Baby steps

We woke this morning to a beautiful sunny day – which quickly turned into a snowstorm – and it’s still snowing (and accumulating). Daniel got to wear his new clothes today – Mickey Mouse with a little help dressing from dad. Apparently dad doesn’t know how to put a sock on (to think I’ve wasted 43 years trying!) as the caretaker disapproved of the method and re-socked him. Oh well, go with the flow so they say. The court wants photos of each day of bonding showing how we “parent to the child”.

He was feeling under the weather this morning, but was in a much better mood this afternoon. Today’s big accomplishment – his first laugh! (You had to see dad dancing for him to fully understand.) He recognizes his mama and papa and comes when asked, and thrills us with “mama”, or at least until he called dad that too.

Daniel is like many children who have been in institutions (orphanages and the like). He is two on the outside but is really only a year old on the inside. He likes younger children’s toys such as rattles, stacking toys, and the annoying electronic thing that makes noise and lights up when you push the buttons. He actually would rather be held more than anything else, which is great as he likely gets little of that from the harried caregivers.