Today I have been overwhelmed by the changes that have occurred in my little man in the last year!
One year ago, at almost 18 months, Carter was a perpetually sick, still very tiny boy, whose only word was "ba" for ball, and who ate mostly tofu and fruit. He still seemed like such a baby to me, which is one reason we decided to wait until he was two to start the adoption process again, even though we started the process to adopt him when Bella was 18 months and it worked out perfectly. Due to his chronic ear infections, which lead to his speech delays, his play was also very simple which lead to difficulties when trying to play with his older sister who has always been very verbal and creative in her play. These issues also made it hard for him to make friends because he was very shy around kids his age and could not communicate like them. He also showed really no preferences for toys, TV/movies, or anything else.
Today Carter truly seems almost like a different child. Since he got tubes in his ears in June, his speech has taken off by leaps and bounds. Today during nap he pointed to a picture in his Thomas the train book and said "Mommy, I want to buy that Thomas at the store because I like it." He is also making amazing progress towards potty training, so I may not have two kids in diapers when we adopt again like I thought I would. His play is not quite at his sister's level but they have learned to adapt their play styles to work together. For example, the other day Carter decided to be the "yogur" Shrek and jump through the Barbie playhouse window and then chase Princess Rapunzel (Bella) out of the house and up into her tower (Bella's top bunk bed) where the Prince (Me) had to rescue her! Carter started this play scenario and Bella added to make it complete! Carter also has eaten 4 bowls of spaghetti and meat sauce in the last 24 hours (2 last night and 2 for lunch today). He has many friends at school that he talks about and play with and has a best friend (other than Bella) that he met and made friends with on his own at a sports class. He also grew more than 6" and gained about 8lbs in the last year! His fine motor skills are ridiculously good, in fact he holds a crayon better than Bella and can build a block tower better than me because of the steadiness of his hands. His gross motor skills have always been good, but now he can almost out run his sister and climbs a jungle gym as well as she does. He also has clear favorites including fav toys, TV/movies, a fav color, and much more.
Obviously, I could go on and on, but I won't! I just wanted to share some of how proud of and amazed by my little man I am! He may be a way tougher child to raise than Bella so far, but I am equally excited to be his mom and proud of the child he is becoming!
