Sunday, February 28, 2010
Video?
I haven't posted a video in a while (months!) because I forgot how to do it and haven't had the time to figure it out. I think I've got it now (write it down, Lauri!), so here's one of Sarah mastering the spoon (and none too pleased with herself).
On Our Own
Don is on his way to Florida. That's right, Florida. He's attending a meeting of the Blue Goose Alliance, a group of retired National Wildlife Refuge System employees. They latched onto him soon after he retired last year and are eager for his input on their projects.
I knew I shouldn't have declared our sleep problems behind us in a recent post. They're back with a vengeance. For some reason, Sarah has decided that she can't be separated from us for sleep. Since Thursday evening, she has cried hysterically and relentlessly at bedtime, naptime, and periodically through the night.
This is crying like we've never heard from her before -- screaming and wailing is a more accurate description. It's heartwrenching. We've tried letting her go, but she will keep at it for 30 - 40 minutes. Of course, the adoption doctor has told us to hold the line and not go in, and certainly don't pick her up. Yeah, right.
Of course, I've analyzed and re-analyzed the events of the last few days to figure out what triggered this. No matter how you look at it, she has been cheerful and content, in the extreme. Squeals of joy and peals of laughter are the rule.
The only theory I've come up with is that she has taken yet another step forward in attachment and is afraid we might leave. Perhaps she is now as attached to us as she was to her foster mom and is afraid of losing us the way she lost her. The poor little thing is terrified of something (or at least very good at acting so). Since we know little of her year of life before us and she's not yet verbal, all we can do is guess what might be going on in her head. It's frustrating.
Before he left this morning, Don set up the twin bed in Sarah's room again. If worse comes to worse, I'll sleep in there, at least while Don's gone. It's the only chance I have of getting any sleep, if this continues. Maybe she just needs to work through some emotional baggage, and things will return to "normal."
I lucked out at naptime today. She was nodding off in her highchair at lunch, so I quickly scooped her up and gave her her sippy cup of milk. She fell asleep in my arms and stayed that way as I put her in the crib. Big sigh of relief!!
Sleep trauma aside, Sarah is progressing every day. She now walks everywhere and is quite confident about it. Her favorite thing is to walk down the hallway with Cadi behind her. For some reason, it cracks her up every time. She walked outside for the first time on Friday. Until then, it hadn't occurred to me that she'd only been on a level surface. She took off down the sidewalk from the garage toward the barn and came to a screeching halt when she hit the slight downgrade. The little things we take for granted....
She is vocalizing a lot now and has "words" for dog, squirrel, snack, hawk, elephant, and "Signing Time." She has started to mimic words when we read to her. She will point to things in the pictures and ask what they are. If it's something she hasn't heard before, she'll turn to watch my lips as I say it again. She's a serious student!
This afternoon's plan is a little mall-walking to wear her out. She loves getting out to see people. And she now loves the car! I guess she's made the connection. She asks to go in the car and is more than happy to sit on her throne in the backseat and demand food, drink, and music. It's good to be queen!
Sarah and I are on our own for three days...for the first time. A week ago, I would have said it would be easily manageable, but the last few days have changed that.
I knew I shouldn't have declared our sleep problems behind us in a recent post. They're back with a vengeance. For some reason, Sarah has decided that she can't be separated from us for sleep. Since Thursday evening, she has cried hysterically and relentlessly at bedtime, naptime, and periodically through the night.
This is crying like we've never heard from her before -- screaming and wailing is a more accurate description. It's heartwrenching. We've tried letting her go, but she will keep at it for 30 - 40 minutes. Of course, the adoption doctor has told us to hold the line and not go in, and certainly don't pick her up. Yeah, right.
We're trying to balance being nurturing with maintaining her sleep routine. It's hard, though. Early this morning, we tried once again bringing her to our bed to sleep, but it was just as successful as in the past -- not at all. She's very happy to be there, but sleep is the furthest thing from her mind.
Of course, I've analyzed and re-analyzed the events of the last few days to figure out what triggered this. No matter how you look at it, she has been cheerful and content, in the extreme. Squeals of joy and peals of laughter are the rule.
