Danny learned how to climb out of his crib about the same time Michelle began speaking in full sentences. So, we immediately moved him to a toddler bed. He had a hard time sleeping through the night & ended up in Kaelah's room for a couple weeks. Notice where Kaelah's foot is? He didn't mind. lol. He seems to be okay & back in his own room now.
Kaelah really liked having him there until he started waking her up first thing every morning instead of Mom & Dad. (; Anther first was that Danny fell into the rose bushes. It was so sad but when he saw I got out the camera he smiled like there was nothing in the world going on. That neosporin that has pain killer in it seems to work really really well!
The picture of the children in front of the van is before we dropped Kaelah off at her first day of preschool this year. She's doubling her mornings there from 1 day a week to 2. Her teacher, Miss Stacie, has already told me Kaelah is much more outgoing & is more comfortable that she was at the end of last year. Kaelah has grown a lot this summer. I think part of what has helped is we started taking her to a therapist that specializes in adoption. It has been great to see some possible reasons why she behaves the way she does. You may not want to read the next paragraph. It gets into what the therapist says.
According to the therapist, our oldest daughter has quite a bit going against her. Some of it is inherited (or from the experience of a dramatic pregnancy & child birth & placement) such has her lack of emotional control & empathy, some of it is because she is adopted & so bright she is trying to figure out what it means to be adopted at a very tender, young age (which she wouldn't have had to do if Michelle hadn't have been born to me), or it may be that she is bi-polar or has attachment disorder or both. She's really too young to tell on those last 2. So we go along trying to do the best we can & hope her future will be bright. And in case you're worried about Danny & adoption in general, don't be. Danny is totally all right & checks out as being just as well adjusted, attached, & happy as Michelle. Oh, and some people have asked me if it is because she became a big sister to 2 children so quickly. 2 things: I began to worry when Kaelah was 18-months-old, 4 months before we even knew Danny existed. 2nd: The difficulties she faces began before she was even born (according to the therapist). Plus, let me just remind you, that Michelle was a spontaneous conception -- we had given up trying to have our own children after miscarriage # 5 after Kaelah was born. Having 2 healthy children helped us to realize she needed help early on. I think we all can agree that getting help sooner rather than later is good, right? And to calm other fears, Kaelah's therapy consists of play (no medicine or hocus pocus).
On a happier not, here my 2 are at a play date learning about the letter 'c.' I have magnificent friends, by the way. When Kaelah insisted her little brother come along even though you're supposed to be 3, they (Chelsea & Christy) welcomed them both with open arms for a couple of hours. I ran errands with Michelle & got really lost.
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