The Davis Family

June went by like mad.

I’m not sure what that means, but it’s what happened!

First – an adoption update. Daniel’s paperwork collected a few necessary pieces from immigration and the US embassy. All of that together was submitted on June 26th for its final review before getting sent to court. The review takes roughly 2-4 weeks. We’ll have an update on its status next Tuesday or Wednesday. Then to court… where we will likely run into the summer break. July 15-August 30 is the summer break officially, though some people work until August 1st. Basically, I’m waiting with great anticipation to be told when Daniel’s court date will be. I’m praying for a court date in July. Oh, what a relief that would be!

Onto the photo update.

Anna had her big ballet recital in June. She had two performances and two dances in each performance. Family honored her with attendance and she did very well!

Really, this is how we all felt after the first performance. It makes for a late night and long days. zzzzzzzz

Then along came Father’s Day. Brian got to have dinner with his dad and I got to have breakfast with mine. It was really special to be together.

Neal and I got to run the Rugged Maniac 5K on the day of Anna’s second recital. It was SO MUCH FUN! I’m excited about going next year.

And a few other odds and ends…

Archive:
*2020-2021 School Curriculum
*2019-2020 School Curriculum and Review
*2018-2019 School Curriculum and Review
*2017-2018 School Curriculum and Review
*2016-2017 School Curriculum and Review
*2015-2016 School Curriculum and Review
*2014-2015 School Curriculum
*2013-2014 Review

I realize this plan is both ambitious and optimistic considering we are going to have more medical appointments and a traumatized child living with us when Daniel’s adoption completes in October. I think of it as a target to aim at and we’ll prioritize and streamline it as we go along. If I have things here and ready, then more can happen. If you look at the end where “extra” stuff goes, you’ll see that I’m going to have fun learning materials around for them to learn organically on. If some of the formal learning gets behind, they’ll get ahead in the hands-on learning stuff.

Reminder of Washington State’s homeschool subject requirements (which do not have to be taught separately/individually):
1. Occupational education
2. Science
3. Mathematics
4. Language
5. Social Studies
6. History
7. Health
8. Reading
9. Writing
10. Spelling
11. Appreciation for Art and Music

Anna – 5th grade
1. Christian Light Education Reading, level 5 3/week
2. Teaching Textbooks Math, level 6 4/week
3. Christian Light Education Science and Lab Kit, level 5 3/week
4. Christian Light Education Social Studies, level 4 (finish from previous year) 3/week
5. Writing – survey of styles with prompts from me (write a play, story, journal, poem, etc.) 3/week
6. Christian Light Education Bible, level 5 3/week
7. Story of the World History CD and workbook, Early Modern Times 1/week
8. All About Spelling, level 1 3/week
9. Christian Light Education Art, level 3 from last year 1/week
10. Ballet 2/week

Maggie – 2nd grade
1. Christian Light Education Reading, level 2 3/week
2. Teaching Textbooks Math, level 4 4/week
3. Christian Light Education Science, level 2 3/week
4. Writing with story pages 3/week
5. Christian Light Education Bible 2 3/week
6. Story of the World History CD and workbook, Early Modern Times 1/week
7. All About Spelling, level 1 3/week
8. Christian Light Education Art, Level 2 from last year 1/week
9. Martial Arts 1/week

Carolyn – preschool
1. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons from last year
2. Language Lessons for Today Grade 2 (modified for her age)
3. Handwriting Without Tears, level 1
4. Singapore Math Essentials Kindergarten A/B
5. Now I’m Reading! books and other Bob style books I already have

Jordan – alternate 3rd grade
Jordan is working on many non-academic things right now and they are his main work. Until he has achieved some success with them, he cannot work effectively on academic subjects. I’m not going to go into detail here, but it involves emotional regulation, physical self control and following instructions.

Daniel – alternate preschool
This was added after Daniel got home in October
Daniel arrived home at various developmental levels, but the things that Daniel is learning about most rapidly right now are: language acquisition, emotional regulation, trust, feeling safe, reducing stress reaction to presence of food, getting healthy!

Mostly self-led studies:
– 1 year subscription to JAM Inventions
– A number of educational tv shows and movies (have any recommendations?)
– A stack of inexpensive science kits ($10-$20) including a “Magic” science kit, a bubble-gum making kit, perfumery, etc.
– A couple projects where i gather the materials and then let the kids have at it, such as birdseed ornaments, homemade rock candy and homemade slime

Everything here at home is going well. Jordan’s in a good spell (sleeping, happy), the girls are wrapping up loose ends in their schooling and Anna is preparing for her big, year-end ballet recital. The adoption paperwork continues its slow path towards court and us becoming Daniel’s legal, permanent parents. That’s going to feel so good. It’s unlikely, but I’m praying for a court date in July, because court is closed for summer holiday the month of August. September or October aren’t out of the question, though. If the Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, we should have everything in order to pick him up a month after court. Waiting is hard, but I’m getting practiced at it.

Sometimes I don’t realize how picture-perfect our life seems. Until I look through our pictures. So before I show you our gorgeous photos, I want to tell you that: I’m typing this blog in my pajamas, I had a hard time getting the kids to wake up this morning, The floor hasn’t been vacuumed or swept in over a week, it’s raining today, the garden is only half planted (in June!) and neglected, I had two days of dragging around followed by a super day yesterday, my bed is unmade, I have stacks of books I planned to read YEARS ago still sitting in my room gathering dust and I keep adding to the pile, and Jordan learned how to pinch. Okay, now that you have a glimpse at the normalness of our life, I’ll show you the beauty of our late May and early June:

Jordan in the sand:

Kids beginning their rafting expedition:

There’s very little to do for the adoption process now. There’s a few papers to gather and send off, but after that, it’s completely out of our hands.

