John Paul's Trip to NC

First of all I want to say, thank you so much Kayla and Carson for the beautiful shirts that you sent John Paul!! They are so nice and they all fit him perfectly! We really appreciate you thinking of us and John Paul!!

We went home to NC for a visit last weekend. Rick didn't get to go because he had Army drill. He recently joined a new unit and I didn't realize that it was the same weekend. :( But we have a long weekend with him this weekend to make up for it. :) John Paul found some other men to hang with though. He latched onto my brother and step-dad right off! He loves men!

I've meant to post sooner, but I knew it would take quite a while to upload all of the pictures. I have to do most of my housework and extras once John Paul goes to bed because my day time belongs to him. :)

We went to NC for three occasions: 1. For John Paul to meet his grandparents and cousin Ethan. 2. For Jordan's (my friend Kelly's son) 1st birthday party. 3. My 31st birthday party.

John Paul traveled really well on the way down there. He really is a great little traveler! He stayed awake for the majority of the ride and loved looking out the windows. He just loves to ride in the car! It's so sweet to glance in the mirror and see the look of happiness and awe as he looks out the window. Every thing is so new to him and he is so happy to see every little detail. He just amazes me. He has certainly made me take notice of the things that I as a busy adult might otherwise take for granted. For example, when we went to the post office to check on mailing Dasha's dossier last week, (I say check on because I decided to use Fed-Ex instead for speed), he was so thrilled to go. He LOVES to go places! And he REALLY loves being outside! Anyway, tree branches hang low all along the side walk that runs beside the post office. He looked up at the tree branches, as we walked under them, with this look of amazement and sheer delight. Then he waved his little hands up at them and squealed and babbled to them. Then when we walked past the shrubs he did them same thing. This child loves plants, flowers, trees, and grass. I would probably not have given a second thought to the trees or bushes, even though they are pretty. I was focused and on a mission to get that dossier shipped. He has a way of making you stop and notice all of the beauty that God has placed in this world for us to enjoy. I'm sure it is because he has never had a chance to see these things. What a miracle it is to be a part of this special angel's life and to experience with him the newness of his world.

He had fun at the birthday party and loved to swing! He even went up to try to push Jordan in the swing, but when he did it just pushed him down on his bottom and Jordan didn't move. It was so cute! He got up and tried again. Down on his bottom he went again, but Jordan did move a tiny bit. I was so impressed to see him try to push the baby (the baby is almost as big as JP is). It was so sweet. And I thought to myself that he probably will be able to push his little sister when she gets home because she is tiny for her age too. :) I can't wait and I think he'll be happy to have another child here too. He loves other children. He really loved being around Ethan! Ethan loved him too. He was so great with John Paul! He was so patient, loving, and sweet with him! He played with John Paul on his level and it was so adorable to see the two cousins together for the first time. Ethan is a very special little boy. He was always so wonderful with Chloe too. He loved on John Paul the same way he did Chloe. It really melted my heart! For a year now there has been an emptiness in our family where Chloe once was. While that emptiness for her will never leave until we are all with her in Heaven, John Paul has brought the joy of having a special little child back into all of our lives. His adoption is such a miracle to all of us and we love him so much!! I'm in awe by what the Lord has done. Originally, I was scared by some of the things that I saw him doing after we first met him. Things that I didn't expect or understand since he acted nothing like that when I met him in the spring. But I am so glad that I pressed through that fear and allowed God to work His miracle! He is a completely different little boy now that he is in a loving family environment. Every day he gets happier and more independent. It is a true miracle just watching him flourish and change. I say that to encourage anyone else that is adopting and may walk into a less than perfect initial meeting of their child. It really does get better and fast! It's amazing what love, attention, and proper diet can do (and of course a lot of prayer).

I didn't take pictures at my dad's house because I forgot my charger for the camcorder. :( My mom took and sent me all of the pictures that I have. He had a blast at my dad's too! I'll get pictures the next time I go back. He had no trouble digging into the toy bin after my step-mom showed it to him! He also got to meet my dad's friends, Jerry and Melba. He took right up with Melba! It's so great to see him interacting so well!

