How it's going...

I've been a mother of 4 for three weeks now and it's been interesting to watch and analyze what's going on with this new little life in our family, and how family dynamics shift in relation to this new family member. 

Max is transitioning nicely. When we had him with us in Russia we don't know if he was bored, anxious or what, but he sort of acted like a bull in a china shop, just into everything, making us crazy the entire week and a half we were together. The first few days he was home weren't that much better. But now he's settled down considerably and we're wondering if he doesn't feel safer now that Russia is clearly behind us.

He did well on his first twho Sundays at church. We  sort of expected him to pull out his tornado routine that generally comes with new environments, but he was calm and composed the entire time. He politely greeted our friends (in Russian, of course) and happily sat through most of a Sunday School class. Leaving him in a Sunday School class was a huge feat for this little guy who's displayed anxiety over both strangers and being separated from his family.

Max has started school. Since we're homeschooling him with the others it wasn't that huge of a transition. Until his vocabulary develops, there's not a lot of content we can work on, but they use the same numbers we use, so we're jumping right in with Math and some vocabulary / phonics games on the computer, along with some old fashioned whole language activities (aka playing with his sibs!) he's doing quite well.

The only real transition issue we're having is Jory being back at work full time. Poor little guy misses his dad. When Jory is here Max does super, when Jory is gone not so much. He'll play for an hour just fine then out of nowhere he just starts pounding on stuff for no clear reason.

Mostly the rest of us are all adjusting just fine. Jory and I are constantly watching the kids to make sure they aren't overwhelmed by this little boy who has a tendency to overwhelm. The kids have really stepped up to help out when they recognize they are needed. They realize the benefits of positive peer pressure, and rather enjoy teaching their new brother how to comply.

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