Not much time

I haven't had much time to myself this week. Poor Olivia has been sick with some virus, she has missed 3 days of school and it's been hard to be cooped up with an active boy. We've been stuck at home watching too much television. There have been hard times and good times. It's hard attending to everyone's needs as I have to make sure Olivia is getting well, Nicholas is vying for my attention all the time and Claire gets jealous. This afternoon was a really bright moment as Claire and Nicholas were getting along well. Claire was drawing rockets and coloring them for Nicholas. She cut out one so Nicholas wanted to cut out the other one and he did pretty well. I'm not sure if he ever had experience with scissors.

Earlier this week, I took Nicholas down south to see an international adoption doctor. We spent almost 3 hours with the doctor. His report was overall positive and in fact, he was very impressed with how well Nicholas was doing after only being here for 2 weeks. Some things we have to work on are teaching him how to play with other children (sharing and taking turns), eating and drinking slower, reducing undesirable behaviors (whining, demanding, tantrums). Wow, the teaching is hard work, I was consciously trying to show him how to wait his turn for a toy and how to share toys. I've also been making a more concerted effort to sit with him during meals and encourage him to eat slower and also make eye contact while eating as I've read that can help with bonding. He is attaching well to us and I think it has been extremely beneficial to keep him away from overstimulating situations.