Wade and I have both been amazed at how well Teague is adjusting to his new life. Everyday we see more and more personality. Below is a quick run down on Teague.
Sleeping – This was my biggest fear. We knew Teague co-slept on the floor with his foster parents and weren’t sure how he would react to being along in a room and in a crib. The first two nights were awesome. He slept alone with no problems. The next few nights he would wake up crying every hour. Sometimes he would need a pat on the back and sometimes he would need an hour of rocking to go back to sleep. I’m happy to report that the last few nights he has only woken up once and just needed a pat on the back.
Eating – Teague will eat anything and everything. So far he hasn’t turned anything down and usually eats double the amount Alex eats. I’m not sure if this is his normal behavior or a coping mechanism – maybe both. We are just going with it and letting him fill up on fruits and veggies. We were told by the foster mother that he took three bottles of formula a day. With the way he eats this seems crazy, but he won’t drink milk. He loves water (in a suppy cup), but throws a cup with milk. I’ve even tried putting the formula in his sippy cup and he won’t touch it. My current course of action is lots of dairy (cheese, yogurt, etc) and one bottle with milk and a scoop of formula (which he is fine with).
Bathing – We were told Teague loves a bath. The first one we gave him in Korea he loved. Then we got home and he screams and fights and gets quite upset. We tried letting him take a bath with Alex. I tried taking a bath with him. Our current solution is a shower with me every other day. When we are more settled I have some ideas to try, but it’s been so easy to shower that we are going to stick with that for now.
Attachment – We read books and talked to people about attachment in detail. I was prepared for it to take a while. I was prepared for Teague to attach to Wade first (which seems to happen quite often). I’m happy to say this is going great! Teague definitely prefers Wade and I to other adults. Given the choice between Wade and I he will choose me. He will spontaneously give hugs and ask to be picked up. He comes to us if hurt or scared.
Talking – Teague’s foster mother said he knew 10 words in Korean. I think I have recognized “appa” – father, but I’m not sure. Teague has continued to babble more and more each day. We know “ooooh” means car – he gets very excited when he sees one drive down the street. Tonight I was pointing to Madison and said “Woof woof”. I know he tried to imitate the sound, but it was way off. He is definitely beginning to understand English. Teague will wave when you say “hi” and “bye”. He also knows it is time to go upstairs when I say “night night”. My other favorite word to say to Teague is “pop pop”. He will immediately grin, squat down, and pretend to pop bubbles. (We did actually blow and pop bubbles the second day he was home.) Most of the parents I have talked to said it took at least a few weeks to get English words. We are all taking bets on his first English word. My guess is “car”.