Ethan

You know, it's funny because when Becky commented on my lack of information on Ethan, I was floored. For those who are a Facebook friend, you see my almost daily family postings. So for those who aren't, I apologize.

Ethan. What can I say about Ethan? He is an awesome kid. He came into our family and has settled in like he has always been here. There are squabbles with the littles because he is a bossy older brother, but he plays with everyone. He plays dolls with Maeve and Nerf guns with Shaw. He plays hide and seek with the littles and loves to color and draw and read in English. He helps me around the house, sometimes not willingly, and will take the initiative with helping the littles do something.

He is so bright and amazes me daily with what he knows and how quickly he learns. And he wants to learn. Everything. And he wants me to know what he knows. He is a chatterbox and sings songs and says poems all day long. He has been like this since the day I met him. Non-stop chatter. Which, of course, gives Maeve a run for her money.

When we first met him, I listened to him talk and knew he was hard of hearing. This has since been verified and we will be heading in for extensive testing to see what is next for him. This is really the only thing that frightens me because I can go 2 feet behind him and clap loudly and he can't hear me. When he talks, he talks like a deaf person talks, which makes me love him even more because his file said "developmental delays" and when I think about how much he has had to overcome with the hearing.... he's my hero.  When he first came into our lives and I would work with him on sounds, he would become embarrassed and not want me to hear him mess up. He has since realized that I love him and want to help him and so he is working really hard on those hard sounds and words.

His other special need is limb difference. This is something that is very raw for him and I know he was teased horribly in China for it. The first couple of days with my husband and he wouldn't even take his shoes off. Once he arrived in Zhengzhou with my husband it took him another 3 days to take off his socks and this was only because his foot was hurting and he needed me to look at it and make it better. He was schocked that there was no reaction out of either of us and life just went on. Fast forward home and again, it took him 3 days to take off his socks infront of his siblings. The littles haven't even noticed and Shaw (I love this kid) said "Cool" and gave him the thumbs up. And life goes on.

Since he's been home for 2 weeks we have cleaned out most of the suitcases and cleared out the playroom, made gingerbread houses, shopped at Costco, visited Scottish Rite and had a birthday dinner at Bucca De Beppo for my mom.

He is officially a Jones.