Spring Break... what a break

There's nothing like a beach...

Look at that smile. We spent last week in Destin, FL on the beach. On this day, we were all a bit cold but Alison was "AT THE BEACH". She loved the beach but the pool is still number one. We had a great time in the warmer temps of Florida.

We had a heated pool and the beach. We played on the beach and then I would get this swimming motion and she would say "that one"... so off we went to the pool. She was in, under and trying to swim on-top of the water. We bought a noodle and she thinks the breast stroke works with a noodle. I kept showing her a regular straight leg kick but what do I know. If we had stayed one more week, she would have been swimming. Boy is she going to love having a pool in her own back yard. Bring on summer.


Every swimmer needs their pink goggles!





The Bass Pro Shop keeps the kids off the boats by having a very scary security shark.
You might think Alison is screaming with fright but she is actually showing her most fearsome face to scare that shark away. Alyssa looks like she loves this toothy guy but she said she thought he was scary because his head is up and it looks like he could eat you.


I was just glad that the girls didn't get swallowed by the shark... oh I know he isn't real. I was afraid all of the pulling, pushing and trying to pull his teeth would pull him from the supports holding him up!










We went out in the Gulf for a dolphin watch. Alison looked like captain material so she was allowed to try out the big chair. She looks very happy to be captain of a ship.

So lifeguard, shark bait or skipper?

Maybe she just wants to be a beach beauty.

She certainly has that title!

Tears and Fears and Reconciliation

We are doing so well. Alison is so happy. Right now she is beside me humming as she waits for HS Musical Concert to start again. She is really trying to pronouce the words/songs. I am being induldgent hoping this will help her with English language.

But she has had a rough time. I wasn't home a week ago Thursday night to put her to bed. Friday morning she was up very early to see if I was in bed. She hasn't done that before. She is never up at 6 AM and she seldom comes in our room without an invitation and never when it is still dark. She climbed in bed with me and all seemed ok.

Friday afternoon was the first time that her sister or I had not picked her up from school. On this day she had to go to after school care and Dad was picking her up about two hours later. Alison melted into a puddle of tears. Her teacher was notified and she came to check on Alison. I guess there were such puppy eyes that Judy couldn't leave her behind. So Alison's teacher took her back to the classroom to wait for Dad to come get her. Alison was pretty anxious to get out of school and went with Lynn. She seemed fine but when they walked in the door at home, she burst into sobs.

When I got home about 40 minutes later, she was calm but before we left again to go eat she broke down and cried again. She was just so sad. She threw herself into my arms and cried. She was very sad all evening. When we got home from eating, I put her into our bed to watch a movie so we could all lay there together. At bedtime, she did not want to go to her room. She NEVER slept with us before. She not only slept with us Friday night but did so for the next three nights. She slept touching me each night. If I turned over and scooted her, she came right back and laid against me. Saturday and Sunday during the day she seemed ok but by nightfall, the sadness was back and she wanted to sleep with us again.

What did she think? Did she think we were not keeping her anymore? Did she think she was back in a school (orphanage)? Did she think she was being punished? I do not know. Maybe it was just something different that she couldn't handle not knowing what to expect. We may find out later but for now, we won't try that again.

That was last weekend. Monday things got back to normal with school and all. Monday night she slept in her room. She hasn't been as sad again.

Tuesday we went to High School Musical on Tour. OH MY GOODNESS. She didn't know we were going. Lynn brought her downtown with Michelle. Alyssa joined us and we ate before we went to the Murrat. When she saw the posters and we said we were there to see HSM, she just giggled and bounced. She sang and sang and sang. She played with Alyssa. She called to Alyssa, "come on Alyssa" several times. She was one happy girl.

I wish you all could see her now. Our shy, wall flower is acting out the songs and the story of HSM 2. She is singing all the songs. She is trying to do all of the motions and dance steps. She is taking all the best parts. Sometimes she is Gabriella and sometimes Sharpy. She is even Ryan now as she sings the songs while they are on the baseball field. She has Lynn dancing with her and he is Troy. She is jumping, kicking, throwing the ball and she just slid into home.

Now that is the fun stuff. Can I say stubborn?! She has four very pretty, new dresses. I knew it would take some effort to get her into one. I get the head shake and the hand saying no at the same time. I laid out a dress and panty hose on her bed this afternoon. I wanted her to get used to the idea. When she noticed the dress, she picked it up and carried it into my room. She was very animated as she pointed to the dress and then to herself shaking her head no and saying no at the same time. I got dressed and I put on panty hose and the whole bit. She didn't care. She wore her Chinese gotcha outfit (silk pants and shirt).

She has two new very distinct new words, "NO" and "Stop". She also will say "one more time", "sorry". She is drinking more water and lots of chocolate milk. She eats ham and turkey slices for breakfast, lunch and snack before dinner. She likes donuts and "peeps" but isn't really fond of chocolate eggs but likes M&Ms.

