Thursday, June 30, 2016

Opening Up

We've had D with us since Sunday and I am beginning to see a new comfort level for him with being at home. I have to remind myself that the stoicism isn't always boredom, but perhaps a combination of processing an environment, working really hard to translate everything, coming from a quieter and more reserved culture and then living with us ;)

On Tuesday night, he told Sam that he would like to do Cross Country with him the next morning. Greg is a shoe nut and didn't feel like the converse type sneakers were going to be a good situation for 3 miles of running. Thankfully, size 10 1/2 running shoes were only a quick text away and a good friend graciously shared a pair with us. This friend lamented the condition she felt they were in, but he hasn't taken them off except to sleep. They're a hit!

I had butterflies on Wednesday morning. Would he like running? Would he be able to keep up since he doesn't run at home? Sam informed me that he couldn't keep up with D until they reached the hills. D was happy when we came home and when I asked if he wanted to go back, it was a confident "Ya" without the usual shrug accompaniment. I often find that if he feels he will require extra effort or fuss, he doesn't give a confident yes, but tries to pass it off like it isn't a big deal. Today it was exciting when I asked his opinion on a clothing item and he actually said, "no".  I'm glad he's starting to feel more comfortable and give his true opinion.

He and Sam are doing well together. They both love playing video games together, throwing water balloons, swimming and riding bikes. Right now he's expressing a desire to just stick close to home and around Charleston and not do big city activities that we had planned, which is fine. I'm interested to see if that will change as the weeks go by or if he will still want to just have a low key stay.

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