A Whole New World

As I've been looking back at pictures taken during the Fall of 2007 this song that my mom used to sing came to mind "Getting to know you, getting to learn all about you..." When we brought Savannah home there was almost a honeymoon aspect and quite fitting that the Chinese paperwork describe it as a "Harmonious period." With Baden, bless his heart, it was more like boot camp. During the time we were awake things were great, the largest struggles came with nap time and going to bed for the night. He would kick, hit and scream at those times. For the first several months we were home I would need to lie down with him and hold him to me as he worked through this anguish, softly talking to him and trying to keep him from endangering himself. He continued to test me by shelling out his worst behavior and anger to see at what point I'd give up and leave. This guy had met his match in that department as I wasn't going anywhere. Gradually things progressed and got better. He didn't act out at other times, though I know there were moments when the language barrier was a source of frustration for him. I'm so glad that I was able to be home with him those first few months, especially in the evenings. Since bringing Savannah home I worked only a few evenings a week at Gymboree, and I would have been a mess at work if I didn't have that FMLA time off.

Thankfully we already knew that it would take us all about two weeks to recover from the jet lag, one day for every 1 hour of time difference was spot on. In the beginning we stayed fairly close to home in order to give Baden a chance to develop a sense of security in his own house. Our first major outing with him was to the WSU Cougar game played in Seattle, just before pre-school started. This was actually both kids' first college football experience and they loved it. Baden was understandably more cautious about the crowd noise and then trying to figure out why the people were running around on the grass. As the game went on Baden's enthusiasm grew, the box of Red Vines and the stuffed Cougar I bought them at half-time didn't hurt either.

The funniest moment happened when the song Baden recognized from Madagascar came on... move it move... he likes to move it move it..." The song that got him to jump off the bed and shake his groove thing worked the same magic at Qwest Field. Baden was starting to come out of his shell more and more each day, revealing an entertaining boy who could charm your socks off before you knew what hit you.

Over Labor Day Weekend Baden had his first outing on Grandma Margie and Papa Joe's boat when we all went out to watch the PITCH sailing regatta on Bellingham Bay... or should I say attempted to. The normally choppy Bellingham Bay was nothing but glass, not a puff of wind to be felt. While it made for a pleasant day, it didn't make for smooth sailing and for the first time that I can remember the last day of racing was cancelled. At least I was able to capture a moment of this adventure for Baden.

The previous Spring I'd enrolled Baden in the same pre-school class as Savannah not knowing if he'd be ready to start right at the beginning. There are a few lines of thinking on when to start older adopted kids in school - some say right away while others encourage kids to start later, perhaps even held back a year. I chose the option of following Baden's lead. Savannah had already attended a Toddler pre-school class at Little Epistle the previous year and the teacher's all knew that we were traveling to get Baden. I took both kids to the pre-school open house to help Savannah remember where she'd gone to school and introduce the environment and teachers to Baden. In his case I think there was a sense of familiarity that came with being at a place that was filled with other kids his age - he was already used to the chaos of busy pre-schoolers and didn't seem at all overwhelmed. Savannah and his cousin Caleb helped to show him around and introduce him to the pre-school playground as well.

The following week was the first day of pre-school, and though Baden had acted comfortable at the open house, I was anticipating that when it came down to it he would change his mind and not want to stay. Putting the ball in his court I let him decide what he wanted to do and decide he did... "Bye bye Mama!" with a big smile on his face. He all but pushed me out the door before I even had a chance to take pictures of the two of them. Here he was, home just a month and beginning to exercise some control.


As any school years goes, we started to settle into a routine with pre-school 3 mornings a week, and ballet for Savannah on Thursday afternoons, as well as monthly gatherings with our local Chinese adoption playgroup. The first playgroup gathering for Baden was something new for him, a challenge that he liked and didn't like at the same time. He was still needing to work on his co-ordination, stamina and strength and the play equipment at the park proved to be just what he needed. In the beginning he really relied on Savannah to lead the way, and the moments when she was doing her own thing were hard on him.
Ultimately she would find her way back to him and invite him to come play with her friends, and thankfully that was a choice she most often made herself before I needed to remind her to include him.

On the days that Savannah had ballet up in Blaine, a 30 minute drive North of Bellingham, Baden and I developed our own little routine for our "dates." We'd go to the coffee house next door to the ballet studio where he'd pick out a cookie to have with his milk, and I'd have my coffee. About 20 minutes later, if the weather was nice, we'd leave to walk down to this area overlooking the harbour in Blaine and wave at Papa's boat, which was moored there. At the time Baden was learning how to hop on two feet and one foot. We'd play games where he needed to identify body parts in English. People I'd met who had adopted pre-school aged kids had said to anticipate three months before he was able to really express himself in English, and the comprehension side would happen earlier than that. Sure enough.. 6 weeks home and he was pointing to his eyes, hair, fingers, feet, knees, chin and nose. The silliest moment when I asked him to point to his buns. He turned his back to me, bent his knees and began shaking his booty while pointing to it. Yep... that's my boy.

It was also at this time that I enrolled Baden in a pre-school gymnastics class, a move that made a huge impact on his physical development. It also gave him a chance to start his own thing that his sister wasn't doing. It didn't take long before his legs were getting stronger and all of his limbs were working together. I loved watching my little boy begin to really thrive in his new life.