How Are We Doing?

So a lot of you have seen the pictures I have been posting, but are wondering what we do all day. How are Snuggle Bug and Princess doing? We are doing well, there is a lot of work involved, but we knew that going in so it hasnt been unexpected. We are working hard on trying to tackle at least some of the PT exercises we were shown during the assessment. We will find out even more on Tuesday when we have another visit with the Early Intervention physical therapist. Sometimes they go along with the flow of doing PT, and other times its comes with some tears. Tears I am use to. I remember trying to teach some of my older children how to ride a bike. You would have thought the world was going to end as I told them to peddle and don't stop. They liked it the easy way, they liked their training wheels, and had I not stepped in, they would more than likely still be using them today. I KNEW they were ready, they just didn't know it. But low and behold, I gave them a push and off they went. It is kind of the same with Princess and Snuggle Bug. For a year for Princess, and over 10 months for Snuggle Bug, they had a little world they lived in. While it was not good, it was their normal. For Princess, she is having to learn to use her muscles, she is having to use her feet to help her stand. For Snuggle Bug, it is a bit more involved. Since he NEVER was given a toy in his orphanage, he ended up turning his hands into toys. Every day, it is like our new mantra, I tell him, "Hands are tools, not toys." Then I put a toy in his hand and say, "Oh what a nice toy you have!" Sometimes, he will bring it to his mouth, but then he wants to just let it go and he expects it to stay there. Of course, it falls to the ground. He will get bored very quickly of it, and will revert back to waving his hands around and just watching them twist around. So we will move on to something different. We do a lot of singing; If you are Happy and you know it, and Head and shoulders Knees and Toes (both are great for learning body parts), Itsy, Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I am working on teaching them basic signs; more, milk, cracker, food, all done (We will work on learning more after they master these) Currently, they know what I WANT them to do for More (which is the one I want them to learn to use first) and when we are eating and I ask if they want more, I will show them how to make the sign, and then they will reach for my hands to help them sign it. (This is a lot of progress since when we first started they were resistant against me moving their hands in the motion to sign "More") And making sure they each have their own special cuddle and story time (we usually read about 3 board books in a sitting, and do this about twice a day). When we are not reading, signing, cuddling, or working on PT, we enjoy stroller rides, and swinging in the wonderful swing their big sister  got for them. Princess LOVES bath time and loves to splash in the water, Snuggle Bug loves to be tossed up in the air, and they both LOVE to eat. They are both eating stage 3 baby food, and will also eat crackers, cheerios, peas, homemade applesauce, toast with marmite on it, and many other things. Princess is able to drink from a straw, Snuggle Bug does not have the concept yet, so we will be getting a HoneyBear so he can start working on that skill. All in all, everything is going great. We have been to oodles of appointments, we have oodles more to go to, but to think that their future might have been them stagnating in an orphanage makes me cringe. We have only been home for a little over a month, and they have already come so far. They are an inspiration and we are truly blessed!