I guess she got tired of dancing. She did somersaults from the living room around the dining room, thru the sunroom and back into the living room. She turned on the light in the hallway and took Lynn in there to show him she can stand on her head against the wall. Now she singing (Gabriella) to Dad (Troy) which includes holding his hands. She is coming over to me and closing the computer so I will be Sharpy and say the words/lyrics (which I don't know that well).

Oh, I didn't tell you all about the dentist last week. She would NOT open her mouth. They have a basketball room that she kept going in shooting and running to tell me how many baskets she had made. I thought she was so comfortable that she would be fine but nope. They were only able to use her toothbrush to move over her teeth and try to see what might be going on. She liked putting the mirror in my mouth but we couldn't get it in hers. The doctor was able to see two abscessed teeth so she is going in next Thursday for extraction of at least two teeth but maybe four. She will be out and a deep cleaning will be done while she is under. She will be a wreck so I had better be prepared for the wrath of Alison.

So how do you balance the really good bonding with the attitude and demands? We are really trying to pick our battles. I guess a dress isn't worth a battle. She gets moody when we shop and she doesn't get everything she wants. She usually gets something. Today we were wrapping presents for the grandkids birthday and she understood the gifts were for others and seemed to accept that. There is a Sharpy doll that she has had her eyes on for sometime but it is for Alyssa. I had to put it up to keep her from taking it out of the box but she knows it is for Alyssa.

Well, that catches you up. We are going to Florida next weekend for spring break. A lot of new things to experience. It is very odd to have a child that has all of these experiences and talents that you know nothing about. Alyssa is coming with us. They play together so well.

She has become very affectionate but on her timing. Tonight at church I rubbed her back and I got the elbow and the shun. When she wants to be close, she is all over me. I believe we are close on her letting loose with words. She understands most everything. She is great at charades and I am too. I guess that is why we understand so much but now the words mean as much as the motions.

Tomorrow is Easter. The whole family will be here. The family dynamics at their finest. We will see how she is with all the kids together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgNXQ2CazUg

March & we have a new child

It seems every week, we see a major transition in Alison. Not that we don't recognize her anymore . She has a funny sense of humor and loves to tease. I love to hear her laugh. I love the look she gives me when Lynn teases her and she gives me that knowing smile... you know like we are in it together.

We are not watching the Chinese movies I bought in China. I picked up a bunch of movies and some have Cantonese and Mandarin as options plus other languages that I don't know what they are because I can't read what it says. Anyway, we haven't watched a movie in Chinese in about two weeks. Of course if you let her, the choice is always "High School Musical" now. We have been watching "Super Why" and "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" on TV after school. I tape them and we watch them when she gets home. She is really funny with Kai-lan, she says everything they say in Chinese. Lynn and I repeat the Chinese too and she giggles and shakes her head over our pronunciation.

I took her spelling words and looked them up on a website that teaches Mandarin. It is amazing when you see all the Chinese words for "left". I picked the one I thought was the most obvious for the sentence the teacher will use to ask the kids to spell the word. Anyway, I copied the Chinese characters and then the pinyin. So, three columns... spelling word.... Chinese character...pinyin. Maybe this isn't helping her but most spelling words are very abstract. I just wanted to give her something she could review as she writes her spelling words. In church, she wrote all three columns out and seemed to be reading the Chinese.

She has beautiful handwriting. I think at this point she is just trying to memorize everything. She knows the alphabet and can write it. She recognizes the letters and can pick them out on the computer keyboard as I tell her what to write. She loves crafts. She will draw and cut out just about anything. She is an audio learner. She loves to sing and it something is put to music, she is repeating it very quickly.

Alison was looking around my sewing room on Friday and was very excited to see a small set of tools in a drawer (I use them on my sewing machines). She tried to take something apart with a screwdriver but I asked her to put the screwdriver up. Well, on Sunday morning she had the screwdriver out and had taken her cheap music phone apart (it was working before she took it apart). She broke both wires so of course it isn't fixable. She was very sad that it was broken and Lynn couldn't easily fix it. She needs to learn that you don't take things apart. When we wonder where she is when she is out of our sight, either Lynn or I will make a comment about her upstairs taking apart my quilting machine. Now that would not be funny.

On Sunday, she got on her bicycle like she knew what she was doing. Well, she knows how to pedal and she knows how to fall off. She could go about 4-6 pedals of the bike and seem to "have it" and then fall over. We need to go to a large parking lot with no traffic to work on this again. Then later that day, she put on in-line skates. Again, she falls really good. She was very patient and wasn't afraid to fall and she would get up over and over to try it again. She finally got to a point where she wasn't doing too bad and could go a ways before she fell.

