Auden starts Kindergarten!

After an action-packed summer that seemed so long yet so short at the same time, it was time for Auden to start Kindergarten this week! 

He had no hesitation, no worries, no fears- just pure excitement that never wavered the whole summer, after meeting his teacher, seeing the classroom and then the first day.  I know a lot of this had to do with being so used to going to preschool for full days but I'm still surprised how excited he was to go on a school bus and elementary school with "big kids" with no trepidation. 

And of course our little Grant started in a new classroom at preschool with new 3 year olds that were starting for the school year.  He was NOT happy watching Auden get on the bus without him but eventually he calmed down and was happy for Daddy to take him to school via bicycle.  He ended up having a great first week as well which was great because we did not think he'd do well without his big brother there at first.  Success all around this week, hope it continues!

 

 

The Kindergarten crew at the bus stop.  Auden is one lucky boy!

 

 

There he goes!

 



 

Poor little brother feeling left out.

 



All good now, bye Daddy and Grant!

 



Of course Auden's confidence didn't stop Mommy and Daddy from being nervous his first day, just hoping his day was going well and he'd get off that bus as happy as when he got on.  I would say that was an understatement- he literally jumped off the bus and exclaimed "I can't wait to go back tomorrow!" with the biggest smile on his face.  And then he said the same thing the next day and next.  I'm sure the "newness" is going to wear off at some point, but right now I'd say this kid LOVES school and his first week couldn't have gone better.  He lucked out and got all the neighborhood girls in his class that we are close with, as well as sitting next to a girl from his preschool class and a boy from his old soccer team.  So, he knew almost half the class already, ha.  He has a new teacher that is fresh out of Penn State but she seems very confident and great for the kids with a small class size of 18 kids. 

 

Walking home with next door neighbor Acacia after a successful day.  These two make your heart melt.  It feels like yesterday that they were 2 years old playing together when we first moved to our house.

 



It's amazing to think our first baby is a big Kindergartener now.  You can't help but to have flashbacks in your mind as he gets on that bus of everything you've been through and he has accomplished in 5.5 years.  You think of holding a 3 pound baby in the NICU getting blood transfusions, having a heart condition, riding in ambulances, a first tough year of eating issues and reflux, delayed speech, etc. and it just seems unbelievable that here we are.  He is sweet, sensitive, yet adventurous, head-in-the-clouds thinking about everything animal and science related thing he knows, bright-eyed 5 year old ready to take on the world.  We are so grateful for and proud of our big boy.   

Speaking of accomplishments, Auden had quite a summer.  He made the "Mini-Stars" swim team at our swim club which meant that he got to practice 3 mornings a week for a month and compete in two swim meets at the end.  It was so cool to watch him get so much stronger at his freestyle stroke from practicing so consistently.  He loved it and already can't wait to do it again next summer.  He also is our little diving board machine and has NO FEAR when it comes to jumping off things in the water.  As soon as he passed his diving test he asked if he could go off the high dive, I made him do one jump off the low springboard first, ha.  By the end of the summer he was asking when he can go off the crazy high platform at the indoor pool- he is nuts when it comes to this stuff- braver than his mommy, that is for sure!  He's been doing great dives and even trying flips off the low springboard.  I have a feeling the diving team may be in his future:)

 

Coach Sophia with the 5 year olds for their first meet!  Auden was the youngest boy on the team! 

 

Passed the diving test: 2 freestyle laps across diving well, floating on back for 2 minutes, then treading water for 2 minutes.  Easy peasy after all the swim team practice.

 

 

Cannonball to end the summer!

 

 

It's August? Already?

Summer is flying by so fast I haven't had time to update the blog in a while.  We have been having an extremely active summer with Grant starting school (summer camp now) with his big brother, Auden did the mini-stars swim team in July, we've been gone almost every weekend with Keuka Lake trips, Chesapeake trip, Philly trip and a NJ beach trip to come.  How lucky of us to have family and friends that invite us to come to their awesome places on the water!   Pictures of all our summer fun to come later after all our trips:) 

 In July we celebrated the one year mark that our plane landed in Virginia and we started our life as a family of four in the United States.  So this is normally the part where I say I can't believe Grant "came home" only one year ago.  However, after joining an online group with a lot of transracial adult adoptees- I've learned that saying this is really adoptive-parent centric and most adult adoptees cringe when they hear it and do not like it.  Grant had a home- the beautiful country of S. Korea and we brought him to our home in the United States.  Korea will always be his homeland and we are proud of that (and he is too!).  The more appropriate wording is that he "joined our family" in 2014.  I am always learning and reading as much as I can about transracial adoptees- the things they think their parents got wrong, got right, wish they had growing up, etc.  Sure, no one person's experience is the same but the truth is the harder stuff is yet to come.  I want to do right by my son and know he can always talk to us no matter how mixed up his feelings are- we need to create the foundation for that now.  The adoption process doesn't stop when he walked in the door, I'm learning and appreciating that it is a lifelong process.  The "love is enough, don't talk about race" method used in the 80s has proved to be disastrous and we have the benefit of learning from those adult adoptees now to do better for kids of this generation.  The more we educate ourselves, the better we can do for Grant and for our family.  We have him in schools where he is never the only Asian student in his class, we chose a Korean pediatrician with our new insurance, we make sure we are eating Korean food either at home or at local restaurants, we have a great group of Korean adoption friends for fun playgroups and we talk about his birthparents and foster family- these are the things that are hopefully going to help him as he grows up and understands his self-identity. 

