We have been home with Danny Pitchou for approximately ten days now and feeling so loved by so many! Wanted to address the number one question - how is everything going? All things considered, it going pretty great!
Let me back up a little to our time in country. Danny was brought to us in our hotel room Monday afternoon, March 21st. I put my hand out to touch him and he put his hand out to shake mine - melt my heart! At this time we also got to meet his foster mama which was such a blessing! We had cars and foam blocks set out for him to play with in the sitting area of our room. He was cautious at first but took the cars and lined them all up next to each other. Then he drove them to the other side of the rug and lined them all up again.
Once it was just Mike, Danny, and me, Mike got on the floor with him and they smashed cars back and forth at each other - such great boy stuff! This brought out lots of smiles and laughter from Danny!
We went outside and blew bubbles and kicked a ball - more smiles. This is also when we met the Anderson family, from Illinois as well and in DRC to bring home their little girl. Another adopting family - blessing!
Danny tried and liked everything we ate for dinner - freeze dried chicken and rice (was our first freeze dried meal and I must say much tastier than I had thought it was going to be - I do recommend them if needed for international adoption travel or camping in the wilderness!) and applesauce.
We had been told Danny slept from 6pm until 6am and we could see why - he played hard all day long! He was and is so very good at playing and has an incredible imagination. He will play with one thing for quite awhile before moving on to the next thing. When they brought his roll away bed in that night, he climbed right in, clothes and all! We weren't sure how it would go that first bedtime - would he be scared or sad? Would he cry and we'd need to lay with him for a long time before he fell asleep? Well, no less than three minutes after he lay down, that little boy was asleep. Mike looked at me and asked, "How did we get so lucky again?!"
Fast forward to us arriving home - Danny was a bit shy at first with family and friends meeting us at the airport, how understandable is that! I have a picture of John and Ryan standing next to him and Danny is looking unsure and turning his face away. When we left the airport about half an hour later, he was holding one of the boys hands in each of his, they stopped on the overpass to the parking lot to look at cars, and chatted nonstop all the way home, the boys yelling "Danny Pitchuo" about every 10 seconds and Danny talking a mile a minute in French and Lingala. Blessing!!
We are beginning to settle into a routine here - Mike back to work, the boys back to school, my girls I watch returning, each day a different adventure. Each day Danny becomes more familiar with what to expect. He tries and loves everything we've given him to eat, except cucumbers and a pat of butter on his vegetables. He wants to wear just his Captain America shirt (he'll point to the decal on the bedroom wall and say "Avengers," a word he learned from one of the many talking Avenger action figures we have - ha!) so we went to Wal-Mart the other day and purchased a few more superhero shirts along with a Tom and Jerry shirt. He recognized Tom and Jerry cartoons on the plane and was very excited to watch them! And I am not making this up, as he sat in the cart holding the t-shirts, he said, "Thank you Mommy." Yep! He loves being outside, Reese's Peanut Butter Easter eggs, the ABC song (like LOVES it - he had each of us sing it individually tonight at dinner and told others to "shh" if they talked while someone was singing), having every electronic toy we own going at the same time, the movie Cars (lots of racing in that first hour), taking a tub, doing what John and Ryan are doing, looking for jeeps as we drive (and just like the boys did when they first got home, he says "Beep" when I am stopped at a red light - there are very stop lights in DRC and so people just drive), driving the jeep we got from my brother when my nieces outgrew it in the backyard, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
Now just to keep it all real - there are a few challenges. He is testing the water this week and seeing if no really means no - very normal. He several times has taken toys away from one of his brothers and then been unhappy when we have taken and given the toy back. He wanted to play with the computer buttons this morning and had a melt down: concrete boy laying on the floor quietly yelling no and his little yell is heartbreaking. He did not want to brush his teeth tonight or put his pajamas on, so I helped with both. But seeing how his little world has completely turned upside and ended up on the other side of the planet, he's doing pretty darn great! The power of prayer and tremendous love and care from foster mama - yet more blessings!
