What an INCREDIBLE 5 days this has been :)

We are extremely lucky to have crossed paths with our newly adopted baby boy!!! OMG!!! I believe the title states it all :) Don't get me wrong it has been overwhelming at times but I will say more than not Luke has been such a joy.

He does still have his days and nights mixed up but this is to be expected. After all, Ron is also still jet lagged. I think the roughest night was Thursday into Friday when Luke woke up at about 3:30 AM and was up as if it was time to get up, play and eat :) We have been establishing a schedule that pretty much he stuck to today 6/10/08, woohoo!!!

I think the roughest days have been the past two, at least for me (Jenny). Only b/c it has been just Luke and myself. Ryan is still in school till this coming Friday and Ron went back to work yesterday. And YES during this horrible heat! To answer those questions, NO Ron does not have air condition in his UPS truck-UGH! Of course, Ron goes back to work when our weather goes crazy and we reach record temperatures :( I actually forgot how much work an infant/toddler can be, b/c you don't realize how self sufficient a 5 year can be. Ryan climbs into the car and out of the car, he can buckle himself in, take his seat belt off, open up doors...in other words "boy oh boy" what an adjustment this has been :)

Ryan adores his baby brother and likes being called a "BIG BROTHER". I was amazed at what a wonderful helper Ryan has been and he "wants" to help. I will post some photos of the "brothers" that are incredible!!! What got Ron and I was how Ryan gave Luke a big hug and a kiss, unprompted by us, on Saturday :) This literally brought us both to tears.

Saturday we went to a family birthday party and Sunday we went to family baptism. What shocked me the most is how Luke has bonded to all of us, especially myself. Also, he is not scared of everything so much anymore. He adapts extremely well. This is the only reason we decided to go to our family events this past weekend. Originally, we planned for just Ron and Ryan to go to both of the parties. I will state that the inevitable fear of RAD (reactive attachment disorder) will always be in the back of our minds. Honestly, I believe this is every new adoptive parents fear.

Then, yesterday Luke had his 18 month check up/new baby check up at our general pediatrician. He did fabulous! He is in the 50th percentile for height, 10th percentile for head circumference, and 3rd percentile for weight. He actually has gained weight from just being home :) He is eating us out of house and home and probably will continue to do so. According to the pediatrician, he is physically/developmentally on target but the pediatrician wants us to call Early Intervention just to get him evaluated.

This morning, I woke up to Luke throwing kisses from his crib...just incredible!!!

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan, and Luke :)