Speaking of our little cutie, Grant overall had a pretty smooth transition to preschool (after the first week) especially thanks to Auden being there.  How fortunate for us that they could overlap this summer before Auden goes off to Kindergarten.  Auden continues to help Grant feel comfortable in new situations and the transition to preschool was probably the biggest example thus far.  He plays with Grant on the playground, all of Auden's friends adore Grant and play with him as well.  He is such a superstar big brother, especially when he knows his little brother needs him.  My favorite thing to do after I drop them off on the playground is spying on them through the window.  Grant is a little clingy as I say goodbye but then eventually runs off with Auden and Auden will start pushing him on the swing, etc.  It makes my heart almost burst to see how much they love each other and both need each other.  We knew we'd be giving Auden a brother when adopting Grant but we never knew how much he wanted one and how much he would love Grant.  I dearly hope that they are reading this one day as adults and are still best friends.  Watching their relationship grow this year has been nothing short of amazing.     

 

                      

 

 

Grant goes to Preschool Summer Camp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grant refused to do group swim lessons in May because he didn't like being in the pool with random people/teacher and me on the side.  So I cancelled the lessons and hoped for the best this summer.  In typical Grant fashion all he does is mimics big brother so he has made tremendous strides in his swimming ability just by going to our swim club a lot this summer.  He's trying to do freestyle and even learned to come up for 1-2 breathes before needing our help.  He is definitely doing awesome for a kid that wouldn't even put a toe in the water 13 months ago.  So very proud!

 

  Check out this "freestyle," he took a breathe and made it all the way to the wall!  

                                        

   

                                         

Fun with Grandpop at their community pool!

                              

                             

Stay tuned for all of my big fish's accomplishments this summer in a separate post.  It is so fun watching these boys learn and try new things!  

One year ago...

This time last year we were doing our last minute packing to get on a big blue Korean Air airplane the following day.  Cody and I were checking off every list imaginable, not knowing how long we'd be gone for and Auden was just so excited to be out of school and to be taking a plane to go to Korea and meet his new brother.

We can't help but think about our lives this time last year and what an amazingly terrifying journey we set out on.  We miss our two months in Korea and we think of the good, bad and the ugly.  Luckily, the brain always remembers the good more than anything.  It was such an unbelievable experience that we will never forget.  There is not a week that goes by that Auden doesn't talk about something that he did or saw in Korea and that gives me hope that despite the fact he was only 4 years old, he may be able to hang onto some memories forever (pictures and this blog will help!).  Auden knows how special it was to be all together, as Grant adjusted to our family, finding fun adventures in a foreign land.  We will definitely be having flashbacks over the next two months and I'm sure, without a doubt, Grant will too.  In fact, he already had a weird day on Friday and woke up from a nap inconsolable and unable to use words for ten minutes.  It was scary but I'm sure we will be dealing with a bunch of tramaversary stuff over the next few weeks.  I can't believe how far we have come with our little boy.  It's fair to say he hated my guts as soon as we took custody and now he is such a momma's boy.  Sometimes I have to stop to remember how badly I wished for what I have now when I was sobbing in the bathroom the first week we had custody about this time last year (thank God for Cody to help me cope).  At the time it felt impossible to get thru but time heals most wounds and thankfully we got to the other side quicker than I thought possible.  I love him with all of my being and I know he feels the same for me, his Daddy and Auden.    

Grant never ceases to amaze us and 4 days after his birthday he decided take off the training wheels from his bike and he was just off!  He needed about 5 minutes of help from me before he could master turns and stops.  Now he's doing hills, the bike path to Auden's soccer practices, starting by himself, etc.  I really can't believe he only started riding a "real" outdoor bike only 10 months ago when he came home in July.  His gross motor skills and strong legs are incredible!  He's the youngest kid I ever met that could ride a bike at 36 months and he has no idea how awesome that is, he just wants to ride like big brother and Daddy. 

Look at these strong legs, no hands:)

Has come a long way with teeth brushing and the dentist too!