The only theory I've come up with is that she has taken yet another step forward in attachment and is afraid we might leave. Perhaps she is now as attached to us as she was to her foster mom and is afraid of losing us the way she lost her. The poor little thing is terrified of something (or at least very good at acting so). Since we know little of her year of life before us and she's not yet verbal, all we can do is guess what might be going on in her head. It's frustrating.
Before he left this morning, Don set up the twin bed in Sarah's room again. If worse comes to worse, I'll sleep in there, at least while Don's gone. It's the only chance I have of getting any sleep, if this continues. Maybe she just needs to work through some emotional baggage, and things will return to "normal."
I lucked out at naptime today. She was nodding off in her highchair at lunch, so I quickly scooped her up and gave her her sippy cup of milk. She fell asleep in my arms and stayed that way as I put her in the crib. Big sigh of relief!!
Sleep trauma aside, Sarah is progressing every day. She now walks everywhere and is quite confident about it. Her favorite thing is to walk down the hallway with Cadi behind her. For some reason, it cracks her up every time. She walked outside for the first time on Friday. Until then, it hadn't occurred to me that she'd only been on a level surface. She took off down the sidewalk from the garage toward the barn and came to a screeching halt when she hit the slight downgrade. The little things we take for granted....
She is vocalizing a lot now and has "words" for dog, squirrel, snack, hawk, elephant, and "Signing Time." She has started to mimic words when we read to her. She will point to things in the pictures and ask what they are. If it's something she hasn't heard before, she'll turn to watch my lips as I say it again. She's a serious student!
This afternoon's plan is a little mall-walking to wear her out. She loves getting out to see people. And she now loves the car! I guess she's made the connection. She asks to go in the car and is more than happy to sit on her throne in the backseat and demand food, drink, and music. It's good to be queen!
Here's a shot I took of the two us to send to Don's hotel for check-in today:
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Cool Shades
Much to my surprise, Sarah's eyes are very sensitive to light. I had always been told that my eyes were sensitive because the irises are so light. So, I assumed that since Sarah's eyes are so dark (you have to look really hard to even make out her pupils) they would tolerate light better. Wrong. She complains in the car when the sun hits her face and has actually cried when the sun comes through her bedroom window and hits her. Odd.
I bought a pair of sunglasses at Target for her last summer but had to return them because they were too narrow for her round face. I did some searching on the Internet and came across Frubis, soft wrap-around sunglasses for kids ages 0-5. They arrived yesterday, and I was curious to see how Sarah would react to them. I half expected her to take them right off. On the contrary, she loved them! She wore them around the house looking at everything through her amber lenses and exclaiming "oh!" over and over again. So cute.
I bought a pair of sunglasses at Target for her last summer but had to return them because they were too narrow for her round face. I did some searching on the Internet and came across Frubis, soft wrap-around sunglasses for kids ages 0-5. They arrived yesterday, and I was curious to see how Sarah would react to them. I half expected her to take them right off. On the contrary, she loved them! She wore them around the house looking at everything through her amber lenses and exclaiming "oh!" over and over again. So cute.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Home for Six Months
The last week has been so smooth. Sarah seems even happier than before, and I think we've really gelled as a family. I feel more relaxed than I have in years. The dream is finally reality -- we are a loving, happy family on five acres! No more waiting, or second-guessing, or worrying about sleep or attachment. This mom gig will be a breeze from here on out! (My tongue is firmly planted in my cheek as I type this.)
China requires follow-up reports after children are in their new homes for six months and 12 months. On Friday, we drove to Madis*n to meet with our social worker Anne so that she can write a glowing account of our familial bliss. As luck would have it, Sarah was having digestive problems on the drive there, and they continued throughout our hour-long appointment. She spent most of the time whimpering and signing "hurt" and "potty." She certainly was NOT her usual contented self.
She and I made two trips to the bathroom, with no success, while Dad talked about how happy and healthy she is, all appearances to the contrary. Fortunately, Anne knows us pretty well and was only concerned about Sarah's immediate comfort. Soon after we left her office, Sarah was feeling much better. Maybe she just didn't appreciate being judged.
We spent Friday night with Emily, Omar, and Sophia. Sarah was surprisingly relaxed and seemed right at home, although she's never been there. I think she's seen her sister and niece enough now that she feels comfortable. She was fascinated with Sophia this time and kept smiling and touching her hands. Sophia (21 months old now) was a little taken aback but warmed up pretty quickly.
