It is hard to believe that tomorrow we will be doing Blake’s two year post placement report. On one hand it seems as though he has been with us forever and on the other hand it seems like just yesterday we were meeting him for the first time. He is such a joy to be around. He never stops smiling unless he is fake pouting which lasts for about 30 seconds. He is still skinny as can be, but he is getting taller. He loves to eat healthy food like fruits, vegetables, and salads. He isn’t a big fan of anything of fried. But his favorite thing ever is chocolate! He could be classified as a chocoholic.
His biggest goal in life is to be big. He wants to be big like his daddy. Going with Justin in his truck is one of his favorite things to do. He loves to help all of us. If he can be helping others he is happy as can be. He will start kindergarten in the fall. We feel there are still some delays that he is working through. He is in speech therapy and he has come a long way. Anything concrete, like tying shoes, sorting, building, working with his hands, he excels at. His attention to detail is impressive. We do see him struggling with things that are more abstract. Letter/sound associations for example just don’t seem to click with him. There are several skills that we are working on that he doesn’t pick up on as quickly as we would expect. But I think that at some point something is going to ‘click’ and it will all fall in to place.
He speaks very little of Russia. Actually until a month or so ago he never really said anything about it. Now that we are talking everyday about going to get his little brother, I think there are some memories that are being stirred up. We had the following conversation last week and again this week.
Blake: Mom, I don’t want to go to Russia.
Me: Blake, you don’t have to go to Russia if you don’t want to go.
Blake: Not ever, I don’t want to go to Russia.
Me: Ok, buddy. You don’t ever have to go back if you don’t want to.
Blake: What about Boston?
Me: Daddy and I will go get Boston.
Blake: Will Boston have to go back?
Me: No, he will not have to go back if he doesn’t want to go back.
Blake: Good.
Me: Why don’t you want to go back to Russia?
Blake: Do you remember that bad teacher?
Me: No, buddy. I don’t remember a bad teacher. What do you remember?
Blake: Remember there was lots of yelling and I covered my ears?
Me: No, I don’t remember that. Do you want to talk about it some more.
Blake: Remember there was lots of yelling and I covered my ears?
Me: Nope. I wish I could remember for you. Do you remember anything else?
Blake: No. I just don’t want to go back.
Me: We love you so much and you never ever ever have to go back buddy.
We always want him to feel comfortable to share his stories with us. I just wish we knew more about the first 3.5 years of his life so we could help him fill in the gaps a bit. I can't imagine life without him in our family!
This weekend we are heading to Brady’s state swim meet. He is swimming the 50 freestyle portion of a medley relay. I hope to update pictures soon!
