October 11, 2011
HOME for THREE MONTHS
Yesterday marked the three month anniversary of the day Callie
came home. Since that time, she has blended effortlessly into
our family in a way we never thought possible. She fits so
perfectly that it’s hard to imagine our family without her, even
after such a short period of time. People who meet her for the
first time can’t believe that she hasn’t been here for as long
as Maili, who will celebrate her 3 year GOTCHA day next month.
The two girls have such a close bond that most people who meet
them assume that they are biological sisters who have been
together since birth. Truly they were meant to be sisters, which
I guess shouldn’t surprise us, since Maili had been telling us
all along that her sister was waiting for her in China and that
we should hurry up and bring her home (see ABOUT CALLIE at the
top of the page for more on this).
Callie’s grasp of the English language in such a short period of
time has continued to astound us; she carries on complete,
in-depth conversations about her life in China and the things
she did and saw there, even from the time when she was two and
three years old. Sadly, she is beginning to lose her Chinese
already, although she does still seem to understand it to some
degree. We tried taking her to some Chinese language classes but
she refused to speak to the instructors at all or answer
questions in Chinese. She would, however, answer them in
English, so I know that she understood them. Finally, we gave up
on the language lessons and enrolled both girls in a Chinese
dance class, which they absolutely love and where they both do
very well. We have photos of Callie dancing and performing for
visitors in her orphanage, and it is obvious that this is
something she really enjoys.
Her other favorite thing to do is go to school; she eagerly
looks forward to school each day and is disappointed on weekends
when she wakes up and realizes that there is no school. In fact,
for the longest time she would say “Mommy BU hao” because I
would not take her to school on Saturdays and Sundays. I noticed
recently that she has pretty much stopped using her little
rating system on the rest of the family when we displease her.
Maybe it is because she has developed enough language to express
herself now in a different way. She is much more likely to say “
Mommy, no school today because it is Saturday. We have school on
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday but no school
on Saturday and Sunday. What we going to do today, Mom? We go to
dance or church?”
Academically, Callie is doing great. She knows all of her ABC’s
and colors, can count to 100 and write her name. She knows all
of the days of the week and months of the year and can find
things on a calendar. She can tell you her address and phone
number and her parents’ names and can spell everyone’s name in
the family. In short, she is able to do what every
kindergartener should be doing after the first few months of
school, and we can’t ask for more than that. We had thought that
she might require some extra help in order to catch up with her
class, since she started the school year only a few weeks after
coming home. However, she is thriving and so far has not
required any extra help at all, in fact, she was even selected
as Star Student for her grade level this month.
She and Maili also started AWANA at church recently, and she has
surprised us with her ability to memorize Bible verses. We had
expected it to take her a little longer to learn the verses due
to the fact that she’s only been speaking English for such a
short period of time. However, she wasted no time learning her
first verse, John 3:16. She proudly recited it to her teacher to
earn her vest and her book, which she carried around and showed
off to whoever would pay attention.
Surprisingly, Callie has been very healthy since coming home.
Due to her history of pneumonia and the weakened condition of
her heart and lungs, we were a little concerned about her
starting school and being exposed to all of the various
illnesses that usually accompany entry into school. However,
we’ve been very fortunate so far. After her heart
catheterization, a team of doctors met to discuss her case and
decide on the best course of treatment for her. She was born
with dextrocardia, meaning that her heart is on the right side
of her body. It was determined during her heart cath and echo
that she also has a very rare heart defect sometimes associated
with dextrocardia, called Scimitar Syndrome. This is also known
as Partial Anomalous Venus Return, and it is causing her to have
increased pressures in her lungs which can be very dangerous to
her long term. The surgery to repair it is a complicated one,
but one that is necessary in order to prevent further damage to
her heart and lungs. Her doctors have decided to proceed with
the surgery as soon as possible, in order to minimize the
damage. If the pressures in her lungs become too high she would
be considered inoperable, and that is not a risk we are willing
to take by putting it off. So she will be having open heart
surgery on November 21, the Monday before Thanksgiving. We have
told her that the doctors will fix her heart one day soon, but
at this point she has no idea what that actually entails. I
think the hardest part for her during that time will be her
separation from Maili. We plan to take Maili to the hospital to
visit her as soon as she is moved from ICU to a regular room; I
know that it will be hard for them to be apart for those few
days, that’s how close they’ve become.
Callie tells us that when she grows up she wants to be a heart
doctor to help kids “ with bad heart, like me” as she says. I
have no doubt that she will do just that, if that is what she
chooses; she is one very determined little girl and when she
decides that she wants to do something, she finds a way to make
it happen. What she lacks in size, she certainly makes up for in
spirit! It’s hard to believe that in April, she will turn 7
years old, the same age as Maili. Just looking at her, you would
assume she was 3 or 4 years old, but in many ways she is mature
and wise beyond her years. We were looking at the calendar and I
pointed out that her birthday was in April, and when I asked her
what she wanted for her birthday she got very quiet for a
moment. She finally said that she never got presents for her
birthday before. She remembered the cake and photo album that we
had sent her in the orphanage for her birthday last year, and
said that she had gotten a cake for her birthday once or twice
before, but nobody ever gave her presents. She got very excited
when I told her that she could have a party for her birthday
with cake and presents. Even though she is almost 7, we are
reminded constantly that many of the things she is experiencing
with us are “firsts” for her. She is so excited about her first
Halloween since Maili explained it to her: “ First you dress up,
then you go to people’s house and they give you lots of candy”
Dressing up and candy she can definitely handle!
Sadly, we will most likely spend her first Thanksgiving in the
hospital, but we will spend it together as a family, and that is
what is most important. She has the rest of her life to
experience the whole turkey thing, and this Thanksgiving we will
be truly thankful that Callie will be given the opportunity to
live a long and healthy life. Had she remained in China, it is
very unlikely she would have survived past early adulthood, if
that. Surgery for her particular condition would have been far
too complicated and too expensive and she simply wouldn’t have
been given the opportunity, even if she had been correctly
diagnosed.
It’s so difficult to imagine this little treasure spending the
rest of her shortened life in an orphanage with no family of her
own; she has so much love to give and she adds so much to our
family. Yet that is what almost happened; it would have been so
easy for us to decide that our family was big enough already and
that the risk was too great, not to mention the expense. There
were so many unknowns, so many reasons to just go on with our
lives and not disturb the status quo. But for some reason, we
just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t rational, it wasn’t practical, at
times we were pretty sure it wasn’t even feasible. Yet here she
is, our spunky little diva whose giggles can brighten up a room
instantly, and whose loving nature touches all who meet her. Oh,
what we would have missed out on. The blessing that is our
Callyn Hope. And now she is right where she belongs. |
Callie girl
Right before they fell in the creek
Sharing ice cream with friends
The princess patrol
The three amigos
Playing dress up with the cat
Cooling off
Prima Ballerinas
Sisters and best friends |
