Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Answered Prayers

Tomorrow will be one month since we pulled Aeson from the institution.  To say he has done well would be a massive understatement.  He is nothing short of amazing.

We will finish up all the baseline medical appointments this week.  So far Aeson has NONE of the medical conditions typically associated with Down Syndrome.  He has no: heart murmur, cervical (neck) instability, nearsightedness, thyroid issues, stenotic (narrow) ear canals or severely enlarged tonsils.  He also has no fine or gross motor deficits.  He holds his pencil correctly.  He cuts his food with a (butter) knife.  He ties his shoes, zips his jacket and buttons his pants.  He rides a bike.  He jumps on the trampoline.  He's been down a zipline.  He eats whatever we put in front of him.  He sleeps through the night.  He gets along with the girls.  His biggest issue was the dogs and now they are the first thing he looks for when he wakes up in the morning.  Everyone who has met him thus far is surprised at how happy and well-adjusted he is.  He greets everyone with a big smile and a huge hug.  We found out he does NOT like legos or Tonka-type trucks but loves Spiderman, remote-controlled cars, building things and animals.  

Aeson started school less than two weeks after coming home.  He was ready.  In keeping with tradition, he has done very well.  He attends a life skills class for now as we felt the language barrier would make mainstream classes too frustrating.  He attends PE and lunch with his typically developing peers.  Sixth graders are allowed one elective and we chose theater for him.  So he attends that class with typically developing kids as well.  Kid is wicked smart.  He has picked up a number of english words already and is working on number and letter recognition.  He can complete a 30 piece puzzle in minutes.  He has convinced his teachers that he gets "tired" after lunch so they let him play with the iPad instead of doing work.  We figured this one out today when Brent sat him down to work on writing letters.  He "fell asleep" and refused to participate.  Using google translate Brent told him that we'd go outside and ride his bike if he'd just do his work.  Two minutes later all 52 upper and lower case letters of the alphabet are written and he is outside.

I had someone ask me recently about adopting an older boy because they only had experience with younger children but were considering an older child.  I had to be honest that I felt like Aeson was the exception and not the rule.  I'm shocked that such an awesome kid went for so many years without a family.  I am still waiting for the bottom to drop out at some point because it truly can't be this easy...

I also found out yesterday that rumor has it, Aeson's institution is going to make all the other eligible children there available for adoption because of his adoption.

He's done so many great things already...I can't wait to see what's next!

4 comments:

  1. As I finished reading this, I got shivers...what a beautiful story! What a beautiful gift you have given your sweet Aeson😊

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  2. Praise the Lord! Everyone who met "Charlie" just KNEW he would be an awesome son! You have a treasure. Don't worry about the bottom falling out...it may never happen with that sweet kid! Just enjoy every minute! Toby sends a hug and hello!

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  3. So proud of you, Brent and Mary! You gave a loving family for the unfortunate kid. God bless you All

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