These past six months have flown by faster than I could have ever imagined. It seems like October was just yesterday!
Six months ago in Guangzhou, China we met this scared little fellow:
Fast forward six months and here we are today.
He has made so much progress and changed so much in these six months. I can’t imagine what he will be like in six more months. We have discovered so many things about him, but we haven’t discovered it all yet. Every day, I feel that we are uncovering more of his true self. It’s really true that you “peel back layers” over time until you arrive at the real person they are.
The honeymoon phase has ended and we are seeing more sibling rivalry and competition. As irritating as that can be at times, it’s really a good thing. That means that Camden is comfortable and he’s fitting in and his little sisters are accepting him as a true brother. They fight and argue and compete every day but they also love big and play constantly and miss each other when they are not together.
His English is amazing!!! He understands everything and speaks it almost flawlessly. He has a little trouble with plurals and his accent is still there, but overall he does just fine. Occasionally he will interchange a word or will ask what an item is that he doesn’t know the word for like shower head, or the color gray or cheetah. He still watches movies in Chinese and plays Chinese games on the Iphone and listens to Chinese storybook on the phone. He doesn’t talk much when people talk to him in Chinese. I think this may be more of a stranger issue than him understanding.
He will eat anything we offer him but his favorite food is still noodles. He prefers meat and fruit, and doesn’t care for bread or sweet snacks. He does like candy, though. He likes any kind of Asian food and still uses his chopsticks very well. He eats a ton of food and always asks for seconds and thirds on things he really likes. Still he’s a skinny little guy. He currently weighs 32 lbs and is almost 40 inches tall.
His health has amazed us!! After his lung surgery and dental surgery, he has had no health issues at all. He is never sick and is probably the healthiest person in our house. We keep a constant watch for signs of jaundice which would indicate an issue with his G6PD but so far everything has been great. Since he has been home, his hemoglobin has stayed constant or gone up (except during surgery days). For us, G6PD has not been a difficult special need. We just make sure he stays away from the chemicals he needs to avoid.
Overall I think he is doing great. He’s blending into our family. A four-year old child doesn’t arrive and magically mesh. It’s an integration process that happens over time. The attachment process has steps forward and backward. Camden has a sweet and loving personality and he’s quick to trust. That has made things easier. We have seen some stubborn sides, but honestly I would be worried if he was “perfect”. We love our son and know that he was a precious gift from God. His beginning was less than perfect and not fair to him at all. Our prayer for him is to show him God’s love, a forever family’s love and to give him a chance to be everything he wants to be in life.