Alison is still so shy. She is making up with a few people but not many. She is also very stubborn and no, she is not talking. She is understanding but not speaking unless forced. We are gong on spring break with Michelle and Alyssa. I think that will be our major communication breakthrough. I think talking to Alyssa will become pretty natural once they are together for a week.

And Then There Were Three...

Good news. Stephen went home from the hospital yesterday. I haven't written in so long. I was just a bit busy and can I admit a bit overwhelmed at times. I admit to napping each day to have an hour of regaining my resolve to do the dishes or fix the next meal. Now don't think I am complaining. Daniel and Joseph are the best prayers I know. The prayers of children are so sweet and to the point. You just know that God listens closely when they pray. Daniel (3) was getting so homesick. He is a bit of an imp and grins as he is telling you why he didn't do as you asked... oh man! Maggie HATES her medicine but by yesterday she was reminding me it was time for her medicine and has stopped saying in that sweet, sweet voice "but I don't like it". Emilie is the homemaker. She wants to help cook and even peels potatoes. She is very matter-of-fact as she tells what she had heard. She seems older than her 7 years. Hollie (14) is a funny kid. She is shy and reserved. They are each so special and so bonded to each other.

Alison really blossomed with Emilie and Maggie here. They girls raced from room to room and there were giggles galore. They all now share the love of "Highschool Musical". Alison now has a full grasp of Webkinz thanks to the girls. I started to call them cousins but they are nieces.

I took the kids home yesterday. Stephen was so excited to see them. You should have seen his eyes light up as he looked at his siblings. Then when they each hugged him, he just bounced on his mom's lap.

Tammie made Alison a plaque for her room. When Tammie was little, we should kiss daddy goodnight and I would carry her to bed. It started with her, being the oldest. I would pop around the corner and say "goodnight" and then disappear then come back and say "I love you" again go away and come back with "see you tomorrow". That was our bedtime saying every night. With three little girls, we had a chorus every night of "goodnight, I love you, see you tomorrow". She painted that on a plaque. Isn't that sweet????!!

On Saturday, we drove to Illinois to visit Jen. Jen was adopted from the same orphanage just a few weeks before we came to get Alison. We let the girls sit in a booth beside us. We had four grinning parents as these two girls chatted about their new life. Typical kids, there was teasing and some snatching of game pieces from each other. Jen is pretty well adjusted to her parents and seems to be bonding well. Alison was still pretty cool toward us. Alison watched the interaction between Jen and Kristy especially and we have seen a different child ever since that visit. We are going to let Jen and Alison call each other and we still hope to get them together when we can.

Alison is opening up. She was teasing with Dad on Sunday and he even coaxed her onto his shoulders. When it was bedtime, she tried to climb on his back so he did the piggyback ride to bed. I got a hug after school. I was in the kitchen and she came in to see what I was doing and she leaned into me and I gave her a big hug. She is mouthing more words and she is spending a good deal of time on http://www.starfall.com/. This is a wonderful site to learn to read and you can go at your own speed.

We are having a lazy day today. Alison had a fever last night so she is home today. She slept in until about 9:30. I took the kids home and when I came home Lynn had her in his lap all cuddled. OHHHH. Today she got up and laid with me on the couch. Oh and she doesn't flinch when I touch her now. I can stroke her hair or her shoulder without her moving away. I check for a fever and she is fine with the touch.

OHHH we got our hair cut on Monday. I would say "cut hair" and do scissors with my hands and she would say no. I used the translator and said we are going to get you hair cut a LITTLE (fingers just barely apart showing her how much). And she said no. I told her we were going after school to get her hair cut and she said no. I told her to get her coat on we were getting her hair cut and she said no. When it was her turn to get into the chair for her haircut, she said no. I sat back down in the chair and pulled her (gently, no real drag on her part) into my lap and we trimmed her bangs and the rest of her hair. She is fine with her hair cut. She sat on my lap while mine was being cut and styled and she combed her hair. At times like this, she is like a small child. What was a haircut like in the orphanage? I don't think I will get so many "no's" next time. I have not held a child while I was getting my hair done but she just needed to be close to me. She is wanting more time on my lap and that is fine with me.

School is going ok. She doesn't mind going to school. She isn't afraid for me to leave her. She isn't participating a lot but is doing papers of math and writing. She has beautiful handwriting. She isn't talking to anyone at school, even the girl who speaks Mandarin. She is giving smiles now though, even at school. We are doing ok. She helps me decide what is going into her lunch and gets her coat and backpack on her own without asking. She isn't a morning person but she gets dressed without any coaxing. She isn't reluctant about going, so she must be ok with school.

I will post some pictures later. Just wanted to get caught up before I forgot all of the progress. Brenda

School Days...

Alison started school on Tuesday. I went in at lunch time to help her figure out the routine. I failed as a mother in packing her lunch. She hated everything... maybe it was nerves! She drank her juice and tasted a few things and that was it. I gave her a good snack when she got home.

