A small surprise

Our boy continues to surprise us.

A bit of background - Krassi does not enjoy car rides. He's fine for little things around town, but once we get to a 40 minute or longer drive it is Not. Good.

This past weekend we took a trip a little over an hour away to a friend's hobby farm. We got some fussing out of Krassi on the way there, but to only be there for a few hours and turn around and go home past his bedtime was more than he was going to put up with, and he was letting us know it!

Imagine our surprise when we got off the interstate highway onto the highway that takes us to our house - maybe a mile from home, and on a route he takes both coming home from school in the bus and coming home from the therapy center we're at twice a week - he stopped crying, just like that!! We both thought, no way he recognizes where we are - he has such a hard time looking at things as it is, and anyway, it's dark out. But we didn't hear any more fussing, and I was watching him, and he was definitely looking out the window of the van. As we turned onto the frontage road where we live, his smile got bigger, and turned to little bits of laughter as we turned into our driveway.

I really think he recognized the familiar road and knew that we really were close to his home!

Two years followup

Here's the photo of Krassi with Daddy right before bed on the second anniversary of his arrival HOME.

I always love that boy's smile. ;)

There have been a few nights this week when Matt's been gone at bedtime, so I've taken over what's become his nightly routine with Krassimir. How indescribably precious to cradle this boy in my arms, and sing him his bedtime song ("Jesus Loves Me" modified slightly: Jesus loves you, this I know for the Bible tells me so...Krassi is weak, but Jesus is strong) and while I'm singing, our noses just inches away from each other, he's smiling the whole time, his eyes are not necessarily locked on mine, but they're not trying desperately to hide, and his hand is not trying anything to push me away or to come in between him and me.

Especially this week, getting to do this a few times, and remembering all the events of two years ago, it is such a joy to not have him fall apart sobbing before this short routine is done.

And, even better, once I'm done singing, I ask him if he's ready, and he starts giggling - he knows what comes next! I hold him over his bed and pillow, count, "One, two, three!" and *drop* him down onto the bed. Uncontrollable laughter! One more snuggle and a kiss, and he's good for the night.

A post for Reuben

Life with a child whose world revolves around a different axis than a "typical" child brings with it challenges that are hard to articulate, but at the same time makes relatively simple accomplishments major reasons for celebration.

Take last week, when Matt was busy one day laying 17 rolls of sod left over from the new house next door. Reuben had been having a rougher afternoon inside involving lots of shrieking, banging himself in the jaw, and asking for (but not really wanting) a nap. He has so very few activities that capture his interest, so I made a last-ditch effort to help him find a way to play by bringing him down to Daddy's office with some match box cars (almost every window in our house has a few match box cars lined up on the sill!) so he could watch Daddy out the window.

Not more than a few minutes later he was up in the kitchen by me telling me via his own made-up sign that he uses for "outside" that he wanted to go out. He actually sat down and put on his own shoes to get ready to go! I helped him get out the door, and as I grabbed my own shoes to help him go find Daddy, he had already gone into the garage to look for his little shovel. We walked around and found Daddy filling the wheelbarrow with compost from our compost pile to spread on top of the not-so-great soil left over from excavating around the addition.

Oh, what a happy boy! Trowel in hand, he "helped" daddy fill up that wheelbarrow, and then walked back to the opposite side of the yard to dump and spread it. Matt told me later that he worked steadily the whole time, not necessarily putting dirt where Matt wanted it, and sometimes even shoveling up what Matt had already spread, but for him to stick with a task for that duration of time, and not even one of his go-to tasks, was amazing to see.

Reuben brain thrives on cycles - simple, repeated circuits. This ended up being perfect. Fill the barrow, wheel it across the yard, dump it, spread it, repeat.

Getting to ride back to the compost pile in the wheelbarrow doesn't hurt, either!

Reuben happily worked out there with Daddy for around two hours.

Matt commented that sod on the outside is like putting in the trim on the inside of a construction project! It really makes that little area outside of his office window look finished. And to get to do this work with Reuben made for a very nice day.

I suppose it's also worth mentioning that Reuben is my only child who is not afraid to pick up worms. ;) Even Daddy doesn't really prefer to touch worms, given the choice, but Reuben isn't phased at all by it, and when he's out in the dirt, will happily pick up every one he finds.

This isn't the best photo, but if you know what you're looking for, there's the worm!

This was a few weeks ago while we were digging potatoes. He's giving that worm quite the stretch, there, but as far as we know, the worm made it.

Look what my boy can do/ Two Years Home

As we're quickly approaching two years we celebrate TODAY that it's been two years since Krassi came home, I'm doing more reflecting on how he's grown and changed.

It's funny sometimes how some of his progress seems so unnoticeable to me until someone else points it out, and then there are some things that seem like such big deals to me that may appear rather insignificant.

With that, check out what Krassi was doing a few days ago!

Can you figure out yet what he's doing that I'm so impressed with??

Check out which hand he's using to hold the cake pan insert that he loves to play with...it's his LEFT hand!

When Krassi came home, his left hand was essentially unusable - often held in a fist, and generally not an asset to him.

One of Krassi's referral photos (he was about 8 years old in this photo).

A sweet smiley one we received after we committed to adopting him (so he's about 8.5  years), but before we'd met him - but look at that left hand and arm again!

On our pick up trip...

A few weeks home...the right hand is busy working, and the left is mostly just tight.

 So, now look at him here again - he's got a good solid grip using his thumb in an appropriate way on that cylinder!! I think of the hours of time that have gone into stretching that left arm, doing reflex exercises on both hands to encourage proper grip. And that smile - I love that smile! - Krassi just eats up verbal praise. It is so easy to bring a smile to this sweet boy's face, and it's so amazing to watch how hard he will work to earn that affirmation.

