Sunday marked one month since we received Sarah in Korea. It’s also been about a month since we arrived home.
For Sarah’s part, the transition into our family is going well. For Ethan, it’s still a struggle (more on this soon). But in case you missed them, you can read/review our earlier reports here and here.
As we’ve said before, the biggest challenge for Sarah has been with her sleeping. She sleeps extremely well once she gets to sleep (which we’re grateful for!), but until recently, getting her to sleep has been difficult. Within the last few days, though, she is making great strides.
Early on, when we laid Sarah in the crib, she would wake up, cry, and become more and more agitated, sometimes nearly hyperventilating. She seems to be getting more comfortable with the crib, so much so that recently, we’ve been putting her in the crib and she’s starting to fall asleep on her own. She may still cry a little, occasionally, but the difference is that she is learning to soothe herself and to fall asleep on her own. Based on early experiences with Sarah, I thought it would take longer to get to this point. But it’s still early. Hopefully, we keep moving in the right direction!
Part of the bonding process with an adopted child is learning to communicate with a baby who has spent most of her life training a foster mother/family to interpret her communication signals. A few days after arriving home with Ethan, we wrote about Ethan’s Big Challenge (i.e., going from an experienced foster mother to two clueless parents). While Sarah gets parents who have a little more experience, she still has to start over with a new family (that’s gotta be frustrating! :-D)
Well, today is a good day to reflect on where we are, not only because we’re at the one month mark, but also because we had our first (of three) post placement visits with our caseworker (which is part of the legal process of adopting from Korea; I wrote a little bit about that here).
Today’s visit with the caseworker went very well. It was an opportunity for the caseworker to meet Sarah and to get an update on how her transition into our family is going.
I’m also hoping to write an update (soon) on Ethan’s handling of this transition, which continues to be the most “fluid” part. At the end of one day last week I said to Joleen, “I hope we hit the bottom today, because if we didn’t, I’m not sure we’ll survive!” Nearly a week later, things have been better, but we still have a long way to go.
We would appreciate your continued prayers for us during this time, that we will bond with one another and grow together as a family. Pray for Sarah that she will bond with her adoptive family. Pray for Ethan that he will reach acceptance. And Joleen and I need wisdom and patience to navigate this fluid situation in a way helps our family grow as strong as possible!