Wow...
It has been 7 weeks since we returned home with Bryce and you would have thought it was a year ago. As I have mentioned before, the best way for a family to transition their adopted child is to truly read them and try to understand this little life. Bryce is not different but doing so well. We can actually go to dinner and he does really well. On Mothers Day we went to the Chart House in Philadelphia (we had $50 in gift cards) and he did so well. When Cindy ran in the Race For The Cure he kept cheering with his right hand high in the air...
Go Mommy go!
Last night we were driving and Julia was listening to her Ipod and then she put it away. Bryce spoke up and asked for his own Ipod...At 2.5. 7 weeks ago he did not even know that an Ipod existed. Funny.
The key areas:
Sleep...Bryce does so well with sleep. We snuggle with him on the rocking chair each night and we have settled into a routine before bed.
7:30pm: Kapatah (bath) and the kid LOVES the bath. Asks for them every day and will do everything we ask for a bath. I guess the cold water baths in the orphanage have not math to warm water and 3 people loving you.
7:50pm: Apples (he does not eat the skin when they are cut but does eat the skin when the apple is whole, go figure)
8:00pm: As Bryce calls it...LOVIE. We watch a movie for 10 minutes and it is always the Bernstein Bears. (He wants nothing to do with the tv except right before bed)
Food...
Loves pizza and chicken and Campbell's vegetable soup. Drinks all of the soup broth first with a straw then eats the rest with a spoon. He loves it
Julia...
Are you kidding. You should see his face light up when he sees Julia. Bryce goes nuts when she gets off the bus and makes her a tad embarrassed in front of her friends. They were wrestling and he hurt Julia's wrist as she has the skinniest wrists around. We spent Friday night in the hospital.
Home...
He loves to walk around and simply say home! Then he gets a BIG smile and turns his head. He is really starting to understand that this is his home and he will never leave.
Health...
Doing so well. At the 75% for height and weight. WE do have some issues with parasites in his intestines but we are completing the medicine for him.
Billy and Cindy...
Amazed at the journey, missing the people we met in Russia, humbles to be parents of al ittle boy following the command of the Bible and tired.
We love you.
Billy for the family
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Bryce Week 4
It has been 30 days that Bryce has been a part of our family and 21 days in our home. Cindy and I both agree having waited so long it feels so wonderful to finally have him home. With the way he is progressing it seems like he has been with us for one year...
- Yesterday Bryce got his first taste of a Harley and when the person that owns it started it up he was ready to go back inside. Now he makes the motorcycle noise and pretends he is driving around the house.
- We had a few Easter Egg hunts with Bryce and we did spend some advance training to bring him up to speed. Just kidding...He really enjoyed finding the Easter Eggs and has a fondness for candy. When you hold up a piece of candy he will do whatever you ask, perfectly.
- Bryce is fascinated with buttons. We just had to have our front storm door replaced last month fro ma wind storm and he played with one button so much that it broke. He may already be more mechanically inclined than me.
- We have started to introduce Bryce to soccer. He lasts a few minutes then is off to the sticks in the yard.
- Kids in the orphanage learn many things at an early age. Bryce had soup today and ate the entire bowl with his BIG spoon. Most of it ends up in his mouth and it is amazing to see all that he can eat. He ate 3 hot dogs and would eaten more Saturday night.
Each day for us is a time to learn the person he is and how we can best integrate him into our family. Each day we try to be mindful of the impact Bryce and his arrival has on Julia. Bryce truly loves Julia and his face lights up when he sees her and she loves him but she is a 9 year old girl and he is a 2.5 year old boy. It makes for some times and Julia has been such a trooper through this intense time of transition. I must admit that this time of transition has been the most radical in our entire lives. As the song goes, "This is the end of the world as we know it"...
As different as our lives are today we would not change one thing. We are so grateful for Bryce's Mom to have a love that would want what is best for him. We hope that each day we can live up to that. What an amazing task.
I hope to post some pictures soon but we do have one important update...
***Bryce had a little friend that is currently in the same orphanage that is the cutest little guy and we are looking to see if we might be able to find a family that might want to hear our story firsthand and consider this little guy. We would have taken him in a second. We are also working with Bethany to see if this little guy can find a family in this area.
Are you interested?
The Dunn's
- Yesterday Bryce got his first taste of a Harley and when the person that owns it started it up he was ready to go back inside. Now he makes the motorcycle noise and pretends he is driving around the house.
