Observations.....

When Pip first moved in I immediately noticed that, although he slept for long periods of time, he was easily disturbed.  Every night I pop into Katie's room and give her a little sleeping kiss good night and tuck her back in whilst she is deep in the land of nod and whisper how much I love her.  I found with Pip however that he would wake up very easily when I went in to check on him.

Fast forward 8 months and I've noticed that Pip now sleeps very soundly.  Very little seems to waken him.  I now am able to go in at night and hold his hand and whisper that I love him and he no longer wakes up.  This has been a gradual change and it occurred to me that he must now be totally relaxed and at home with us.  He is no longer on his guard.  It's a lovely feeling to have and I think it's helpful to share that that process doesn't happen overnight but can take many months.

During his awake hours Pip is an incredibly happy and smiley baby who is very content to play with me or amuse himself.  He appears quite resourceful and is curious about everything.  He wants to see inside every cupboard and drawer and feel and explore his world.  He is hilarious now he's walking and rushes about like a little Zombie.  TCM calls him Odd Bod!  I'm currently learning all about testosterone surges as it seems that Pip has had his first surge.  He is into knocking everything over and pushing the chairs about the house and throwing everything.  If he could beat his chest in a Tarzan-esque fashion I think he would!  He misses me noticeably when I'm not with him, and this has been my concern with our current medical crisis going on with Nana and Pops.  He is coping well with TCM though which is a relief but the excitement when I return is very noticeable and gives me a little rush of love every time.  He rushes over with a huge smile on his face and his arms outstretched for a cuddle as soon as I walk in the door.  It's good to see how well he has bonded with me though and I with him.

In fact it's wonderful to see how well he has settled in generally.  Having a baby does not necessarily mean that this will happen and some babies have noticeable attachment difficulties as well as older children.  Both Katie and Pip have coped amazingly well with the move to us and both have attached well to us.  Katie remembers more because she was 2 when she moved in and this has led to her asking lots of questions but she shows no signs of attachment difficulties.

I love having both a boy and a girl.  I was never bothered about the whole "one of each" thing that people seem to feel everyone should want (and I've had many comments about since Pip joined us) but I'm enjoying the differences between them and I like that each can be my "special boy" and "special girl".  We originally set out to adopt another girl because we thought that might be better for Katie but Pip is just perfect for our little family.  It's funny how the universe turns.  I'm definitely finding Pip more straightforward than Katie which is actually rather nice because I'd definitely say that Katie currently challenges me far more on a daily basis.  I know that historically a lot of adopters prefer to adopt a girl but I can definitely say that Boy's Rock so don't be put off adopting a boy.  I know some totally gorgeous adopted boys who are regular boys and present with no more difficulties than the adopted girls I know.