Three Months

Today is exactly three months since we adopted Zeeb. It used to make me a little sad thinking about all the “firsts” we missed because Zeeb was almost three and a half when he joined our family, but in fact we have gotten to enjoy many firsts with him, things like…

First (english) words/phrases
First time wearing a winter coat
First snow
First windstorm
First time playing dress-up (in a Little Mermaid costume, no less!)
First time he said Mommy, Daddy, and his sisters’ and brother’s names
First trip to the mall without a tantrum
First foods
…and so many others (including a bit of potty training…).

Every day he says or does something new that makes us smile or laugh, making new memories that knit us together as a family. In the last three months he has learned so much english and now most of what he says is in english. He’s still holding on to a few Vietnamese words/phrases that he knows we understand, like his words for potty, I want a drink, and this one word “Nigh” that seems to be a generic word for “come and look at what I’m pointing at”. But after I struggled so hard to learn just a tiny bit of Vietnamese, I am just astounded at how well he has picked up a new language. Kids are really, really amazing.

I didn’t see his first steps, or his first tooth come in; but I did see the first time he smiled at me, and I know the first song he ever sang in English. (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). I love that after just three months together, I know how to cut a tantrum short, what books he likes to read, what his favorite shows are, how to make him giggle, and what his cry sounds like when he’s mad versus sad or hurt. Where once he was a stanger who wouldn’t even sit next to me, now he follows me around, reaching for my hand or asking to be picked up. In the first weeks after he came I wondered if I would always feel like I was babysitting, regarding Zeeb as a houseguest who doesn’t know when it’s time to leave. Somehow, somewhere along the way, that feeling has faded. The love I feel for him grows deeper day by day…fueled by the hugs and kisses he’s learned to give, hearing him call me “mommy” or cheerfully tell me, “I lo’ you!” He’s my little boy, and I am so blessed to be his mommy.