- We had a few Easter Egg hunts with Bryce and we did spend some advance training to bring him up to speed. Just kidding...He really enjoyed finding the Easter Eggs and has a fondness for candy. When you hold up a piece of candy he will do whatever you ask, perfectly.
- Bryce is fascinated with buttons. We just had to have our front storm door replaced last month fro ma wind storm and he played with one button so much that it broke. He may already be more mechanically inclined than me.
- We have started to introduce Bryce to soccer. He lasts a few minutes then is off to the sticks in the yard.
- Kids in the orphanage learn many things at an early age. Bryce had soup today and ate the entire bowl with his BIG spoon. Most of it ends up in his mouth and it is amazing to see all that he can eat. He ate 3 hot dogs and would eaten more Saturday night.
Each day for us is a time to learn the person he is and how we can best integrate him into our family. Each day we try to be mindful of the impact Bryce and his arrival has on Julia. Bryce truly loves Julia and his face lights up when he sees her and she loves him but she is a 9 year old girl and he is a 2.5 year old boy. It makes for some times and Julia has been such a trooper through this intense time of transition. I must admit that this time of transition has been the most radical in our entire lives. As the song goes, "This is the end of the world as we know it"...
As different as our lives are today we would not change one thing. We are so grateful for Bryce's Mom to have a love that would want what is best for him. We hope that each day we can live up to that. What an amazing task.
I hope to post some pictures soon but we do have one important update...
***Bryce had a little friend that is currently in the same orphanage that is the cutest little guy and we are looking to see if we might be able to find a family that might want to hear our story firsthand and consider this little guy. We would have taken him in a second. We are also working with Bethany to see if this little guy can find a family in this area.
Are you interested?
The Dunn's
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Bryce Week 3
When you arrive home you just dont realize the work and amount of time it takes to transition back to what you think is normal life. We are enjoying each moment as a family of four and enjoy Julia and Bryce each day!
Some Bryce updates...
- I would say 90% of his Russian is already gone or not used when he talks.
- We did the CHOP visit with Dr. Friedman and team and they are so impressed with where he is physically and cognitively.
- When we pray at dinner he squeezes his eyes so hard to pray.
- Bryce can on his own sing "Jesus Loves Me"...We are going to try and post it this week.
- He loves to be outside and play. Cars, sticks, the bunnies etc. all fascinate him and we get to see this each day.
- We have been to church for three weeks now and he says on Sunday morning's...Bryce Church.
- He ate three hotdogs for dinner last night and was asking for more. We decided to give grapes instead.
- He is learning to be more gentle and say excuse me when he burps.
Needless to say this journey continues each day as we learn more about Bryce and this transition into our family. We used his Russian name one time and he looked at me and said No Vasia, Bryce! I guess that is a good thing.
We have a visit with our adoption case worker Wednesday night and we are looking forward to this time as we have been with her for 5 years during this journey. She has been a great help to us. We also have some important decisions to make in the next few weeks and we would love to ask you to be praying about these decisions.
Thanks for all of your support.
Billy for the family
Some Bryce updates...
- I would say 90% of his Russian is already gone or not used when he talks.
- We did the CHOP visit with Dr. Friedman and team and they are so impressed with where he is physically and cognitively.
- When we pray at dinner he squeezes his eyes so hard to pray.
- Bryce can on his own sing "Jesus Loves Me"...We are going to try and post it this week.
- He loves to be outside and play. Cars, sticks, the bunnies etc. all fascinate him and we get to see this each day.
- We have been to church for three weeks now and he says on Sunday morning's...Bryce Church.
- He ate three hotdogs for dinner last night and was asking for more. We decided to give grapes instead.
- He is learning to be more gentle and say excuse me when he burps.
Needless to say this journey continues each day as we learn more about Bryce and this transition into our family. We used his Russian name one time and he looked at me and said No Vasia, Bryce! I guess that is a good thing.
We have a visit with our adoption case worker Wednesday night and we are looking forward to this time as we have been with her for 5 years during this journey. She has been a great help to us. We also have some important decisions to make in the next few weeks and we would love to ask you to be praying about these decisions.
Thanks for all of your support.
Billy for the family
Monday, March 23, 2009
We arrived home from our long trip home Thursday evening and went straight to Red Robin. We were trying to stay up so that we could get on the East Coast time schedule a bit easier. That night we all crashed and fell asleep very fast. Everything was smooth as the passport control said they would waive the interview and mail all of the documents to us in 2 weeks. Lufthanse did loose Julias luggage for a few days and it arrived on Sunday morning at 3:58AM. We awoke to a man ringing our door bell and i was ready to pull out the old bat...
