How is everyone doing?

I don’t even know where to begin this post.  The biggest question everyone asks is, “How is everyone doing?”  Matt and I are both amazed at how well all four of the kids have transitioned.  We both feel like we are constantly busy doing something for the children, but that was very much expected.  We are very thankful that during this initial adjustment period we are both able to be home.  Hopefully by the time we return to China in a couple of months everyone will be settled, routines will be established, and we’ll be able to transition from mostly having two parents around all day to having only one during working hours.  We have been in an out of the doctor’s office and pharmacy so many times that everyone knows us all by name.  Thankfully we think we’ve gotten everything diagnosed (giardia, ringworm, scalp ringworm, and ear infections) and the kids are definitely on the mend.   The kids:

The first few days for Vera were pretty tough.  She was expecting a little sister who would do everything she wanted, when she wanted, for as long as she wanted.  She didn’t exactly get that.  As each day has gone on, both girls have figured one another out and learned how to play together.  She loves having someone to share a room with and really does love her little sis and two brothers.

Eden Weyni is doing great!  She learns more English each day.  We were surprised when Tobey Alazar came home that she didn’t try to speak to him in Tigrinya.  If she knows the English word for something, she uses it.  She is funny, excitable, an amazing helper, cuddly, and loves to laugh.  The first couple of weeks home each held several temper tantrums, but those have pretty much vanished.  She has transitioned from being “Weyni Halefom” to “Eden Weyni”.  She’ll answer to Eden but still calls herself Weyni.  She won’t wear dresses and prefers jeans, loves to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, green beans, and black olives, all proof that she IS my daughter!

Tobey Alazar had a tougher time transitioning than Eden, but has really seemed to settled in the last couple of days.  He is strong-willed, charming, stubborn, and loves to be held.  He prefers Daddy to Mommy but likes us both.  His favorite thing is cars—he likes watching them, playing with them, wearing them on his clothes.  Every time we get in the car and start to move he giggles with excitement.  We have transitioned from calling him Alazar to Tobey Alazar and now simply “Tobey”.  He didn’t fight or question the transition at all but seems to have accepted it as just another one of the major changes he has just experienced.  The most difficult thing for him has been sleep.  We tried putting him and Kai together, but Tobey’s crying freaked Kai out so that didn’t work.  We tried putting him in the room by himself while Kai slept in the pack-n-play in our closet, but that didn’t go so well either.  The latest arrangement is that he is sleeping with Vera and Eden in their bed.  He’s very happy about this arrangement, but it means more laughing, more crying, and a later bedtime for all three.  The best part of it is that he’s not waking up through the night which means I get to stay asleep as well.  He is starting to learn a few English words, but unfortunately Kai is his favorite kid to repeat after.  Anyone who has heard Kai talk knows that isn’t a very good thing. J

Kai has probably had the easiest transition of all.  He seems to love the excitement and having more siblings around.  He loves to kiss them, hug them, wrestle with them, and roll around and laugh with them.  He loves his siblings and his siblings love him!

Here are a few more pics of the kids together: