2 months

We have had Tate for two months now. Things feel normal. Just recently. I feel like I know him like a mama. Tate loves outside so much! 

 Tate is doing great things for Emily as we hoped he would. Living in a house of grown up people made it all too easy for her to not "need" to progress and work hard. All of her needs and them some were met anxiously by 5 adoring people. Now she has competition, and is working a bit harder. Tate loves her guts.

 I got a love tackle in action! He gets her good and tight.

 She tries to get away! No luck. He's too strong.

 Down! She fights a little more.

 Play dead. The thumb goes in about now and she resigns herself to get a giant hug and kiss!

 Tate loves his mama who loves him right back! He started napping a little while back and oh my that makes this crazy busy boy muuuuuuch easier to love! His sleeping all the way around is pretty darn good. We are still roommates from about 1 am on, but he goes to sleep beautifully, and I get from about 8pm -1am to regroup and get some stuff done.

 Tate IS a preschooler. Do not bother telling him otherwise. When he is not gnawing on one of my cute little kids, or stealing their snacks, or trashing their artwork, they don't mind him.

 Emily can still take it or leave it. She likes the kids, they like her back, she's usually dressed for school.

 Tate will climb up to the tables and jabber on and on and crack himself up and just be 4!

Having these two about the house is completely awesome! It is my favorite thing! They are nuts, and busy, but on my goodness they are my heart. 

 If Tate has Lily and his blanket then all is right with the world.

 All of my kids love blankets and Tate is no different.  He calls it doodly.

 Messes never cease but sometimes being able to eat dinner is worth it.

 

Tate was born with esophageal atresia. His esophagus went down his throat and up from his stomach but was not attached in the middle. Super mild as far as that birth defect is concerned. Where they attached the two pieces, he has some scar tissue that doesn't allow his esophagus to expand and contract as he eats. Eating is really difficult. Finding food that will go down through the very very narrow part of his esophagus has been a challenge for him and for us. He is super cautious about what he will eat or even try to eat, and finding anything that will keep him fed and full has been crazy hard for us. He finally got to go in and have that narrowing stretched out. They made great progress, but not enough. We will go in every three weeks and have it stretched until it's a good size for him to be able to eat properly without risk of everything getting stuck and coming back up. 

It was an easy procedure and he was amazing! He had to be put all the way out but he came out beautifully. Our experience with Em and anesthesia has not been positive. She comes out swinging. True to his nature, he came out smiling and hungry, downed a bottle and we left. They totally let us keep the socks. score!

We love this baby all too much. Our family feels so different now. It's complete. It's as it was meant to be. There is no one missing. It is the greatest peace that there is for me. We went 10 years knowing that we were missing some, trying to find them and bring them home. This is peace for me in it's purest form.