Long Overdue Updates! Preschool-Going, Bottle-Weaned, Talking, and Dancing Little Boy!

Preschool

Rai LOVES preschool! After the second week, our wonderful social worker and I made the case that we believed Rai would benefit significantly from moving to the older class (i.e. language, attachment to a little girl, more students for social interaction, and longer relationship with the teachers). We are very fortunate to have a preschool director who listened to our requests and agreed to move Rai to the new classroom in his third week. Since he began preschool, Rai is slowly becoming a much better eater and has even come home with new dance moves. :-) Here are a few pictures of the first day and the second week

First Family Vacation

In celebration for our 5th wedding anniversary as well our first family vacation, we went to Galveston for 4 days between summer and fall semesters. The five hour drive definitely beat our other options and Rai had a blast at the hotel. (Moody Gardens was BEAUTIFUL and so child-friendly.) They gave Rai a child bag of toys, and although the kids schedule was for older children, Rai had a great time in the bounce house and some of the other hotel-related activities. In addition, Moody Gardens provides free passes to their waterpark (a definite favorite) and the pyramids offered great indoor activities (but they were all a bit pricey and only held Rai's attention for an hour at most). Overall, we had a great time and accomplished two major feats: bottle weaning & potty training! (Potty training has only just began, but we had a successful start in Galveston!)


Breakfast at Cracker Barrel (It almost looks like Rai learned to play checkers, but this is two seconds before he wiped them off the table.)


Checking out the view from our hotel room




Rai is fascinated by the goggles in his goody bag!




Lunch at the Rainforest Cafe








The boys play in the sand








Sliding down the slides at the waterpark!






Before


After!






Our walk back to the hotel - just beautiful


Rai couldn't stop giggling with this toga


An afternoon (more like one hour) at the aquarium


This building has changed so much since the last time I was here for the beach cleanup.


But it is still a gorgeous beach!




Rai playing in the sand at the beach
















Rai awoke from a nap for a mere 30 seconds and fell back asleep on me.





Playdates and Birthdays

Dancing!

Rai has started dancing anywhere anytime he hears music. During a recent playdate, we got in a good laugh when he stopped in the middle of the mall to bounce to the music coming from a sign. He dances in grocery stores, in the car (to the introductory music on NPR that lasts a few seconds), and nearly any public place that uses background music.

Rai did this same dance in the Korean grocery store and won the hearts of every woman there!

Well Baby Check!
Rai had a doctor's appointment on Friday. He's growing taller faster than he's gaining weight, but the doctor isn't worried (especially since he was just weaned from a bottle). He's been in great health other than a mild cold and didn't even cry during his shot! (I think he was prepared since he understood my warning that he'd get a shot but we'd go out for ice cream afterwards!)



Such a handsome young man!


And, as promised, he was treated to ice cream and playtime for being so good at the doctor's office!




Other Pictures & Videos

Updated Pictures

Rai is becoming an expert breakfast-eater with his cereal and milk!


Of course, a little help goes a long way!


Our monkey boy! (My dad will get the reference!)


Rai's new playset: Before


And After!


As we wrote Rai's foster family and birthmother letters, I decided that the easiest way to see how many teeth Rai now has was to take a picture. Haha! Boy, was I wrong!






Rai wears the cap Omma (foster mother) gave him while in Korea! (Of course, everyone at UTD wondered why he doesn't have a UTD cap yet. You can't please everyone!)


Rai helps Daddy vacuum

**I am a bit behind on the preschool pictures but should have those up by the weekend... hopefully...**

Preschool! (And Finalization Preparation!)

Preschool
Tuesday was Rai's first day at preschool, and it was certainly an adventure! We had visited twice before, so each time I said "preschool" Rai would nod his head and smile. Overall, Rai did fine. He met a little girl close to his age (but in another class) who was adopted from China, and they both followed eachother around for a bit. (This happened the last time we visited, too.) She's awfully cute, and I hope we might be able to schedule a playdate since the two seemed to like eachother. Rai did ok after I left but got a bit panicky when parents started picking up their children, and he didn't see either of us. Poor Aaron dropped his wallet in his chair at work and had to go back for it (need driver's license to pick him up), so he got there about 15 minutes after Rai started crying.

Since Rai is physically assessed as older than his age (26 months), there are more verbal children in the next grade, and his friend is in that class, we're keeping our fingers crossed that the preschool will let him move up. In any case, Rai's preschool has low enrollment at the moment, so they often combine his class with the next grade higher anyway. We're hoping his language will continue to improve. So far, he seems to really enjoy the other children and teachers.

He has been fine today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will go well tomorrow. He'll go two days a week unless napping doesn't go well. As soon as I have a few minutes, I'll upload pictures from his first day.

Finalization Preparation
During our last visit, our social worker said that we can begin finalization preparation this month! I've just contacted the attorneys for information, and it looks like we will be fingerprinted within the next two weeks. I'll post updates as we learn more!