The Sturgeon Story: Home!

So, I have had every intention of updating the blog, but jetlag has been brutal. In a nutshell, we're doing well. Aiden and Ethan have been sweet and gentle with Carter, and it appears Carter loves them. However, the newness may already be wearing off for the older two. Carter had the audacity to crawl up on the chair next to Aiden as he was playing on his iPad, and Aiden (although relatively delicately by his standards) instructed Carter to go away. Ethan, understandably is showing some signs of jealousy but is still a doll and will frequently, unsolicited, inform me that he loves Carter. Then he will go on to say he also loves Mommy and Daddy and Aiden. Sweet boy.

Carter is adjusting pretty well; He's goofy, silly, and remarkably sweet. He's amazing at entertaining himself and would , if we'd allow it, require very little attention. Still, we feel that on a scale of 1 to 10 for adjustment, he's at about a 2 or 3. He's still in the people-pleasing phase. Hence us hunkering down and adhering to practices of past: only Mom and Dad are allowed to hold him and comfort him; only we get to feed him or offer him treats; just we can take care of his needs, essentially. We do this so he learns we're not just passing through. We're the real deal: Mom and Dad! This is home, and we're going nowhere, no matter what he does. We are here to love him and take care of him forever. For the next few months, this is how we plan to approach the situation. Much like we did with Aiden and Ethan. We're even doing an immediate family-of-five stay-at-home Thanksgiving.

On a positive note: today something must have scared Carter while he was playing on the train set downstairs. (That's not the positive note!) I heard him whimper, and as I was making my way towards the stairs, he cried out Momma -- and meant, beyond a shadow of a doubt, me! And, he held his arms up to be comforted. I've even had the privilege of rocking him to sleep a few times since being home.

Ok, I still have a post of thanks to do (which seems appropriate considering the time of year!) re: all the people who helped us get to this point -- having our son home! The list is extensive and the thanks will be profuse; however, last night was another relatively rough one as Carter still has nights and days mixed around. I'm not doing a whole lot better in that respect. Therefore, that post and one wrapping up our China portion will have to come later. And this one will have to remain lame. I will try to save face, though, by including a couple pictures as that's all anybody really cares about, let's face it!