5 Years Home

October 20, 2022 Michelle Cuthrell

Five years ago this summer, two nurturing nannies tenderly carried a tentative 3-year-old into the center of the Wuhan Civil Affairs room in Wuhan City, China … and our little team couldn’t have fallen faster or more deeply in love.

In an effort to prepare us to welcome and love on this child whose mother loved him so much that she swaddled him in a blue blanket and left him in a hospital garden where she knew he would be quickly treated and found, these precious women briefed us on the personality traits of the boy they had known and loved for all three years of his little life.

Long Long, as they called him, was shy.

Tentative.

Introverted.

Reserved.

He was afraid of loud noises, and chaos?

His kryptonite.

Until, apparently, he spent 24 hours in the presence of pure pandemonium.

Seven Sparkly Years

December 31, 2020 Michelle Cuthrell

Traditionally, age 7 isn’t exactly a blow-out kind of birthday year.

Unless, that is, it marks a significant step in an unraveling life story.

Like the year that tips the scales and moves the dial from more time spent as an orphan in this life to NOW, at age 7, the same amount of time spent as a proclaimed SON … one passionately and madly loved by TWO mamas in this big, wide world.

The New Year's Eve Firecracker: Celebrating Superhero 4's Six Years

December 31, 2019 Michelle Cuthrell

On his first birthday home, Superhero 4 attended the New Year’s Eve wedding of our beautiful niece, where a DJ and an entire ballroom of very happy guests sang to him as he panted over a multi-tiered cake that our unpretentious diva clearly assumed was just for him.

On his second birthday home, Grandma and Pop (with Mom and Dad in tow) took him on the traditional 5-year-old grandchild visit to Disneyworld, where this Mickey Mouse lover spent five days in the land of his dreams and stalked — I mean met! — the heroes who graced every shirt and jacket and pajama piece he owned at the time.

So on this, Superhero 4’s third birthday home, we basically prepared ourselves for disaster.

Getting a Leg (or Two) Above

September 10, 2019 Michelle Cuthrell

When Super-Spouse took him to the ortho specialist in August and he heard that he would be having surgery for the very first time in his life, Superhero 4 looked up at his daddy and asked, "Daddy, what's surgery?"

"Well, the doctor is first going to put you to sleep."

"Sleep?!" he cried. "I LOVE sleep!"

"And then," he proceeded, "the doctor is going to do some things to your legs while you are sleeping that will help you learn to walk."

"Walk?! Superhero 4 LOVE to walk!" he exclaimed.

"Then, when you wake up, the nurses will give you popsicles."

His eyes about bugged out of his head.

"Popsicles?! SUPERHERO 4 LOVE POPSICLES! When I get surgery?!"

Today was the sleep-enjoying, walk-anticipating, popsicle-devouring, not-quite-as-awesome-as-Christmas-morning-although-he-woke-us-up-at-5-with-his-surgery-day-announcement-like-it-was day. 🏥😴🍦

The Homeschool Adventure

September 3, 2019 Michelle Cuthrell

We had been praying about what to do for Superhero 4 for months.

Our sweet-and-spicy Energizer Bunny graduated in June from the children's center, where he received the very best PT, OT, speech and educational services for 18 months of his life. And although this motivated little man moved from a 1.5-year-old developmental level to a 4.5-year-old developmental level in several fields during such a short period of time, he was still noticeably (and understandably) behind his peers.

At kindergarten registration day at his big brothers’ school last spring, we sat next to a child who could read sentences from the packet instructions to his mama.

We still couldn't identify five letters.

The preschools we contacted couldn't accommodate a 5-year-old boy with mobility issues and medical needs.

The tutor we loved was already booked for the fall.

Our boy was old enough for kindergarten, but at only two years home, we felt like, even in the talented and capable hands of teachers we knew and loved, with only two years of exposure to the English language under his belt, he might just drown.

Which left one other option …

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