Marvel and Marvens's first full day home... (in backwards order):
These guys love to throw. The first evening home, they threw these blocks at the window over and over because they loved the loud sound it made. We let them do it that first night, but then put the blocks up high after they went to bed.
At dinner, Marvel had a meltdown because he thought we were taking him away from the food. (We were just having him move seats so we could help him better.) This was really the only time one of them had really cried all day, and that was rough on all of us to see him so upset. After dinner, we took them for a walk (even though it was sprinkling) because being outside seemed to be the one thing that helped them chill out.
First dinner altogether as a whole family...
M&M took several catnaps during the day - usually falling asleep while we held them.
The first bath was quite the adventure! We quickly realized we had to get rid of all the cups because they just wanted to drink the water. Even the rags they would suck on to try to drink the water. LOTS of splashing and lots of mess, but they loved the bath!
Everything was about throwing.... when we could, we would try to have them throw things TO us to help contain the destruction.
Marvel's skinny little legs. He just couldn't keep his pants up!
Marvens finished his food first at lunch, so Marvel began feeding him off of his plate.
Sleepy Marvens
Sleepy Marvel...
I sent Joyce out to get smaller pants for the boys since none of the ones we had would stay up. We sat on the porch with them and chatted while the twins fell asleep in our arms. We waited a long time for this day!
It was really strange having these boys and having NO idea what kind of food they would eat or what kind of schedule they were used to... when did they eat at the orphanage? When did they nap? Did they usually sleep AT ALL during the day? We had no idea! We eventually put some Cheerios on the table and let them snack as they wanted.
We got back from the airport pretty late Tuesday night, so it was about 11:30 before everyone was in bed. The next day was CC community day, but I kept Abby home. Micah and Caleb went to CC late (around 11 am) so they could enjoy the morning getting to know their new brothers. Abby loved being with us, but she also felt yucky all day from all the nerves of the transition. She said she just kept thinking about how she would feel if someone had taken her to a different country with people she didn't know. She hated thinking the twins would feel that way! She has such a soft, gentle heart!
For some reason, both boys wanted the purple hippo. Here Marvens is trying to hide the hippo behind his back so Marvel wouldn't get it.
Trying to teach them to stack blocks instead of throwing them. It didn't work very well. 😏
The twins slept on the air mattresses in our room all night without waking. Around 7 am, Marvel began whimpering, so I picked him up and snuggled him for a bit. Eventually we went downstairs while Ben stayed with Marvens in the bedroom until he woke up. I poured a cup of milk to see if Marvel would drink it, and as soon as he saw it, he started shaking and reached for it. Poor guy was evidently super hungry/thirsty.
I kept waking up at night... I just couldn't believe they were actually home!
Snuggling Marvel, waiting for Marvens to wake up.
Day two and on....
Working hard to carry the heavy pillows around...
Playing hide-and-seek with Daddy...
Learning names :)
Working on the essentials...
20-pound Marvel
Wearing 18-month jammies:
A couple of cute outfits someone dropped off. Those first few days, we had a lot of people drop off smaller clothes (size 18 months or 2t) and soft toys that don't hurt when they are thrown at your head. :)
Micah ran in the Starlight Race in Greer on October 15 just 4 days after the twins came home. Ben and all the kids went, and I had the twins by myself for the first time that evening. We went to the playground in our neighborhood. They weren't too sure about most of it. It was a big open space, which they weren't used to. They also had a hard time walking on the uneven ground. No one else was at the playground, but if they saw a car or anyone coming out of a house across the road, they would just freeze. Everything seemed overwhelming to them, but after a little while, they warmed up to the toys at the playground as long as I was close.
Relocating the foam blocks
Micah ran just under 20 minutes again at Starlight:
The ping-pong table came in very handy while we "cacooned" with the twins.
Trying to figure out what to do with the crayons...
They like riding in the car! At least short distances.
First trip to the doctor!
Six days after we first weighed them, they had both gained 2 pounds. Marvel was 22 pounds and 33.5 inches high. (Putting him in the .01 percentile for weight; .05 percentile for height.) Marvens was 22 pounds and 33.6 inches high. Marvel was 1.8 percentile for BMI, and Marvens was 2.1 percentile. So tiny! The doctor said their big swollen bellies came from a low-to-no protein diet.
Both boys had LOTS of really stinky diapers all the time. (Like 6-10 stinky diapers each per day.) We knew it would take a long time for their bodies to adjust to good nutrition, but we were afraid they also had parasites like most of the kids from their creche had had. (I knew this from a Facebook group just for people who adopted from that creche.) We took stool samples to a lab later (which was a whole ordeal in itself), but they miraculously did NOT test positive for any parasites!
Cross-country end-of-the-year celebration/costume run. Micah was there for the whole thing obviously, but the rest of us came and stood in the back with the twins for about half an hour to see Micah get his award for lettering.
Micah and Grace had matching costumes.