 

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Looking through old photos to find a few to illustrate his old grip brought me across a few other early ones that are fresh in our minds as we celebrate this two-year milestone.

These first two were of the very first moments that we met back in March, 2013. This poor little boy was absolutely terrified.

 What a joy it was even over the course of that week to see him begin to adjust to having us around. What a difference just a few days made.

And here are a few from our pick up trip...

Krassi and Mom on the balcony of our hotel - he looks so pale and so passive in this photo.

Out on a walk stopping to eat. There's that little left-handed fist again.

Back in the hotel - what a tiny guy. I remember his thighs being no thicker than his skin and bone calves, but to see him now, he's still skinny and small and still severely underweight for his age, but there's meat on those thighs these days!

This is within days of coming home.

We took a photo of him before bed tonight, but it's still on the camera. I'll get it up within the next few days.

We're so glad this little guy's part of our family!

{here's a quick link to the update post from a year ago}

Now THAT'S devotion

If only there were more of us who were this desperate for our Bible!

(See it up there, on top of the jar just to the left of the Cheerios? It's drying after some serious repair work to the binding.)

Smart little boy got the stool all by himself, and realized he STILL wasn't tall enough, so turned around asking, "Beh, beh?" ("Help, help?")

(I have to laugh looking at a photograph of our refrigerator which is empty as high as Krassi can reach from the floor, and then crazy full above that line!)

4H

Here's another "what we're up to" post that's somewhat out of date. Last fall neighbors of ours introduced us to their local 4H club, and we decided it sounded like a good fit - relatively low impact commitment (one meeting per month), and a good reason to pursue and stick with individual interests, and to potentially explore other things we might not have reason to do otherwise.

We were also very interested in the idea of a club where many ages and thus abilities are all together in one club. Anything that's set up such that kindergarteners and high school seniors are together sounds like a good venue for someone like Krassimir to be a part of something beyond himself, beyond school or his therapy center. There aren't many opportunities for a tiny eleven year old (ten at the time), enrolled as a kindergartener, with the developmental prowess of a one year old to belong to something outside of his family or his church. We know he recognizes and enjoys familiar people, and were excited both by the chance for him to get to know other people, but also for other people to know him.

The year went quite well. Parents are usually at the club meetings, and many of the parents would make sure to stop and say hi to Krassi every month, but there were a number of the kids that did, too, as the year went on.

The culmination of the year, however, was in the month or so leading up to the county fair. Every year our club participates in the "Share the Fun" event, which is a six minute skit written and performed by the club members. Owen and Leah expressed interest, and had been busily going to twice-weekly practices to memorize the songs and dances (they did a mini version of Oklahoma!), when a few weeks before the fair, some of the older club members brainstormed a way for Krassimir to be part of the skit, too, and invited him to be part of it.

I truly do not know how much Krassi understood about any of the whole deal, but I know *I* was thrilled that they had thought about him and found a way for him to take an active role in the club's six minutes in the spotlight. Krassi got to wear a plaid farmer shirt, a straw hat (which he of course didn't wear), and ride in his wagon modified to look like a miniature covered wagon. Rose pulled him up onto the stage, and at the end, Joe and Georgia dropped the tin cans tied up in the back, flipped the "Just Married" sign, and trundled on down the ramp. Not only did Krassi receive a ribbon for participating, but the club also was awarded "Reserve Champion" (which, for those of you who, like me, know/knew nothing about 4H is essentially a second-best of show award.)

These photos of the skit aren't great because they're just screen shots from a video, but it gives you the idea...There's Krassi in the red-covered-wagon on the left just above the piano music, and Leah and Owen square dancing (pink dress/white bonnet and overalls/straw hat).

Krassi's big moment came at the end of the skit.

This year we're excited to be signing him up again, and Reuben, too. (And Owen and Leah.)

Krassimir's 4H project - hand painted note cards. (I had taken a photo of them on display, but was having issues with my camera, so had to re-take at home after the fair.)

Ha! One other fun memory from the Fair experience - as we were signing in on the day when the projects are judged and left to be displayed, not really sure what we were doing, the first thing we hear is someone saying, "Hi, Krassi!" It was one of his paras from school - not a peer, but still, how delightful to have someone know this boy, and with the four of us there, that Krassi would be the one who knew someone made me smile.

Leah designed and sewed a beautiful farm quilt. There wasn't room for them to hang it so it was all visible, but they made sure to hang it so that much of it was visible!

Leah also entered the framed drawing above her head of three birds adapted from a photograph. As a "Cloverbud" (K-2nd grade), her and Krassi's ribbons were not weighted at all - they simply received a ribbon for participating.

Owen's remote control truck with trailer and mini-car. (Again, if you don't know 4H - the projects are all judged individually, meaning they aren't judged in comparison to other projects, partly because each project can be so very different from every other project. Instead, each child is judged almost against themselves, and in their ability to dialogue intelligently with the judge about what they set out to do, how they accomplished it, and what they learned through the process. A blue ribbon is awarded to projects that show a superior level of thoroughness and understanding. Red is for an adequate job, and white essentially shows that you showed up. After each project has been given its individual ribbon, and all the kids have left, the judges discuss among themselves and in each project area select the projects that were truly outstanding compared to the others, and those are awarded an Award of Excellence, Reserve Champion, or Champion ribbon.)

Owen was awfully excited to come back to the fair on Monday and find that his "how to choose the right lawnmower" presentation board had been given Reserve Champion.