Fourth visit....some videos to watch!!

Today we had both kids at the same time again.  We go to Julia's building and they bring her out to us and then someone brings Aaron over from his building about 15 minutes later.  Julia was again visibly happy to see us.  She was receptive to us gently stroking her cheeks, jaw line and neck as she arched backwards.  Her eyes still flinch/flutter whenever our hands move towards her, but she relaxes quickly as she enjoys the sensations.  It is so heartwarming to watch her learn to enjoy gentle contact with us.  We did some more snuggling and nuzzling  today and continued to get smiles.  She loves the toys we bring her.  She has a distinct preference to the toys she can grab ahold of.  She likes to drop the balls to the floor.  Today I watched her eyes track the ball to the floor and I tried to hold her over the toy to see if she would grab it back, but she didn't.  She was holding onto my arm and I think she felt like she would fall to the floor if she let go.

During our first few visits with Aaron, I have tried to give him a hug when they first bring him to us.  He always pushes me away.  Steve's mom picked up on this too when she visited with me.  He is otherwise receptive to any other form of demostrative affection.  He lets me kiss him on the cheek and even mimicked the word "kiss."  It dawned on me as I was laying in bed last night that it is not necessarily because he doesn't want the hug, but that he doesn't know what one is.  I get the feeling that he just thinks I am trying to hold and confine him.  He will learn in time, when he is home with us.....what hugs are all about!  We were doing high-fives today and he understood this.  Eveytime he blew bubbles and popped them all, we did high-fives.  He says a word when he plays with the toys that we have to figure out what he means.  In English it sounds like "maladoy."  We thought it meant toys or cars, but looked those words up and they're not it.  Steve thinks maybe it means "mine."  Anybody know???  We also got to see some more "misbehavior" out of Aaron.  Today we experienced pinching, screaming, spitting and attempting to bite me.  He exhibited these behaviors when he had the tennis ball taken away from him.   One time he accidentally threw the tennis ball at my head (while I was holding Julia) and thought my startled reaction was funny.  I am sure it was!  But then he kept trying to throw it at my head.  When we took the ball away, he tried to pinch our hands.  When this got him no where, he started spitting.  He already knows from a previous visit that we shook our heads in disapproval at his spitting, so he thought he could get our attention this way. 

Then when this got him no where he started screaming.  He finally went onto getting another toy when this failed at getting him what he wanted.  A little later on we gave him the ball back and we motioned for him not to throw it at our heads, so he started throwing the ball at the windows and a mirror.  At first he wasn't throwing it too hard, but as soon as we made it clear that he shouldn't continue throwing it at these two places, he started throwing it harder at the mirror.  So the ball went away again and the screaming commenced.  We pretty simply ignored this behavior and he quit.  He definitely knows how to listen because we notice that whenever a nanny would walk through and say something to him, he became immediately attentive and submissive.  He is just trying to learn where our boundaries are.  All in good time : )  It's just hard when we are only going to have about an hour a day with him for a few weeks.  Much of this learning won't come until he is at our home and relearns appropriate social behavior.....and we know this may take years.   Kacey, Ethan and Regan are hopefully going to be huge assets in this area.....and they will need our guidance in patience, understanding, and definite boundaries!