Rory's first snow!

Things are still going so well with Rory. He is amazing! He got his first haircut.... he was so cute! We are still having some power struggles... but he's come so far that we are just amazed at how well he is adapting. Malana and Josh came over this weekend and brought a pizza. Rory approved- especially the sauce! Then, he went to bed pretty easily considering it was the first time that we had people in the house at bedtime and it was storming pretty bad.

His english is really coming along and in weird little ways. When I was putting him to bed that night, there was big thunderclap and I said "That was a big one." The next one came a few minutes later and I said "That was-" and before I could finish it, Rory said "- a big one, Mama." He is currently in LOVE with his legos and was excited to sing happy birthday to Grandma today on the telephone.

His first snow was this weekend.... just enough to wet his appetite. Click on our youtube link below to see it... my favorite video so far! Also, Rory has discovered 70's music and LOVES IT!

Medical Week:)

This week, we finally got Rory in to see his new pediatrician. We were concerned that a doctor's office would be overwhelming for him, but he sailed through it with no problems. The only issue is that our dr. has to get his immunization card translated- it's all in Creole, but somewhat understandable. Otherwise, she was COMPLETELY amazed at his cognitive development, weight, and overall health. He was totally cooperative and liked all the colorful pictures on the wall. I think his favorite part was how much we doted on him for being such a good big boy for the doctor and when Brandon surprised him with a roll of smarties in the car afterwards.

Today, we went to see Rory's dentist. My mom's dentist actually has done several missions to Haiti and speaks pretty good Creole. Rory's teeth are in some serious need of dental work so we wanted to make this as easy for him as possible. I laid in the dentist chair and they had him lay on me. He didn't flinch ONE INCH, as they scraped, flossed, polished, xrayed, poked, prodded, etc.. Everytime the hygenist's hands left his mouth, he would turn to me with this big toothy smile as if to say "How do my choppers look NOW?" He will need to see a specialist for some work, but nothing to bad. When we got back to the car, I was almost in tears I was so proud of my big boy. How scary everything must be to him, but he always is stoic and brave to no end. Everyone seems to think I must be crying every two seconds because the wait is over, and I must be so happy to have him home. Other people always say how they cried when they watched this video, or read this post, but I haven't cried once. Is that weird? I just don't cry out of happiness. But today, I was so moved because of how much he's been through in his short life, more than what most of us go though in decades.

P.S. Rory pooted (farted) in the bathtub today for the first time... he cracked himself up so much I had to hold him up to keep from drowning.

Check out our videos!

Things are going really well the last few days! New experiences are around every corner and Rory is settling in well. This week we have our first doctor's appt. and maybe a trip to the library to take in the local playgroup.

In the meantime, don't forget to check out our videos on YOUTUBE:

http://www.youtube.com/indyvaughn

Just click on the link.... It only shows nine videos... but click on the BLUE "See all" at the bottom of the page. ENJOY!

Rory is truly a VAUGHN

Wow! Things around here change at lightning speed! We've had no major 'episodes' since the last post, so that is definitely progress, but we know that things can change in any direction at any time so we are still working on making this a smooth transition for Rory as possible. Sometimes I'll just look at Rory and wonder "WHAT ON EARTH COULD HE BE THINKING?" Everyday there is something that cracks us up or makes us realize just how little he understands. Then, he will amaze us with something that he's learned! Some high points:

• Brandon burned a CD for the car that has some really upbeat songs that he thought Rory would like. When Rory heard the "Ob-la-di" song by the Beatles, he totally fell in love with it. We were in the car today and he kept saying 12... he had figured out that it was song twelve on the CD! Now he walks around yelling "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da..." This is Rory's serious car face. He's also given up wearing his own glasses and opted for Papa's big boy sunglasses instead.

• Rory won't wear clothes twice in a row. No matter what. For example, the other day he wore a pair of pants for MAYBE three hours so I just folded them and put them on the hamper and thought he'll wear them another day-they aren't dirty or anything. Well the next day when I got them out, he looked at me like I was insane! Like, "Okay mom, who are you kidding, I know these weren't washed..." What am I? June Cleaver or something? Seriously! So my new trick is to throw things in the hamper, then, when he's not around, I'll get out his pajamas he wore one night and refold them and put them back in his drawer. The first time I did it, he looked at me like "Wait just a second..." Then hesitantly put on the pajamas, but he had his evil eye on my the whole time! I think he's on to me...
• Rory is amazed by my hair dryer. When I walk out of the bathroom with wet hair he will touch it and say something in creole. Then, whenever I get around to drying it, he'll follow me in the bathroom. I sit on the floor and dry my hair and he'll brush it while I dry it. Then he'll touch my hair and say "Mama chevaux cho"- Mama's hair hot. Needless to say, I've had some pretty bad hair days.
• Rory was in the bonus room upstairs the other day and looking at all the baseball stuff on the walls. He took one look at the Babe Ruth picture and pointed and said "Papa papa papa". Then, today, there was a commercial on the TV and he started pointing and saying "Mama! Mama! Mama!" when I turned and looked, it was Christie Brinkley! Of course I said "THANK YOU RORY!"
• Rory loves anything to do with cleaning. He will help in every chore, no matter what. I'm enjoying it while it lasts because YOU KNOW it won't! Among his favorite things, the vacuum is a total treat for him. He loves it. We put some stuff on the floor so he could actually see that it picks stuff up and his eyes got huge and he immediately grabbed it and started going to town. His other favorite... the leaf blower. He thought that was the coolest thing EVER! See picture of Papa taking a break...

