Things we've learned about Nolan so far...

I'd love to know what he is thinking when he does this.

He poses this way often. (His appetite is endless so it isn't mom's cooking!)

He does well playing with others... mostly.

He got over being scared of Lincoln after about a week and a half,

in fact we even went to a dog park last weekend and he loved it!

He likes to get lots of things out and like any good terrible 2-er

does not like to clean up and tries his best to get out of it!

He is secure in his manhood... princess crowns and purses are fun to play with after all.

So hard to believe it has been 3 weeks since we arrived home with Nolan. He is doing so well and makes a super 2 year old. Ha!

He had been learning many words and was willing to repeat anything we'd say but that has changed somewhat over the past few days. Thankfully we began teaching him a few basic signs as soon as we got him, and he will do those. But he has gone back to some of the Chinese words he knows. I have read that this is common and I can only imagine how much his little heart and mind are still trying to process. Now he is grunting which appears to be his form of whining. This morning however he did the sign for "eat" right at snack time which is an improvement from the caveman-like approach he has been trying lately! (Actually, he sounds more like a whiny pirate than a caveman.)

He is still throwing fits but it is usually for 1 of 2 reasons- not getting his way, or not being able to tell us what he wants, which we know must be so frustrating!

He has also joined his sisters in clearly rejecting foods if he is not in the mood to eat that particular food at the time it's offered. So see... he is a perfectly normal kids who already knows how to push Mom's buttons. But generally speaking, he eats well and objects to being cut off even after he's had more than enough. But that also could be the result of having food distributed strictly at the orphanage.

After all the kids are home from school, he wants to be held from about 4:00 on, which is a big challenge for me as I try to get homework, baths and dinner accomplished. If I set him down, he often gets stepped on in the kitchen because I am not used to having him RIGHT behind me at all times. I am not particularly patient when I'm working in the kitchen, but I am learning too!

We can tell that he is bonding and it is an amazing feeling when he seeks out Baba or Mama in a crisis, or a crowd. He is not trying to go to others as much as he was in the beginning and he does get nervous at church when are are dropping off the other kids, he seems fearful that we are going to drop him off too, and clings to us tightly. We will get to that eventually, dropping him off in his own class, but we believe it is not quite time for that and will wait a bit longer until we clearly establish our place in his life.

The potty training has all but gone out the window. He was doing pretty well in the begining but now will not communicate regarding this matter except after the fact. (He was pretty much trained when he came to us.) Oh well, one major transition at a time.

Thanks so much to all of you for the gifts and visits. We are truly blessed by our friends and family and most of all blessed and overwhelmed to be a part of Nolan's life. He's an impressive, resilient kid and a great addition to our family!

Many of you have asked about our visit to Nolan's SWI, so I will be posting pictures and recounting our visit soon, so check back here for my next post.