Tinsae has been home in America for 3 weeks. And oh what a 3 weeks it has been! He’s been a very busy boy with going to football & volleyball games, visiting Mom’s school, shopping at the mall and Walmart, going to a car wash, riding 4-wheelers in the woods, riding his new bike, playing with his new toys and trucks, jumping on the trampoline, reading books with his family, visiting his Grandma’s homes, going to church, going for a wagon ride, picking up his cousin from college, riding a John Deere riding lawn mower/tractor, playing in a leaf pile, getting his first “American” haircut, taking bubble baths with toys, going to the library, and plenty more that I can’t even remember right now.
Communication: Tinsae has learned SO MANY words since he’s been home. He can name lots of animals and make their animal sound. Here are a list of his new words: mommy, daddy, grandma, Cassie, Jordan, Noah, Muluken, Tinsae, Tia, Toby, Tiger, Bo Bo, Big Boys (horses), Yogi & Boo Boo (goats), big Sammy, Junior, Lily, Lucky, Ruby, Jordy, shoes, jammies, jacket, boots, hat, gloves, semi, car, truck, tractor, pumpkin, bike, jump (trampoline), school bus, airplane, bird, duck, elephant, goose, cow, horse, pig, frog, dog, cat, fish, turtle, cheese, bread, juice, milk, water, cake, pancake, chips, stop, yes, no, hurry up, come on, more, please, and thank you. He understands a whole lot more than he can say and is able to follow a lot of verbal directives by all of us. He is beginning to tell us what he doesn’t want to do or eat by using “no” or “all done”.
Food: Tinsae likes to eat! When we were in Africa, Tinsae would usually eat injera with some of his authentic Ethiopian food. But, since coming to America, he has really broadened his eating habits. He LOVES candy, chocolate, and Diet Mountain Dew. But, of course he eats a lot more than that! LOL!! Hot dogs, spaghetti O’s, ravioli, any kind of chips, pizza, French fries, chicken nuggets, chili, oatmeal, corn pops, pumpkin bread, string cheese, bananas, grapes, chicken teraki, ketchup, eggs, pancakes, cookies, waffles, peanut butter, juice, milk, and water. We have him try one bite of anything new and then he usually likes it. He really likes to dip almost everything in ketchup; just like his daddy!
Sleep: Tinsae goes to bed between 7:30 and 8pm every night. Sometimes he whines for Muluken to go to bed with him, but for the most part, he will just lay down. He has been known to wake up anywhere from 5:30 to 7:45am, depending how tired he is and how LOUD his brothers are in the morning. I’ve been trying to have him take a short nap in the afternoon, but he REALLY does not like to do that. I only have him lay down for about an hour or so, because I want to make sure he is good and tired to sleep through the night. When he first came home, Tinsae totally fought the nap by crying, screaming, and getting out of his bed and opening his bedroom door. But after about 3 days of afternoon naps, he now stays in his bed and when he wakes up, he calls for his mommy.
Getting Dressed & Bath Time: Tinsae likes to put on his jammies every night and he also likes to get dressed every morning. He never complains about what we put on him, but he wants to make sure he can put his shoes on right away. He’s wearing 24 month-2T clothing and a size 8 in shoes and boots. We bought him a winter jacket, in which took a little getting used to, but now he wants it on to go play outside with his big brothers! At first, he was a little hesitant to go into the bathtub with all the bubbles and then have to sit down was really scary for him. But since the first few days, he LOVES to take baths and likes to play with the small toys (letters and numbers) we put in there. Like Muluken, we have to lotion Tinsae up every morning and evening and we put in some awesome hair lotion too!
Tinsae loves to rough-house with anyone in the family. It can be in our bed, on the living floor or outside playing tackle football. He can do somersaults across the living room and jump up and down like a frog. He likes to play with his cars and trucks in the living room and sit on your lap looking at his picture books. Tinsae has a really cute personality, always imitating people or pictures of things he sees. He requests “dance” while in the car when he wants you to turn the music on. He can really shake his little butt and already shows some rhythm in his little body!
I think I might have found a babysitter for him when I go back to work, which is going to be a huge relief off my shoulders. Knowing that we really need to have a strong attachment before he goes to another caregiver, I have been really working hard with him on snuggling, hugging, kissing, taking care of his “hurts”, holding his hand, rubbing his back, and building trust in our relationship. I want to make sure we have a strong bond before letting somebody else be his “go to” person. It’s so hard to even think about going back to work right now. I want to make sure he knows I’m his mommy and I will be here for him.
I know we have a ways to go on sharing! Muluken and Noah have been showing him some of the cool toys from the downstairs, but Tinsae thinks that they are all his. We have been having a few battles lately, but I think that is typical 3-year old stuff.
Tinsae LOVES to be on the go. He will ask to go in my truck (machina) every day. He also asks to go to Grandma’s house too! He ALWAYS wants to be outside, even with the cooler weather! Every school bus we see is Noah’s bus, because we watched Noah get off the school bus once at our home! He points out every tractor, lake or pond, airplane, and SEMI!!
Tinsae is VERY ticklish and also likes to tickle you right back! He’s learned how to give wet willies and even cow kisses! He’ll jump on top of you if you’re lying on the couch and he’ll shake his finger at you if you’ve done something wrong. He dances all over the house and even sings Amharic songs in which we have NO IDEA what he is saying!
Tinsae is simply ADORABLE, CUTE, SWEET, STUBBORN, BEAUTIFUL, GOOFY, and OURS!! We LOVE you Tinsae and are so happy you have joined our family!
