James and Nathaniel

You would think that when you have two small, smiling, super-cute boys in your house for six days - 144 hours - 8,640 minutes - 518,400 seconds - someone would decide that, hey, we should mention them a little more in the blog posts. However, this is our blog, which is a pretty good reason if you know us or about our previous blog[s] (Jenna's old blog and our old blog). We forget about our blog every now and again and we often neglect some big details worthy of incorporating in a post. Sorry. We'll [try to] do better on that.

Anywho, the point. You, friend or stranger or extraterrestrial alien, deserve to know about the WHOs, WHATs, and HOWs of these two random boys we've been mentioning in the past few posts. Of course, if you bothered to read the Children tab of this blog, you might know something about James and Nathaniel (the boys we've been watching for the caretakers at the foster home where they've from over Chinese New Year). However, you know only the basics. We have not told you anything about their progress here (that will probably be lost when they return to the foster home but, hey, still, progress anywhere is pretty awesome). Yes, sir, ma'am, whatever, you have only the basics.

Let's start from the very beginniiiing, a very good place to staaart. When you read you begin with A-B-C, when you learn about... these boys... you begin with... the... You know what, I give up trying to make this into a rendered version of Do-Re-Mi. I stink at music.

Where to start...?
James is attached to Jenna. When I say "attached", I mean he's stuck to her with a bunch of flexible, stretchable, bendable, twistable rope that no amount of scissors and knives and chainsaws could cut. Every once and awhile, that rope will stretch farther than usual, but it will always spring right back and James will go crashing into Jenna and not let go.

Nathaniel, one year old, doesn't really cry. He scrunches up his face and makes little whimpering noises, but he doesn't usually get far enough to cry, because by that time whoever he's pleading with has given in to his irresistible adorableness and lovable skills of captivating. The one moment when he's sure to cry for real is when he's put to bed. At first, Nathaniel went to bed peacefully. Now, the moment head touches pillow, the tears explode. Mom and Jen suspect it's due to the excess attention we give him - he's loving it and doesn't want it to stop.
Unlike James, Nathaniel isn't especially attached to a single member of our family - he attracts all and connects to all.

Nathaniel's skills in the art of walking are improving tons. He walks with his hands out to his sides and a little upwards and he moves in a sort of robotic motions. When he walks towards someone, he starts to squeal, "Ma-ma. Ma-ma." Everyone minus Emma refers to him as being Italian in this way, but I've yet to know why. :\ James, although older than Nathaniel, only crawls, mainly due to the way his feet grow. (He can walk with assistance, though.)

The biggest success: EATING! Their diet has gone from mush to, well... not-mush (that was the lamest thing I have ever written) in 48 hours. Nathaniel more than James.

As a random note, despite what the caretakers at the foster home said, neither of the boys "love" watching television. They glance at it for a few moments, then crawl/toddle (< love this word, don't know why) away.

For the first three days, Matthew shared with the boys, was careful with the boys, played with the boys. But, hey, three's a charm, and that fourth day came and he was throwing blocks, screaming when they tried to participate in any game he was playing, or grabbing/pushing. This was the case with a girl Matthew's age, who we fostered until her forever family came for her.





WELL!
That is all I have to say on this subject.
Have a good day.
Or afternoon.
Or night.
Oh, never mind.

~Abby

Pictures to be added by Jenna.