Saturdays are typically date days for Kristie and me. We usually drop our kids off at her parents’ house around lunchtime, slip away for a quiet afternoon, and then pick them back up in time to get them home and in bed. It’s a great time for us to stay connected, and it’s a fun day for the kids, too.

Yesterday was our first date day since getting back home with Jonathan, but it was a bit unconventional because our new little man came with us. He’s not ready to be away from us yet, so he got to tag along to get some lunch before taking his nap. He had a great day, although there were some moments when he clearly missed having the other kids around. In just four weeks, the general noise level of the house has become normal to him, and it seemed like he was a little unsettled by the silence of a house with two adults and only one (mostly non-verbal) child. But that uneasiness didn’t last long. Soon he was playing and exploring like usual, and he’s found a new favorite toy to provide the soundtrack for his day. It’s a Mozart music cube we’ve had for years. In fact, this is the second one of these we’ve had. The first one broke, so we replaced it a couple of years ago. He discovered it a few days ago and has been experimenting with it ever since. Here’s a quick video of him using it. (You might notice that he also got a haircut yesterday morning. As is often the case with him, he handled that much, much better than we expected.)

All in all, yesterday was a really good day, both for us and for him. He continues to do really well, and we’re excited to see more and more of his personality shine through each day. Tomorrow will be a challenging day for him because he has a series of appointments at Children’s Hospital, and it means he won’t get a nap, so he could turn into Mr. Hyde by the time we’re done there. They have an Interational Adoption Center, and he’ll spend tomorrow meeting with social workers, therapists (occupational, physical, speech), and the head of the IAC. All three of our previously adopted kids have gone through the IAC, and it’s a great place to get started with our kids’ care. They’ve already run some tests and found he has an intestinal parasite. He’s finished his antibiotic to treat that, and we should find out later this week whether he’s parasite-free or if we have to do another round of medicine. Please pray that his parasite is gone, and that tomorrow’s appointments will go well. We’re eager to have his hearing difficulty (due to microtia) addressed, and we should at least get a referral to the audiology department tomorrow. More later…