One Month Together

I can't believe we just met this boy a month ago today.

That day I had to pull him away from the woman who had brought him to meet us. He wasn't happy at all, and we couldn't blame him one bit. He didn't scream or squirm. That's not really his thing. He just held onto us and clutched a little white plastic bag of snacks he had brought with him from his orphanage.

My, how things have changed. Today if there is a bag of snacks within his reach, it's gone.

In fact, he takes a tremendous interest in food, reorganizing my pantry every few hours.



At home we have settled into a new kind of chaotic normal.



We quickly realized that the childproofing that was adequate for a 25-month-old Louis was not nearly enough for a 20-month-old Michael.

Meet Mr. Fast and Curious.



He loves the steps. He knows what's in every drawer, cupboard, and closet--and he conducts regular inspections to make sure I haven't changed anything. He adores bathrooms. He thinks doors are the greatest plaything ever--well, except maybe for curtains, which make perfect peek-a-boo spots. If his brother isn't coming up with some new form of mealtime play, he invents his own games. Louis thinks this new approach to meals is terrific. I am fine with almost anything that doesn't send food flying through the air--though you'd be surprised how much that stifles their creativity.



As time goes on and we see the mischief light glowing brighter and brighter in this boy's eyes, we are thinking that what we are seeing with Michael is not just the difference in his age vs. his brother's at adoption. It's a personality difference. And it's such fun to discover a little more of that personality every day--even if we're having to run to keep up.

So what do we know about Michael?

He loves books.



And although I don't believe he will always read upside-down, I suspect he's a leftie. His stronger food-throwing arm is definitely his left. When he throws balls, he shoots as if he's lofting a basketball into the net.

We also know that he loves Louis.



When Michael wakes up from his nap before Louis does, Michael is content to have the house to himself. He plays sedately and independently.

 
But when Louis gets up, Michael is raring to go.



We also know that Michael has a terrific sense of humor.



He's also a hat wearer. He asks for his hat all the time, puts it on, and wears it until I take it off before meals.


 

He is getting used to his car seat and the grocery cart, though he's still not a huge fan of either one. He's unimpressed that this cart is a race car--though it makes Louis happy, so Michael tolerates it. That's the life of a second child, I suppose. (I'm the third of six so I don't remember ever having an opinion on grocery carts--or riding in one at all, for that matter.)



We have also discovered that Michael has a fear of large stuffed animals--though he has decided that his Mickey Mouse and hand-knitted giraffe (thank you, Aunt Treasa) are his friends.



And he makes exceptions. He likes this large rubber donkey, for example.



Of course, Louis made the donkey look like a load of fun.

 

Michael is quite chatty. He sings songs I suspect are some form of Cantonese--though we'll probably never know for sure. He says "Uh-oh, spaghettio," and "whee!" and something like "choo choo" for train, and sometimes "hi" and other things I would be able to think of if he were as interested in sleeping as he is in talking. Yesterday I think he tried to say "helicopter," but I suspect only his mother would try to convince you that that's what he was saying.

Some days I think how funny it is that Michael, who would only play with his stacking cups for the first few days we knew him, now will play with anything and everything. He is finally even getting comfortable on the playground--though he doesn't play with the reckless abandon I suspect is just around the corner.



While Michael has been transitioning smoothly into our lives, Louis has been making the leap to big brotherhood. We have changed his whole routine and rocked his world, and he's dealt with it well--though he's definitely still adjusting.

He loves Michael, enjoys having a playmate around the house--and he definitely has one of those--and he is very proud of being the big boy. We have our struggles. It's hard that he doesn't have much one-on-one time with us anymore, and I think it's a little hard that everyone is commenting on how cute (and big) his baby brother is.

Louis is very grown-up and very much the big brother. He tells me that he is 12 and that he is taking up "skateboarding."



When we take walks, he loves that Michael is in the stroller and the big brother is the explorer.

 

This week he even gave me his first posed smile in a good long time. (This is his Lorax pose, of course.)

We still have a ways to go with making sure our boys are both comfortable with this new chapter of our family life, but they are handling things beautifully. And we feel very blessed that everything has gone so smoothly so far.

Our Louis has grown so much just in a few weeks of big brotherhood.

And our Michael is making himself right at home--just as we hoped he would.

He has also learned to tell us firmly and irrefutably "no." Did that take long? Nope. Or as his big brother would say, "Not at all."