Chris Update

May 3, 2009

What a wonderful, independent little boy God has blessed us with. I cannot believe the difference seven months has made. Chris was a happy toddler in Haiti, but he lived in such a different world that America – and becoming a Foster child – has been quite an change for him.
Max put it best when he said, “Adding Chris to our home has been a big adjustment but an easy transition.” He is a perfect fit for our family.
LANGUAGE

Chris lost his “oui” when he had been with us for about six months. Some of the lovely Haitians here in Key West try to get him to speak Creole with them, but to no avail. He is all English now – and picking up new words at an amazing pace. On Thursday I sent him to his room for his swimsuit and he came back with a wetsuit in his hand and said, “Wear wetsuit, mommy.”
He is fascinated by airplanes and, for some reason, collar bones. People who don’t know him well are always a bit surprised when they pick him up and he pushes around their neck saying, “ollar one, ollar one?”

PRAYER

We pray together at dinner, at church, sometimes when we snuggle in the morning. Chris is pretty sure it is always his turn to pray, but is okay letting someone else do it AS LONG AS they pray for his school. We went to a beach potluck when we were anchored out a few weeks ago and the other boaters where charmed when Chris cried out, “Pay, pay!” then folded his hands expectantly before he ate his dinner. We recite the 23rd Psalm each morning at breakfast, too . . . but, so far I’m not hearing him catch that many of the wordsJ

DANCING

We have seen a serious regression in this area. I regret to inform you that he now dances like a Foster. He has lost all the wonderful moves he brought with from Haiti. Sigh. The rhythm he developed from the nannies and all the music at Maranatha Children’s’ Home remain, but the dance moves are gone. Very sad.

DOGS

Our marina is populated with many dogs of all shapes and sizes. Chris was very afraid of all of them when he arrived and cried and wanted to be held whenever he spotted one. While he is still not a dog lover, he has gotten comfortable walking around BEHIND most dogs to pat their backside.

EATING

Well, what can we say? He is two. He loves apples and carrots – just not when his big brothers say distracting words like “popcorn” or “cookies”.

BROTHERLY LOVE

Chris is part of the Foster pose now. He and his brothers are a little tribe running around our marina, creating mayhem and happiness wherever they go. It is so fun to watch them run and play their imaginary games. Whatever the game, it always seems to involve them piling on top of Gunnar at some point and Chris thinks this is very fun.
Trey is Chris’ playmate and special friend - they spend lots of time playing and arguing. They are quite fond of hanging out in a dock cart full of water together and dumping water on each others heads.

Max is a quieter friend to Chris than the other two. He doesn’t push himself on Chris, but has such a tender heart for him. It is so precious to see him cajole Chris and make kind gestures when he is in a two-year-old-pout. They are rough and tumble with the other boys, but are quieter together when it is just the two of them. Chris sometimes watches Max play video games and Max loves to have an audience.

While all the boys watch out for Chris, Gunnar is his protector. By virtue of his age and size, he has a more dominant role in Chris’ life. A thirteen-year-old friend, Maddie, stayed with the boys one night while we went on a double date with her parents. Her mother told me later that when she asked Maddie if she had played with Gunnar, Maddie said, “No, mom, he was too busy taking care of his little brothers, so I hung out with Max.” How refreshing to know he takes this important responsibility seriously.

SWIMMING

As we live on our sailboat, we have made swimming a huge priority for all of our boys. Gunnar, Max & Trey swam independently before age three – with Trey swimming on his own at two years and three months and able to swim all the way around Odysea by himself at age four (no life jacket but dad at his side the entire 53’ length/15’ beam).

When Chris arrived, he wanted nothing to do with the swimming pool. Even baths were suspect until he figured out that American baths are warm.

We took Odysea to the Dry Tortugas over the Easter break and the difference between his first beach trip to Bahai Honda in November and this trip was dramatic. He LOVES playing in the water and sand and the surf no longer seems to scare him.

He has also been getting progressively more comfortable in the pool as he tries to keep up with his big brothers. On Thursday we went to our favorite pool and at one point Trey went under the water and Chris, who was standing nearby, put his head under too - what a surprise! When he came up smiling I said, “Now it’s Mommy’s turn to go under,” and dunked under the water. Chris promptly did it again when I came up and, for the rest of the evening, he had to have a turn whenever anyone else went under. Let out a few large burps, but for the most part kept his mouth shut. He was exhausted by the time we went home – but this is a HUGE breakthrough.

PRESCHOOL

Chris likes his school. He likes the red lunchbox he gets to carry. He likes the other children and the toys. We love their Christian teachers and focus. When he had been at Sunbeam for just a couple of weeks, one night at dinner he was sent to his room for some infraction and he sobbed to Dave, “School now!” Chris was blessed to have a wonderful Godly teacher for his first few months, who also happened to be adopted. He had such a special bond with Miss Renee that we were very sad when she decided to move up north to be by her family. While his new teacher is also a delightful lady, her style is different and he has been acting out a bit. We are praying that God would give us and the teachers wisdom and patience to walk with him through this change.

MOM & DAD

Chris has been a wonderful explosion of fun and personality in our home. He is so tenderhearted and teachable . . . but he really is two. We are so thankful that we have already experienced three other two –year-olds and know that this is just a phase that got combined with a new language and a huge life change.

He is doing so well!

And yet – he is so two. Dave said it best one night when we were both exhausted by Chris relentlessly testing his boundaries with us, “We didn’t get a honeymoon with this one.”

I praise God that He is guiding us and that He blessed me with Dave to walk with as a united partner as we shepherd Chris through this learning time.