Daniel Settling In

So far everything has been going pretty good. Daniel runs all over the house and grabs everything and wants to move it from one place to another. Then he wants to hand it to me or Renee. We have to be very careful what we teach him. For example, we showed him how to throw a tissue in the garbage. I can't believe we did not see it coming, but everything needed to be put in the garbage after that. After I took some things out of the garbage that did not belong in there, then he wanted to take everything out of the garbage. We are learning just as he is.

Daniel is playing and having lots of fun. He is eating well. We bought nearly everything in the store trying to figure out what he likes and dislikes. We finally found a breakfast that he likes. He likes Cream of Wheat with a side of eggs (w/cheese) and sausage along with a cup of milk. Then followed by some yogurt. He likes tiny bites and he almost refuses to be fed anymore. He wants to control the fork and spoon. Then after the meal, it is a challenge to get him to relinquish the utensils.

Daniel's first car seat experience was from the airport to our house and it did not go well. He screamed the entire time and seemed to have almost gone into convulsions. Yesterday we decided to finally venture out into the world with him, so we went to McDonald's then Kroger. The car seat experience was the same. But after McDonald's and Krogers, he seemed to not fuss to much in the car seat. When we went to the doctor later on in the day, he seemed to be just fine in the car seat. Hopefully, that will remain the same.

We went to see Dr. Teresa White on Monday and we both really liked her. We plan on her being Daniel's primary pediatrician. Daniel has a minor ear infection. Everything else looked OK. We will be taking Daniel to a certified international adoption pediatrician next week. He will do a complete workup on him then. I hope the ear infection is what is causing his sleeping issues.

We are all still suffering from jet lag. None of us are getting enough sleep. Daniel usually gets up around 6am and takes a 2 hour nap during the day. They he heads to bed around 9pm. We start trying to put him to bed around 7:30pm, but it takes a lot of effort and fussiness before he finally settles down to go to sleep. The problem starts around midnight with Daniel waking up screaming and we have to get up. He usually goes right back to sleep but it is enough to keep Renee and I up. Then around every few minutes to an hour, he wakes up again screaming in that cycle over and over until about 4 or 5am. Then he sleeps 1- 2 hours before getting up. This of course means very little sleep for Renee and I. I hope the ear infection or the jet lag is the cause. I am so glad I am off work for a while until he works out these issues.

Daniel has a temper. If there is anything that we stop him from doing, with just the slightest amount of the word "NO", he gets mad, runs to the nearest carpet and throws himself to the ground and starts arching his back and throwing his head back and kicking and slapping anything around him. The first couple of days home, this was accompanied with lots of crying. But as every day passes, these tantrums are less severe. There are not even tears anymore. So Renee and I have decided to just ignore him while throwing these tantrums. It seems to be working. The last few tantrums have only lasted a minute or two. They initially lasted nearly 15 minutes.

Daniel is still a daddy's boy. For some reason, he will not let Renee pick him up other than to feed him. She plays with him a lot and he loves it. But when it comes to just relaxing or going to bed, it has to be me (Kyle). We are not sure how to handle this. Yesterday we tried a situation where I went upstairs and hid. Renee was left with him trying to put him down for a nap. He screamed for 45 minutes until he went to sleep. After waking, Renee was able to carry him downstairs and when he saw me, he screamed until he got in my arms. It almost seemed to make things worse. So we are a little perplexed on this. He also pitches a little bit of a fit when Renee changes his diaper. If I am there, then all is well. We will just continue with what we have been doing, hopefully that will start to work over time. We may call our social worker at the adoption agency today to see if she has any ideas.

Daniel started trying to talk yesterday. He has been having outburst of noise and then laughing. This morning Renee and I thought we heard him say Mom, but we can not be sure if that is what he said. We have been trying to point at each other and say Mommy and Daddy over and over, thinking this will help. Also, everything that he has been pointing at, we try to say the word of the item, if we can tell what he is pointing at. Sometimes there are several items around and it is hard to tell what it is he is pointing at.

I understand now when people say parenting is tough, but it is all worth it. Its the little moments that make it worth it for me like when he first wakes up and we are greeted with a little smile. I look forward to all the pleasures parenting brings.