Our Swimmer

Jake LOVES the water. This weekend he swam with his cousin Caroline, Aunt Dianne, Ababa, and me. He swam underwater while kicking his feet and moving his arms. He went down a big water slide and jumped in from the side of the pool. He wanted to go off the diving board, but we said no. :) I am amazed at his bravery and total lack of fear. We will have to keep giving him opportunities to swim and improve his skills.

Also, he sleeps really well after so much exercise. :)

Jake and Joshua

Jake LOVES his cousin Joshua. He talks about him everyday. Whenever Jim and I tell him that he is going to do something, he asks whether "Joshua come too?" He gets really excited to see him. Yesterday, they visited Dutch Wonderland. We enjoyed their smiles and laughter. It was heartwarming to see Joshua take care of Jake on the rides. At other times, I've heard Joshua say, "It's ok, little buddy." when he sees Jake upset. They also wrestle like brothers and fight over toys. I am thrilled that they are growing up with each other like Mike and I grew up together.

A Busy Weekend

Jake enjoyed a busy weekend. On Saturday we joined 3 other adoptive families at Daniel's Den. The children played around on the playset and then we shared a picnic lunch. Malachi and Jake played with the sand. There were five children from Ethiopia. At one point, I went into the sandbox to tell Jacob about lunch. A little boy said, "I didn't know that you were his mommy. I thought you would have a face like his." I smiled at this little boy's recognition of our different skin colors, and I assured him that I was Jacob's mommy.

The next day we traveled to Aunt Laura's house where he played for hours on the trampoline with his cousins. He is pictured with four of his cousins, Joshua, Kaitlin, Abby and Jonathan. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day. And, even though Jake was tired, he was well behaved. He fell asleep on the car ride home and slept the rest of the night.

An Adoption Episode

Today we visited DC and planned a lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant in Falls Church. Jake was sleeping when we arrived at the restaurant, after spending time at the Natural History Museum. As you can see from this picture, he ate well and really enjoy his injera. Afterwards, we went next door to the Ethiopian shop.

For some reason, he started to act up. He threw a bottle of apple juice on the floor and when I picked him up he started kicking and trying to pinch my cheek. As I was trying to correct him and calm him down, two Ethiopian women started to talk with him in Amharic. They were very stern and the older woman started to smack her hand as she talked. I sat him on a stool for him to listen to her. I assumed she was telling him to respect his emama and his abbaba. I heard her saying those words.

Well, he sat there quietly and then when it went on for a minute or two, I took him down from the stool. She reached out to hold him as a way to be loving (I imagine), and he would have none of it. I picked him up and we took him to the car. Well, he completely freaked out for at least a half hour. He was screaming and crying and zoning like he does when he really seems to be grieving. We tried to comfort him by reassuring him that we were not going to leave him at the restaurant and that he was our son whether he was acting badly or not. It took him a looong time to recover.

We still aren't sure what happened, but we do think it was related to his adoption story. The crying was not his usual I am mad and tired. As parents, we recognized the difference. I still feel guilty for having him sit on the stool and listen to the woman. I thought it might help him to hear another message about respect in Amharic. He struggles in this area.

It was exhausting to go through this with him. As he sleeps tonight I wonder what caused him to react in such a way. Did he think we were going to leave him? Did her words scare him? Was he remembering being disciplined at the orphanage? This is just another example of how complicated it is to parent a child when we have missed their first years of life.