One year ago we left the USA and headed to a country known as Ukraine. We left the comforts of our home and all we "know" to head to a land far away and foreign in every since of the word. Luxuries of home were left behind and the uncertainties of what lay ahead were flitterings of excitement mixed with the great sense of "OH SNAP! WHAT HAVE WE DONE?" Euphoria swirled in there somewhere. Anticipation was mounded. Sleep was elusive. Time is a fickle thing...
Minutes rolled into hours, hours into days, days into weeks, weeks into weekends and then it started all over again. Ahhh, yes, Groundhog Day in Ukraine (all of you that have adopted internationally can surely relate no matter what country you travel to in order to adopt your child). Time is a fickle thing...
Jadon has nearly been in our family for a year. I think back on the what if's of his life. What if we never realized he was ours? Well, quite frankly, he'd be getting old enough (at the ripe age of 4 years old) to be shipped out of his babyhouse and into the adult mental institution a few towns away from Kirovograd. Yes, the tiny waif surely still would have been trapped in his stunted stature, never seeming to grow larger than a year old baby. Time is a fickle thing...
I look back on pictures of my wee peanut and can sarcely remember him being so very tiny. TINY. Just a mere 27" and 17 lbs. That is the size of a 9-12 month old INFANT. My son was 3 years old and 9 month old clothing HUNG ON HIM! Time is a fickle thing...
Jadon has grown this past year by leaps and bounds. He is nearing 33 inches in height and weighs right around 32 lbs. Nearly doubling the weight he came home as in just a year. Even if he had somehow, wondrously grown that much in the babyhouse--he'd still only wear 24 month sized britches and be so very tiny. Everywhere we go people say, "Oh, look at the baby!" Time is a fickle thing...
My son is nearly 4, he is not a baby--his appearance says otherwise. My son is nearly 4, he is not developed cognitively to that of a 4 year old---he is a baby, his actions prove it. Time is a fickle thing...
Jadon has made strides, don't get me wrong. We (Shawn and I and his therapists) are all amazed at how far he has come. His growth is utterly amazing. His accomplishments are strikingly awesome. The tiny waif, who could not/would not crawl when we first got him will now RUN with his brothers, seeking them out to tickle and play with too. Jadon will climb ANYTHING (not always good, but, hey, at least he can do it if he chooses to do so). Jadon eats and eats well! When we got him, he could not feed himself at all. Jadon can now eat with utensils and is getting better about feeding himself ONE bite at a time when eating a sandwich, cracker or cookie. Jadon could not drink from ANYTHING at all when we brought him to our flat in Ukraine. Today, he can drink from an open cup, a straw cup, or a sippy cup. Two days ago, Jadon gave his daddy his very first, self-initiated kiss. Jadon leaned into daddy, completely unprompted and gave his daddy a big ol' moochie :)
Time, she may be fickle, but she keeps moving and Jadon keeps thriving our family keeps growing and our love keeps being multiplied by 4 boys, 2 cats, one daddy and one momma. It's good, y'all. Real good.
love,
"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)
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