I hope to go back home in a few weeks because not everyone got to meet him. It is so hard to fit everyone in over a few days. He has so many more people that love him there and didn't get to meet him. :(

He loves his baths now! I mean LOVES them!! Tonight I let him play in the tub until he started to prune up. I let the water out and then he looked down and looked at me like, Hey where did my water go?" He even cried when I got him out of the bath tub. :( But he was happy once I started putting lotion on him. He loves the lotion and giggles when I rub it on his arms and legs. A month ago he cried and screamed like he was in agony because he didn't like taking a bath. The change in him is so amazing!

He is walking MUCH better! He walks best when I am not right on top of him. If I am there then he thinks he has to hold my hand. Today I saw him walk about 20 feet independently! He can even go up five of the steps by himself. He holds onto the spindles on the banister and goes. Then when the banister runs out, I have to hold one hand the rest of the way up. He has also learned to go all the way down the stairs by scooting on his bottom one stair at a time. I have to close the stairs off with the baby gates when I can't supervise! He'd play on them all day if I let him. They are great physical therapy for him though! Me too for that matter! He really has me going up and down them! lol!

He's still doing well with potty training. He doesn't understand to let me know when he has to go yet. He did go over to the potty one day last week though. I am still working on teaching him to push and pull his pants up and down. I just have him on a potty schedule and he goes when I sit him down. There are some accidents in between, but it has only been a week. He's doing so awesome!!

We are trying to teach him to feed himself. He can scoop food up and put it in his mouth with my hand on his. The funny thing is that I am not helping him. I just have my hand there. He's really doing all of the work. But if I take my hand away then he stops and won't try at all. He'll get it though once he feels more comfortable with it and then he won't want my help. lol! That's how he did me the other day with his toy. I was showing him how to use a new toy and then he started getting frustrated, so I stopped helping him because it appeared that he wanted to do it himself. Then he smiled and started making the toy go on its own. What a big boy he is becoming...and so fast! And he is learning so quickly! I only have to show him how to operate most of the toys once or twice and he does it. No wonder he was so frustrated in a restricted environment.

He likes to be my little helper in the kitchen too. When I empty the dishwasher he will push the racks back and close the door. He learned that from watching me and was never shown how to do that himself. When I open the refrigerator door he closes it for me. One day he opened one of my cabinets and took out a lid to one of my pots. Then he closed the cabinet back. I didn't mind him playing with it until he started bashing the cabinet door with it. So I told him, "No, No Roma, John Paul. Put it back. Put it back." He looked at me like he was trying to figure out what I was saying. Then he opened the cabinet door and put it back and then closed the cabinet again. That got him A LOT of hand claps, Yays, and kisses! He probably thinks, wow this mama lady sure does get excited. You can imagine how shocked I was that he did it though! It's not that I have low expectations of him (THAT IS FAR FROM TRUE)! It's that I am so amazed that he is doing so well in spite of the language barrier and in such a short amount of time. He has gotten very motivated and is into everything! And I am so happy and thankful that he is into everything!

Oh, if you notice the picture of him eating cake with that huge fork, it is because he CHARGED me for some birthday cake. Ok, this in itself was amazing because it is the first time EVER that he has tried to eat ANYTHING that we are eating. And we have tried over and over. He only knows how to suck. He doesn't chew. He charged at me after my cake and it was such an amazing thing that I wasn't going to lose the moment by being proper and getting him his own plate and fork. He ate the rest of my cake by literally sucking it down! But it was something other that pureed food! Yay John Paul!!

And he didn't particularly like the prayer bear. :( I think the fact that it was talking freaked him out a little. My grandma bought it for him for a welcome home gift, but she thought it was funny because he was so adamant that he did not want it near him. She gave me the receipt to return it, but I'm not because I know he'll come around. It's just foreign to him. He likes stuffed animals a lot, but he just didn't know what to think about it talking. We have a stuffed animal (cat) that meows and he wasn't real impressed with that either. So I haven't broken out all of the talking animals yet. The toys that we mostly play with that do talk are things like the Leap Frog Playground, telephone, music table, etc. Nothing that looks like an animal or anything. I think they scare him for now.