Our First Social Worker Visit and More.....

We survived our first social worker visit ….and it really wasn’t all that bad! I had visions of Adam and Aggie fighting or pushing our Gem down and general kid craziness…….But I thought it went really well! We answered some basic questions about our bonding period thus far, our routine, and if we were happy. The last question was an obvious yes.

We have really been blessed with our arrangement in Ostroda. It is a beautiful, picturesque vacation town that surrounds a huge lake with a brick boardwalk that runs about ½ of the lake. Right now there are often about 20 men ice fishing in the morning and by afternoon we always see at least one windsurfer. We did see someone biking across the lake and thought that was a little strange. We discovered the BEST pastry shop that serves fabulous donuts in the morning and cookies in the afternoon. It tops Starbucks with some incredible frothy latte’s. One day we had two in one day and the women behind the counter just smiled at Lee and I as if to say…..the two of you deserve it with three! LOL! I was extremely happy that day because I was very WIDE awake.  This might be our little secret to success.

We take two walks a day in the morning and afternoon to feed the ducks and swans and to go the Sklep for supplies. Our refrigerator is the size of a college dorm appliance and holds just enough for one day of rations. I always wait outside the Sklep  with Adam and Aggie in our Kid SUV and Lee goes in and purchases the groceries with the Gem on his back in our Kelty Kid backpack. He says the people who work there are finally warming up to him and smiling because they are getting down his routine. I wonder what they will think when one day ….the American with the Gem on his back all of sudden stopped coming?

In the afternoon we  work on Adam and Aggie’s lesson plans from school and watch at Doc McStuffin at least once a day. If any of you know the TV show, it comes in DVD form and  is about the cutest thing ever. I have all the songs memorized. “Time for a checkup!”

We have had our ups and downs comforting the Gem. The first couple of days were a  little tough. Lots and Lots of crying. We have a child who only stops crying if held. I know some of you have commented about your arms being so sore…. I get it now! I wake up in the morning like you with oh, so, sore arms!! We had to make a trip to the ER  also because of a violent vomit attack (all over Lee) We were fearful it was the flu because of a low grade fever, however, I think I knew …..and my mommy gut was telling me it was a lot of emotion coming out   We have been better for few days and there are more smiles now than stone faces.   Even though nights can still be very scary for the Gem, we  drink formula at bedtime (which surprised me at age 2 the Gem was still doing this but I am not making any changes) and go fast to sleep soon thereafter.

We had prepared Adam and Aggie for this adventure prior to leaving by talking about the adoption whenever we could, With that being said we are still seeing a bit of regression in behavior . Aggie will occasionally retreat until Lee can sit with her for awhile and reassure her that mommy and daddy love her very much. Adam has occasionally says.. “can we go home now?” and gets sort of mad when we explain as gently as we can why we can’t.

No one really smiles here, but that is not new to us.   Just a difficult adjustment for someone like me who say Hello to all.   And they are still as pushy as ever in the grocery stores!

Other than that, we are plugging along and trying to eat as many delicious pierogies as possible!!

A few more weeks to go!   Hope all is well at home and with you!