The slow rise

Week 2 is in the bag.  Ivan continues to dazzle us with his sweet smile and giggle.  Tough days are even fewer this week than last, and I think his sleep is about where it should be.  One noticeable change has been Ivan's deepening connection with Lindsey.  Which means daddy, who once was preferred, now gets the cold shoulder.  This is how it's supposed to be though, right?  Lindsey has been with him daily for a couple weeks now as I've returned to the farm.  I've noticed, this week especially, that if Daddy leaves the room, or goes outside, or drives away...no big.  Ivan just waves...and says, don't let the door hit you on the way out... j/k.  But when Mommy walks into the next room, still within eyesight, you'd think the boys beloved toy or pet was just destroyed right in front of him.  That may have been stretched, but not much.  This is actually a very good sign.  It shows that our little guy's attachment is growing and his connection with us is deepening.  For this we are very happy.  Something we've prayed for for months.

Some sweet moments from this week included a gift of a teddy bear from Lindsey's friend Kristie.  Ivan saw the bear and instantly wanted to hold him.  Shortly after was naptime and Ivan wanted to take Bear to bed with him.  As Lindsey laid Ivan down, Ivan laid Bear down next to him and pulled the sheet up that would typically cover Ivan, onto Bear.  Then as Lindsey rubbed Ivan's back, Ivan rubbed Bear's back to help Bear fall asleep.  Too stinkin sweet!

Some highlights from the week also included visits from the grandparents.  Ivan has been doing pretty well adjusting to our home and the routine we've put in place for him, but we've intentionally not had many visitors yet, to help facilitate Ivan's adjustment to us and home.  We would like to thank everyone for being so patient and respecting our wishes in this, but we thought Ivan has been doing so well, it's time for Grandma and Grandpa and Nana and Papa to make visit!  In doing so we've decided Ivan may have a pretty social side also.  He beamed when they came over and he had a great time!  He was loving the attention and new faces, though he'd seen them before, he was thrilled to have new company.

Ivan also took his first tractor ride this week...figured why wait?  I'd say there were mixed reviews.  Mainly because Mommy was not a co-pilot on this ride.  We worked through the tears and decided in the end that maybe it wasn't so bad.  Daddy will be persistent.

One undelightful event was Ivan's second car ride, while awake.  Lindsey was taking me to pick up a piece of machinery about 30 minutes from home.  I was playing with Ivan and he was giggling and laughing.  Seemingly having a ball, just before he unloaded lunch all down his front.  So two car rides this week and two removals of the carseat to clean the vomit probably means this little guy gets carsick. Not the best news when you live 15 minutes from the nearest town.  We're going to try a few things to see if we can improve his endurance, but truthfully, he's probably not ridden in cars more than 2-3 times in his life before meeting us, so it could just take some time.