One month home and its going well

Cole's two favorite things: dogs ("abakas") and water

We celebrated Cole's 3rd birthday - he thinks this cake thing is pretty cool...
Our ever patient lab, Maci, getting loved on by Cole - his version of "be gentle Cole" that he repeats over and over....

We are over jet lag, and getting into a routine. Cole and I are on our second week of just the two of us. The older kids are back in school and Sean is back to work. He was able to take off three weeks after we got home and I think it was huge for them. I could really see a difference in their relationship by the end of his time home. Attachment is moving in the right direction - I get spontaneous kisses and hugs constantly and he is usually not more than a few feet from me. Unless of course, he wants to do something he knows he is not supposed to - then it is "bye-bye mama". He loves to play in the water, whether it is the pool, birdbath, sink, toilet.... Maddie caught him trying to flush his underwear the other day!

Sleep is not quite right yet, but it is getting better. He rocks himself throughout the night, sometimes putting himself back to sleep and sometimes calling out for me. He never seems to totally relax, yet wakes up in a good mood. I still feel like a zombie most days, but I know that too will get better!

Language is our biggest barrier. We can communicate through jumbled English/Russian, but it is at a very rudimentary level. It's hard to explain sequential activities or anything that is not concrete right in front of you. Luckily, he doesn't get frustrated by it and we just live in the here and now as much as we can.

Thanks to everyone that has asked about us. I wish I could find the time to post daily, or even weekly. I don't know how others do it. If he's not on my hip, then I'm either trying to get caught up on daily stuff, or trying to get some sleep! But, I wouldn't trade free time for all of the other problems we could have. I don't think we could have asked for a better transition that what we have so far...