We went through her school bag as she ate her snack. She did very well with writing her name. She did a whole 1-10 math book and showed me the note about school lunches. Today after school we did the same. I let Angie pick her up today and she came in and we "kind of" hugged... she got close to me and I hugged her. We went through her bag. she pulled out the homework (her Bible verse for this week). We will have to work on it after dinner because I know she can learn it. We had another snack after school and she is content.

She is planted in the recliner playing Spider Solitare. I waited until she won a game and asked if she was on my login and she shook her head no. I asked for the mouse and she handed it over and sure enough she was on her login. I have some kid sites bookmarked on my login so I need to write the addresses down (when I can get my computer back... it is in high demand). I am using Lynn's laptop right now.

We had her appointment with the international adoption/infectious disease clinic this morning at Riley Hospital for Children. We had two MDs in the room with her for about an hour. They each did a full examination and asked a bunch of questions. I decided to do a "titer" to see where she is in her amount of protection from immunizations instead of just re-immunizing her again. She got her TB-test and a blood draw (lots and lots of viles). She squirmed and she cried but she sat on my lap and was consolable. After the blood draw, she got to pick a toy. Like any kid, she throws her coat to me until it is time to go outside and then we put it on...although we had to take it off the good arm and put the stiff "bad" arm in first. By the end of school, she is using her arm just fine.

Alison has one open spot on her pinky at the web part as it connects to the hand. We are going to watch that spot. It is new and I suspect it is a crack due to dry skin but it could be scabies although she really doesn't show any other spots. Her skin has become drier as we have been home in the cold weather so they suggested vasoline rubs or any lotion without smell. She has a scar on her right ear drum and some wax build-up in her left and a small increase in lymph gland. They suggested a school hearing test and then do a more thorough one if anything is flagged. She has been sniffly but is better so the docs suggest we watch her for signs of a cold. She has one cavity and some placque. Her gums bleed sometimes when she brushes her teeth. My plan is to wait a few more weeks so she isn't just scared with a new procedure. The doctors say that is fine. Overall, a good checkup. She is at 2% for height (but on the chart) and just off the chart in weight at 48 pounds. We are going to encourage her to drink between meals because she isn't drinking much for her age. Alison has some marks on her face that the doctors think is recent because it is light in color. Darker skinned people have an initial healing mark that is light in color, then darker and then back to normal. Because these marks are light, they believe them to be more recent. Nothing was mentioned about her having a recent problem. That is a question I will ask when we have dinner with a friend who speaks Cantoneze.

Lynn and I are very pleased with her progress. She understood all of the instructions the doctors gave her today. She is able to convey her likes and dislikes easily. We are using the translator more to tell her what is happening... like "We are going to the doctor this morning and then I will take you to school." She is not a morning person but will get up and get ready for school and eat breakfast.

She likes oatmeal, cold cereal and sausage/egg croissants. Breakfast is our easiest meal. We had green beans and salmon patties for dinner last night and she had seconds of those things but not the potatoes. She does not like flavored yogurt, cheese or cottage cheese.

We were coming to her school as lunch was about over so I stopped and got her chicken nuggets and fries w/ Sprite at a drive-thru. She ate while I drove the last 4 miles to school. She did fine. Here I am feeding a child who has gotten car sick 3 times in the past 10 days junk food as we drive. But, today she was fine. We saved the Sprite until we stopped. Our timing was perfect. We were in her classroom about 5 mintues before the kids returned. She was just fine staying at school.

So how long does the honeymoon last? She has been an angel and so compliant and easy. She is sharing her time and space with her younger nieces and nephews (well, except for Hollie who is 14). There are 6 children in the house right now. We are doing very well. Bedtime is a bit crazy and no one is going to bed early...although I try. Stephen is still at Riley and continues on a vent. We pray for him everyday. Children are the best prayers. I wonder what she thinks life is going to be like? Does she realize the kids are just visitors or does she think this is life at our house. I will have to tell her in the translator. We are planning Friday night to be just us. I think she needs some time with Mom and Dad. Of course the kids will be back by bedtime but that will be ok. Life is good right now.

I am so excited that two of her friends are being picked up in China this week. I will add one of their blogs as a link today. We really want to keep the girls in touch. We are doing so well. I do want to keep the link to her past as well as provide a good future for her. We are so happy to have her. God is so good. Brenda

Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Alison over the last few days.

Alison and Emilie on the computer:


Talking on the phone with her friend. I am sure they were comparing notes on their new families and homes:


Nieces and nephews (Daniel, Ethan, Alison, Joseph, Emilie, Emilie, Alyssa, Calab and Ethan.


Alison at school for Valentine's Day party:


Lunch with sister Angie and Ethan:


Alison and Emilie enjoying food and a Red Envelope at Chinese New Year party:



Lynn