worth telling us about it. Sometimes we can figure it out and fix it, sometimes we can figure it out and won't fix it. (No, Krassi, you can't play with that plastic bag. No, Krassi, you can't take that toy away from 'Vania. No, Krassi, you can't play on the bathroom floor.) Sometimes we still just can't figure it out. And although I've commented before on how he will whimper and whine about things, I've noticed a change in it - almost as though he has a sense of both entitlement (I deserve better than this) and that voicing his issues will result in a change in circumstances. He seems to recognize that it's worthwhile to make his feelings known.

On the other side, he's a lot freer with the "happy" emotions as well. Two nights ago after getting the littler kids in bed I asked him if he wanted to take a bath. I wish I'd had a camera to capture the brightness that flashed across his face, and his smile as he started pulling himself toward the bathroom! Tonight after supper while he was still in his chair waiting for Daddy to brush his teeth (a part of the day when he typically complains), I passed him the empty ketchup bottle, and he was happy as could be in that chair for close to 15 minutes banging that thing around! It's so much fun to hear him giggling from the other room (even though I usually know that means I've got to check on what he's getting into, because it's usually something he's not supposed to do!) But I love that "stinker" side of him. It's just so very human, and so different from the little boy who we first met a year and a half ago who had other more pressing issues to deal with (like surviving) than seeing if he could sneak in some time splashing in the cats' water dish. ;)

~~~

I told Matt the other day that it's hard to believe a whole year has gone by already, largely because there was so much more I wanted to do for him, and be for him. A whole year? And this is as far as we've come? So many times I feel like I hardly know this boy at all yet!

So it's good to look back and see the changes that have happened, and the ways we're getting to know each other more and more, and to remember that it's all forward from here - he's not ever going back to Pleven, and each day we have is a chance for us to build one more day together as a family until someday, hopefully, the days we have together will greatly outnumber the days we spent apart.

Every day when we wake up, I give that boy a hug and tell him how very glad we are that he is here and that he is part of our family.