myadoptionwebsite.com - International adoption web sites and announcements

June/July 2010
HOME FOR 20 MONTHS

The past couple of months have been busy as usual in our family. Maili graduated from kindergarten when the school year ended and will start first grade in the fall. Jamie and I attended her kindergarten program and as we sat in the bleachers and watched her perform songs and dances with the rest of her kindergarten class, we both got a bit teary- eyed as we were struck by the same thought; a year ago we couldn’t have imagined how far she would come. For her to be able to walk in a line with her class, stay with the group and sing songs in English and then return quietly to her seat with the others, to walk proudly to receive her certificate when her name was called, those were all things we didn’t expect her to be able to do by this point, quite honestly. At the beginning of the school year, concepts such as walking in a line and sitting quietly with a group were quite foreign to her; she was more inclined to run around the room grabbing things that caught her attention. Somewhere along the way, she began to sit and to listen, and she began to learn. She had a wonderful team of teachers and therapists this year who helped her to remediate all of those things she simply hadn’t learned yet, and they did an amazing job. She learned how to be a student this year, and her love for learning has continued to grow. The fact that she went from having the skills of a two year old to the skills of a 5 year old in the space of one school year speaks volumes about how hard everyone has worked to get her there, and we are so very grateful for all they have done.

In June, Maili was reunited with her foster brother from China when Elijah and his new family stopped through for a visit on their way to their vacation destination. She had not seen him in almost two years, and it was so neat to watch them reconnect. The love and affection they have for one another was evident, and hopefully we can help them maintain the relationship even though our families live far away from each other.

After Elijah’s visit, Maili seemed to want to talk more about her life in China, as if his visit had made her remember things that she had forgotten. She talked about how she played with Elijah at her China house and how she misses him now. And then she gave me an enormous hug and said “I love you Mommy. I want to keep dis Mommy EVER EVER EVER!” I assured her that indeed this Mommy would be here forever and ever and then she added with sly grin and a twinkle in her eye “cause I LIKE dis Mommy SOMETIMES!” and with that she giggled and ran off to play. Gotta love that girl’s sense of humor.

In other breaking news, Maili got glasses this month. After failing her eye exam at her annual physical, she was referred to a pediatric opthalmalogist who diagnosed her with amblyopia and prescribed glasses and an eye patch to be worn for 2 hours a day. Presumably this will force her lazy eye to work harder and strengthen the muscles in that eye, resulting in better vision in the future. This might explain some of her frequent falls, since she has had virtually no depth perception due to her using only one eye to see. Many of her balance issues cleared up when her ear infections stopped, but she has continued to fall frequently, and since her permanent teeth are starting to come in it has become a concern. Hopefully we will see some improvement in the future. She loves wearing her “pirate patch” and puts in on when she gets up in the morning without being reminded. We’ll see how long the thrill lasts when the novelty wears off.

Maili is looking forward to her 6th birthday next month and is excitedly planning her party. Because her birthday and Holt’s are only one day apart they have agreed to celebrate their birthdays together this year. I’m not sure what we’re going to do about her gift, though. For the past couple of months, when asked about her birthday her only request has been for a sister. This has been an ongoing obsession of hers, a sister her own age to play with. She has named this sister Scooby Doo and will actually pick out clothing for her sister at the store and try to save food for her at the table. She calls Scooby in China on her toy cell phone and carries on long conversations about how much she will like our family and how she will share her toys with her. At this point we are not yet ready to make the commitment to add another child to our family but God works in mysterious ways and if it is indeed meant to be, then who are we to question the faith of a child? Time will tell, I guess. In the meantime, we will enjoy the China blessing that we have been given, the blessing that is Maili.

Maili Claire

Backyard fun

New glasses

At Cape San Blast

At Scallop Cove

kisses from Elijah

I've got a surprise for you	Maili and her China brother
Hanging with Grandma	Peekaboo
Maili and Lola Holt

Website by myadoptionwebsite.com