September 2010
I had such great intentions of giving an update every month for
the first year, but here we are at the beginning of September
already… so how about every couple of months?! We have gone
through so much in the past 2 ½ months that I truly don’t know
where to begin, and I apologize now for how lengthy this is sure
to become. It has been hard in a lot of ways to adjust, and
really easy in others. Adding to the family is hard enough, but
with an adopted toddler there are added challenges as well. We
started out needing to be in her room with her while she fell
asleep for naps and at night. There were nights it took 2 ½
hours! Let me just tell you that that messes with your sanity!
But we are thrilled to report that after being home almost 7
weeks (just over 3 weeks ago now), she has been able to fall
asleep by herself! This is huge for us, and makes us feel much
more normal. There is still the night waking, but we finally
thought to have Aron sleep on her floor, which has worked
wonders… other than the fact that Aron is sleeping on the floor!
It’s like camping… right honey?!
She is a very typical toddler. Self confident (I do it!),
determined (Mine!), independent (No!). We have been trying to
get a handle on what is an attachment/abandonment issue, and
what is a good ‘ol fashioned toddler issue. It’s not always easy
to tell. But we do feel very confident in how well she is
attaching to us. She is such sweet little girl too. She loves to
help, make us laugh, hug and kiss us. And we absolutely love her
spunk! She is always running with the big kids, and doesn’t let
anything (especially her foot) slow her down. We have seen a
pediatric orthopedic surgeon for her foot, and the best option
for her is to do a reconstructive amputation. That will
basically give her a good “base” for a prosthesis. We truly have
peace about that because it’s what’s best for her, and in the
end, she will have complete and normal function. We’re thinking
of doing the surgery in January when the holidays have passed
and we’ll basically be stuck inside anyhow.
What I have really been dying to write about is where Leah had
been living for the past year and a half before we got her. I
had been advised not to mention it before since it was not
mentioned in her paperwork, and trust me when I say that I had
no intention of doing or saying anything that could potentially
jeopardize the adoption. You may remember me saying that right
after we landed that first day we had a very special stop to
make. Well, we had found out from another adoptive mom about 3
months before we went to China that Leah had been living in a
privately run medical home in Beijing called Blue Sky Healing
Home. We are so grateful for her, and I’m blessed to call her a
friend now! Since we knew this before going, it gave us the
opportunity to visit there while we were in Beijing. She had
been sent back to Xining 3 days before (the adoption had to take
place in her home province). We wouldn’t have been allowed to
visit if she were there though. We are so thankful that we got a
chance and see where Leah lived and slept and meet her friends.
They gave us a scrapbook and a CD with more than a couple
hundred pictures on it! Priceless!!! Basically they take kids
from all over China that they feel would benefit from more
individualized care than they are receiving from their home
orphanage. And in a lot of cases, they are able to get the
surgeries that they need through fundraising and otherwise would
not be able to receive in their orphanage. The most awesome
thing is that we started our adoption paperwork (and prayers for
Leah!) in Sept. of ’08, and she was moved to Blue Sky in Oct. of
’08! God was truly taking care of her for us! While she was
there, she attended a Montessori school… crazy right?! We
visited the school as well and got to meet her teacher and the
woman who ran the school. They were both crying, which tells us
just how much Leah was loved. We even got a progress report and
several crafts she made. She learned English at the school and
Blue Sky is a bilingual home, so she came to us with a full
English vocabulary! We are so grateful that Leah spent that time
there and we’ll be forever thankful to Blue Sky! They have a
website*, a
blog**, and a
Facebook account. Check them out! Leah
(Yin Feng) can be found here and there.
(All photos and links shared with permission from Blue Sky)
*Not very
up-to-date
**Leah is in some
pictures in the Picasa Photos, and a video in the April 28, 2010
album titled Long Long! |
A favorite spot in the backyard
Showing off her freshly trimmed bangs
Backyard again…
notice our beautifully painted fence
Simply gorgeous
Leah’s 1st birthday (from Blue Sky) |
