Overall, Ethan’s adjustment into our home has gone fairly well, so far. The key word here is overall.

Ethan continues to smile, laugh, and babble more and more. He loves to make all kinds of different sounds. Occasionally, he’ll even cough (something he’s learned from us since we’ve been home).

Speaking of coughing, it’s been a rough 3 weeks, physically. On our second full night home, Joleen and I got the flu. After recovering from that, we both got a bad cold. Earlier I said this was the worst case of the flu I remember having, and now, this is the worst cold I remember having. I’m finally getting well (I think). But, thankfully, through it all, Ethan has been well!

Ethan has an occasional traumatic episode (I’ll call them “rough spots”), which is probably to be expected. I remember writing in Korea that we hope these episodes will become fewer and further in between. That’s been the case, and for the most part, the rough spots have been minimal and/or fairly short-lived. The rough spots tend to be related mostly to naps, getting dressed, diaper changes, and recently, riding in the car seat (we’re wondering how the two trips to Kentucky, in April and May, are going to go). He’s improving in most of these areas (except for the car seat), but they can still be challenges, at times.

Joleen mentioned the incident with the diaper change at Backyard Burgers on Monday. It was an unfamiliar place, and once it was over, he was fine.

But yesterday brought back memories of our first few hours with Ethan (back when he thought we were kidnappers). We drove to Whipple Dam State Park to go for a walk with Ethan in the stroller. We had taken Ethan for a walk on Monday, which went mostly well — except for one fairly short incident when Ethan woke up.

When Ethan woke up yesterday, halfway through our walk, he cried and screamed, and nothing would comfort or quiet him. Anyone living within a few miles of Whipple Dam must’ve heard him (fortunately, not many people live in the area!). Ten minutes later, we loaded him into his car seat, and he eventually cried himself to sleep on the way home.

A little later in the afternoon, he was happy again. In fact, outside of the rough spot at Whipple Dam and the ride home, yesterday was a great day.

Anyway, all of that is simply to say, things are going pretty well, overall. There are still some rough spots occasionally, and we continue to hope that the rough spots will become fewer and further in between!