Tuesday,
April 19, 2011
Bella has been home for 6
months now. Upon our first touchdown in the USA, we headed to
the Emergency Room at our local children’s hospital. Bella had a
lot of initial medical issues related to her spina bifida that
needed to be resolved. Once we began a program to assist her
with her urological issues and GI issues, we began to see a
whole new side to little Bella. Once a quiet, introverted,
cautious little girl; Bella is now humorous, outgoing, confident
and just plain adorable.
In December, Bella has her first major surgery here in the
United States. She has a portion of a lipoma removed from her
hip as well as spinal cord repair surgery due to a tethered
spinal cord. The surgery was not a walk in the park- in fact she
had to lay flat on her back for quite some time. Unfortunately,
Bella had to have a second surgery in January 2011. This was
another major spinal surgery and she was off of her feet for a
full 4 weeks. We had a rough winter, needless to say.
However, spring is here and our girl is blossoming. Bella is
super-duper smart. She has learned lots and currently she uses
more than 75 words in English. Bella can understand commands in
Mandarin still and will communicate simple phrases with Braxton,
Breanna, or mama in Mandarin. Bella still occasionally makes
requests in Mandarin and fortunately, for the most part, we
understand those requests and honor them when appropriate. She
can chain 2-3 English words together to express an organized
thought or request. She can follow single commands and
occasionally two-part commands. She will attempt to imitate any
word when asked to. Bella can count to 10 in Mandarin and she
can count to 3 in English. She can identify and call each family
member and extended family member by name (and that is no small
task). She can receptively and expressively identify her body
parts including: eyes, nose, ears, hair, head, mouth, arm, foot,
bottom, arm, chin, cheek, stomach, and leg. She knows sign
language for the following words: more, thank you, all done,
please, bored, bye bye, fish, rain, cracker, chicken, dog, cat,
and bird. She can verbally tell us the sounds that farm animals
make. Bella understands humor and uses words to express her
humorous side as she likes to tease and play jokes. She likes to
play peek-a-boo, hide and seek, and duck duck goose. She likes
to sing songs that involve motions and hand gestures. She
imitates extremely well. She can now walk, climb, push a doll
stroller or play shopping cart, stack blocks, imitate block
structures, write with a pencil or crayon, clap, sing, imitate
gross motor motions. She can recognize emotions in others and
will respond appropriately to others emotions (offers blanket
and pat when someone is sad, laughs when someone is funny,
watches intently at a distance if someone if angry, offers
blanket is someone is tired). Bella can pretend play with dolls,
play kitchen food, cars and trucks, and play animals. Bella
knows how to share and yet age appropriately recognizes which
objects solely belong to her. Bella loves books, bubbles, songs,
music, Curious George, Mulan, blocks, Lego, puzzles (though she
is still learning how to do peg puzzles independently), going
outside, going to church, seeing her grandparents regularly, and
playing with dolls. Bella does not like dogs but has learned to
observe them from a distance without crying. Bella likes clowns
and she likes other children. Bella is friendly yet references
mama when she is in the presence of strangers. If strangers get
too close and are within her personal space, Bella appropriately
tells them to "sit down". Bella cooperates with her doctors and
follows directions extremely well. She is obedient and complies
with most requests made of her. Bella is very affectionate. She
likes to share hugs and kisses with her family and will request
to be picked up when she wants attention from her parents or her
siblings.
Bella is outgoing, funny, charming, humorous, active, and
beautiful. She is obedient, loving, and very well adjusted. She
is a smart little girl who has brought such joy to our lives.
While we are so pleased with all of her progress, we know that
we owe all of the glory to God. Adopting a child with special
needs is not always easy. However, we are truly blessed to have
front row seats to God’s miraculous hand in her life. Not many
people get to look a doctor in the eyes when he tells you that
your daughter’s ability to walk is nothing short of a miracle.
Not many people get to spend time in hospital surgical waiting
rooms looking into the faces of other parents whose children may
not live another day to be gently reminded that each day is a
gift- an opportunity- a blessing. Bella has had a rough start,
but spring is here and all we can see now are the amazing
blossoms in her life and ours.
|
Bella Trinity
Feeling better
Winter is gone and Spring is here
Sweet Bella
Love |