Friday we tried to settle in a bit and watch Bryce enjoy every aspect of our home. What an amazing little boy. He wants to know about everything and is so much fun to be with. We went to Julias soccer game Friday (yeah Socceroos) and came home and went to bed. Saturday we enjoyed having some close feiends that are like family to us and we enjoyed an amazing lasagna meal with them. Thanks Karen as lasagna never tasted so good! Bryce really warmed up to them and we took him outside on Julias little Barbie car that a kid can drive around and he loved it. We awoke sunday morning and we all went to church together and it was so wonderful to be in the house of the LORD!
Some amazing Bryce-isms:
1. When we pray Bryce has now joined us by holding hands and squeezing his eyes closed really hard then when i say amaen he shouts out...AMEN! Then a big smile.
2. Last night Bryce snuggled with Julia on the couch and they watched Barney together. for those of you that have multiple kids, this is such a memory to cherish. He was so close to Julia with his head on her belly.
3. He can now count to seven then he goes right to ten. He can also recite the ABC's. We hope that by the end of next week he will be speaking arabic fluently and reciting the book of Romans.
4. This makes papa really proud...He still loves to say Eagles and then he says Giants Yukky. Teach them young!!!
5. Last night was a wonderful night as Bryce wrnt to sleep with Cindy on the rocking chair right in her arms. I loved that mental picture...
6. He is fascinated by the microwave and whenever it goes off he yells that it has stopped. With all of the coffee Cindy heats up it is good for her...
Today Julia went back to school and Billy went back to work. When I walked into my office it was fully decorated with lots of stereamers, kids toys, stickers and some nice gifts for Bryce and Julia. The staff here at Habitat for Humanity is to kind. a BIG thanks...
We are working hard to bring Bryce up in the training of the LORD and it is HM that we want Bryce to know in a deep and intimate way. We are enjoying each day the Lord gives us with him.
Thank you for all of your support. It is hard to imagine that it is already over.
Billy for the Dunn family of Four
Friday we tried to settle in a bit and watch Bryce enjoy every aspect of our home. What an amazing little boy. He wants to know about everything and is so much fun to be with. We went to Julias soccer game Friday (yeah Socceroos) and came home and went to bed. Saturday we enjoyed having some close feiends that are like family to us and we enjoyed an amazing lasagna meal with them. Thanks Karen as lasagna never tasted so good! Bryce really warmed up to them and we took him outside on Julias little Barbie car that a kid can drive around and he loved it. We awoke sunday morning and we all went to church together and it was so wonderful to be in the house of the LORD!
Some amazing Bryce-isms:
1. When we pray Bryce has now joined us by holding hands and squeezing his eyes closed really hard then when i say amaen he shouts out...AMEN! Then a big smile.
2. Last night Bryce snuggled with Julia on the couch and they watched Barney together. for those of you that have multiple kids, this is such a memory to cherish. He was so close to Julia with his head on her belly.
3. He can now count to seven then he goes right to ten. He can also recite the ABC's. We hope that by the end of next week he will be speaking arabic fluently and reciting the book of Romans.
4. This makes papa really proud...He still loves to say Eagles and then he says Giants Yukky. Teach them young!!!
5. Last night was a wonderful night as Bryce wrnt to sleep with Cindy on the rocking chair right in her arms. I loved that mental picture...
6. He is fascinated by the microwave and whenever it goes off he yells that it has stopped. With all of the coffee Cindy heats up it is good for her...
Today Julia went back to school and Billy went back to work. When I walked into my office it was fully decorated with lots of stereamers, kids toys, stickers and some nice gifts for Bryce and Julia. The staff here at Habitat for Humanity is to kind. a BIG thanks...
We are working hard to bring Bryce up in the training of the LORD and it is HM that we want Bryce to know in a deep and intimate way. We are enjoying each day the Lord gives us with him.
Thank you for all of your support. It is hard to imagine that it is already over.
Billy for the Dunn family of Four
Friday, March 20, 2009
WE ARE HOME
We arrived home last night at 9:00pm and Bryce has touched 50% of everything in our home. The world as we used to know it no longer exists. We will post more later but we wanted to let you know that we are HOME and so grateful for this time of exploration and transition.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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