Hello! It's been awhile since I wrote. We've been a bit busy so I thought I'd catch everyone up.
Liberty is fitting into our family as snug as a bug in a rug! She's sweet and sassy. She's funny and adorable. And she's a bit bossy. But so is everyone else in this family! :)
She is learning so much! We took her to a pre-school screening to see if they could give us any ideas if she was behind at all. It's difficult because she knows her numbers, colors & shapes in Chinese but not English. But as far as they all could tell after modifying the tests, she's doing great. She got an A+ for social skills. We thought that was funny because since we have had her, she has been a little social butterfly. She says, "Ni Hao" to everyone she sees and wants to be friends with anyone.
She has learned how to ask for help instead of grunting. She has also mastered saying Thank you. I must say, it is so cute! She can count to 10 and knows the ABC song...not perfectly but she's getting there. Potty training is coming along. She is just too busy to take the time to go but she will let me know she needs a dry diaper. She has a book with common pictures in it like an apple, an elephant, a flower. She can name them all in English but a few...like X is for xylophone. Really?? They couldn't have used x-ray?? or I is for ink. How about ice cream?? Maybe I should write a kids book. haha. :)
My mom, Paulette mom-in-law Carolyn, my Aunt Mary, Sisters Lori and Donna and my life long friend Debbie had a shower for me. It was so nice. Liberty got a lot of learning tools, LOTS of clothes and a few special gifts like a blanket with pics from our China trip on it. (Thanks Holley). It was especially nice to see all of the love for Liberty. She was in heaven from all of the attention. It really touched my heart.
Since we have been home we took her to the pediatrician. She got caught up on her immunizations. (Not a happy girl). We also took her to the pediatric cardiologist and he performed a cardiac Catheterization on her to get a road map for her upcoming surgery. She was a trooper! They didn't find any huge surprises which is a blessing. But they are going to have to modify a part of the surgery because she has one deformity they haven't seen before. That's OK. We knew she was special. Maybe she'll be in the text books. :) We are planning the surgery within a few weeks. Send up some extra prayers for her. :)
The day before her heart catheterization, I was copying and re-reading all of her medicals reports from China. I came across her routine from the orphanage. As I was reading her schedule, I noticed for breakfast, it said she ate oatmeal and boiled eggs. I had not given her a hard-boiled egg before so I thought I would feed her dinner and then make her one. I told her I had a treat for her if she ate all of her supper. I am sure she was thinking it was ice cream (her favorite) but when I placed the egg in front of her, she picked it up and was kissing it and saying "Oh my goodness!!!" She started dancing in her chair. It was the cutest thing ever! Here is this little girl who probably LOVES these eggs and hasn't had one for 2 months. She was probably thinking," What kind of place is this? They don't even have boiled eggs??" I could not get over how excited she was about a hard-boiled egg. It melted my heart and reminded me once again how one small act of kindness can mean so much!
Thank you again, God for allowing us to raise Little Miss Liberty! We love her so much!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
It's the little things in life!
It has been two weeks now and things are looking a bit different. We are settling in pretty good. Getting into a routine, experiencing new adventures and... learning what a "time out" is. :(
Our youngest son, Sam, says it is so hard to watch her sit in time out but we explained to him that we can't have no rules today and then start rules in a few months. We have realized that she had to fight for anything she wanted in the orphanage so that is what she does here when she doesn't get her way. I guess that is the way it is with any child, right? :) She is such a cutie and Sam is right, it's hard to see her sad.
She is really learning the routine of the day. After dinner, she always says "Dae-o" and "Conga" which means "bath" and "sleep". She is right! That is our routine for the night. :). She is going on 3 nights in a row without waking up, AAHHH! now THAT is a blessing. :) A full nights sleep makes the works of difference for us all!!
She is so smart and learning so fast. This week, along with getting better at Twinkle Twinkle, she is trying very hard to sing the "ABC" song. She only has bits and pieces of it but she is getting there! We have a friend who teaches the ESL kids at school that told us she would work with Liberty all summer! YAY! We are also still trying to get Liberty into the pre-school program at the school. I think it would really help her. I am pulling every string I can grasp to get her enrolled. Say a little prayer!
This week was filled with so many "little" blessings that I don't think I can list them all. But one that really stands out is today. Brandon went to the city to run the Shamrock 5K so Liberty and I drove to Dunkin Donuts to get a few! First blessing was that we made it there and back without any tears or whining about the car seat. WHEW! When we got back to the house, I let her sit on my lap to eat our donuts. As she was eating her little munchkins, she had the biggest "powdered sugar" smile on her face. I was thinking, "she is so happy about these little donuts!" It just meted my heart to see how happy she was about something so small. It's moments like this one that I wish anyone who is even thinking about adoption could see. I mean, it was a donut. But there she was, sitting on HER mama's lap, in HER house, with HER donut. It was just awesome.
Later, we attended my great-nieces birthday party. I knew that she had never been to anything like it. so she was either going to have a great time or be shy and scared and just watch.
