Crying, crying, and more crying…
then a little laugh
November 29, 2005

Happy Birthday, Granddad!!!!

Today started out pretty tough…  Although I'm happy to report that JacJac slept through the night (from 7:30pm to 7:00am), when she awoke this morning she took one look at us and started wailing again.  Her thought process seemed to be something like: "Oh man, you people are still here?  I thought it was all a bad dream!!"  She eventually calmed down after we all got dressed and went down for breakfast.

The rest of the morning and into the afternoon was on and off crying.  JacJac definitely does not like being in our hotel room!  Every time we come in she immediately begins whimpering which turns < into a wail if we stay in for longer than five minutes.  Nothing in the room entertains her; not toys, food or even Elmo videos!  Instead, she wants to be outside or down in the hotel lobby ALL THE TIME.  The only way we have been able to get her to take a nap has < been by lugging her around in the baby-carrier or backpack while she sleeps.  The minute we take her out, she wakes up.  Kevin and I should have some pretty developed calf muscles by the time we get home.

I can also safely announce that JacJac is definitely a Crouch child.  She ONLY wants to be around Kevin and will only go to me as a last resort (and only after much crying and if Kevin is no where to be seen).  It has taken JacJac a day and a half to figure out what Bekah and Logan have known for years: Daddy is the best play-buddy in the world!!  Even though she is still quite a bit traumatized by this whole adoption thing, she has latched on to Kevin and is definitely a Daddy's girl.

By later this afternoon, our precious girl was getting a little bit more independent.  Instead of being carried around with her arms around our necks (or, I should really say, Kevin's neck), she was willing to face forward and make eye contact with other people.  And, by dinner-time she was even walking by herself, just holding our hand (or, I should really say, Kevin's hand).  We're delighted that she is starting to feel more confident and know it will only be a matter of time before we're chasing her around rather than carrying her around.

When it comes to me, she is definitely a stinker.  If I start coming near her, she waves bye-bye to Kevin to try to get him to leave with her.  When we are eating, she offers all her food to Kevin, then pretends like she's going to offer me some before snatching back at the last second.  And this evening we were walking though a park and Kevin was holding JacJac's hand as she walked. I tried to hold the other one, but she started crying and snatched her hand away.  So I went to the other side of Kevin to walk.  When JacJac saw I was holding his hand, she began crying again.  When I let go, she stopped.  A few minutes later when I held Kevin's hand again, she began crying again.  Again, when I let go, she stopped.  She spent the rest of the walk glancing at our hands every few minutes to make sure we weren't touching.  Like I said, she's a stinker.  And definitely a Crouch child.

Finally, this evening the moment both Kevin and I had been waiting for since we got JacJac came: she laughed.  We were in a little shop called Michael's Place (thanks Cheryl!) and JacJac saw a wall ornament hanging from the ceiling.  She loved it and it's tassel.  She kept smiling as she played with it.  Then she bonked Kevin on the head with it and let out a big giggle!  It was the most precious sound we've ever heard.  Needless to say, we are the proud owners of a new wall ornament; one that we'll never forget.

We are confident that tomorrow will be even better than today in terms of adjustment.  Everything we've read and stories we've heard from others who have adopted agree that usually the third day is the "magic" day.  Hopefully we will find the same thing to be true and have lots more laughing and lots less tears tomorrow!

Thank you for your continued prayers and emails.  We are able to receive emails, but are having problems sending them so are not able to answer.  But thanks for the encouragement; it really keeps our spirits up!!

Blessings,
Kevin & Janie