It’s the weirdest thing. I’m sitting here on my couch, dinner (taco soup from my freezer meal stash) warming up on the stove and beside me is a little girl child, head on my shoulder. She’s alternating between watching me type and watching the Little Baby Bum music videos on Netflix. Y’all. Bow in her hair. Grins at me every time I turn my head to look at her. Right beside me. We have a daughter!
She is so smart and funny. Also adorable. When she rolls around and is silly her hair gets staticy and stands on end. She loves to play with this Melissa & Doug ice cream set. She loves peek-a-boo and chase with Matthew and playing outside. She tries to fit inside the Little People princess castle but mommy and daddy say she is too big! Peanut butter bread, oatmeal, and bananas are her favorite. She sleeps well at night, although she prefers mommy to sit in her room till she falls asleep. She recently learned that if she cries at night, mommy will come and snuggle (this is a really good thing in the adoption world). After a few weeks she is still nervous around the dog, but finally started to pet him a few days ago!!!
Matthew is an amazing big brother--as we knew he would be. He did tell me one night that adopting a sister has been harder than he thought it would be, but also just as awesome as he thought it would be. He is so sweet and patient with her. It’s certainly been an adjustment going from only child for 7.5 years to big brother status...but we are trying to find ways to spend special time with him, one-on-one, whenever possible.
We took Eliana to the VCU International Adoption Clinic last week. It was a good visit….but to say she doesn’t like other people touching her is an understatement. Yikes. The doctor had good things to say and her suggestions moving forward were just what we expected---no surprises so far! She will visit with the cranio-facial surgeon in December to begin the process of evaluating and repairing the cleft palate.
Language has been challenging for Eliana because of the cleft. She isn’t able to make any sounds that involve the roof of her mouth. She understands most of what we say and will obey tasks asked of her (take this to the trash, pick that up, come here, sit down, etc.) but is not really able to speak in return. Of course, she wouldn’t normally have very many words at this point because she’s not yet 2 years old. She’s also on her third language (Georgian in the orphanage, Armenian with the foster family, and now English) so I’m sure that affects language development, too. To compensate, we are working on some sign language so she has a way to communicate back with us. She has been very expressive with her hands since we met her, so we’re trying to use more signs that can help her when she needs or wants something.
This month has been full of so many wins and so many reinforcements that she is adjusting well! It hasn’t been a cake walk everyday, of course. This past weekend was probably the hardest, with Kyle out of town for a youth retreat, me struggling through a nasty cold, Eliana sick as well, and then Kyle coming home early from the retreat with a stomach virus! Fortunately Kyle’s parents were in town and took Matthew over to my sis-in-law's house for most of the weekend!! The support from so many in our community has truly carried us through the last month. Meals delivered, a freezer stuffed with meals to thaw and cook, family and friends who helped with bedtime routines when Kyle had to travel, people doing yard work and sending gift cards for future meals, people picking up Matthew for church or birthday parties….I could go on and on. All of this has allowed us to focus on helping Eliana adjust to our family, home, and routines.
Looking ahead, we are hoping to try out church soon! Watching the service streaming on You-Tube just isn’t the same. I miss my church family! We’re trying to introduce new experiences slowly to test her reactions. Today we tried Target for the first time and picked up some Christmas ornaments that can be the beginning of Eliana’s ornament stash (she was amazed and even started clapping at one point as we were walking through the Christmas section). I can’t wait to see her reaction when we put up the Christmas tree later this week!!
It is so incredible to wake up each day and look into the face of an answered prayer. To see her eyes and hear her laugh. To hold her when she is tired or just needs a snuggle. God has been so faithful. And how many times did y’all remind us that the timing would all make sense when we finally had her home?? Here she is, and we wouldn’t have changed a single day.
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