All In a Week

The day had finally come for Levi to get on that "aeroplane" and go "whoosh, whoosh" as he kept telling us. We had a long, but uneventful flight home. He slept for about 5 hrs. Not much. He enjoyed pushing all the buttons on the airplane to watch movies or play music. One time, I looked over and he was going to town dancing his little hiney off, and so I leaned in to see what he was listening to....
Black Eyed Peas. Uh......okay. Let's find Disney again! :) 
We arrived in Washington, D.C. at Dulles airport. After going through customs, our sweet little Irish Ethiopian boy was officially a U.S. citizen. Yay, God!!

 

 Finally, we arrived in Norfolk after nearly 24 hrs of flight/delays. There's just something about adrenaline rush that keeps you going though. Levi had still to meet his sisters! We had several friends waiting with them, as well as Sean's parents. It was a sweet, sweet reunion with LOTS of tears of joy. 

 Even though Levi is home, our journey is really just beginning now. This is where the rubber meets the road and life begins. Real life. Hard life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. There will be so many challenges before us. We're already seeing glimpses of this, and it is so easy to feel overwhelmed. Therefore, I want to be sure to document the GOOD things, too, and celebrate those. I need these so that when the hard days come, I am reminded.

So, here goes some "Yay, God!" moments since we took custody of Levi last Monday.

In just one week.....

Levi now is using a trash can. It took several days, but now he instantly takes his trash to the can. It just was something he was never taught. It's normal to toss your trash wherever it lands, which is why Addis is such a dirty city.

He is now using toilet paper and wiping well. Yeah, that's a praise. Toilet paper is not something he was accustomed to. Hard to believe, but paper products just are not common in Ethiopia. They're not considered "necessities: and are expensive. So, we spent the first few days wiping noses and butts all over again. God gets a BIG "Woop! Woop!" for this one.

Levi goes right to sleep when we lay him down. We set up a ritual from the first night we had him. Sit on bed with small light/lamp on. He is petrified of the dark, so we've decided for now, he gets to sleep with a lamp on. Security is huge for him. We read a book, pray together, lay him down with hugs and kisses and walk away. He stays in bed and goes to sleep within minutes. Last night our first night home, he was gone in literally 60 seconds! He doesn't get out of his bed at all unless he has to go to the bathroom, and this morning, I found him playing with a book in his bed. Praises go a long way, so I praised him for obeying and staying in bed. That big smile melts my heart. What a start to my day!

English. His English grows by the hour! It is already amazing how he is beginning to form sentences. We've noticed a difference in the past 12 hrs. since coming to America. He is no longer surrounded by Amharic, so he has no choice but to learn and speak English. We've heard him go from just a few words to some sentences now.

He is a great eater. He's not too picky at all, and he likes healthy foods. This morning, for his first breakfast at home, he had eggs, bacon, biscuits, a granola bar, and some juice. Ate every bit! He loves all kinds of fresh fruits.

He had a horrible cough and congestion when we got him. He's been on antibiotics on and off the past 3 months. Since being with us almost one week, that has just about cleared up with Mucinex, pushing fluids, and cleaning out his nose. I have never seen so much snot. Whoa.

He loves ritual/routine. Once he is taught, he wants to do it that way, so things like showering, brushing his teeth, getting on pjs, getting dressed, etc., he is so good to do.

We've learned that when he sings in Amharic, he's comforting himself. It helps us to know what he's feeling without him being able to verbalize it. I love seeing how music does for him often when it does for us. Comfort, encourage, bring joy..... it's cool for me to share this love of music with my boy.

He adores his siblings, and they adore him. I'm thankful that he has taken to all of us well, but we are just pouring the cement here. Realistically, life will not be rosy, so don't think this is our "happily ever after." We need your prayers more now than ever. Please! Everything before now is just the prologue. We are just now reading "Once Upon a Time" and turning the page. Our real journey begins now. I'm so grateful that God goes before us to lead, and behind us to cover all our messes. There will be plenty.

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. " Phil 1:6