A New "Twist" on Block Play

I have be corresponding by email with a family who learned about our adoption story through our blog. Layne most often keeps our blog updated, but I wanted to share a paragraph that I copied from an email I sent to her regarding bonding and attaching to an adopted older child. This was truly an idea God laid on my heart one day while playing blocks with Levi. I had been praying for a way to know him in a deeper way and for him to feel closer to me as his "momma". God was so gracious to give him this way to express himself and all that he has been through over the last 9 months.



Probably the most tender times that draw our hearts closer together has been him gradually sharing about his life and family in Ethiopia. God has given us the idea to recreate the journey of him coming to our family forever, by using wooden blocks. This only began about 2 months ago after his language was more proficient. We make circles of blocks to represent where he has lived before coming home to us. One circle is his hut in the village he was born. He carefully chooses the blocks to put within the circle, to represent his Ethiopian family members. Then we make a circle to represent the drop off site, where he stayed for a short time before traveling to Addis. Next a circle to represent the care center (Jesse gets a separate circle because he was at a different location, and finally a circle representing our home. He uses a large rectangle block to be the airplane we came on to come and get him. We use words that remind him how much God loves him, how much his family in Ethiopia loves him, and how much we love him. We remind him how he is in our family forever and how excited we are that God brought us together. We talk about how God laid him on our hearts and we couldn't wait to get on the plane to come and bring him home. This block play has been the most amazing time of bonding. He gradually shares more and more each time we "play". He usually asks to get the blocks out. He seems so excited that we are interested in all the details of his life and history. I see him trust us more as he shares and realizes we value every part of him and his history in Ethiopia. God is so good and we are thankful for this avenue He has given us to get to know our son in a more intimate way!