So cute and little and still camera shy... (It's also amazing how much taller Marvens looks than Marvel here, when really he is only about a quarter of an inch taller.)
More photos from the costume run:
Trying to push the couch...
Ben took off work for about a week, then worked from home for a couple more weeks. It was so, so helpful to have him home with us!
/
Next-to-last Saturday morning XC race:
Micah did NOT enjoy this race much... his body was just too tired!
I was gone one evening (I took Abby to see a local kids' production of Beauty and the Beast), so the boys decided to introduce the twins to Sweet Frog/ice cream. Ben said they didn't want it at first because it was cold, but they soon got over that and loved it!
Attempting a family movie night. It lasted for about 5 minutes... the twins were not interested in watching anything - they would rather be loud!
The boys got so excited looking at pictures of the orphanage, especially when they saw "Monie" (Monize, their nanny):
Trying to mooch Abby's snack...
Learning to STACK the blocks instead of throw them...
We went to Fountain Park one night. The twins were NOT fans of big open spaces, and they didn't want to be put down in the grass, but as we spent time there, they eventually got more comfortable.
Jumping on the trampoline was also scary at first, but they eventually got over it...
Watching Preschool Prep DVDs. This was the first electronic anything that caught their attention for any amount of time:
It evidently caught Caleb and Abby's attention too!😆
Abby and Caleb working on school at the playground with the twins. One of the perks of homeschooling!
The twins LOVE going for walks in their stroller...
A few days after visiting the doctor's office for the first time, the twins got colds. Several days later, Marvel woke up crying and pulling his ear. Our friend Mary came over to check his ears. Even though Marvens wasn't complaining (he was still sleeping), she checked his ears too. They BOTH had double ear infections. (Marvel's one ear was especially bad.) Poor guys... if Marvel hadn't woken up crying (briefly), we wouldn't have known. They acted totally fine when they were awake. So M&M got to take their first trip to Walmart so we could pick up their medicine.
This was not a posed picture.... someone we knew came around the corner just as I was about to take the picture.
Micah doing a presentation at CC for his proposed "Art Grant." His suggestion was to do music lessons and "jam sessions" at Pathways with the homeless folks. It was a great presentation! Micah "won the grant" out of everyone in his class.
Going for a bike ride... lugging these kids around is a workout!
Micah's 16th birthday.... he was nice enough to let the twins help open his presents. :)
It was perfect bringing the twins home in October... fall colors came through and we had lots of beautiful days for going for walks and bike rides!
Micah opened all his presents (basically everything revolved around running and his car), but since we were cacooning, Micah went out with his friends to play minigolf, and then they came back to our house for ice cream about the time we were putting the twins down to bed. We did have the Ziebers and Kaufmans over for cake and ice cream one night.
Marvens likes to randomly pull down his pants.
Rocket day at CC. (I missed 3 CCs to stay home with the twins. After that, Joyce came to help Ben watch the twins until nap time.)
I got them some bottles to use on their "babies," but they generally wanted to sample them as well.
Trying to figure out how to get the bottles. :)
The first "house" the twins went to outside our house... Grandma and Grandpa's house (for about an hour, a couple weeks after being home.)
Trying to show them what to do with the shapes besides throw them...
The twins have a love/hate relationship with these cars...
I stayed home from church with the twins for the first 4 weeks or so. (Actually, Ben stayed home the first week; I stayed home the other weeks.) One rainy Sunday, we went to the playground anyway... they loved it!
Throwing the balls over and over... all the things they aren't supposed to do in the house (throwing/yelling, etc.) they get to do when they are outside!
One Sunday afternoon while they were napping, I ran to Once Upon a Child to get them a couple toys that would get them moving and that they couldn't throw. Marvens woke up about an hour before Marvel, and he LOVED the little riding car. I was afraid he wouldn't want to share it with Marvel, but as soon as Marvel came downstairs, Marvens hopped off and said, "Bubby! Chita!" (Chita means "sit" in Creole.) He was so excited for Marvel to ride it too.
They had a little bit of a hard time making it go by themselves, and they couldn't figure out the turning, but they eventually got it... and I think the little car really helped get their leg muscles working!
Side note: they call each other "Bubby" (which is maybe more like "Papi") or "Marbens" or "Marble Marbens".... they don't seem to know that one of them is Marvel and the other is Marvens! They are both Marvens in their mind. (If one is in the other room, one will yell "Bubby!" or "Marbens!" and the other one yells, "Ehhh?" Like two old men who can't hear each other.)
Trying on their backpacks...
The twins happened to be in the laundry room when Micah came home from cross-country practice. Very enthusiastic window hitting ensued with lots of yelling, "Micah! Micah!"
Marvens is the scaredy cat who is never quite sure if he wants to go down the slide or not.
Kissing the animals...
The older kids and I went to the Thompsons on Halloween night for their annual chili and "candy in the yard" hunt.
Even though the twins rarely fight over anything, they both really wanted the pink earmuffs of Abby's!
