GOTCHA DAY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

One year later... Look what grew up from that little malnourished kiddo.  Let me introduce our little monster "Ruben".  He has adjusted just fine and loves his family.  Language started out a little slow, with sounds and sign language to get his point across.  Then one word, now two or three strung together.  Ruben enjoys his "school" daycare.  He loves to bring hope papers and say "I make, I make, I make".  He is soooo proud of his work.  He is all "two" and then some.  If you take your eye off him, he will make you pay later, just look what happened when he found the bottle of desiten cream.  Let's just say he was baby butt soft everywhere, and even had that skunk appearance for awhile.  We celebrated his Gotcha Day this weekend.  Ruben's birthday is the day after Christmas, so we thought he should have a special day, besides right after the holiday.  It's hard to believe it has been a whole year since our Colombian adventure.  We are so thankful and blessed that we were able travel when we did.  In the past year, the adoption referrals slowed down significantly.  To all those families still waiting,  Hang on.  Your kiddo/s are out there and will be with you soon.  We still keep in contact with our college friend Mario from Colombia.  He is working on getting his visa and we hope to help him come to Montana and visit.  Our hot summer is finally over and fall is setting in.  I sure don't miss the hot humidity of Monteria, or the cold water showers.  However, we miss all the people that helped us in our journey to bring back Ruben.   Maybe one day when Ruben is older, he will want to travel back to Colombia and visit his birth country. 

ADOPTION REFINALIZATION

 Today was Ruben's big day, he just didn't know it.  We have been back 7 months now from Colombia. Today was our "refinalization of adoption" court hearing.  The preceedings went very fast.  We left smiling, and that is more then I can say for the lady coming out of the courtroom before us in handcuffs. Colombia requires that familes refinalize their adoption in their home state/country.  Also, in Colombia, the child takes the mother's maiden name at the end of their name.  Ruben is now known as Ruben Levi Miller.  This is the shortest name he has ever had.  In Colombia he had about 5 names total.  Ruben has been adjusting well and loves his new life and family.  Especially his sisters.  Ruben loves the outdoors, and cry's when dad has to do yardwork and doesn't take him with him.  You can't take your eyes off him, or off he goes.  Part of this is due to his age, and the other is purely just Ruben. Ruben loves balls. In fact, he can dribble a regular basketball with his left hand for a full minute.  It is quite something to see.  I'm not sure I could do it for that long. Our lives has changed quite a bit since adding Ruben to the family.  Adoption has been a great experience for us.  Tracey and I just wish we were 15 years younger, so we could keep up easier. 

A NEW YEAR!

It has been almost 3 months since we arrived home in Montana. I really have no excuses for not posting, other than being honest. "Two Year Old's are Busy!!!" Tracey and I forgot how much energy is required to keep up with a 2yr old. I don't remember the girls being this way, but maybe it is that I am not a kiddo anymore either. Ruben has adjusted quite well. He has always been very happy and sociable. He is still low on height and weight, but not for a lack of eating. Within a week of getting home, we stopped giving him the formula "Klime" from Colombia. In fact, Ruben likes to feed himself. The hard part, is that a bath is usually required afterwards as well. Language is the area of improvement for Ruben. He says a few words, but mimics about anything and everything that he hears. Tracey and I are both back to work now, so daycare set in. Ruben loves it. There are three brothers at the in-home daycare, and one is about the same age as Ruben. The little guy is setteling in with his new american way of life. The girls taught him to hold his nose when he does a little duty in his pants. It is pretty common to see him run down the hall holding his nose. We really didn't need the extra sign language, as we can usually smell him come a running...
We made the decision to get him circumsized before the holidays. In Colombia, the boys generally are not circumsized. It was a rough day or two, but now he is doing great, and I think he will appreciate it later. Working in the medical field, I can tell you that men that don't get circumsized have a lot of health issues later, not to mention the potential problems and peer pressure he could recieve in school.
The girls are adjusting as well too. As expected, our youngest (7yrs) has had the hardest time adjusting, and often acts out for attention. Bree is my tom boy, so I try to spend a few extra minutes here and there throwing the football with her in the yard, as Ruben watches from the window waiting for his time to shine.
We had a great holiday season with all of us here. Ruben celebrated his birthday 12/26 a week later, as Christmas was overwelming. I think he would have been happy as a pig in mud, just to play with the box's and wrapping paper. Nothing too new to report. We did have our first post-adoption visit this month and again sending off the paperwork for apostille and then to our agency. We have 3 more to go. We have started the legal adoption process to "readopt" Ruben in Montana. This way he will get a Montana birth certificate and be able to drop my wife's maiden name. Colombia puts the mother's maiden name at the end. So currently Ruben's name is: Ruben Levi Miller Rongholt. That is still shorter then the five names he had in Colombia. Well, enough for now. Will post more developments later.