• Rory has discovered Tom and Jerry. I know that today people say Tom and Jerry is so violent (which, let's face it, it is) but so is the news and every other show that is on. At least it's just a cartoon. I think the reason he likes it so much is that there is no talking at all, just action so he understands everything about it! He will sit and watch it- completely expressionless and motionless, then out of nowhere, he'll burst into uncontrollable laughter and run around imitating something that just happened. So far his favorite is when the human goes out for the night and all the cats come over and have a party and Jerry is all mad because he can't go to sleep. He retells the whole story in Creole which is really hilarious because it sounds like nonsense, but we can totally understand what he means!
• Rory says banana like "BOO NANA" - so funny I don't ever want him to say it normally.
• Rory loves school and counting. I got out the poker chips and I have him separate the colors and we count them and compare the stacks. We count by 10's and at the end we knock them all down for fun. Now, if I could just wrestle up the $10,000 entry fee for the World Series of Poker, we'd be in some serious business!

What is that they say? It takes lemons to make lemonade?

So, when I last checked in we were still in honeymoon mode (a term actually used in the adoption world). However, a little over 5 days ago, it ended very abruptly. Rory launched into his first of major 'episodes' as we call them. The first one was by far the worst and lasted hours. How do you comfort a child who is living in a world of loss? Rory has lost everything- his country, his climate, his friends, his caregivers, his language, his normal food, his routine, his school, his EVERYTHING. Yes, we are his parents and love him more than anything in the world, but there is no way to explain that to a four year old, much less one that speaks Creole! He hasn't been a part of a family in a very long time, and he just learning how things are supposed to work. He's spent the last 2 years taking care and fending for himself and now, he is trying to adjust to the fact that we make most of the decisions, and a lot he doesn't like :(

Brandon and I are totally exhausted either trying to deter an episode, meet one head on, or recover from the last one. However, they do end and the other 20 hours of the day are just fine. We've been prepped very well (as we are now finding out) by our agencies and literature recommended to us. This is very normal and we've actually been told that it's good that he's testing us this early, with hope that he'll learn to trust us that much quicker. This is by far the hardest thing that we've EVER done, and we have a long, long, long way to go before Rory feels comfortable here and with his new life.

With all that said, the roller coaster is still so awesome and totally worth it! There are still so many funny, sweet, priceless moments that happen every day that are completely worth the worst outburst on earth. Like today, I woke up with a fantastically huge zit on my face. Rory got out of his bath and was getting dressed when he noticed it. He grabbed my face with both hands and looked at me with those huge brown eyes and kissed me right on the zit. Before I could say "EWWWW- gross!" he said "mama ouch". Gulp. Then, today we were out in the backyard looking for a big stick and he was crouching and looking into the brush/treeline. I walked up and he shushed me. And I said "Pourquoi? WHY?" He said "rabbit mama bird mama" He was looking for animals:) . To bad we live in a suburban desert. Poor guy. We did venture out to walgreens the other day and I thought HOLY OVERLOAD! And we turned a corner to find something (can't remember what) and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of the toy aisle. Uh oh. I was sure he would be grabbing at everything. Not being a parent until just days ago, I never really realized how much more colorful the TOY and CANDY aisles are at stores. Anyway, Rory didn't notice. In fact, he didn't even show interest (which I'm sure will change). What did he go crazy fo at the walgreens? The stinkin' flashlights and reading lights! Oh, and the reading glasses.

Go figure!

Who knew that Rory would be such a sponge! He's been here just a little over three days and I can't believe the stuff he does!


For example:

• Rory has an alphabet town toy that does a million little things and its the only real toy that we've given him to play with. He loves to sing "The wheels on the bus" (OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER). Other songs he already knows: Frere Jaques, Twinkle Twinkle little star, The itsy bitsy spider, Mary had a little lamb, and several others.
  
• We were watching the Amazing Race the other day (he loves it because of all the machines and avions). One of the people said "oh my gosh" and he repeated it several times. Then the "cat black" was hogging his seat at school yesterday and he turns around and says- you guessed it- "oh my gosh" with total exasparation.


• He can't get enough of Malana. He LOVES her... see the you tube video on the right.


• He loves to talk on the phone. Whenever someone calls he wants to talk. If they say "how are you Rory?" he says "I am fine, thank you. And you?" It's what they taught him at the orphanage and it never fails. Everyone loves it! Then he will say "ou vini" which means "You come". Although, people will ask questions and he will answer "OUI" to everything.


