Two months home

We have had a couple of great days!

Yesterday I opted to test the limits a little bit. We know some of the things that trigger overstimulation in the boys, particularly Dima, and new people and places with lots of people will do it. While we avoid a lot of overstimulation, we need to expose them to situations that will stretch their ability to handle stimulation and help teach them to manage their emotions when they become overstimulated. So on Monday I took them to the Science Center with Tiffany (a friend of ours from church). I wasn't really thinking or I would have realized that the Science Center was going to be packed since it was Presidents' Day and most of the local schools were closed. We were there for about an hour and the boys did really well. I worked with Dima on becoming more comfortable with the animatronic dinosaur exhibit--he's terrified of it. We sat down by the t-rex's tail (away from his moving head and teeth!) and talked about his tail moving up and down. By the end, Dima was talking about the dinosaur and was willing to walk around him. He's still scared of it, but I think beginning to understand that it won't hurt him. A few more visits and I think he'll actually want to go see the dinosaur. :) I wasn't worried about our actual visit--it's the time after the overstimulation that is usually the problem, so I anticipated the afternoon being a bit rough. Happily, it was not bad at all! I had to remind Dima to calm down a few times, but he was able to get himself under control without any external discipline.

The boys are getting really good at taking turns. We hear "Zhenuh turn" and "Dima turn" (it's adorable--I need to get it on video!) quite often, and they are saying it when it is the other person's turn, not just their own. This is an example of our "delayed" children (notice the more "delayed" one doing the majority of the work) doing one of their puzzles together (it's hard to get video--every time I take out the camera they want to see the pictures on the back!):