When we got to "SPARKLE", the place where the party was, she had her nails painted. The girl told her "Don't touch it" (wet nails) and so she was holding very still. After her nails were dry, she got down and another little girl was going to have her nails done. Liberty placed her hand on the little girls arm and said, "Don't touch it. " It was so funny.
She was then in line to get her hair done. All of the little girls had long, light colored hair. They were getting braids and pony-tails with bright colored hair spray. When Liberty got into the chair with her dark-haired pixie cut, the girl said, "And what are we going to do with your hair?" (sweetly not in a rude way) She put two little pig tails on top with tulle ribbons around them. Liberty was so proud of her mini-pig tails! "Piao-long!", she said! (which means beautiful)
They got a little lip gloss and a star on their cheeks and headed to the dress-up room. After choosing their outfits, we blared the music and they held a fashion show with an actual cat-walk! The first
time through, Liberty had no idea what to do so she just stood there but after watching the other girls, the second time through she was dancing up a storm!
They got to do a little karaoke afterwards. The other little girls all knew a certain Disney song which, of course, Liberty didn't know so I just shut her mic off and she went to town, singing her own song.
I loved watching her as she sang and danced and played dress-up right along the other girls without being shy or scared or caring what anyone was thinking about her language that sounded so different.
She had a total blast!!
It's the little things that we are getting to share with her and watch her experience that I wish I could just inject into other people's hearts so they too would take a chance on adoption. It's so precious!
Thank you Lord, for leading us down this path and taking us on this journey!
PS. Hat's off to SPARKLE! in Bourbonnais! They did a great job with Liberty and with the party! Awesome girls and an awesome place for little girls to have fun!
Our youngest son, Sam, says it is so hard to watch her sit in time out but we explained to him that we can't have no rules today and then start rules in a few months. We have realized that she had to fight for anything she wanted in the orphanage so that is what she does here when she doesn't get her way. I guess that is the way it is with any child, right? :) She is such a cutie and Sam is right, it's hard to see her sad.
She is really learning the routine of the day. After dinner, she always says "Dae-o" and "Conga" which means "bath" and "sleep". She is right! That is our routine for the night. :). She is going on 3 nights in a row without waking up, AAHHH! now THAT is a blessing. :) A full nights sleep makes the works of difference for us all!!
She is so smart and learning so fast. This week, along with getting better at Twinkle Twinkle, she is trying very hard to sing the "ABC" song. She only has bits and pieces of it but she is getting there! We have a friend who teaches the ESL kids at school that told us she would work with Liberty all summer! YAY! We are also still trying to get Liberty into the pre-school program at the school. I think it would really help her. I am pulling every string I can grasp to get her enrolled. Say a little prayer!
This week was filled with so many "little" blessings that I don't think I can list them all. But one that really stands out is today. Brandon went to the city to run the Shamrock 5K so Liberty and I drove to Dunkin Donuts to get a few! First blessing was that we made it there and back without any tears or whining about the car seat. WHEW! When we got back to the house, I let her sit on my lap to eat our donuts. As she was eating her little munchkins, she had the biggest "powdered sugar" smile on her face. I was thinking, "she is so happy about these little donuts!" It just meted my heart to see how happy she was about something so small. It's moments like this one that I wish anyone who is even thinking about adoption could see. I mean, it was a donut. But there she was, sitting on HER mama's lap, in HER house, with HER donut. It was just awesome.
Later, we attended my great-nieces birthday party. I knew that she had never been to anything like it. so she was either going to have a great time or be shy and scared and just watch.
When we got to "SPARKLE", the place where the party was, she had her nails painted. The girl told her "Don't touch it" (wet nails) and so she was holding very still. After her nails were dry, she got down and another little girl was going to have her nails done. Liberty placed her hand on the little girls arm and said, "Don't touch it. " It was so funny.
She was then in line to get her hair done. All of the little girls had long, light colored hair. They were getting braids and pony-tails with bright colored hair spray. When Liberty got into the chair with her dark-haired pixie cut, the girl said, "And what are we going to do with your hair?" (sweetly not in a rude way) She put two little pig tails on top with tulle ribbons around them. Liberty was so proud of her mini-pig tails! "Piao-long!", she said! (which means beautiful)
They got a little lip gloss and a star on their cheeks and headed to the dress-up room. After choosing their outfits, we blared the music and they held a fashion show with an actual cat-walk! The first
time through, Liberty had no idea what to do so she just stood there but after watching the other girls, the second time through she was dancing up a storm!
They got to do a little karaoke afterwards. The other little girls all knew a certain Disney song which, of course, Liberty didn't know so I just shut her mic off and she went to town, singing her own song.
I loved watching her as she sang and danced and played dress-up right along the other girls without being shy or scared or caring what anyone was thinking about her language that sounded so different.
She had a total blast!!
It's the little things that we are getting to share with her and watch her experience that I wish I could just inject into other people's hearts so they too would take a chance on adoption. It's so precious!
Thank you Lord, for leading us down this path and taking us on this journey!
PS. Hat's off to SPARKLE! in Bourbonnais! They did a great job with Liberty and with the party! Awesome girls and an awesome place for little girls to have fun!
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