• One of his most favorite things to do is 'play' with ice. I got some crushed ice for him in his little cup and he proceeded to eat it. Then, as always, he wants to feed me, too. He gives me the 'gro glasse' (biggest ice) and laughs when he sees my expression. Then he waits for it to melt and pries my mouth open to see how little it got. HE SQUEALS at this point and says "GLASSE PITI PITI" (ice very small). You have to remember, he has most likely never had ice before and it is so fun to see him eat it and laugh.


• When he takes a nap we say "Time to go to sleep" and he lays on a blanket on the floor, just like at the orphanage. Then we let him lay for a few minutes and we say "Rory, close your eyes". And he DOES! AND, he goes to sleep usually pretty quickly. Now, if I could just bottle that....

A lot of people who know our cats know that we have been worried about the possible disaster it could be. Not one problem yet. In fact, I think Chilly Willy and Rory are inseparable at this point. He calls for her and she comes and she always wants to be next to him. He's petted her a lot and always does so lovingly and she just purrs like crazy! Who knew? They are all napping right this instant ... see picture below!

Home, Happy, Healthy!

Sorry I have not posted, but we are just so super busy and a lot overwhelmed, but all in a very good way.

We had an amazing time in Haiti and at the orphanage. It was so bittersweet to say goodbye to al his 'amis' and aunties. We took tons of photos and really tried to convey our appreciation to all the staff at the orphanage. But how do you thank someone for loving, caring, and taking care of your son when you are not able to? Needless to say, we said "Me'ci" a LOT and gave out some really crushing hugs. As we left the orphanage, we waved goodbye and Rory was smiling from ear to ear. He yelled goodbye out the window to his schoolmates. It was so priceless to see him so happy, we worried that he would be overcome with sadness, but as the Madame at the orphanage said "They want this day, they look forward to it and want it very badly."

The three plane rides were honestly a breeze. We asked Madame to explain to Rory that it would take three airplanes (avion) to get home and he understood. The first flight was to Miami and we landed at night. When he saw the lights out the window he said "WHOA!". We clapped when we landed because that was the moment that he became an American. Immigration was a piece of cake to say the least. One of the customs officials brought me to total tears. He said something to the fact that he knows that soldiers are heroes because they go to war, but we were heroes to him because we were opening our home to a child who needed it. I mean, come on! How was I supposed to hear that and NOT cry!?!? ugh! Rory loved the moving walkways and escalators as much as we imagined he would and shivered in the hotel room due to the air conditioning he was not used to. He slept well in Miami and the next day we were off!

Two airplane rides later we were home. Actually, he slept through the last flight to Indy from take off to arrival gate. We met Grandma and Malana at the airport and took Malana's "machine black" all the way home. He was a bit overwhelmed, but we showed him around the house and he had been looking at the pictures we had took of EVERY ROOM, so it was not the first time he saw the house. He like his room, but no more than every other room. He really likes the kitchen because the food is all there! Over the last couple days, we've established a routine and actually made an outing to Aunt Mary and Uncle Don's house. He likes their big window and have his snack at their table. Then we went to the grocery store BRIEFLY to pick up some stuff. He loved the produce section and we took our time there so he could name all the veggies and fruits that he likes. Then he saw the canned corn and seemed to want some so we got it. However, he doesn't- at all!

There isn't much that he doesn't like. Mama's plain oatmeal wasn't a hit, nor were the green beans, corn, and peas. But holy moly, can this boy eat! They did eat a lot at the orphanage, but he likes almost everything and eats every single bite down to the last morsel. It is so cute because he likes to share his snacks with people. I told him I like the purple fruit loops. SO NOW, everytime he has fruit loops, he digs out every last purple CRUMB and feeds them to me. The red ones go to papa and he eats the rest. How cute is that!

We have 'school' everyday because we want him to keep up what he was taught by his awesome teachers in Haiti. So we sit at the little table that Grandma Vaughn got for him and we color and practice our letters. He gets a sticker when he finishes, which he just thinks is the cat's pajamas! Then, he runs to put his work on the fridge. When I color with him, he insists on putting my page up, too. We are officially out of room as of today! His first warm bath was an adventure. He had the BIGGEST smile on his face and said 'cho, cho, cho, cho' over and over again which means warm or hot. He's never in his life had access to hot water, so now, washing his hands, he turns the hot faucet and gets antsy because the hot water just cannot come fast enough!

We've watched some TV- not much.. see our YOUTUBE videos for his reaction to the futbol on the tv. And, to my dismay, just like papa, he loves sportscenter and gets upset when we change it! He has very few toys, only the ones we took to Haiti and he is happy as a clam with them. We will introduce more as we go, but will keep it to minimum right now.

He's sleeping pretty well, waking up to go the restroom and adjusting more and more. He sleeps in his bed and we sleep in the guest room for now, but he seems to understand that it isn't our bed, that our bed is downstairs. We'll see how that goes when the time comes!

I will post more videos on youtube... I'm finding it hard to find time and I'm doing something wrong so that it is taking FOREVER just to download one stinking video. But, I'll work on it till I get it right!

Tomorrow it's pancakes for breakfast! Woo hoo!

HOME!

We are finally home and settling in well. The last few days have been such a whirlwind and I can't take the time to write what I want to right now. I will post again tomorrow with more details, but for right now the pics will have to do. I'm heading to bed!