Almost 3 Months Home

Caleb is very easy to love.

He is sweet and happy and easy going.

He has already grown since coming home from the orphanage in that he is beginning to recognize that we are here for him--to love him, hold him, meet his needs.

A few weeks ago, the kids had been upstairs playing (Caleb crawls around and throws toys) and I headed upstairs to put them in bed.  As I neared the top, I looked over and saw Caleb laying in the loft, quietly crying.  Immediately I said, "Oh, Caleb!  What's the matter?!"  And relief washed over his face.  He knew that I was concerned about him.  He knew that I was going to take care of him.  And he was all happiness as I scooped him up and held him and then went to get him water.

We have definitely seen him grow in regard to us.  I have estimated, conservatively, that during his lifetime Caleb has had at least 35 caregivers.  During our 6 weeks visiting him alone, I saw perhaps 12 different nannies in his room.  In Ukraine, he was pretty indifferent to us and mostly just interested in the toys.

And now...

He occasionally gives me a kiss.  They're kind of open-mouthed, but I roll with it.

If you lay beside him, he likes to put a hand on your arm or your hand.  One night, he rolled over every so often while going to sleep to reach out make sure Matt was still there.  Just today, I curled up behind him with my hand on his side and he relaxed and fell asleep.

And though I've been meaning to write this post for a week or two, today he crawled to me for the first time when I said his name.  And I didn't have a toy or anything that I was luring him with.

Caleb is finally getting to be a little boy.  To have his own family.  To experience the world.  Here he is at a splash pad for the first time.  We had just arrived and fountain had just turned off.  Sorry, you do not get to see the fountain turn back on in the video, but you do get to see Caleb's anticipation of it.

(Turn the volume down--it's pretty loud.)