Funny Big Brother

One morning before school I told Micah and Elise that we all needed to work on talking to Isaiah more. Since he doesn't respond with words usually and he doesn't understand a lot of what is being said around him, it is too easy to forget to talk to him. We eat dinner together every night and the big kids talk constantly and we forget to even include or make eye contact with our littlest guy at the end of the table. While watching my brother and sister in law talk and read to their new baby who is now 6 months old, I was reminded how much we talk to little ones even if they don't understand us. Obviously, my little nephew isn't going to respond with words in a conversation (other than coos which are pretty cute), but we still talk to him. Anyway, it made me realize we need to do more of the same with Isaiah. I told the kids this and Micah asked "Do we only talk to him about things he understands?" I said "No, you can talk to him about anything." So Micah began to teach him how to juggle scarves. It was pretty cute as he talked patiently to him and then Isaiah actually tried to do what Micah was doing. As Micah walked out the door to school, he turned to Isaiah and said "Wall Street doesn't look good these days, buddy." It took me a second to realize what he was doing...talking to Isaiah about anything. I thought that was pretty funny.

I pray often that our decision to adopt a child with special needs will have positive effects on the big kids. Obviously, Isaiah takes a lot of attention and time so we have to ask God often to give us enough strength to meet all of our childrens' needs. While Micah and Elise are very healthy and don't have major medical needs, they are both developing kids with inquiring minds and endless energy. I am thankful for opportunities when I see the compassion inside their little hearts growing. I also love to see opportunities for them and for Tony and me to not be completely self-involved.

As a side note, I changed my security settings for this blog and now feel more comfortable using real names and posting pictures.