We’re over the worst of the jet lag, but I’m still rather disorganized and half mast. Did I tell you that our septic is backed up? Yeah, we can’t flush the toilets or let water go down the drain. We’re almost $400 in and it’s going to be a big chunk more than that tomorrow, I expect. I sure hope it can be repaired without having to install a new septic… those cost tens of thousands of dollars. Ouch.

Jordan got a new bus driver and I am a really unhappy mother. She’s been late, lost and inspires no confidence in either her driving or child-handling skills. It hasn’t been fun having conversations with her boss trying to get a kind lady fired, but I don’t feel comfortable letting her drive my son around. (sigh) They had his old bus driver going with her today. We’ll see what they say tomorrow. These aren’t easy judgments to make.

The best part of the wait is preparing for and imagining our son’s arrival home. Where will he sleep? What will he wear? What kind of food will he need? Then there’s the medical stuff that I don’t understand so well – what doctors do I need to call now – which ones do I wait – what appointments to we hurry into and which ones do we put off? He’s not under anybody’s care here in the US, so I don’t have anybody advising me. If it were down syndrome, I’d know what to do. But arthrogryposis is a completely different animal and I’m scratching my head a lot. And his tiny size… I know that he’s not eating well, but is he as malnourished as he seems… should i be looking into the medical side of that… or is his small size due to the arthrogryposis – because it’s not unheard of for them to go together. All this grown-up thinking i’m trying to do through the jet lag!

I took all these beautiful videos of Daniel. But I’m finding it hard to watch them without feeling this strong … well, I don’t want the videos, I want the boy. That little boy belongs here on my lap. In my home. Within my sphere. Where I can do what I can do to mend the broken places in his heart and encourage the broken places in his mind and carry him to physicians who will strengthen the crooked parts of his body. I want the boy.

But I promised some friends that I would share some more and he really is a darling, enjoyable little boy. Though he doesn’t engage and communicate like the average kid yet, he clearly observes and mimics others! Here is a video of him talking on the phone!!! (“Hello” is usually “oh-ah!” in his country)

First – before he began talking on the phone:

Chatty little fella!

Brian here.

I can’t help but make comparisons between our visits with Jordan in 2011 and our
visits with Daniel now. Jordan was so cute. I’ve looked back to some pictures
from our first visits with him. He had the baby fat in his cheeks, that wide
mouth smile that I adore. Videos of his laugh elicited a collective sigh from
our whole church when we got home. There was this nagging little doubt in my
mind then, “Why doesn’t this kid play?” You know how you can play silly little
games with babies? Like give and take, patty cake, peek-a-boo. Jordan would
watch those sorts of things and laugh when you said boo. But it was an
achievement, years later, when he figured out how to play it. Still, I assumed
at the time that whatever delays Jordan had, we’d make up in good time, just by
virtue of bringing him into our family.

Those expectations were not met and I had a hard time with that. My hopes for
Jordan have had repeated adjustments (read: disappointment). I figured he’d
suffered from neglect and therefore hadn’t progressed, therefore we’d meet his
needs and he’d bounce back. Turns out, many times, I have no clue how to meet
his needs, or even what his needs are (read: guilt). I still have no idea why
Home Depot sends him into fight or flight mode. It has been a hard road forming
a relationship with someone who doesn’t talk, doesn’t respond typically to
touch, is stressed by food, and while dealing with the above emotions myself.
Jordan is my son. Not the son I imagined he would be in 2011 but the son God
gave me and I love him. I have new hopes for him and I am proud of all that he
has accomplished. We are on a journey together. A slower and more painful
journey than I imagined, and I can’t see the destination… but we are going there
together.

Daniel is also adorable. His big brown eyes and crooked smile are real heart
breakers. When I pick him up he wraps his arm around my shoulder. A couple times
now I’ve just carried him around in a newborn cradle hold. He is an easy kid to
fall in love with. I had a lot of fear going to meet Daniel that he would be as
passive as Jordan was but Daniel has not been passive. He displays social skills
already that we still work very hard to encourage in Jordan. Taking turns,
initiating play. Daniel invents interactive games, that is a skill that was way
beyond my wildest hopes. Daniel copies sounds, words, and actions. Again, much
more than I dared hope for. I am heartened by this and grateful for it.

At the same time I am trying to take note of the red flags. When we put a bib on
Daniel to feed him he cries, throws himself backward and becomes stiff as a
board. I think there is a real chance he has trouble coordinating swallowing and
breathing and maybe an acid reflux problem. He screams if you take a toy from
him or don’t give him what he wants. He shuts down in unfamiliar places or
situations. He demonstrates almost no stranger anxiety. He may not have any idea
his sounds are actually communication. It might be simple mimicry and he might
forever struggle to make his feelings known. On the other, hand his greater level
of understanding may well lead to more complicated feelings about his adoptive
journey (read:abandonment, neglect).

I’d give 50-50 odds that we will come back in 6 months to find he has regressed
in health or development. The workers at the orphanage talk about how handsome
Daniel is and how he will be a model because he is thin. This is a four year old
wearing size 18 months clothes. Let’s be realistic people. He may well be model
material but let’s get some meat on this kid! Daniel has one leg in a cast right
now to try to correct some of his club foot. His poor little legs are quite
deformed. To see him walking someday would be a miracle. Not impossible, just a
miracle.

Miracles happen and I believe God has great plans for both Jordan and Daniel.
But it’s a long and difficult journey we are on. I don’t want the rough spots to
catch me unaware. My hope is that I can spend more time celebrating the gifts we
receive through Daniel and less time dealing with unmet expectations.

I Peter 5:8-11 (The Message)
Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like
nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the
only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over
the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever.
It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in
Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on
your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.