Valentines

We knew this when Kaylen was little, but we've especially re-learned it this week: Valentines are an awesome way for kids to learn how to write their names!

Elijah has been doing pretty well writing his first name for quite a while. He even knows how to spell it without looking. He'd been putting the dot on the bottom of his "i", but I think that is even corrected now.Josephine has really struggled writing her name. First, she just doesn't have great small-motor skills - still scribbles a lot instead of drawing things/shapes on blank paper. Second, she has a long first name. Third, she has a few really curvy letters that are hard to write. Also, she usually gets frustrated by how hard they are, and says, "I can't". But yesterday and today, the excitement of giving out Valentine cards (with candy!) to all of her friends at daycare, was just the motivation she needed to practice - and she's doing awesome!

We did these on Saturday - I wanted to work on this anyway. It wasn't so much fun, but they did pretty good (with some erasing to get them the right sizes and spacing).Last night, Daddy helped Josephine sign these. Helping her hold the pencil gave her just the confidence she needed.Tonight after supper, she got right to work on the rest of them. She was so cute, she kept hollering from the dining room, "Mommy, I made a 's'! I made my 'e'!" Then when she finished her whole name, she ran to show me each completed card. So fun!
Next up: the last name!

Adoption Update

Yes, look over at our sidebar...

Our agency notified us today that our dossier has been submitted to IBESR!

For those of you unfamiliar with Haitian adoptions, IBESR stands for Institut du Bien-Etre Social et Recherches, which translates to Institute of Social Well-Being and Research. Basically it is Haitian social services. They're looking at our dossier to determine if we meet Haiti's adoption requirements and if James is a good match for our family.

When we adopted Elijah and Josephine, our dossier was in IBESR for 11 months. Our agency has told us that they have had families approved by IBESR in 2 months, but they also have families who have been in IBESR for 8 months and still aren't signed out. The families that have waited longer are waiting for presidential dispensation - which is a signature allowing for a family exception to the adoption law.

Recently GLA's director attended a meeting at IBESR, where the new director of IBESR stated that it will not take more than 2 months to sign a dossier out of IBESR, and also that she is assigning a member of her staff to check up on dispensations. There is more detailed information about that meeting here.

We do not know if we will need dispensation. There is some confusion whether families with more than 2 children, or families with more than 2 biological children need dispensation. That is the only questionable part of the adoption law for us. Our agency is trying to get an answer from GLA's perspective, but we may not know until we are signed out of IBESR or until they request we get dispensation.

Please pray with us that our dossier's stay in IBESR will be short, and that we do not need dispensation.When we are out of IBESR, we will travel to Haiti to file immigration paperwork at the US Embassy, and also for two court appearances. We're excited to finally be "in-process" to adopt this adorable little guy, to meet him, and bring him home to join our family!

Tooth Fairy

Over the last 3 1/2 years, Kaylen has lost all four of her front baby teeth, both top and bottom. She has also lost her bottom canines, which I thought were going to get skipped over for the next teeth back and then lost after those. But she proved us wrong, and the dentist told us sometimes they come out first. (I can't remember if she's lost her top canines or not yet.)

Well, she lost the first of her baby molars last week. While I was fixing supper and she was doing her homework, she told me it was wiggly. About 10 minutes later it was out. She doesn't mess around, when they start wiggling, she works on them until they're out because they drive her nuts! The permanent was right there ready to poke through.

Elijah, on the other hand, has his first permanent tooth poking through his gums behind one of his bottom front baby tooth. He doesn't like the feeling of wiggling it - says it makes a noise and hurts, so he won't wiggle it unless I get on him about it. Is he going to be the one that the dentist has to pull his out?

Josephine was crying that night because she didn't have any wiggly teeth - felt left out. I tried to console her and tell her that she was younger, so it might be a while yet, to no avail. I also told her that I lost my first tooth at age 7, even though Kaylen was 5 when she lost her first tooth, and Elijah is now 5 and should be losing his first tooth, so you just never know...

So Kaylen knows... but she's playing along for the others. She asked me, "Is the tooth fairy real?" I hesitated. She said, "C'mon Mom, I know that fairies aren't real, so tooth fairies aren't either, right?" Then she looked me straight in the eye and asked me, "Just tell me, is it you that puts the money under my pillow?" I admitted it. Josephine was in the room too, so I tried to be discrete even though I didn't know if she was listening. Then I called her over to me, and told her she needs to play along - ah, the fun of having younger siblings.

Because of the knowledge of Mommy the tooth fairy, Kaylen didn't even mention the money the next morning! I was hoping she'd still play it up and pretend to be excited, in hopes of motivate her brother to keep wiggling his tooth. But no. So I had to pointedly play it up the next morning. So far though, not working. Any ideas to get a scared little boy to keep wiggling and pull that tooth out? His next dental check-up isn't for 5 months!