SIX MONTHS HOME!

We can now celebrate that Gambo has been home six months!

This is a HUGE landmark.  We have been waiting for this day to come.  Numbers don't mean everything, but we have always said that we wanted to wait to do some things until after he has been home six months.

For these last six months we have focused our efforts on attachment, bonding, trust, recognition of who his family is, recognition of where home is, etc... and it has paid off.  Gambo is a happy, healthy, attached little boy.

When I said "numbers don't mean everything," what I want to convey is that by NO MEANS is his attachment and healing process complete.  It's not a six-months-and-done.  It is a lifelong journey.  We will always be addressing issues as they come up, and as he moves into new phases of life.

Let me emphasize, in case it is unclear, being in any form of "institutionalized care" for any length of time does damage.  Children who have experienced it are gently referred to as having a "tough start" in life. And that is very much what it is.  A child born into a loving biological family, who has his needs met from day one, develops and grows physically, emotionally, mentally just as he is meant to grow.  A child with a "tough start" (also called children from "hard places") has missed having his needs met, and it profoundly effects the way he sees the world, how he trusts, who he trusts, and what he thinks of others around him.  This may be a hard to swallow, but this is FACT.  There have been studies on what "institutionalized care" does to children.  You can review several videos put out by Empowered to Connect (a wonderful resource for adoptive parents!) that talk about children from hard places.

So, thankfully, after six months of hard work in the attachment department, we were finally able to leave the house without him.  We put him to bed, so he slept soundly and was watched over by a babysitter.  Yeah, for the next phase of life where we can actually get babysitters now!

OK, now that the heavy stuff is out of the way, let's look at what Gambo has been up to!

This last month he got to go to a street festival in town.  

It was called "Celebrate America."

It had several classic cars to look at,

as well as some sweet looking corvettes!

The wiener mobile was even there,

And I shared a pic with my favorite hot dog.

Not that we live in farm country or anything, but I guess they thought that this looked pretty American.

Also, Gambo occasionally (think maybe 3-4 times so far) joins us out to eat.  And one of those places he has actually been to twice!  Here he is enjoying Jonny Carino's (because we get a sweet 50% discount there!).

(Um, he loves the bread)

We did some painting this month in our house, and he saw our bright yellow walls (previous owners) turn to French blue.  We pushed all our stuff to the middle and painted around it.

He was so enthusiastic about the painting, that I thought I would give him a go at it.  But instead of painting a wall, he got to paint the patio... with water. :-)

Mommy and son like to wear bright colors sometimes.

Family Time!

We got to go visit Mark's brother and sister-in-law as well as our niece and nephew last weekend.  

It was a wonderful time to catch up, plus see another niece who flew in as well.  

The occasion... our niece's quinceanera, or 15th birthday celebration!

What a cool event.  It was great to see not only our niece celebrated, but also several other girls, all wanting to move forward in their life toward God. 

There was a special dance afterward as well.

Our niece looked beautiful in her big dress!

But somehow Gambo was freaked out by it, so he preferred chilling with his smaller cousin.

(Photo sneak by dad)

While there, Gambo enjoyed checking out their dogs.

Including this one good sport:

Being away from home is never easy for a kid because there are strange things all around him, but one thing that we try to keep up is a sense of routine.  Here is Gambo brushing his teeth before bed, something he loves to do at home!

Time for Firsts!

Gambo went on his first bike ride:

I also took him to a park so he could go on his first kiddie swing:

First time to visit Mexico:

(I just love this sweet shot of him in the doorway)

Finally, I wanted to share a cute photo of Gambo doing his new pose:

What is cute about this is he is trying to immitate me when I rest my chin on my hand.  Ha Ha! 

(I hope I don't actually look like this:)

The reason I share this is because it's an awesome thing to see Gambo being so much a part of us, that it becomes undeniable.  He acts like us, walks like us, gets excited like us, and is very much a member of this family.  Though our skin color is different, in our home, it's not noticeable.  We see each other's personalities meld together, and it's like we were always together.  

Our hope is that the next six months hold many more adventures and opportunities to grow closer together!