Well, *sniff*, I can't be all that flattered anymore that my son thinks I have a nice singing voice. (He's the only person my entire life that has told me that!) Today Adam's pediatrician confirmed that he has a hearing impairment. We have a referral to an ear specialist, so we'll find out more specifics then.
I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Sunday, June 19, 2005
John's First Father's Day
John woke up Sunday morning to a long "Happy Papa's Day" banner that the kids and I made him. They worked really hard on it with their markers and creative juices. We also presented him with a camping tent as his gift. We've never had one all the time we've been married so far, but now that we have kids - and particularly a 10-yr-old son, it's just one of those "gotta-have" things. Adam has had the privilege of hiding the tent under his bed all week, and he's been really proud of that high honor.
In Sunday School the girls' class made Father's Day cards. Liana's was particularly meaningful because she READ it to him too. It says: "God made the sun to light the day, the moon to light the night; But, Dad, to me you are the Star that makes my life just right. Love, Liana" We had to help her with those "-ight" and "oo" words, but otherwise, she did pretty well! Very proud mama here! (And papa too!) :O)
Another big thing was that ALEKSA WROTE HER NAME!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. As she was making cards for her Papa and grandpas, she asked me how to write her name. (This is the VERY first time she ever asked me that.) I wrote it out for her, and she copied it as best as she could, though it was rather shaky. I took pics of it, but don't have them uploaded to the computer yet. Her card even included stick-people! (Or maybe they're chickens?) (Can't really tell...) ;O)
I wised up about the "Sunday best" picture photo shoots and took our pictures BEFORE church today. I made the girls' dresses, btw. Nothing terribly complicated, but I think they're kinda cute.
Friday, June 17, 2005
10 Months Home
This was sure a fast month. Scary. I've been hit hard with the "Seize the Day" bug. I've been sewing up foo-foo little girl (matching!) dresses for the girls. It is hitting me hard that my days are terribly numbered in how long I can get away with this, so I'm going for it. And, I'm learning to sew in the process, which makes me feel good that I'm not getting too old to try new tricks. Been having lots of late nights at the kitchen table sewing up a storm.
Aleksa has made enormous progress this month, and it really seems as though a switch has turned on for her and she's learning things that went waaaaay over her head just a few months ago. After months of working on her colors, she woke up one morning recently and just "knew" them. I about fell over. It sounds weird, but I really stressed over those dumb colors for a long time. Our daily games of "find me something in the room that is blue" has finally paid off. She's still a little hesitant, and knows them better when I say the color name instead of making her say it, but finally the fog is lifting and I'm greatly relieved. I'm going to jump up and down the day she writes her name for me. You'll all hear about it, I'm sure.
It crossed my mind a few days ago that Aleksa was the one I worried most about in the "attachment" department when we first came home. We are, and have been for a while now "hers." She misses us terribly if one or the other of us is gone, and she is the one to give the first welcome home kisses, first wake-up-in-the-morning kisses and hugs, and snuggles on our laps with a book or just for a cuddle any chance she can get. She's emotionally very settled and secure, and that really feels good to say as worried as I started off to be with her.
Liana is doing great too. Liana is sure my right-hand man (ok, girl). She is taking on my mannerisms, expressions, and pretends she's an adult in the way she talks. It quite often cracks me up. If I smile at her as if I'm about to laugh at her, she'll smile too, knowing I'm "on to her." Hard to explain.
Our strawberry patch is getting ripe, and Liana has been very vigilant about shooing the critters out of the garden. The other day a Robin landed in it, and Liana bolted full-speed screaming her head off to scare it away. I had to smile remembering two years ago when John was so upset with the gopher in our garden. Nice to see that full circle. We are soooooooo blessed!
Then Adam! Still has a hollow leg and is growing, growing, growing. Which I'm bummed about in more way than one. Size is a bummerful thing about adopting older kids. The girls are "lap-size" and find themselves there easily and often. Adam, however, just doesn't fit my lap, and feels awkward if I make him sit there anyway. It is soooooo critical that he gets plenty of physical lovin' up for our bonding sake, and yet, it is often difficult. I've been trying to spend more time tucking him in at bedtiime. It has become "our" time to chat. All three kids feel most free to tell us what's on their minds at bedtime, which I'm sure is natural, but with Adam it is critical. I can stroke his hair and cheek, and let him chat away. He rarely talks about Ukraine with us during the day, but at night, he'll open up and tell me he misses different people in Ukraine, and wishes he could see them, and wonders how they are, etc.
His speech is still a struggle, however, and frankly, I'm starting to worry. He pauses with an "uh" before lots of his words, and his word-order is still shaky. Still says "mine" and "yours" for "my" and "your," and he rarely uses the word "do" correctly, and prepositions are a killer. We are constantly correcting him or saying, "Can you say that right?" He does great with his reading/writing though. I've been wanting to make an appointment to get his ears checked, but I haven't gotten around to it. (Busy few weeks... John has been layed off, so there has really been a monkey-wrench in our schedule.)
We're homeschooling through the summer. The kids don't know anything about "summer vacation" so we're just going right through with the 3R's. Keeps the routine going a bit, and hopefully it will pay-off with some catching up with Adam. I was shocked the other day when Adam told me that math was his favorite subject right now. Hopefully it will hold - but it is about to get hard again with some new concepts, so I'm holding my breath that he doesn't freeze up and get freaked out about it again as he has in the past.
Ten months. Feels like we should almost know what we're doing by now, but every day is still very much an adventure around here!