Sophia is still much more nimble than Sarah, who has to concentrate on her walking, but they seemed to truly enjoy each other's company this time. It was such fun watching them eat meals beside each other and share snacks (most of their relationship seems to be based on food at present). It won't be long before they are running around together and having all sorts of adventures.
Believe it or not, Sarah now loves the car. She asks to go for rides (by signing) and is quite content in her car seat (even without food). When we buckle her into her five-point harness, she leans forward a few times and grunts, as if making sure she's secure. Yesterday, she slept for about 1.5 hours on the way home. I think we'll be ready for a drive back East this summer. :)
Sarah and I are off to the grocery store to buy the makings of tonight's Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year dinner. We're having shrimp fried rice timbale, asparagus, and salmon. We'll enjoy it as a family, a fusion meal, if there ever was one.
Happy Valentine's Day!
How about a little something sweet? I took these photos of Sarah a couple of weeks ago and made Valentine's cards on Shutterfly (which some of you lucky readers received). Unfortunately, she needed a haircut, but, as her shirt says, I think she's still "Too cute to bear."
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Last night, we went to the Chinese New Year celebration in La Cr*sse. It was wonderful. There was a show featuring local Chinese and Americans performing songs, dances, and even a comedy routine (with a well-meaning American butchering Chinese). Sarah had a good time, swaying back and forth to the music and smiling broadly. I think we all enjoyed being immersed in the Chinese culture and surrounded by Chinese again.
There were about 200 people there, maybe 2/3 Chinese and 1/3 American. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many Chinese in the area. I had feared it would be hard to expose Sarah to Chinese customs and language in our rural area, but it turns out there is a strong Chinese organization and even language and dance classes. Perhaps Sarah and I will take some Mandarin when she's a little older and she'll be on stage at a future New Year's event.
Although she didn't seem too interested in most of the people who looked like her, Sarah did spot a four-year-old Chinese girl a few rows behind us and was fascinated by her (she was captivating in a royal blue satin dress). She was another adoptee and had an older sister. We met the family at dinner after the show, and they live in a town close to ours, so I hope we'll get together some time.
Dinner was a Chinese buffet, and I'm sure it was very good, but I didn't get to enjoy it much. Something to do with eating with an 18-month-old.... The people at our table asked if Sarah could use chopsticks. We told them that getting her to use a fork or spoon was tough enough, and I think they learned quickly that her preference is no utensils at all. It hadn't occurred to me just how "uncivilized" she was until we were in public. Oh, well, I guess that's to be expected of a toddler.
After dinner, all of the children got little red envelopes (hong bao), with money in them. Sarah wasn't impressed, but the other kids were thrilled with their one-dollar bills. She fell asleep on the drive home, one pooped partier.
Note: Chinese New Year is actually February 14 this year, so don't forget to wish your Valentine "Gong Xi Fa Cai."
There were about 200 people there, maybe 2/3 Chinese and 1/3 American. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many Chinese in the area. I had feared it would be hard to expose Sarah to Chinese customs and language in our rural area, but it turns out there is a strong Chinese organization and even language and dance classes. Perhaps Sarah and I will take some Mandarin when she's a little older and she'll be on stage at a future New Year's event.
Although she didn't seem too interested in most of the people who looked like her, Sarah did spot a four-year-old Chinese girl a few rows behind us and was fascinated by her (she was captivating in a royal blue satin dress). She was another adoptee and had an older sister. We met the family at dinner after the show, and they live in a town close to ours, so I hope we'll get together some time.
Dinner was a Chinese buffet, and I'm sure it was very good, but I didn't get to enjoy it much. Something to do with eating with an 18-month-old.... The people at our table asked if Sarah could use chopsticks. We told them that getting her to use a fork or spoon was tough enough, and I think they learned quickly that her preference is no utensils at all. It hadn't occurred to me just how "uncivilized" she was until we were in public. Oh, well, I guess that's to be expected of a toddler.
After dinner, all of the children got little red envelopes (hong bao), with money in them. Sarah wasn't impressed, but the other kids were thrilled with their one-dollar bills. She fell asleep on the drive home, one pooped partier.
Note: Chinese New Year is actually February 14 this year, so don't forget to wish your Valentine "Gong Xi Fa Cai."
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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