And what is our big boy up to?  Right now Daddy is Auden's soccer coach for spring soccer.  He enjoys practice but our little man doesn't seem to have that aggressive streak yet when it comes to competitive sports.  It's too soon to tell if that is something that will come later or if that is just his personality:)  It will be interesting and fun to watch as he and Grant grow up what activities they are interested in.  All we want is that they are active and find something they enjoy.  He's been also doing a few swim classes lately to get more comfortable on his back in the water because he sort of  skipped that skill in swimming since he taught himself to swim underwater and tread water at such an early age.  His "reward" from the instructor after the swim session is getting to go off the diving board which he loves.  Usually he just does cannonballs but last night he decided to try to do a dive like the older boy in front of him.  Success! One thing is for sure- he loves and is fearless when it comes to water.  We are looking forward to our swim club opening up this weekend and hopefully Auden can be on the "junior" swim team and enjoy it. 

This is a screen shot from a video so it's blurry.  He can't wait until he's old enough to take diving classes at the Rec Center.  

For Mother's Day Cody had Auden answer these questions.  His answers were so cute.  You know his brother's adoption took too long when he thinks I'm a social worker, ha.  And for the record, I never make him Mac and Cheese- he gets it at Whole Foods:)  

We had a great Mother's Day weekend with Nana and Pappy visiting and we went to a fun kid friendly winery where Auden even got to ride a horse for the first time.

Happy 3rd Birthday Grant!

Dear Grant,

Today you are 3 years old!  And since it's a Monday, Mommy has off from work and we've been having a great time playing on this beautiful day.  It's such a special birthday because it's your first one at home with us.  We had a wonderful weekend celebrating with a BIG party with a ton of family and friends.  You had a blast and everything went off without a hitch, including the most gorgeous weather, an awesome bounce house for entertainment, the Thomas the Train ice cream cake you requested and yummy BonChon Korean fried chicken that was a huge hit with our guests.  It will definitely be an unforgettable one for us, even if you can't remember it in a few years!

Of course on this day I think of the two other mothers in your life.  The one that gave you life, whom I may never get to see or talk to, but who I will be thinking of for the rest of my life.  I hope she finds peace on this day, the day she gave birth to a son she knew she couldn't raise.  I pray one day she finds out how loved and cherished you are.  Tonight, we will light another candle on your piece of cake for her and when you blow it out we will think of her and wish her peace and happiness.  I hope it will be a tradition we can continue for years to come.    

 I'm also thinking of your amazing Omma, who I chatted with this morning on the other side of the world to wish you a very happy birthday!  After finally connecting on KakaoTalk (Korean text message app), we've been chatting every few days for the past two weeks.  I had no idea that she is so proficient in English that we can have written conversations in real time.  It brings me tears of joy that I've been sending her videos and pictures of you almost daily that make her SO happy.  She still thinks about you every day and has wanted to hear your voice for so long, she LOVED the video of you singing your ABCs I sent her last week.  She says your Appa looks at the photo album I sent them every day with a smile and her younger son misses you so much and just turned 17 a few days ago.  I got more pictures of her and your foster family and more information about you as a baby.  We are so blessed you were placed with such an amazing family and I thank God for them every day.  I'm so happy we can be connected with them right now and I hope that when we go back to Korea when you are about 10 years old we can see her again.  

You are a ball full of energy, spunk, laughter, love and some bossiness thrown in for good measure:)  You have taught me to be a better mother almost every day (patience is key).  Your Daddy and I are often astounded at what a bright little boy you are.  You have a steal trap of a memory and it's hard to believe when we talk to you that you've only been hearing and speaking English for 10 months.  We giggle when we get into "arguments" over whether we should go the regular way or turn for the shortcut when we are going places around town because you know where everything is already.  You learn things by observing people very closely, which we aren't sure is a great thing yet, ha.  I'll never forget when we walked out of the grocery store and I turned for one second to put the cart back outside the door and there you were, leaning against the wall pretending to smoke a cigarette like the old lady 4 feet next to you.  Luckily she was on her cell phone and didn't even notice you next to her before I scooped you up and you giggled.  Your laughter is contagious and even though you still take a while to warm up to new people, when they get to know you, they see what a remarkable little boy you are.  Every night at bedtime when we say we love you and goodnight, you recite a long list of everyone you love- "I love Mommy, Daddy, Auden"...(then in no particular order) "I love Grammy, Grandpa, Nana, Pappy" then you'll throw in the Aunts and Uncles and cousins you have seen recently or you have been thinking about.  You know and remember them all, no matter how frequently you get to see them:-)     

Happy 3rd Birthday baby.  We love you with all of our heart and can't wait to see what the next year brings for you!

                                            

  Big party on Saturday!  BIG thanks to all the grandparents that helped out SO SO much for it and big thanks to all our family and friends for celebrating this special day with us!