A Year and a Half Post Adoption

Nur has now been home with his family for a year and a half, and I still get emails from time to time from newly adoptive parents who are wondering how Nur is doing, and how we are doing with this adjustment. 

I thought I would dedicate this post to then and now.

The first days after Nur got home were the most difficult days of my life.  I can't imagine these days were very pleasant for my baby boy either!  Sleep was impossible.  There was too much anxiety in him to be away from me for even a moment.  Even with co-sleeping, Nur still woke up once every 10 minutes to look around the room.  I can only imagine what he must have been thinking.

Our early days were spent at many doctors appointments.  Poor Nur endured many shots, months of antibiotics, blood draws, appointments, and check ups.  It was so hard to build trust with Nur when I was constantly taking him to places that inflicted pain on him.  But all of these things were necessary, and that kept us all going. 

Feeding Nur was always one of the biggest stressors of the day.  He had such anxiety about food, that I couldn't get the food in his mouth fast enough.  I also quickly realized that my son had some sensory processing disorders, and was very opposed to most textures.  So, for the first few months, we didn't give him anything but jarred baby food.  He would easily eat up to 5 jars of food at one meal. 

We barely left the house.  It was too much for Nur. He became easily overwhelmed when he was out of his comfort zone, so we really tried to simplify life for him.

Days turned into weeks, which turned into months, and before I knew it, we had been home with Nur for a year and a half. 

Our lives are so different now.

Nur is a confident little boy.  He loves being out and about with people.  He doesn't have anxiety when I leave for work in the morning.  Instead, he gladly gives me hugs and kisses, and says bye bye.  When I get home from work, he greets me with a big hug, and says, "Miss you mama."  He has such confidence that I will return everyday.  That I am forever his.

He now experiences with all different food textures, and will gladly get his hands dirty with food, and can easily feed himself.  He eats when he's hungry, and stops eating when he's full.  Nur has also become the best sleeper.  He isn't scared sleeping in a room by himself, in fact, at times he will ask to go to bed. He sleeps 10 hours every night, and greets me with a smile every morning. 

Nur is confident and sweet.  He knows his place in our family, and I can tell he feels like he is part of a family unit.  His past will always be a part of who he is, but I'm happy that time will also erase some of the fears that his past have given him.

The past year and a half has changed so much, and I have come to realize that children are so resilient.