Settling In

Things have begun to feel normal now. I have a daughter and a son. That notion is finally feeling real now.

Both Ben and Aria have made such huge strides toward being an awesome big sister/little brother to each other. It's so fun to see them laugh together and play well together. Aria has responsibilities with him that she takes very serious. She is very involved in his night time routine - down to the closing of his bedroom door. If I accidentally do it, it hurts her feelings. I think that her taking on the role of a big sister (both in responsibilities we have given her, and ones she's given herself) has been what has made things the smoothest. If Ben wants a cracker, Aria wants to be the one to get it and give it to him. It's so sweet to watch their interactions like that. Drew and I feel like she's grown up a lot with him around.

Ben is teething his molars and his top eye teeth all at once right now, poor boy!

We had our first "Supervisory Visit" with our caseworker this week. During the time frame between placement and finalization you have 3 with the caseworkers. During these visits they make sure bonding is happening, and that everything is happening appropriately. They also give information such as reminders to get going on finalization paperwork with your attorney. The also answer any questions. It was fun to see our caseworker Melinda since we hadn't seen her since before placement because it was in Idaho.

Swimming lessons ended today. It was slide day - my favorite! Kyle has done an awesome job with Ben. He was so patient with everything. Ben really loves the water. His birth families had him in the water a lot so they got him very comfortable with water. (Thank you!) Aria is an animal in the water! She just wants to swim on her own already. She's a very confident, independent girl. I love that about her. Slide day is Aria's favorite too. Ben, however, not so much. He doesn't like heights very much, and is a little more timid than Aria. I think a lot of it is just the age difference. Last year Aria was a little nervous too, but loved it. This year I had her sit on the slide it's self between my legs and I just held onto her sides. And lifted her up at the end so she didn't go under. I really think next year Ben will like it a lot more. I'm not sure if I'll do structured lessons next year though, probably just on my own until they are old enough to go on their own, then I'll put them back in.