Let me back up a little to our time in country. Danny was brought to us in our hotel room Monday afternoon, March 21st. I put my hand out to touch him and he put his hand out to shake mine - melt my heart! At this time we also got to meet his foster mama which was such a blessing! We had cars and foam blocks set out for him to play with in the sitting area of our room. He was cautious at first but took the cars and lined them all up next to each other. Then he drove them to the other side of the rug and lined them all up again.
Once it was just Mike, Danny, and me, Mike got on the floor with him and they smashed cars back and forth at each other - such great boy stuff! This brought out lots of smiles and laughter from Danny!
We went outside and blew bubbles and kicked a ball - more smiles. This is also when we met the Anderson family, from Illinois as well and in DRC to bring home their little girl. Another adopting family - blessing!
Danny tried and liked everything we ate for dinner - freeze dried chicken and rice (was our first freeze dried meal and I must say much tastier than I had thought it was going to be - I do recommend them if needed for international adoption travel or camping in the wilderness!) and applesauce.
We had been told Danny slept from 6pm until 6am and we could see why - he played hard all day long! He was and is so very good at playing and has an incredible imagination. He will play with one thing for quite awhile before moving on to the next thing. When they brought his roll away bed in that night, he climbed right in, clothes and all! We weren't sure how it would go that first bedtime - would he be scared or sad? Would he cry and we'd need to lay with him for a long time before he fell asleep? Well, no less than three minutes after he lay down, that little boy was asleep. Mike looked at me and asked, "How did we get so lucky again?!"
Fast forward to us arriving home - Danny was a bit shy at first with family and friends meeting us at the airport, how understandable is that! I have a picture of John and Ryan standing next to him and Danny is looking unsure and turning his face away. When we left the airport about half an hour later, he was holding one of the boys hands in each of his, they stopped on the overpass to the parking lot to look at cars, and chatted nonstop all the way home, the boys yelling "Danny Pitchuo" about every 10 seconds and Danny talking a mile a minute in French and Lingala. Blessing!!
We are beginning to settle into a routine here - Mike back to work, the boys back to school, my girls I watch returning, each day a different adventure. Each day Danny becomes more familiar with what to expect. He tries and loves everything we've given him to eat, except cucumbers and a pat of butter on his vegetables. He wants to wear just his Captain America shirt (he'll point to the decal on the bedroom wall and say "Avengers," a word he learned from one of the many talking Avenger action figures we have - ha!) so we went to Wal-Mart the other day and purchased a few more superhero shirts along with a Tom and Jerry shirt. He recognized Tom and Jerry cartoons on the plane and was very excited to watch them! And I am not making this up, as he sat in the cart holding the t-shirts, he said, "Thank you Mommy." Yep! He loves being outside, Reese's Peanut Butter Easter eggs, the ABC song (like LOVES it - he had each of us sing it individually tonight at dinner and told others to "shh" if they talked while someone was singing), having every electronic toy we own going at the same time, the movie Cars (lots of racing in that first hour), taking a tub, doing what John and Ryan are doing, looking for jeeps as we drive (and just like the boys did when they first got home, he says "Beep" when I am stopped at a red light - there are very stop lights in DRC and so people just drive), driving the jeep we got from my brother when my nieces outgrew it in the backyard, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
Now just to keep it all real - there are a few challenges. He is testing the water this week and seeing if no really means no - very normal. He several times has taken toys away from one of his brothers and then been unhappy when we have taken and given the toy back. He wanted to play with the computer buttons this morning and had a melt down: concrete boy laying on the floor quietly yelling no and his little yell is heartbreaking. He did not want to brush his teeth tonight or put his pajamas on, so I helped with both. But seeing how his little world has completely turned upside and ended up on the other side of the planet, he's doing pretty darn great! The power of prayer and tremendous love and care from foster mama - yet more blessings!
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