Aleksa has made enormous progress this month, and it really seems as though a switch has turned on for her and she's learning things that went waaaaay over her head just a few months ago. After months of working on her colors, she woke up one morning recently and just "knew" them. I about fell over. It sounds weird, but I really stressed over those dumb colors for a long time. Our daily games of "find me something in the room that is blue" has finally paid off. She's still a little hesitant, and knows them better when I say the color name instead of making her say it, but finally the fog is lifting and I'm greatly relieved. I'm going to jump up and down the day she writes her name for me. You'll all hear about it, I'm sure.
It crossed my mind a few days ago that Aleksa was the one I worried most about in the "attachment" department when we first came home. We are, and have been for a while now "hers." She misses us terribly if one or the other of us is gone, and she is the one to give the first welcome home kisses, first wake-up-in-the-morning kisses and hugs, and snuggles on our laps with a book or just for a cuddle any chance she can get. She's emotionally very settled and secure, and that really feels good to say as worried as I started off to be with her.
Liana is doing great too. Liana is sure my right-hand man (ok, girl). She is taking on my mannerisms, expressions, and pretends she's an adult in the way she talks. It quite often cracks me up. If I smile at her as if I'm about to laugh at her, she'll smile too, knowing I'm "on to her." Hard to explain.
Our strawberry patch is getting ripe, and Liana has been very vigilant about shooing the critters out of the garden. The other day a Robin landed in it, and Liana bolted full-speed screaming her head off to scare it away. I had to smile remembering two years ago when John was so upset with the gopher in our garden. Nice to see that full circle. We are soooooooo blessed!
Then Adam! Still has a hollow leg and is growing, growing, growing. Which I'm bummed about in more way than one. Size is a bummerful thing about adopting older kids. The girls are "lap-size" and find themselves there easily and often. Adam, however, just doesn't fit my lap, and feels awkward if I make him sit there anyway. It is soooooo critical that he gets plenty of physical lovin' up for our bonding sake, and yet, it is often difficult. I've been trying to spend more time tucking him in at bedtiime. It has become "our" time to chat. All three kids feel most free to tell us what's on their minds at bedtime, which I'm sure is natural, but with Adam it is critical. I can stroke his hair and cheek, and let him chat away. He rarely talks about Ukraine with us during the day, but at night, he'll open up and tell me he misses different people in Ukraine, and wishes he could see them, and wonders how they are, etc.
His speech is still a struggle, however, and frankly, I'm starting to worry. He pauses with an "uh" before lots of his words, and his word-order is still shaky. Still says "mine" and "yours" for "my" and "your," and he rarely uses the word "do" correctly, and prepositions are a killer. We are constantly correcting him or saying, "Can you say that right?" He does great with his reading/writing though. I've been wanting to make an appointment to get his ears checked, but I haven't gotten around to it. (Busy few weeks... John has been layed off, so there has really been a monkey-wrench in our schedule.)
We're homeschooling through the summer. The kids don't know anything about "summer vacation" so we're just going right through with the 3R's. Keeps the routine going a bit, and hopefully it will pay-off with some catching up with Adam. I was shocked the other day when Adam told me that math was his favorite subject right now. Hopefully it will hold - but it is about to get hard again with some new concepts, so I'm holding my breath that he doesn't freeze up and get freaked out about it again as he has in the past.
Ten months. Feels like we should almost know what we're doing by now, but every day is still very much an adventure around here!
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Liana's horrible orphanage memory
It isn't very often anymore that we hear of anything that we didn't already know about the kids' conditions at their orphanage. Yesterday, however, we found out something new.
Liana was looking into Susie's cage, and noticed that she had gone potty by where she was sleeping. She said, "Mama, we should make her eat it. That's what they made us do at the orphanage if we went potty in our beds. If we peed, then we had to lick it. If we pooped, then we had to eat it all up."
John and I stopped what we were doing and locked eyes for a long moment, unable to even comment. We did already know about the rule that no child could go potty during the night. So, not only could they not go potty in the bathroom, but there was a horrifying consequence if they had an accident. No wonder Aleksa screamed her head off the first time she wet the bed. She probably thought I was going to make her lick it. I wonder how many times she had to do so at the orphanage, but she remained silent while Liana talked.
What a mixture of emotions: relieved that our kids are out of that nightmare; brokenhearted for the children left behind; furious at the workers who enforced (or even INVENTED) such a rule; and happy to know that there are other families that we know are preparing to bring some of those children home.
Those of you who don't have your children yet, please don't get discouraged during The Wait. Please keep plugging away at your adoption journey; never give up on your kid(s). It might feel like you're walking through a few fires to do so, but Please go get them OUT OF THERE.
Liana was looking into Susie's cage, and noticed that she had gone potty by where she was sleeping. She said, "Mama, we should make her eat it. That's what they made us do at the orphanage if we went potty in our beds. If we peed, then we had to lick it. If we pooped, then we had to eat it all up."
John and I stopped what we were doing and locked eyes for a long moment, unable to even comment. We did already know about the rule that no child could go potty during the night. So, not only could they not go potty in the bathroom, but there was a horrifying consequence if they had an accident. No wonder Aleksa screamed her head off the first time she wet the bed. She probably thought I was going to make her lick it. I wonder how many times she had to do so at the orphanage, but she remained silent while Liana talked.
What a mixture of emotions: relieved that our kids are out of that nightmare; brokenhearted for the children left behind; furious at the workers who enforced (or even INVENTED) such a rule; and happy to know that there are other families that we know are preparing to bring some of those children home.
Those of you who don't have your children yet, please don't get discouraged during The Wait. Please keep plugging away at your adoption journey; never give up on your kid(s). It might feel like you're walking through a few fires to do so, but Please go get them OUT OF THERE.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
