Home Sweet Home

Last night at the college's Activities Fair. David Reni got to meet a LOT of new friends!

Here he is on the college's vaulting team practice mount. (If you aren't familiar with the equestrian sport of vaulting, it's basically gymanstics on the back of a cantering horse)

Do you know that those action movies where the good guy starts chasing the train as it slowly pulls away from the station? Initially his pace is faster than the train, but the train picks up steam and speeds up, yet somehow the good guy (on foot) is somehow able to catch it and grab the handrail just in time to swing himself up and continue his pursuit?

Yeah, that's not what's happening here in our house. I feel like the train is picking up steam and the distance between me and the moving train is growing further and further apart.

We've been getting many questions about how the transition is going here with Reni at home. Briefly, it's going great. Reni was so attached to his Daddy when they came home that he is happy as long as Nathan is within sight. They have all kinds of games they play which are adorable to watch. Nathan will say, "Watch when I do this!" and Reni will respond just as Nathan predicted. Reni literally revels in Nathan's presence. He is relaxed, silly, and always smiling while his Daddy is around. We could be living in a mud hut or igloo and he'd be content as long as Nathan is by his side.

The downside to all of this is that I feel kind of helpless to help when Reni is upset because he wants his comfort from Nathan -- and this is challenging when Nathan is just so, so tired. I've gotten a taste for what his nights were like with Reni. He cries frequently in his sleep and it startles us awake and we wait a minute to see if it's a 'real' cry or not. Most of the time, it results in getting up to tend to him about every 60-90 minutes. We are beat (especially Nathan). Last night we went to bed at 8:30.

Given that I'm used to doing so much of my office work after bedtime, I feel like I'm starting to slowly drown, yet we need our rest! We're hoping that this might work itself out over time. Nevertheless, classes started this week on campus and we have some big events going on every day. We're holding on til next week when things should hopefully start to resemble our new 'normal.' Next week Reni will meet Dr. Taylor and the ACT Peds staff and we will have our first post-placement meeting with our social worker, Anne.

How is Ellie doing with school and having her brother at home?
Ellie did NOT want to go to school yesterday (we kept her home Monday), yet she came off the bus in a good mood. This morning all 4 of us drove to school (I wanted Nathan to see the protocol for car line drop off) and she made it QUITE clear she didn't want to be there. Oh dear. My theory is that it's easier for her to leave us at home (i.e. ride the bus TO school) than for us to "leave" her (i.e. drop her off at school and then go 'who knows where'). Nevertheless, we're going to stick with this a while longer.

At home, she doesn't seem to mind Reni. I think we prepared her pretty well for his arrival. It might also be easier because he's a little boy (vs. another girl). She's also a little preoccupied with her new crabs (promised for her 5th birthday, but postponed due to our impending travel). She doesn't appear to choose to interact with him, but yesterday she held him for me on her lap and asked, "Am I being a good big sister?"


Is Reagan home yet?
No, we're trying to ease Reni into our home life. Yesterday he saw a horse and that was pretty much the first time I'm guessing he's ever seen an animal up close.

Does he sit in the highchair? Yes! The high chair is great for feeding himself those little finger foods like cereal and fruit.

Future Updates
Thank you for your continued interest in David Reni's story. We will try to keep you updated but understand that it probably won't be as frequent as before (at least over the course of the next week or so). Nathan does have several pics to share in subsequent posts of his last days in Tirana as well as pics from his time with my dad and their flight home. I can't wait to see them either! Check back soon!

Take care, Cydil